About Philip
Growing up in a strict, fundamentalist church in the southern USA, a young Philip Yancey tended to view God as “a scowling Supercop, searching for anyone who might be having a good time—in order to squash them.” Yancey jokes today about being in recovery from a toxic church. “Of course, there were good qualities too. If a neighbor’s house burned down, the congregation would rally around and show charity—if, that is, the house belonged to a white person. I grew up confused by the contradictions. We heard about love and grace, but I didn’t experience much. And we were taught that God answers prayers, miraculously, but my father died of polio just after my first birthday, despite many prayers for his healing.”
For Yancey, reading offered a window to a different world. So, he devoured books that opened his mind, challenged his upbringing, and went against what he had been taught. A sense of betrayal engulfed him. “I felt I had been lied to. For instance, what I learned from a book like To Kill a Mockingbird or Black Like Me contradicted the racism I encountered in church. I went through a period of reacting against everything I was taught, and even discarding my faith. I began my journey back mainly by encountering a world very different than I had been taught, an expansive world of beauty and goodness. Along the way I realized that God had been misrepresented to me. Cautiously, warily, I returned, circling around the faith to see if it might be true.”
Ever since, Yancey has explored the most basic questions and deepest mysteries of the Christian faith, guiding millions of readers with him. Early on he crafted best-selling books such as Disappointment with God and Where is God When it Hurts? while also editing The Student Bible. He coauthored three books with the renowned surgeon Dr. Paul Brand. “No one has influenced me more,” he says. “We had quite a trade: I gave words to his faith, and in the process he gave faith to my words.” In time, he has explored central matters of the Christian faith, penning award-winning titles such as The Jesus I Never Knew, What’s So Amazing About Grace? and Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? His books have garnered 13 Gold Medallion Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers. He currently has more than 17 million books in print, published in over 50 languages worldwide. In his memoir, Where the Light Fell, Yancey recalls his lifelong journey from strict fundamentalism to a life dedicated to a search for grace and meaning, thus providing a type of prequel to all his other books.
Yancey worked as a journalist in Chicago for some twenty years, editing the youth magazine Campus Life while also writing for a wide variety of magazines. In the process he interviewed diverse people enriched by their personal faith, such as President Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, and Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement. In 1992 he and his wife Janet, a social worker and hospice chaplain, moved to the foothills of Colorado, and his writing took a more personal, introspective turn.
“I write books for myself,” he says. “I’m a pilgrim, recovering from a bad church upbringing, searching for a faith that makes its followers larger and not smaller. Writing became for me a way of deconstructing and reconstructing faith. I feel overwhelming gratitude that I can make a living exploring the issues that most interest me.
“I tend to go back to the Bible as a model, because I don’t know a more honest book. I can’t think of any argument against God that isn’t already included in the Bible. To those who struggle with my books, I reply, ‘Then maybe you shouldn’t be reading them.’ Yet some people do need the kinds of books I write. They’ve been burned by the church, or they’re upset about certain aspects of Christianity. I understand that feeling of disappointment, even betrayal. I feel called to speak to those living in the borderlands of faith.”
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I can hardly find the words to express how much your books have positively affected me. My aunt and uncle introduced me to your books almost 15 years ago. At the time I was in the midst of finding my way through young adult life in NYC where I had moved to forge my own path away from Arkansas, where I was raised. I was raised in a wonderful Christian home but like you, I had many questions about things I had seen in the church and even more questions, as I experienced new churches different from the ones I was used to in the south. The first book I read was Soul Survivor, (which I have probably read 10 times now). It impacted me so much I had to read more. Next I read The Jesus I Never Knew…I needed more. I cannot remember in what order I read the next two, What’s so Amazing About Grace and Disappointment With God, but wow what a profound impact those two books have had on my life. What’s So Amazing About Grace for me, seemed as if you had looked into my own mind and then answered so many thoughts and questions I never dared express out loud. I can’t explain the camaraderie I felt with your words. What it did for me, I have been convinced it would do for others, especially non-believers. I have given so many copies of that book out, I have lost count. I give it to everyone I can think of, for any occasion. I have a copy that is always in my carry-on and I read it and re-read it over and over, always moved to tears as I zoom my way through. It is impossible to explain the connection I have to that book.
When I first read Disappointment With God, I hid the cover of it when I was reading on the subway or in public, scared people would get the wrong idea about me. I didn’t want anyone to think, I might think such a thing. What kind of Christian would dare be disappointed with God? This was a time in my life where I really had no idea what true disappointment with God might feel like. I read it and put it on my bookshelf, stirred but not capable of truly understanding the idea. Fast forward to a few years later when my world was turned upside down through multiple, sudden deaths that were very significant in my world. Disappointment with God was an understatement and my world was changed. I could no longer even function as the person I had been before. For some reason when I was deep in my pit, where I had become comfortable living, I picked up that book again. This time, I didn’t care if the whole world knew how disappointed I was with God. I did not understand how He could allow such good people to suffer and continue to suffer. This time around, the words were a medicine to my soul. Painful and therapeutic to me all at the same time. My eyes were opened to the suffering of those all around. Suffering and pain has no boundaries and now, I could no longer pretend otherwise. This book has been such a ministry to me and it literally breathes life into me every time I read it. It is soul soothing and through reading it, I came to understand that there are just things in this life that I will never understand. I can live with that because I trust in the One who understands and knows all things. Beyond what my simple mind could fathom. Thank you for your words. I gift them to anyone who has experienced the unfairness of suffering. I have two copies right now waiting to be mailed out to people who I imagine might be feeling how I once felt. I can only hope your words are as ministering to them as they are to me.
I believe at this point I own almost all of your books and I wanted you to know they have really meant so much to me… in trying times and not so trying times. As I write this, I am just about to finish reading Soul Survivor again. After reading about the ones who inspired you so much, I felt strongly that I must tell you that YOU are one of the people that has inspired me and changed my way of thinking about many, many things. You have read my mind, answered questions, said things many Christians I know wouldn’t have the courage to say, ministered to me, soothed me, moved my soul and in doing so have changed my life and enriched my walk in faith. Your words have been a gift. Thank you.
I am reading Disappointment with God for the second time, the first time was when I bought the book some thirty years ago. I would like to read the book on Job written by Richard. Could you tell me the title of the book so I can try to purchase a copy of it? Thank you!
It’s titled “The Suffering God” and has been out of print for quite some time. Good luck!
Dear Philip, Thank you for writing “What is so Amazing About Grace!” As a 63-year-old Christian, I have been stirred by the topic of grace for the past 3 to 4 years. Just this summer I have been reading your book and it is speaking to me very clearly and refreshing my heart!
It was very nice to stumble upon this article of your bio. I have heard of you, as both of my parents view you as one of their favorite authors. But I have just recently come upon your books on my own, the latest one being “Reaching for the Invisible God”. I was excited when I read in this bio article that you are called to reach out to those who live in the borderlands of faith. I believe I am one of those, as I frequently view myself as a Christian agnostic, if that makes sense. My two most common phrases are “I don’t know what to believe” and “Lord, is this really you?”. Maybe your book will help guide me to the answers I am looking for. Thank you for being you. 🙂
Mr. Yancey,
I just finished your book Disappointment with God. Wow! But I actually came away from it with a huge burden – for Richard. I kept hoping that by the last chapter you would say that Richard finally made peace with God and is walking with him (I didn’t make the connection with your dedication at the front of the book). I prayed for him all through the book – especially when I saw that he was still choosing not to believe at the end. I realize it has been several years since this book was written, so I am hoping things have changed for him? This continues to haunt me for some reason – and I am continuing to pray for him. One thing that occurred to me (probably way too simplistic, but . . .) is that one difference in Job and Richard is that Job did not have Jesus! We do. And Hebrews 11 is full of people who didn’t necessarily get an “answer.”
I would also just like to thank you. The book bent my thinking in so many ways. At one point I was literally on my face before the Lord in tears, thanking Him for His amazing love (chapter 13 for one) – and there were chapters where my feeble brain struggled to keep up (chapter 27). I have not experience the depth of suffering and disappointment like many in your book, but I have had some times of deep uncertainty, fear, and confusion. Part of me wanted to give up – and yet I thought to myself, there is nowhere else to go! I have to have Him! And I have continued – thank the Lord! That only deepens my burden for Richard. It breaks my heart to think of him still away from the Lord. Do you have any news about him?
Thanks again! I have already bought some extra copies of your book to share with others. May the Lord bless and encourage you and keep teaching you amazing things!
I love this letter. It warms my heart to hear that something I wrote years ago has such an impact on you. I especially appreciate your concern for Richard. He’s gotten past his anger, and is open to spirituality, more of the New Age kind. He welcomes your prayers. –Philip