Blog | Philip Yancey

I Am Not Dead

November 2024

I first came across the “Heartbreaking News” of my death on a YouTube video. A suspiciously artificial-sounding voice reported that I had passed away on October 6 due to complications from stomach cancer. Hmm, that’s news to me, I thought, recalling the misquote attributed to Mark Twain: “The report of my death has been grossly exaggerated.” Listening further, I learned that my family members and colleagues had noticed a visible decline in my physical condition. I appeared weakened and found ...

What Would Shakespeare Think?

October 2024

In 2016, the 400th anniversary year of William Shakespeare’s death, I wrote a blog about Shakespeare and the election. Donald Trump, then a political newcomer, was running against Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee from a major political party. We all know how that turned out. Now, eight years later, I revisit the prescient bard, wondering what insights we might gain on our current political scene. I once made a New Year’s resolution to read all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays ...

Divided We Stand

August 2024

Twenty years ago, at a time when U.S. forces were bogged down in Iraq, I attended a gathering that mirrored the sharp divisions in our country. The organizers had invited a diverse mix of people—Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, politicians and celebrities, athletes and bureaucrats, Christians and atheists—to spend a few days in small groups talking through our differences and searching for some commonality. The weekend went well, and on the last day we all joined together for a ...

The Eyes of Love

July 2024

Our guest blogpost this month is adapted from an essay by Dr. W. Thomas Boyce, acclaimed author of The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Sensitive Children Face Challenges and How All Can Thrive. In this excerpt, Dr. Boyce reflects on one of his patients, a seven-year-old afflicted with a terminal disorder called mucolipidosis. The disease, slowly progressive, usually ends in death from heart or lung failure within the first decade of life. Over the years of Blake’s short life, the ...

From Tears to Laughter

June 2024

Moltmann was planning on a career in quantum physics until Hitler’s war broke out. At age 16 his entire high school class was drafted to assist the anti-aircraft batteries defending Hamburg. What began as a schoolboy adventure turned into a horror show as waves of U.S. and British aircraft fire-bombed the city, killing almost 40,000 civilians. He saw his friends incinerated, and he only survived by clinging to a piece of wood in a lake surrounded by fire. Two questions ...

Blog Posts

I Am Not Dead

What Would Shakespeare Think?

Divided We Stand

The Eyes of Love

From Tears to Laughter

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