Joni eareckson tada i started to read it thinking i was going to read a pleasant little easytoread book on the subject of pain. Yancey was asked several times to respond to the theme of suffering after the events of september 11. Winner of the gold medallion award and an inspirational bestseller for over twenty years, where is god when it hurts. In parts one and two of the book he examines the biological nature of pain and considers, largely through the example of job, the biblical approach to suffering, stressing the importance of our response.
It challenges some common and i wouldnt call myself christian, but some christian philosophy books are okay i accept all sorts of philosophies about the higher power. Philip yancey did his best to answer the questions on peoples mind when they are faced with life situations that make them wonder if god is really as loving as he is believed to be. A sermon given on the virginia tech campus two weeks after the shootings. Where is god when it hurts is primarily directed at people who suffer, but its also for people who are close to those who suffer were mostly talking physical illness here. He decided to remain silent and instead reached an agreement with zondervan press to republish this book in a format that allowed it to be half the original price. Where is god when it hurts mass market paperback published october 28th 1990 by harpercollins publishers mass market paperback, 320 pages. He is in usnot in the things that hurthelping to transform bad into good. Where is god when it hurts was the very first book philip yancey wrote in his young days. Originally written in 1977 when yancey was in his midtwenties, it went through a major revision in 1990 i cant speak to any differences between the two versions because ive only read the more recent one. Thats what philip yancey attempts to answer in his classic book where is god when it hurts. Yanceys theology undermines a book that really has a lot of good material and is very well written. Philip yancey discusses the question many of us ask when we suffer or when we see others suffer, namely, where is god when it hurts.