Product Description

Disillusioned by the distortions and hypocrisies of the church in which he grew up, Philip Yancey set out in search of a life enhanced by faith instead of diminished by religion. Having struggled to forge personal convictions about God amid the ironies of life and the incongruities of religion, he looks closer at those whose lives radiate spiritual authenticity rather than pious posturing. From Dostoevsky to Martin Luther King, G K Chesterton to Paul Brand, Yancey pays homage to some of the most remarkable, selfless, Christ-like lives our world has known, and asks what both he and we can do to find such beautiful faith in our own lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #542764 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Like many Christians, Philip Yancey has often felt kicked around, abused, and damaged by the institutional church. And like many Christians, he has found solace in reading about and getting to know some extraordinary individual believers. He profiles 13 of those believers in Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church. "I became a writer, I now believe, to sort out words used and misused by the church of my youth," Yancey writes in the book's first chapter. That church of his youth, which described itself as "New Testament, Blood-bought, Born-again, Premillennial, Dispensational, Fundamental," Yancey now describes as a frightening place where racism and bigotry were regularly preached from the pulpit.

After graduating from Bible college, Yancey became a writer and chose to direct his attention to "people I could learn from, people I might want to emulate," such as C Everett Koop and Robert Coles. He also read widely and passionately--Leo Tolstoy, Martin Luther King Jr, GK Chesterton, and Annie Dillard, to name a few. Soul Survivor offers probing, honest profiles of individuals who have "helped restore to me the mislaid treasures of God." Yancey's many fans will be inspired, and the 13 profiles can serve as starting points to explore the lives and minds of the individuals who have inspired Yancey. -- Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author
Philip Yancey is an the world's bestselling and most acclaimed Christian writer. His two bestselling books, What's so amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew have each sold over three-quarters of a million copies. He is an award-winning journalist and writer and a featured columnist in Christianity Today.

Customer Reviews

This book reached parts other books have not reached
This is Yancey at his best, honest, inspiring, and moving. Once again he is not afraid to challenge the church and expose the muck that is in the christians life, through the lives and mistakes of himself and others.(Henri Nouwen, Martin Luther King, Gahandi to name a few) This book changed my thinking, motivated me as a christian, and brought me closer to God.

Yancey writes his own story for those wounded by the church
Soul Survivor is, in a sense, Philip Yancey's spiritual autobiography in which he reveals the struggles he has had, growing up in a Christian environment, to retain his faith in a church which, in his words "has distorted . . . [God's] message on many occasions, damaging lives and confusing countless people in the process." It is interesting to learn something of the thirteen remarkable people who have helped shape Yancey's spiritual journey, but the book is really aimed at those who have experienced similar pain and confusion at the hands of an often legalistic and judgemental church. Happily I am not such a person and so found little here for myself; certainly the book is not to be recommended as a universal read for all Christians, unlike his classics, "The Jesus I Never Knew" and "What's So Amazing About Grace." But Yancey, as ever, writes well, and I'm sure many people will identify with his story and find comfort and hope for their own wounds.

If one synchronised swimmer drowns do the rest follow?
I didn't get into WSAAG because I felt it too lightweight and had read into the subject quite a bit. But I enjoy this a lot. Don't be mislead by the title it's not about the damage done by the church but much more on how the damage was undone by various writers and figures. I found it very inspiring mainly because I hadn't heard of many of the characters yet they turned out to be some of the best. It is a very broad book in terms of the subjects covered. Good insight into a writers life and the wonderful living out of christianity in terms of personal evangelism. just beware-quite a few long words!!