quotes by Philip Yancey

"To some, the image of a pale body glimmering on a dark night whispers of defeat. What good is a God who does not control his Son's suffering? But another sound can be heard: the shout of a God crying out to human beings, "I LOVE YOU." Love was compressed for all history in that lonely figure on the cross, who said that he could call down angels at any moment on a rescue mission, but chose not to - because of us. At Calvary, God accepted his own unbreakable terms of justice.


Any discussion of how pain and suffering fit into God's scheme ultimately leads back to the cross. "
— Philip Yancey

""God wants us to choose to love him freely, even when that choice involves pain, because we are committed to him, not to our own good feelings and rewards. He wants us to cleave to him, as Job did, even when we have every reason to deny him hotly. That, I believe, is the central message of Job. Satan had taunted God with the accusation that humans are not truly free. Was Job being faithful simply because God had allowed him a prosperous life? Job's fiery trials proved the answer beyond doubt. Job clung to God's justice when he was the best example in history of God's apparent injustice. He did not seek the Giver because of his gifts; when all gifts were removed he still sought the Giver." -Yancey pg 91

"[Job] by standing on his own in the midst of suffering, without the benefit of soothing answers, gained powerful new strength. As Rabbi Abraham Heschel has said, 'Faith like Job's cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.' " - Yancey pg 92 "
— Philip Yancey (Where Is God When It Hurts?)

"We tend to think, 'Life should be fair because God is fair.' But God is not life. And if I confuse God with the physical reality of life- by expecting constant good health for example- then I set myself up for crashing disappointment."
— Philip Yancey (Disappointment with God)

"Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part."
— Philip Yancey

"We admit that we will never reach our ideal in this life, a distinctive the church claims that most other human institutions try to deny."
— Philip Yancey (Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church)

"Sometimes I feel like the most liberal person among conservatives, and sometimes like the most conservative among liberals."
— Philip Yancey

""I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.""
— Philip Yancey

"Christians are not perfect, by any means, but they can be people made fully alive."
— Philip Yancey (Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church)