What do you think?
Rate this book
Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness
Something that matters to you just isn’t right. First you see the problem, then you feel it. It starts with a rush of adrenaline and often a rush of words, but it ends with an overwhelming sense of irritation that impacts how we talk to those we live and work with, complaining, and maybe even a settled bitterness to a person or a group of person. We know anger affects us negatively, but we don’t know any other way to respond when life goes wrong.
Good and Angry, a groundbreaking new book from David Powlison, contends that anger is more than a problem to solve. Anger is our complex human response to things we perceive as wrong in a complex world, thus we must learn how to fruitfully and honestly deal with it. Powlison undertakes an in-depth exploration of the roots of anger, moral judgment, and righteous response by looking in a surprising place: God’s own anger.
Powlison reminds us that God gets angry too. He sees things in this world that aren’t right and he wants justice too. But God’s anger doesn’t devolve into manipulation or trying to control others to get his own way. Instead his anger is good and redemptive. It causes him to step into our world to make wrongs right, sending his own Son to die so that we can be reconciled. He is both our model for change and our power to change.
Good and Angry sets readers on a path toward a faithful and fruitful expression of anger, in which we return good for evil and redeem wrongs. Powlison offers practical help for people who struggle with irritation, complaining, or bitterness and gives guidance for how to respond constructively when life goes wrong. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.
Good and Angry, a groundbreaking new book from David Powlison, contends that anger is more than a problem to solve. Anger is our complex human response to things we perceive as wrong in a complex world, thus we must learn how to fruitfully and honestly deal with it. Powlison undertakes an in-depth exploration of the roots of anger, moral judgment, and righteous response by looking in a surprising place: God’s own anger.
Powlison reminds us that God gets angry too. He sees things in this world that aren’t right and he wants justice too. But God’s anger doesn’t devolve into manipulation or trying to control others to get his own way. Instead his anger is good and redemptive. It causes him to step into our world to make wrongs right, sending his own Son to die so that we can be reconciled. He is both our model for change and our power to change.
Good and Angry sets readers on a path toward a faithful and fruitful expression of anger, in which we return good for evil and redeem wrongs. Powlison offers practical help for people who struggle with irritation, complaining, or bitterness and gives guidance for how to respond constructively when life goes wrong. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2016
558 people are currently reading
3245 people want to read
About the author
David A. Powlison
151 books213 followersDavid Powlison, MDiv, PhD, (1949–2019) was a teacher, counselor, and the executive director of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He wrote many books and minibooks, including Speaking Truth in Love, Seeing with New Eyes, Good and Angry, Making All Things New, God's Grace in Your Suffering, Safe and Sound, and Take Heart. David was also the editor of The Journal of Biblical Counseling.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews
May 2, 2016
My endorsement:
Between 1995 and 2006 David Powlison published five weighty journal articles that profoundly deepened (and challenged) my thinking on anger, and those articles, gathered up and Xerox copied many times over, have served for years as my top recommendation to friends and inquirers struggling with anger, and struggling to discover its many diverse and sometimes subtle roots. Those articles, once scattered in journals, have finally been collected, reworked, and expanded into a fresh new book. It is rather rare to have a 20-year history behind a commendation of a new book, but *Good and Angry* by Powlison now takes its rightful place as my number one recommendation on anger, not to mention it now stands as the fullest and wisest Christian response to the subtheme of self-hatred and self-anger I have ever read.
Between 1995 and 2006 David Powlison published five weighty journal articles that profoundly deepened (and challenged) my thinking on anger, and those articles, gathered up and Xerox copied many times over, have served for years as my top recommendation to friends and inquirers struggling with anger, and struggling to discover its many diverse and sometimes subtle roots. Those articles, once scattered in journals, have finally been collected, reworked, and expanded into a fresh new book. It is rather rare to have a 20-year history behind a commendation of a new book, but *Good and Angry* by Powlison now takes its rightful place as my number one recommendation on anger, not to mention it now stands as the fullest and wisest Christian response to the subtheme of self-hatred and self-anger I have ever read.
July 10, 2023
An excellent book! Never have I heard such a comprehensive, thorough, deep, nuanced, clarifying take on this subject.
It took me a whole year to go through the book, then listened to it in French (translated as Chrétien en colère) and even so I don’t think I have done it justice, I plan to reread right now some chapters and work through them slowly. Definitely worth rereading the whole book in the future.
This is a fundamental book on anger. It seems to me all Christians should read it and non-Christians can also greatly benefit from it, so clarifying. Takes you to the core, the big picture and the goal of the issue.
It is also very practical - plenty of occasions to roll up your sleeves and get involved in sorting out your particular anger(s) (like raising very good questions, giving you new ways of seeing, tools and directions).
There are so many great take-aways, I hope I’ll get some time to write some here.
It took me a whole year to go through the book, then listened to it in French (translated as Chrétien en colère) and even so I don’t think I have done it justice, I plan to reread right now some chapters and work through them slowly. Definitely worth rereading the whole book in the future.
This is a fundamental book on anger. It seems to me all Christians should read it and non-Christians can also greatly benefit from it, so clarifying. Takes you to the core, the big picture and the goal of the issue.
It is also very practical - plenty of occasions to roll up your sleeves and get involved in sorting out your particular anger(s) (like raising very good questions, giving you new ways of seeing, tools and directions).
There are so many great take-aways, I hope I’ll get some time to write some here.
January 9, 2022
FABULOUS book on anger! I would recommend this book to anyone struggling with anger (so everyone) or if you are a biblical counselor.
I love how he approached anger in the first half of the book. He made a point that anger against sin is not wrong, however our actions that come from that are often sinful. Instead, we should turn that anger into mercy and take positive action. Then in the second half he addresses anger that stems from preferences, anger at self, and anger at God.
I listened to this so I will certainly be buying a copy and rereading it this year.
I love how he approached anger in the first half of the book. He made a point that anger against sin is not wrong, however our actions that come from that are often sinful. Instead, we should turn that anger into mercy and take positive action. Then in the second half he addresses anger that stems from preferences, anger at self, and anger at God.
I listened to this so I will certainly be buying a copy and rereading it this year.
May 2, 2021
30 years of counseling wisdom condensed into well-organized, high-impact practices for understanding anger. I cannot imagine a more powerful, inviting, kind, or encouraging book on this subject. I read a lot of books that maybe started with a decent idea on a blog post and then the author tried to stretch that thought into a full length book. This is the absolute opposite.
I started this book mid-pandemic when I realized my irritability level was off the charts. I'd been at home with my kids for almost a year and while I have often loved our unexpected homeschooling adventure, I haven't naturally grown more patient or tolerant of the mess, interruptions, and frequent demands on my attention over this past year. I needed to look at myself in the mirror and really begin to address the underlying issues that were making me so quick to get angry. I was hoping to find a book that would help provide some godly counsel and this book has been exactly what I needed. Powlison began the work of major renovation in my thoughts and attitudes, and helped me to distinguish between needful anger and unnecessary rage, between destructive attitudes and constructive displeasure. This book is worth every penny I spent on it and will be reread often for its wisdom.
I started this book mid-pandemic when I realized my irritability level was off the charts. I'd been at home with my kids for almost a year and while I have often loved our unexpected homeschooling adventure, I haven't naturally grown more patient or tolerant of the mess, interruptions, and frequent demands on my attention over this past year. I needed to look at myself in the mirror and really begin to address the underlying issues that were making me so quick to get angry. I was hoping to find a book that would help provide some godly counsel and this book has been exactly what I needed. Powlison began the work of major renovation in my thoughts and attitudes, and helped me to distinguish between needful anger and unnecessary rage, between destructive attitudes and constructive displeasure. This book is worth every penny I spent on it and will be reread often for its wisdom.
April 2, 2018
Insanely challenging, convicting, practical and re-orienting. I can’t imagine a person who wouldn’t benefit from this. Filled with gospel gut punches and lots of reflection questions to work through.
Not a book you can just breeze through, even at its appropriate length. I’ll be referencing and using the paradigms in here for years to come.
Not a book you can just breeze through, even at its appropriate length. I’ll be referencing and using the paradigms in here for years to come.
May 25, 2024
Truly brilliant book.
At its core, anger is "That matters, and it’s wrong."
We are acting like God when anger "energizes us to address real problems…We are made to be aroused to anger and to constructive action in the presence of moral evil. That’s what God is like."
"You identify something wrong and harmful. It matters. You are created to get upset about it."
"The typical bad angers are all versions of returning evil for evil."
So how do we get angry in a Christ-like way? The main question: "How can I see wrong and be wronged and yet do right?"
Powlison not only speaks to those prone to anger, but also to those who need to become more angry (me!); those of us who have insulated themselves from emotion and pain in the world: we who fail to get angry "when real wrongs are occurring because it’s easier to remain indifferent and detached." If we see real problems and do not become angry, we are not being Christ-like. When we "ignore or shrug off things that are wrong and ought to be tackled" we are not being Christ-like. We need to cultivate "good, constructive, problem-solving anger."
Essentially we have two bad responses to evil:
1. Returning evil for evil
2. Ignoring and insulating ourselves from evil
What is the Biblical response? Mercy.
Like the second rail of a train track, mercy "traverses exactly the same ground as simple anger." Just like anger, Mercy says, “That matters. It’s wrong and offensive. I want to do something about it.”
"Mercy is a response to feeling displeasure." But instead of destructive, mercy is constructive.
God’s mercy is "his paradoxical, lovely expression of his displeasure with how things are."
Contra response #2, "mercy is not a non-reactive indifference—because it cares. Mercy wades into difficult situations and is willing to get involved."
Contra response #1, it says, “That’s wrong—and I will be constructively merciful in pursuing whatever is just, whatever makes things right, whatever does good. Mercy is how we love in the face of something wrong. I can know something is utterly wrong, yet I can act constructively."
Jesus is the embodiment of these two proper counter-responses (see below for more).
Powlison lists four characteristics of good anger:
1. Patience - "To be slow to anger means you are willing to work with wrong over time. To become slow to anger is to become like God."
2. Forgiveness - "Forgiveness does not ignore what’s wrong. It does not excuse what’s wrong. It does not pretend that the person didn’t really mean it. Instead, recognizing that a debt is owed, it forgives the debt."
3. Charity - "To do good to someone who does wrong…Charity does what the recipient doesn’t deserve. Someone deserves payback because they did you or others wrong. But you do charity."
4. Constructive conflict - Especially as parents, our job is to express "constructive, restorative displeasure: That’s wrong. Let’s solve it. It involves confronting evils, rescuing victims, calling wrongdoers to accountability: 'You can’t treat people that way.'"
Those four characteristics are not a to-do list. Those four flow out of a heart that has been transformed by Jesus and the mercy of God
They "are matters of character, not mere strategies. Constructive strategies flow from a character transformed by our humbling need for the mercies of God."
It is possible to get to this level of spiritual maturity: "the ability to endure injury with patience and without resentment. [someone who is] purposefully constructive in the most difficult circumstances."
Powlison's book is not only theologically profound, it is very practical. Particularly helpful are his 8 Questions for Dismantling Your Anger. "These 8 Questions summarize the basic pattern for truly understanding yourself and how change works."
An interesting observation re the Wrath of God:
The God of the Bible "is the best-known angry person in all history and literature! No other person in history has ever allowed his or her anger to be so carefully detailed and held up for public inspection. No book ever written tells so much about one person’s anger—and portrays it as essentially and coherently good."
Yet, at his core, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" Ps 103:8
"These words express the genetic code of the Bible. This DNA comes in the flesh in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the incarnation of God-in-action who intervenes in what goes wrong. He sees, evaluates, speaks, and takes action. Jesus did not live a calm life. He cared too much. Yet he was not a tense person. He was not irritable, anxious, or driven. But he was not detached, cool, or aloof, either. He plunged into the storms of human sufferings and sins."
"If you are being remade into his image, then you will join his battle to rid the world of wrong. You will participate in the wrath of God."
Ultimately, in our anger, our goal is to be like God: "Imagine displeasure at evil that is deep, determined, lasting, strong, and unselfish." That displeasure is Good and Angry.
Buy this book: "Any headway you make in the reorientation of your anger is worth more than any amount of money."
At its core, anger is "That matters, and it’s wrong."
We are acting like God when anger "energizes us to address real problems…We are made to be aroused to anger and to constructive action in the presence of moral evil. That’s what God is like."
"You identify something wrong and harmful. It matters. You are created to get upset about it."
"The typical bad angers are all versions of returning evil for evil."
So how do we get angry in a Christ-like way? The main question: "How can I see wrong and be wronged and yet do right?"
Powlison not only speaks to those prone to anger, but also to those who need to become more angry (me!); those of us who have insulated themselves from emotion and pain in the world: we who fail to get angry "when real wrongs are occurring because it’s easier to remain indifferent and detached." If we see real problems and do not become angry, we are not being Christ-like. When we "ignore or shrug off things that are wrong and ought to be tackled" we are not being Christ-like. We need to cultivate "good, constructive, problem-solving anger."
Essentially we have two bad responses to evil:
1. Returning evil for evil
2. Ignoring and insulating ourselves from evil
What is the Biblical response? Mercy.
Like the second rail of a train track, mercy "traverses exactly the same ground as simple anger." Just like anger, Mercy says, “That matters. It’s wrong and offensive. I want to do something about it.”
"Mercy is a response to feeling displeasure." But instead of destructive, mercy is constructive.
God’s mercy is "his paradoxical, lovely expression of his displeasure with how things are."
Contra response #2, "mercy is not a non-reactive indifference—because it cares. Mercy wades into difficult situations and is willing to get involved."
Contra response #1, it says, “That’s wrong—and I will be constructively merciful in pursuing whatever is just, whatever makes things right, whatever does good. Mercy is how we love in the face of something wrong. I can know something is utterly wrong, yet I can act constructively."
Jesus is the embodiment of these two proper counter-responses (see below for more).
Powlison lists four characteristics of good anger:
1. Patience - "To be slow to anger means you are willing to work with wrong over time. To become slow to anger is to become like God."
2. Forgiveness - "Forgiveness does not ignore what’s wrong. It does not excuse what’s wrong. It does not pretend that the person didn’t really mean it. Instead, recognizing that a debt is owed, it forgives the debt."
3. Charity - "To do good to someone who does wrong…Charity does what the recipient doesn’t deserve. Someone deserves payback because they did you or others wrong. But you do charity."
4. Constructive conflict - Especially as parents, our job is to express "constructive, restorative displeasure: That’s wrong. Let’s solve it. It involves confronting evils, rescuing victims, calling wrongdoers to accountability: 'You can’t treat people that way.'"
Those four characteristics are not a to-do list. Those four flow out of a heart that has been transformed by Jesus and the mercy of God
They "are matters of character, not mere strategies. Constructive strategies flow from a character transformed by our humbling need for the mercies of God."
It is possible to get to this level of spiritual maturity: "the ability to endure injury with patience and without resentment. [someone who is] purposefully constructive in the most difficult circumstances."
Powlison's book is not only theologically profound, it is very practical. Particularly helpful are his 8 Questions for Dismantling Your Anger. "These 8 Questions summarize the basic pattern for truly understanding yourself and how change works."
An interesting observation re the Wrath of God:
The God of the Bible "is the best-known angry person in all history and literature! No other person in history has ever allowed his or her anger to be so carefully detailed and held up for public inspection. No book ever written tells so much about one person’s anger—and portrays it as essentially and coherently good."
Yet, at his core, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" Ps 103:8
"These words express the genetic code of the Bible. This DNA comes in the flesh in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the incarnation of God-in-action who intervenes in what goes wrong. He sees, evaluates, speaks, and takes action. Jesus did not live a calm life. He cared too much. Yet he was not a tense person. He was not irritable, anxious, or driven. But he was not detached, cool, or aloof, either. He plunged into the storms of human sufferings and sins."
"If you are being remade into his image, then you will join his battle to rid the world of wrong. You will participate in the wrath of God."
Ultimately, in our anger, our goal is to be like God: "Imagine displeasure at evil that is deep, determined, lasting, strong, and unselfish." That displeasure is Good and Angry.
Buy this book: "Any headway you make in the reorientation of your anger is worth more than any amount of money."
March 18, 2021
I got this book, and to be honest, I wasn’t all that thrilled. Sure it was a new book, but it felt like jumper cables attached to my heart and the ignition was having trouble turning over. I didn’t want to read it. So I kept putting it off until the anger that cooly simmered below the surface erupted with force and heat and was determined to destroy all that was in its path. Something had to change.
I never thought I had an anger problem, do any of us though? Yet “we ALL need help” (9). But that is a kindness of the Holy Spirit—to allow circumstances in your life to be such that sin reveals itself and rears its raging head. Something has to be done.
In Good & Angry, Powlison shows how anger is in fact good, because God does in fact get angry; but the anger we express is by and large not righteous. He provides a theology of anger, but then digs into the nuances while exposing the sinfulness of the human anger we so commonly display. “Anger arises in your body, but your body is not the crucial issue. Anger is learned from people around you, but their model is not the crucial issue. Anger is affected by the things you tell yourself, but your thoughts are not the crucial issue. Anger gets pent up, but releasing energies is not the crucial issue. Anger is devilishly hostile, but exorcising dark powers is not the crucial issue. The crucial issue is you” (69).
This book is broken up into 4 parts : Our Experience, What is Anger?, How to Change, and Tackling the Hard Cases. It will not only force you to honestly analyze and self-reflect inwardly, but you also only do this in light of our relationship upward with Christ. Powlison leaves no stone unturned when it comes to discussing anger, yet does so in the gentlest and most grandpa-ly kind of way, I hope this resonates well. In Section 2, the reader could get bogged down with confusing trains of thought only because it’s requires extra deep thinking. I found parts challenging, but keep going. This book will certainly help you plainly see your anger as it relates to your circumstances/circumstances done to you, and encourage you to run straight to Jesus. If you are looking for a self-help book to manage your anger, this isn’t it. It’s much, much more.
Powlison provides questions at the end of each chapter meant to slow you down to do the unpleasant and painful pruning. Take the time to reflect on these questions in a journal. This book deserves your time and patience if you’re wanting to kill the sinful anger inside. There are countless examples, applications, and stories given throughout the book that the reader will be able to understand, perhaps all too well. I found myself writing in the margin often, ‘yep,’ ‘been there,’ ‘ugh, me.’
Every time I opened this book, I felt like I was walking into a counseling session; and every time I closed it, a sigh of relief and a smile of hope. I am so grateful to Powlison for writing this book. My heart was wrung out, but in all the good ways; yet so tenderly cared for in this book.
So go add this to your list. It’ll be good & helpful, good & painful, good & uncomfortable, but most importantly, it’ll help you become more like God, good & angry.
I never thought I had an anger problem, do any of us though? Yet “we ALL need help” (9). But that is a kindness of the Holy Spirit—to allow circumstances in your life to be such that sin reveals itself and rears its raging head. Something has to be done.
In Good & Angry, Powlison shows how anger is in fact good, because God does in fact get angry; but the anger we express is by and large not righteous. He provides a theology of anger, but then digs into the nuances while exposing the sinfulness of the human anger we so commonly display. “Anger arises in your body, but your body is not the crucial issue. Anger is learned from people around you, but their model is not the crucial issue. Anger is affected by the things you tell yourself, but your thoughts are not the crucial issue. Anger gets pent up, but releasing energies is not the crucial issue. Anger is devilishly hostile, but exorcising dark powers is not the crucial issue. The crucial issue is you” (69).
This book is broken up into 4 parts : Our Experience, What is Anger?, How to Change, and Tackling the Hard Cases. It will not only force you to honestly analyze and self-reflect inwardly, but you also only do this in light of our relationship upward with Christ. Powlison leaves no stone unturned when it comes to discussing anger, yet does so in the gentlest and most grandpa-ly kind of way, I hope this resonates well. In Section 2, the reader could get bogged down with confusing trains of thought only because it’s requires extra deep thinking. I found parts challenging, but keep going. This book will certainly help you plainly see your anger as it relates to your circumstances/circumstances done to you, and encourage you to run straight to Jesus. If you are looking for a self-help book to manage your anger, this isn’t it. It’s much, much more.
Powlison provides questions at the end of each chapter meant to slow you down to do the unpleasant and painful pruning. Take the time to reflect on these questions in a journal. This book deserves your time and patience if you’re wanting to kill the sinful anger inside. There are countless examples, applications, and stories given throughout the book that the reader will be able to understand, perhaps all too well. I found myself writing in the margin often, ‘yep,’ ‘been there,’ ‘ugh, me.’
Every time I opened this book, I felt like I was walking into a counseling session; and every time I closed it, a sigh of relief and a smile of hope. I am so grateful to Powlison for writing this book. My heart was wrung out, but in all the good ways; yet so tenderly cared for in this book.
So go add this to your list. It’ll be good & helpful, good & painful, good & uncomfortable, but most importantly, it’ll help you become more like God, good & angry.
October 12, 2021
This is the first book I have ever read by Powlison. I didnt know what to expect but given the theme, and the potential for christian "self help" books to be syrupy, I came into it a skeptic.
Six pages in, Powlison had proved me wrong. The first section, "Our Experience," is a mirror, written to make you take a long, hard look at yourself. There were pages where I had to take deep breaths as I continued, pause to wince from the sting of truth, and cautiously proceed to what I knew would be hard questions. I appreciated the reflection questions very much. The author's tone is very casual and calm. Its like having a conversation with a very wise friend.
As a child, I enjoyed taking complex things apart and learning how they worked. As an adult, I still continue to enjoy this in both
the physical and mental realms. The following section, "What is Anger?," does just that and dissects anger. That was the most powerful section for me. The way it explains God's wrath and mercy, and the necessary coexistence of both, was new and interesting to me. The third section combines what you saw and analyzed in yourself, and what you learned about anger, to give you a set of tools and skills for what to do with all that information. It is aptly titled "How to Change."
The final section, titled "Tackling The Hard Cases" was handled with a lot of maturity, sensitivity, and wisdom. You can truly see his giftings as a counselor shine through.
I walk away from this book encouraged, humbled, and with a lot of practical knowledge and skills.
Six pages in, Powlison had proved me wrong. The first section, "Our Experience," is a mirror, written to make you take a long, hard look at yourself. There were pages where I had to take deep breaths as I continued, pause to wince from the sting of truth, and cautiously proceed to what I knew would be hard questions. I appreciated the reflection questions very much. The author's tone is very casual and calm. Its like having a conversation with a very wise friend.
As a child, I enjoyed taking complex things apart and learning how they worked. As an adult, I still continue to enjoy this in both
the physical and mental realms. The following section, "What is Anger?," does just that and dissects anger. That was the most powerful section for me. The way it explains God's wrath and mercy, and the necessary coexistence of both, was new and interesting to me. The third section combines what you saw and analyzed in yourself, and what you learned about anger, to give you a set of tools and skills for what to do with all that information. It is aptly titled "How to Change."
The final section, titled "Tackling The Hard Cases" was handled with a lot of maturity, sensitivity, and wisdom. You can truly see his giftings as a counselor shine through.
I walk away from this book encouraged, humbled, and with a lot of practical knowledge and skills.
July 15, 2020
Anger is something we all experience as humans, and David Powlison wants to show how to avoid destructive anger and develop the capacity for constructive anger that fixes problems instead of causing them. I don't think I've ever seen a time when tempers in our nation were running higher than they are right now, so this book is a timely read. Whether your anger tends to take the form of a fly-off-the-handle temper, a slow, simmering bitterness, or a caustic, passive-aggressive sarcasm, you'll find this book helpful. Also if you are the sort of person who never seems to get angry about anything at all, this book will show you why you maybe should.
Powlison spends a great deal of first part of the book dealing with the root of anger, and the last two chapters on how to analyze your anger and how to change it are fantastic.
Powlison spends a great deal of first part of the book dealing with the root of anger, and the last two chapters on how to analyze your anger and how to change it are fantastic.
March 1, 2025
according to this book, anger boils down to active displeasure toward something which we believe is important enough to care about (“that’s wrong, it matters.”). consequently all forms of anger reveal something about our inner sense of justice as well as the things that we love. a skewed sense of justice and affection for wrong things will lead to ungodly anger. we can learn to identify ungodly anger in ourselves by considering what we want, believe, fear, and intend when we are angry. conversely, godly anger is informed by a biblical sense of justice and love for what is right. the author calls this good anger the “constructive displeasure of mercy” by which we ought to pursue the good through patience, forgiveness, charity, and constructive conflict when appropriate.
there were two connections made in the book which I personally appreciated. 1) the relationship between self-pity and anger. self-pity is described as a knife that we sharpen with which to cut ourselves. in this distorted form of anger, we simultaneously condemn ourselves while playing the victim, instead of entrusting ourselves to God. this makes me think of Jonah 4, where Jonah was full of self-pity and God asked him “do you do well to be angry?” 2) on the topic of anger at ourselves, the author points out how “fruitless self-reproach can be transformed into healthy fear of God [that is] inseparable from trust in his compassion, loving kindness, and forgiveness.” i appreciate this insight because of how it highlights the character of God. as children of God, God’s righteous anger is always ordered toward our good and cleansing, and ultimately his wrath was poured out on Christ for us. practically i understand this to mean that we do not need to try to punish ourselves even when we do wrong, but can receive cleansing when we go to Him for forgiveness. this will ultimately deepen our joy and fellowship with Him.
subjective enjoyment of the book was maybe closer to 3 stars, but i’ll give it 4 because i don’t have much negative to say about it lol
there were two connections made in the book which I personally appreciated. 1) the relationship between self-pity and anger. self-pity is described as a knife that we sharpen with which to cut ourselves. in this distorted form of anger, we simultaneously condemn ourselves while playing the victim, instead of entrusting ourselves to God. this makes me think of Jonah 4, where Jonah was full of self-pity and God asked him “do you do well to be angry?” 2) on the topic of anger at ourselves, the author points out how “fruitless self-reproach can be transformed into healthy fear of God [that is] inseparable from trust in his compassion, loving kindness, and forgiveness.” i appreciate this insight because of how it highlights the character of God. as children of God, God’s righteous anger is always ordered toward our good and cleansing, and ultimately his wrath was poured out on Christ for us. practically i understand this to mean that we do not need to try to punish ourselves even when we do wrong, but can receive cleansing when we go to Him for forgiveness. this will ultimately deepen our joy and fellowship with Him.
subjective enjoyment of the book was maybe closer to 3 stars, but i’ll give it 4 because i don’t have much negative to say about it lol
October 4, 2022
Good read, I highly recommend.
October 2, 2024
I have rarely been so disappointed in a book. I will detail more below what I found problematic but in short: this book is not trauma or mental health-informed and suggests remedies that spiritually bypass without offering true practical help. Perhaps it might be helpful for someone dealing with common every day irritations but for someone with anger related to trauma or other mental health issues, I recommend not reading this book and finding a good therapist.
The book is split into four sections. Section one is about our experience with anger (our own anger or others). In it, the author spends much time trying to convince the reader they have an anger problem.
Section two deals with "what is anger?". This section was highly repetitive and could have easily been shortened. These chapters are spent trying to categorize anger but end up with a lot of spiritual bypassing. While chapter five does pose some good questions about anger the author ties these to personal motivation, jumping to a story about personal sin, rather than helping the reader discern what information anger is trying to tell them. Subsequent chapters showed that this book views anger as a reaction (not simply an emotion). This becomes clearer in chapter seven which speaks multiple times of action. While I agree that anger can often result in action, viewing it solely this way is unhelpful (and I would go so far as to say harmful) for those with abuse/trauma. While chapter 7 and 8 review four key aspects to "good anger" no true practical advice is given. It reads like "if you are angry just be patient/forgiving/charitable etc" which, for an abused person, spiritually bypasses the root cause. Anger must be felt and named before any constructive action can be taken. Section two ends with ways that God's love is expressed through his anger ( God's anger falls on Jesus, disarms the power of sin, delivers is from the pain of other's sins, protects us from ourselves ) and while I agree with all of these reasons the last two are presented without any real tangible support. While I agree that "the Lord is angry at people who seek to hurt us" and I believe that as God's child I can "hope and trust that at the return of Christ his anger will make things right (Romans 12:19)". This does nothing for the actual pain and hurt people experience today. This section bypassed the real hurt, pain, and oppression of living in a sinful world.
Section three talks about "how to change", though again, practical advice is lacking. Chapter 13 in this section does offer some good, worthy questions.
Section four addresses four "hard cases" (circumstances that "I'll never get over", Everyday angers, anger at self, and anger at God). It was the last two sections that I was the most disappointed in. In the chapter about self anger (chapter 16) he states "Full disclosure as we unpack this problem: I'm not going to say, "You should never judge yourself. Just accept yourself. You're OK and fine just the way you are. You have intrinsic worth just because you're a person, so you can feel good about yourself." I was with the author until that last sentence. If we believe in the imago Dei (which I would assume this author does) then we, as people, DO have intrinsic worth because we are made in the image of God. Failure to recognize this is particularly sad since this chapter continued to talk about three groups of standards that we judge ourselves by (social values, experiences, sin). The author affirms that judging ourselves by social values or by experiences that have shaped us is judging ourselves wrongly but offers no practical solution other than not believing falsehoods. So much could have been said about the fact that one is valuable as a person because we are made in the image of God. That truth can combat lies that one isn't valuable based on societal expectations or based on things others have done to you - This was a missed opportunity. I was further frustrated in the chapter about anger at God (chapter 17) when he stated that the following doctrine is not true: "You can vent your anger at God. He's a mature lover and mature love can absorb the anger of the beloved. Don't be afraid to tell him exactly what you feel and think. God wants an honest relationship. Many of the Psalms portray anger at God, so if other godly people have let out their rage at him, you can too. Don't censor your feelings and language; say it like you feel it so you won't be a hypocrite." The chapter goes on to tell the story of an individual who was mad at God for atrocities committed to him and states "Countless people have faced brutal death while loving the God whose actual love is bigger than death. Armen's lifelong grievance against God was based on insisting on something God had never promised.....God has promised better than what Armen demanded - not less, but more: the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting." While I agree that God's love is bigger than death this comes across as a shallow response to a deep, traumatic hurt. Failure to use the Psalms to process this anger with God is only perpetuating further harm because the answer "God's love is bigger than death" doesn't mean much to the one who has lost by death.
Overall I am very disappointed by this book. While several of the chapters offer good questions to reflect on about ones anger overall the book is lacking in practical help and what it does give may be harmful in certain cases.
The book is split into four sections. Section one is about our experience with anger (our own anger or others). In it, the author spends much time trying to convince the reader they have an anger problem.
Section two deals with "what is anger?". This section was highly repetitive and could have easily been shortened. These chapters are spent trying to categorize anger but end up with a lot of spiritual bypassing. While chapter five does pose some good questions about anger the author ties these to personal motivation, jumping to a story about personal sin, rather than helping the reader discern what information anger is trying to tell them. Subsequent chapters showed that this book views anger as a reaction (not simply an emotion). This becomes clearer in chapter seven which speaks multiple times of action. While I agree that anger can often result in action, viewing it solely this way is unhelpful (and I would go so far as to say harmful) for those with abuse/trauma. While chapter 7 and 8 review four key aspects to "good anger" no true practical advice is given. It reads like "if you are angry just be patient/forgiving/charitable etc" which, for an abused person, spiritually bypasses the root cause. Anger must be felt and named before any constructive action can be taken. Section two ends with ways that God's love is expressed through his anger ( God's anger falls on Jesus, disarms the power of sin, delivers is from the pain of other's sins, protects us from ourselves ) and while I agree with all of these reasons the last two are presented without any real tangible support. While I agree that "the Lord is angry at people who seek to hurt us" and I believe that as God's child I can "hope and trust that at the return of Christ his anger will make things right (Romans 12:19)". This does nothing for the actual pain and hurt people experience today. This section bypassed the real hurt, pain, and oppression of living in a sinful world.
Section three talks about "how to change", though again, practical advice is lacking. Chapter 13 in this section does offer some good, worthy questions.
Section four addresses four "hard cases" (circumstances that "I'll never get over", Everyday angers, anger at self, and anger at God). It was the last two sections that I was the most disappointed in. In the chapter about self anger (chapter 16) he states "Full disclosure as we unpack this problem: I'm not going to say, "You should never judge yourself. Just accept yourself. You're OK and fine just the way you are. You have intrinsic worth just because you're a person, so you can feel good about yourself." I was with the author until that last sentence. If we believe in the imago Dei (which I would assume this author does) then we, as people, DO have intrinsic worth because we are made in the image of God. Failure to recognize this is particularly sad since this chapter continued to talk about three groups of standards that we judge ourselves by (social values, experiences, sin). The author affirms that judging ourselves by social values or by experiences that have shaped us is judging ourselves wrongly but offers no practical solution other than not believing falsehoods. So much could have been said about the fact that one is valuable as a person because we are made in the image of God. That truth can combat lies that one isn't valuable based on societal expectations or based on things others have done to you - This was a missed opportunity. I was further frustrated in the chapter about anger at God (chapter 17) when he stated that the following doctrine is not true: "You can vent your anger at God. He's a mature lover and mature love can absorb the anger of the beloved. Don't be afraid to tell him exactly what you feel and think. God wants an honest relationship. Many of the Psalms portray anger at God, so if other godly people have let out their rage at him, you can too. Don't censor your feelings and language; say it like you feel it so you won't be a hypocrite." The chapter goes on to tell the story of an individual who was mad at God for atrocities committed to him and states "Countless people have faced brutal death while loving the God whose actual love is bigger than death. Armen's lifelong grievance against God was based on insisting on something God had never promised.....God has promised better than what Armen demanded - not less, but more: the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting." While I agree that God's love is bigger than death this comes across as a shallow response to a deep, traumatic hurt. Failure to use the Psalms to process this anger with God is only perpetuating further harm because the answer "God's love is bigger than death" doesn't mean much to the one who has lost by death.
Overall I am very disappointed by this book. While several of the chapters offer good questions to reflect on about ones anger overall the book is lacking in practical help and what it does give may be harmful in certain cases.
November 29, 2023
Wow. Well that I needed and loved! This makes my top list of most helpful Christian books ever, and I fully intend to re-read and journal through each chapter as I go.
Powlison's teaching from Scripture on how to view anger rightly has helped me immensely in handling anger problems I didn't even know I had - as well as equipping me to parent my children through their own battles.
Highly, highly recommend - whether or not you think you have an anger problem. (Spoiler alert: You do. We all do.🤷🏽♀️)
Five full stars. Literally nothing negative to say.
Powlison's teaching from Scripture on how to view anger rightly has helped me immensely in handling anger problems I didn't even know I had - as well as equipping me to parent my children through their own battles.
Highly, highly recommend - whether or not you think you have an anger problem. (Spoiler alert: You do. We all do.🤷🏽♀️)
Five full stars. Literally nothing negative to say.
February 7, 2024
I've always considered myself to be a nice guy. Thoughtful, conscientious, high emotional intelligence, whatever. "Anger" was a bad word, used to describe the people I knew who had tantrums, threw things, yelled at the TV, punched the steering wheel, etc. You know, the people from whom others avert their gaze when they're melting down in public. I'm not "that guy", I thought, so I don't have much of a problem with anger.
Marriage, and especially parenting, have helped me to see how blinded I was to my own true nature. It is becoming more clear to me how naturally I gravitate towards simmering day in, day out with irritation, harshness, annoyance, edgy defensiveness and passive-aggressiveness, record-keeping on the balance between others' wrongs versus my noble sacrifices. And sometimes I do completely "lose it" internally, with rage boiling over to the point that I can hardly think straight. Thank you, Lord, for graciously showing me that, yes, I too have a problem with anger. Your grace abounds to me.
I am so grateful for this book. It is simply the best writing about emotion that I've ever read, let alone about anger. Anger is a complex and nuanced topic, difficult to wrestle with on both theoretical and practical levels, but Powlison lays out the topic lucidly with the Scriptural richness of a Biblical scholar combined with the practical wisdom of a highly experienced Biblical counselor. Powlison refuses to go down shallow and fruitless self-help shortcuts towards "anger management", but cuts to the deep heart of anger. Since anger is a fundamentally moral judgement--we stand resolutely against something we have judged to be wrong--the full depths of anger cannot be properly understood without understanding God, His anger, and ultimately the Gospel. There's so much more that I could say, but I would only say it much worse than what is written in this rich and practical book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Marriage, and especially parenting, have helped me to see how blinded I was to my own true nature. It is becoming more clear to me how naturally I gravitate towards simmering day in, day out with irritation, harshness, annoyance, edgy defensiveness and passive-aggressiveness, record-keeping on the balance between others' wrongs versus my noble sacrifices. And sometimes I do completely "lose it" internally, with rage boiling over to the point that I can hardly think straight. Thank you, Lord, for graciously showing me that, yes, I too have a problem with anger. Your grace abounds to me.
I am so grateful for this book. It is simply the best writing about emotion that I've ever read, let alone about anger. Anger is a complex and nuanced topic, difficult to wrestle with on both theoretical and practical levels, but Powlison lays out the topic lucidly with the Scriptural richness of a Biblical scholar combined with the practical wisdom of a highly experienced Biblical counselor. Powlison refuses to go down shallow and fruitless self-help shortcuts towards "anger management", but cuts to the deep heart of anger. Since anger is a fundamentally moral judgement--we stand resolutely against something we have judged to be wrong--the full depths of anger cannot be properly understood without understanding God, His anger, and ultimately the Gospel. There's so much more that I could say, but I would only say it much worse than what is written in this rich and practical book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
May 27, 2021
I arrogantly expected to read through this quickly and more for the benefit of others. It is an easy read, but it was surprisingly and deeply convicting.
According to Powlison, Anger is an essentially moral emotion and value judgment which takes many modes, but is essentially “active displeasure toward something that’s important enough to care about.” This anger shows up all over the place and must be ordered by wisdom, mercy, forgiveness, and serious reflection. It is a force for great destruction.
But part of our sanctification and becoming fully human is our participation in the wrath of God, hence the title- good and angry. As Aristotle and Augustine said, virtue consists of loving and hating rightly.
This book shows no mercy towards unrighteous anger, wisely and graciously helping the reader put it to death. But it does not eviscerate the soul and leave it incapable of anger, but helps restore and rightly order this facet of the image of God.
Would recommend.
According to Powlison, Anger is an essentially moral emotion and value judgment which takes many modes, but is essentially “active displeasure toward something that’s important enough to care about.” This anger shows up all over the place and must be ordered by wisdom, mercy, forgiveness, and serious reflection. It is a force for great destruction.
But part of our sanctification and becoming fully human is our participation in the wrath of God, hence the title- good and angry. As Aristotle and Augustine said, virtue consists of loving and hating rightly.
This book shows no mercy towards unrighteous anger, wisely and graciously helping the reader put it to death. But it does not eviscerate the soul and leave it incapable of anger, but helps restore and rightly order this facet of the image of God.
Would recommend.
May 20, 2023
At least 7 stars for this one.
I’ve been waiting to write a review but honestly, I cannot think how to do it justice with my words. I’ve underlined so much in the book that my summary would be about a quarter of the length of the book itself.
It is a book that is so biblical, so honest, so compassionate, so practical, and so true, that all I can say is: read it. Even if you don’t think you have a problem with anger, read it.
I first picked this one up because I was wrestling with intense anger over an injustice that kept increasing in one sphere of my life. This book helped me navigate that anger, explore what was just in my anger as well as unjust, and helped me understand much more of the nuances of anger - in addition to the bad pop theology that is often floating around our current-day churches.
The exercises and questions also helped me apply it to my own situation with integrity and purpose and grace.
Read this book!
I’ve been waiting to write a review but honestly, I cannot think how to do it justice with my words. I’ve underlined so much in the book that my summary would be about a quarter of the length of the book itself.
It is a book that is so biblical, so honest, so compassionate, so practical, and so true, that all I can say is: read it. Even if you don’t think you have a problem with anger, read it.
I first picked this one up because I was wrestling with intense anger over an injustice that kept increasing in one sphere of my life. This book helped me navigate that anger, explore what was just in my anger as well as unjust, and helped me understand much more of the nuances of anger - in addition to the bad pop theology that is often floating around our current-day churches.
The exercises and questions also helped me apply it to my own situation with integrity and purpose and grace.
Read this book!
February 6, 2017
This book on anger took me a while to get through. It is detailed, intense and practical on the ins and outs of our anger (including a complaining spirit and bitterness--which is simmering anger), our anger at God and even when we are angry at ourselves. The questions at the end of each chapter help unpack our heart and the chapter on eight questions to get to the root of our anger was very helpful. This is a great book and in my opinion, the best book on the subject of how to look at our anger biblically.
April 27, 2020
This is one of the first books I’ve read on anger, but it was a good one to start with. It speaks to everyone in that it says EVERYONE struggles with anger in some capacity as we’re humans, but to what degree is where you see the difference. Anger is not just yelling, explosive, throwing things across the room. Anger is also the passive aggressive comments, the silent resentment, the nitpicking, irritability, complaining, sarcasm, & annoyance that is so common in our everyday lives. The book gives a good theology of anger and why anger in & of itself is good (at the right things), but how it often gets twisted from the righteous anger we see portrayed in the person of Jesus. Ends with very practical tools & shares the gospel throughout. Thumbs up.
July 8, 2024
This is an incredibly important book. David Powlison has really done everyone a tremendous service in writing this, and if I had endless financial abundance I would buy a copy for every one I know. He lays a solid foundation for what anger is, then biblically provides ways to think about it, questions to ask to confront it and leaves very few stones unturned in coming to a better understanding if when our anger is bad and when it is good.
An incredibly helpful and insightful book that I highly recommend!
An incredibly helpful and insightful book that I highly recommend!
June 18, 2018
I couldn’t gush about this book enough if I tried! So wise, insightful, biblical and deeply helpful. A comprehensive and redemptive look at anger with practical counselling questions to help you think through the applications for your own heart. David Powlison is a master in these areas and such a gift to the people of God! Everyone would greatly benefit from reading this book. I will be going back to it often.
August 3, 2024
Good book on a topic that I haven’t learned much about previously. I read it as someone in a place of need and experiencing anger in ways I haven’t before… kind of seeing it as a more or less “new thing” for me. In that context I liked the book and the way it was written but am asking myself what I’m walking away with. It wasn’t a particularly easy read but the author did his best to make it such.
February 28, 2023
I think this man has a knack for combining truth with compassion and empathy that very few conservative Christian authors seem to have. I found this very helpful and plan to read more from him.
Read
May 21, 2024A very comprehensive and biblical take on anger. It’s a great resource that everyone could benefit from reading! I’d love to go back through it more slowly with a hard copy at some point.
September 2, 2016
Anger is a subject that most people can relate to. Many people battle a problem with chronic anger that lashes out at others and demands that specific needs be met or this high-toxic anger will continue to escalate. David Powlison address the problem of anger in his most recent book, Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness.
Powlison’s primary objective is to teach readers how to more fruitfully and honestly deal with their anger. The book is comprised of four sections, each of which help contribute to the stated objective above.
Section One: Our Experience
The author carefully introduces readers to different kinds of anger that emerge in people. At the end of the day, the descriptions become self-portraits, requiring each reader to examine any anger that may be smoldering in their hearts.
Powlison identifies a wonderful paradox and acknowledges that God blesses people who admit their brokenness and their need for help. The author adds, “Sanity has a deep awareness, I need help. I can’t do life right on my own. Someone outside me must intervene. The sanity of honest humility finds mercy, life, peace, and strength. By contrast, saying we don’t need help keeps us stuck on that hamster wheel of making excuses and blaming others. The end result isn’t life and peace; it’s self-righteousness, self-justification, alienation, and bitterness.”
So like a seasoned surgeon, Powlison identifies areas of need that readers need to acknowledge and confess. This is the first step in the right direction and prepares the humble for section two.
Section Two: What is Anger?
This section uncovers the essence of anger. At its core, anger expresses, “I’m against that.” Anger is seen to be comprehensive in scope. Powlison observes:
1. Your body operates in agitated mode.
2. Your emotions operate in the hot displeasure mode.
3. Your mind operates in judicial mode.
4. Your actions operate in military mode.
5. You motives operate in Godlike mode.
But anger is not what some think it is. Powlison notes that anger is a combination of good and bad: “Your anger is worth brilliant and appalling. The shifting line between good and evil plays out when it comes to your anger, like everywhere else. Your anger is God-like to the degree you treasure justice and fairness and are alert to betrayal and falsehood. Your anger is devil-like to the degree you play god and are petty, merciless, whiny, argumentative, willful, and unfair.”
Section two also contains an excellent treatment on the wrath of God. The author demonstrates the necessity of wrath and shows how wrath is an essential attribute in God. He observes four powerful principles that concern God’s anger:
1. God’s anger falls on Jesus.
2. God’s anger disarms the power of sin.
3. God’s anger delivers us from the pain of others’ sin.
4. God’s anger protects us from ourselves.
“These realities nourish our hearts,” writes Dr. Powlison. “God’s loving anger resolves the entire problem of evil in a way that brings him inexpressible glory and brings us inexpressible blessing … The truth is that you can’t understand God’s love if you don’t understand his anger.”
Section Three: How to Change
Section three focuses on practical ways to move from sinful anger and lives in ways that promote peace and glorify the Lord. The author includes a very helpful list of eight question that help readers shift their focus on eternal things. The questions include:
1. What is my situation?
2. How do I react?
3. What are my motives?
4. What are the consequences?
5. What is true?
6. How do I turn to God for help?
7. What are the consequences of faith and obedience?
Section Four: Tackling the Hard Cases
In section four, the author continues to wrestle with practical cases that readers will resonate with. He makes it clear that God expresses righteous anger. It is at this point that the book drives home the reality of the gospel: “He is angry at all injustice, every betrayal, any time wrongs are done to another … His response to evil is to do the greatest good thing the world has ever seen. He sends his own Son as a man of sorrows who enters and knows our suffering. He sends his own Son as the Lamb of God to die for the sins of his people. God doesn’t want you to ‘just get over it’ or to gloss over what you have suffered as if it didn’t really matter. He want to help you become good and angry as well. He wants you to become merciful, purposeful, hopeful … It takes courage to face the evil done to you and to then turn toward your God, who suffered unimaginable evil on your behalf.”
Summary
Good and Angry is a terrific book that is forged in the fire and bathed in the Word of God. The gospel runs throughout, urging the followers of Christ to follow his example and treasure him above all things. My prayer is that Powlison’s work will be a blessing to many; that the promises and purposes of God would be clearly revealed and that his people would be served well as a result of this excellent work.
Powlison’s primary objective is to teach readers how to more fruitfully and honestly deal with their anger. The book is comprised of four sections, each of which help contribute to the stated objective above.
Section One: Our Experience
The author carefully introduces readers to different kinds of anger that emerge in people. At the end of the day, the descriptions become self-portraits, requiring each reader to examine any anger that may be smoldering in their hearts.
Powlison identifies a wonderful paradox and acknowledges that God blesses people who admit their brokenness and their need for help. The author adds, “Sanity has a deep awareness, I need help. I can’t do life right on my own. Someone outside me must intervene. The sanity of honest humility finds mercy, life, peace, and strength. By contrast, saying we don’t need help keeps us stuck on that hamster wheel of making excuses and blaming others. The end result isn’t life and peace; it’s self-righteousness, self-justification, alienation, and bitterness.”
So like a seasoned surgeon, Powlison identifies areas of need that readers need to acknowledge and confess. This is the first step in the right direction and prepares the humble for section two.
Section Two: What is Anger?
This section uncovers the essence of anger. At its core, anger expresses, “I’m against that.” Anger is seen to be comprehensive in scope. Powlison observes:
1. Your body operates in agitated mode.
2. Your emotions operate in the hot displeasure mode.
3. Your mind operates in judicial mode.
4. Your actions operate in military mode.
5. You motives operate in Godlike mode.
But anger is not what some think it is. Powlison notes that anger is a combination of good and bad: “Your anger is worth brilliant and appalling. The shifting line between good and evil plays out when it comes to your anger, like everywhere else. Your anger is God-like to the degree you treasure justice and fairness and are alert to betrayal and falsehood. Your anger is devil-like to the degree you play god and are petty, merciless, whiny, argumentative, willful, and unfair.”
Section two also contains an excellent treatment on the wrath of God. The author demonstrates the necessity of wrath and shows how wrath is an essential attribute in God. He observes four powerful principles that concern God’s anger:
1. God’s anger falls on Jesus.
2. God’s anger disarms the power of sin.
3. God’s anger delivers us from the pain of others’ sin.
4. God’s anger protects us from ourselves.
“These realities nourish our hearts,” writes Dr. Powlison. “God’s loving anger resolves the entire problem of evil in a way that brings him inexpressible glory and brings us inexpressible blessing … The truth is that you can’t understand God’s love if you don’t understand his anger.”
Section Three: How to Change
Section three focuses on practical ways to move from sinful anger and lives in ways that promote peace and glorify the Lord. The author includes a very helpful list of eight question that help readers shift their focus on eternal things. The questions include:
1. What is my situation?
2. How do I react?
3. What are my motives?
4. What are the consequences?
5. What is true?
6. How do I turn to God for help?
7. What are the consequences of faith and obedience?
Section Four: Tackling the Hard Cases
In section four, the author continues to wrestle with practical cases that readers will resonate with. He makes it clear that God expresses righteous anger. It is at this point that the book drives home the reality of the gospel: “He is angry at all injustice, every betrayal, any time wrongs are done to another … His response to evil is to do the greatest good thing the world has ever seen. He sends his own Son as a man of sorrows who enters and knows our suffering. He sends his own Son as the Lamb of God to die for the sins of his people. God doesn’t want you to ‘just get over it’ or to gloss over what you have suffered as if it didn’t really matter. He want to help you become good and angry as well. He wants you to become merciful, purposeful, hopeful … It takes courage to face the evil done to you and to then turn toward your God, who suffered unimaginable evil on your behalf.”
Summary
Good and Angry is a terrific book that is forged in the fire and bathed in the Word of God. The gospel runs throughout, urging the followers of Christ to follow his example and treasure him above all things. My prayer is that Powlison’s work will be a blessing to many; that the promises and purposes of God would be clearly revealed and that his people would be served well as a result of this excellent work.
September 14, 2022
in many ways, it's exceptional. a few times I have disagreed with him, but nevertheless it should be read. possibly the most helpful modern book on anger, pre-modern comes from John Downame 'the cure for an unjust anger'.
November 12, 2023
Absolutely highly recommend for everyone!
September 17, 2023
The third book I read on this topic and the least helpful. Read Ed Welch's A Small Book About A Big Problem or Robert Jones' Uprooting Anger instead - both are shorter, more direct, and more practical. That said, I did appreciate Chapter 15: The Everyday Angers and Chapter 16: Do You Ever Get Angry at Yourself? in this book by Powlison.
Think my main issue with this book was style - it needed a better editor to make it less wordy, reduce the hypothetical questioning throughout, cut out the cutesy phrases that then had to be defined over chapters, and rearrange the text. The first half of the book runs like an intellectual treatise on how anger can be good and how it often goes bad. The second half was more practical and included some good questions for analyzing one's anger and also discussion on common types of anger.
"...you and I must become Christians with respect to our angers. We must learn to stop complaining, criticizing, arguing, and being bitter and hostile. To do that we need the mercies of Christ... we need to enter lifelong rehab... You must consciously choose to become a different kind of person. You must work it out over a lifetime." (p. 125)
"Courage, willingness to forgive, genuine love (even for enemies), patience over the long haul - these are matters of character, not mere strategies. Constructive strategies flow from a character transformed by our humbling need for the mercies of God." (p. 139)
"I cannot do it without help... Someone else is at work in me, and at work for me." (p. 165)
Think my main issue with this book was style - it needed a better editor to make it less wordy, reduce the hypothetical questioning throughout, cut out the cutesy phrases that then had to be defined over chapters, and rearrange the text. The first half of the book runs like an intellectual treatise on how anger can be good and how it often goes bad. The second half was more practical and included some good questions for analyzing one's anger and also discussion on common types of anger.
"...you and I must become Christians with respect to our angers. We must learn to stop complaining, criticizing, arguing, and being bitter and hostile. To do that we need the mercies of Christ... we need to enter lifelong rehab... You must consciously choose to become a different kind of person. You must work it out over a lifetime." (p. 125)
"Courage, willingness to forgive, genuine love (even for enemies), patience over the long haul - these are matters of character, not mere strategies. Constructive strategies flow from a character transformed by our humbling need for the mercies of God." (p. 139)
"I cannot do it without help... Someone else is at work in me, and at work for me." (p. 165)
September 24, 2016
This is an excellent book! Powlison lets us know that we all have an anger problem and that it is worse than we think. He shows us what it is, how it effects us, how it damages our relationships, and how to change our destructive patterns. Anger is not evil but our sin-tainted version of it often is. Powlison talks about God's righteous anger and how we are to conform to and reflect His until the day comes when sin is forever banished and anger is no longer needed. Especially helpful is the section at the end of the chapter called: Making it your own. Powlison helps us work through what he has taught us and practically apply the material to our own life.
November 8, 2023
First read: good
Second read: good
Second read: good
May 12, 2019
Read. This. Book. This is my 30th book I’ve read this year and I wish it had been the first, and would have been satisfied had it been the last. Read it.
My official million star review:
Phew. This book.
Chapter two: “Do you have a serious problem with Anger? YES.”
The author, Powlison, begins by telling us to highlight and notate and this is no joke. The church library copy has a few notes of its own, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In order to fully benefit from this book I highly recommend keeping notes as suggested. They were invaluable to me as I prayed and meditated through these pages. I don’t think I could fully convey all the thoughts that resonated with me as I read this book but I will leave some quotes. I cried seeing myself in these pages, and wept with joy at the redemption I found following my conviction. I will recommend this book to every single person I meet, and would buy you your own copy if I could. Of all the books you need (outside of the Word of God), I believe this to probably be one of the greatest. But maybe my favorite thing was the conclusion of this book. The harrowing and yet satisfying reminder that our anger is going somewhere. And it is going somewhere wonderful, full of glory and joy, where there is no longer a need for the constructive displeasure of mercy, because the world is made NEW and made RIGHT. Heaven will come down and the constructive displeasure of mercy will have its final say, and then we, the participants of such undeserved mercy, will give way to endless worship to the author and granter of such Grace.
——————————————————
“When anger runs amok into temper, grousing, or bitterness, you don’t need a technique to calm yourself down. You don’t just need your circumstances to change. You don’t just need other people to change. Your core motives must change. the God you worship (my will be done my kingdom come...or else), must be overthrown. And overthrowing a false God takes something much deeper than simply learning conflict resolution skills.”54
“If only we did not suffer and did not sin! We would have no need to receive God’s mercies-his paradoxical, lovely, expressions of his displeasure with how things are. If this world did not throb with sufferings and sin, we ourselves would not need to learn now to also feel mercy’s energetic displeasure with the status quo. Strong, clear minded mercy is the way we are meant to transmute feeling disturbed, uncomfortable, and bothered by what is.”
“Anger is all about fairness(however accurate or distorted our perceptions of fairness might be.) But forgiveness is mercifully unfair.” 80
“It is this God that we were created to be like. We are made in his image. That’s why we have the capacity for moral judgment. We are made to be aroused to anger and to constructive action in the presence of moral evil. That’s what God is like.” 121
“You never reckon with anger if you never reckon with the living God.” 234
“Meanwhile, we are to hate evil, but love our enemies. We never know which enemies might become our dearest friends. After all, Christ loved us when we were his enemies. Until the Day comes, the door of life is open. Enter all who will."
My official million star review:
Phew. This book.
Chapter two: “Do you have a serious problem with Anger? YES.”
The author, Powlison, begins by telling us to highlight and notate and this is no joke. The church library copy has a few notes of its own, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In order to fully benefit from this book I highly recommend keeping notes as suggested. They were invaluable to me as I prayed and meditated through these pages. I don’t think I could fully convey all the thoughts that resonated with me as I read this book but I will leave some quotes. I cried seeing myself in these pages, and wept with joy at the redemption I found following my conviction. I will recommend this book to every single person I meet, and would buy you your own copy if I could. Of all the books you need (outside of the Word of God), I believe this to probably be one of the greatest. But maybe my favorite thing was the conclusion of this book. The harrowing and yet satisfying reminder that our anger is going somewhere. And it is going somewhere wonderful, full of glory and joy, where there is no longer a need for the constructive displeasure of mercy, because the world is made NEW and made RIGHT. Heaven will come down and the constructive displeasure of mercy will have its final say, and then we, the participants of such undeserved mercy, will give way to endless worship to the author and granter of such Grace.
——————————————————
“When anger runs amok into temper, grousing, or bitterness, you don’t need a technique to calm yourself down. You don’t just need your circumstances to change. You don’t just need other people to change. Your core motives must change. the God you worship (my will be done my kingdom come...or else), must be overthrown. And overthrowing a false God takes something much deeper than simply learning conflict resolution skills.”54
“If only we did not suffer and did not sin! We would have no need to receive God’s mercies-his paradoxical, lovely, expressions of his displeasure with how things are. If this world did not throb with sufferings and sin, we ourselves would not need to learn now to also feel mercy’s energetic displeasure with the status quo. Strong, clear minded mercy is the way we are meant to transmute feeling disturbed, uncomfortable, and bothered by what is.”
“Anger is all about fairness(however accurate or distorted our perceptions of fairness might be.) But forgiveness is mercifully unfair.” 80
“It is this God that we were created to be like. We are made in his image. That’s why we have the capacity for moral judgment. We are made to be aroused to anger and to constructive action in the presence of moral evil. That’s what God is like.” 121
“You never reckon with anger if you never reckon with the living God.” 234
“Meanwhile, we are to hate evil, but love our enemies. We never know which enemies might become our dearest friends. After all, Christ loved us when we were his enemies. Until the Day comes, the door of life is open. Enter all who will."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews