Your God is Too Small

I recently re-read this one and once again,it did not disappoint. We are all (at least vaguely) familiar with stories of Greek Mythology. The stories can be interesting but we all agree that, as a workable theological worldview, Greek mythology is silly. What makes it silly is that the Greeks simply took all the foolishness of human beings, magnified them and called them gods. What we don't realize is that we ALL (believer and non-believer alike) do the same with the God of the Bible as well. We project our personalities, our experiences, worldviews, and our politics onto our concept of the creator and come away with more mythology than understanding. JB Phillips helps to dismantle our mythologies.

The first half of the book is about identifying how our concepts of God are lacking. The second half is Christian apologetics. I would characterize Phillips' writing as a half-step dryer than CS Lewis in Mere Christianity. This is a logical (sometimes psychological) study of our concept of God so although the book is tiny (2nd smallest book on my shelf), it is weighty and not for everyone.

I don't see how anyone can read this book and not come away changed. I distinctly remember the first time I read this book 20 years ago and the power of its ideas have not diminished. It feels like stepping into a theological boxing ring with Muhammed Ali and getting your keister handed to you. In fact, when I rule the world, churches will have to teach this book once every 10 years just to get their heads screwed back on straight (after all, we could all use a theological kick in the hind-parts now and again).

I will post a quote or two from the book in the coming days so you can decide if it is something for you.

I definitely recommend it (if you have the guts sucka!) ;-)