19th January, 2005

"Each short piece is written in a conversational manner and, as usual, Yancey is very honest about his own doubts and shortcomings when faced with difficult situations or people."

CAROLE ADAMS

Philip Yancey, I Was Just Wondering, (Australian Edition – Strand Publishing, Sydney 200). ISBN: 1876825332

Do gorillas and aardvarks go through a mid-life crisis?”, “Why do many Christians feel more guilty than forgiven?” and “Where did racial hatred come from?” These are among the questions Philip Yancey seeks to address in his collection of short pieces, I Was Just Wondering.

Originally written for Yancey’s column in Christianity Today magazine, the short works are reorganized into six sections grouped under common themes the author (who confesses a limited tolerance for collections of reprinted material) found reoccuring within his writings - including ‘The Human Animal’, ‘In the World’, ‘Among the Believers’, ‘Necessary Voices’, ‘Life With God’ and ‘Another World’.

While there are obviously no correct answers for all of the questions which appear at the front of each section - such as whether aardvarks go through mid-life crises, something many of us have probably been pondering - the point of asking such questions is not so much about finding the correct answer as it is about confronting the readers and making them think for themselves (Yancey himself admits to having more questions than answers.) The questions range from the humorous to the very serious: questions we all have about the things of this world and the next, often the sorts of the questions Christians are afraid to ask for fear of looking ignorant, or worse still, unbelieving. (In an aside, the inspiration for the list of questions at the beginning of each section came from Walker Percy’s book The Message in the Bottle which begins with six pages of questions. One of Philip Yancey’s own questions is “Why do so few Christians read Walker Percy?”)

The issues and events covered in the book are diverse – a visit from the Pope in Chile, a conversation with a pastor who experienced the liberation of Dachau concentration camp in Germany, Yancey’s own experience of being alone and reading the Bible from cover to cover over a period of two weeks, a discussion of the book of Job in relation to suffering. Each short piece is written in a conversational manner and, as usual, Yancey is very honest about his own doubts and shortcomings when faced with difficult situations or people.

His deep faith in God is evident throughout the book, however, and it encourages the reader to explore their own faith; not just to accept things, but to think about issues on a deeper level and to seek God’s perspective through the Bible and prayer. It challenges the reader to face the difficult issues and questions of our time from a Christian perspective, and not to be afraid of the process of exploration or the questions which arise. A good book for holiday reading if you don’t mind being challenged to think!