Name: Philip Yancey
Why you should know him: Yancy has written twelve Gold Medallion Award-winning books and sold over 14 million copies, making him the world’s best-selling Christian author.
Position: Freelance writer; Editor at large of Christianity Today and co-chair of the editorial board for Books and Culture
Previous: Editor of Campus Life Magazine
Education: Graduate degrees in Communications and English from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago.
Published in: More than 600 of his articles have appeared in 80 different publications, including Reader's Digest, Publisher's Weekly, National Wildlife, Saturday Evening Post, Christian Century and The Reformed Journal.
Books: The Bible Jesus Read (2002); Church: Why Bother? (2001); Disappointment with God (1997); Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (1997); The Gift of Pain (1997); In His Image (1997); The Jesus I Never Knew (1995); Meet the Bible (2000); Reaching for the Invisible God (2002); Rumors of Another World (2003); What's So Amazing About Grace? (2002); Where Is God When it Hurts? (1997)
Online articles: Yancey frequently writes a column for Christianity Today
Assessment: Why doesn't the church look more like Jesus? Why are so many people content to live just like everyone else except that on Sunday they put on uncomfortable clothes and sit in an uncomfortable seat for an hour? Yancey may not have the answers but he isn’t afraid to ask the questions.
Having grown up in a racist, legalistic fundamentalist church in the Deep South, Yancey initially rejected the Christianity of his youth. His slow, tentative steps back into the evangelical community has given him a unique prospective on the faith and made him one of the most empathetic of popular Christian authors. While his books may, at times, tend to veer toward the edge of introspective, navel-gazing faith, Yancey is committed to challenging his fellow believers to live as a faithful community.
(This post is #15 in the "Know Your Evangelicals" series. Coming next: Alvin Plantinga)
2
Which is a better term for Yancey: Evapidgelical, or Angstgelical? They both seem so fitting I can't decide.
posted on 08.31.2004 2:46 AM3
I was going to comment on the hair...too late. (I was going to say it was groovy but kinda big for a guy. But then, I have none, so perhaps its just scalp envy.)
Enjoying this series, Joe. Very nice work.
posted on 08.31.2004 4:28 AM4
the only thing more shocking than the pimpin hair is the glasses. where does one even find glasses like those these days?
posted on 08.31.2004 7:58 AM5
Put a part down the middle of his hair and he looks like the rubber band man from the offie depot commercial!
posted on 08.31.2004 8:03 AM6
At the risk of running Joe's eloquent post even further off track, I think the biggest appeal of the hair is the similarity Yancey bears to that 1970s era painter they always show on PBS. Now that guy was smooth...
posted on 08.31.2004 8:43 AM7
I want to read this guy. He talks about things that need to be talked about. thanks for the tip/
posted on 08.31.2004 10:42 AM8
Yancey is great. I highly recommend What's So Amazing About Grace? and Rumors of Another World.
posted on 08.31.2004 10:44 AM10
I'd also recommend "The Jesus I Never Knew".
It's disconcerting how he can be so in tune with the zeitgeist and yet look like a fundie preacher from the '70s. You'd think that with the royalties from selling 14 million books that he could afford a decent haircut and a hipper pair of glasses.
posted on 08.31.2004 10:51 AM11
OK, I think we all agree Yancey is a good candidate for one of those "makeover" reality shows. Any comments on his theology? I for one am always challenged by his work and his honest look at complex issues.
posted on 08.31.2004 11:29 AM12
Yancy is one of my very favorite Christian writers -- "The Jesus I Never Knew" is an extraordinary and challenging read. I also highly recommend "Soul Survivor," which is a very personal look at his journey back to faith after abandoning the abusive church of his youth.
No comment on either the hair or the glasses, out of respect for a few 70's era photos of my own that are floating around out there!!
posted on 08.31.2004 12:23 PM13
Maybe it is just his hair but his head looks huge. I do not remember if I have read any of his Christianity Today pieces but I never really liked his books finding them overly simple, like being spoon fead, but I guess that is what most christians are looking for.
posted on 08.31.2004 2:24 PM14
As a new Christian teen in the late '70s, I regularly read Yancey's "Love, Sex and the Whole Person" articles in the back of Campus Life magazine, where he gave patient and thought-provoking advice to teens' perpelxing questions about dating, love, relationships, and their nascent sexuality, in a Dear Abbey format. It certainly allowed me to see my beautiful girlfriend as more of a "whole person" than I might have, left to my own hormone-hazed vision. Thank-you, Mr. Yancey, that I can truthfully say, "I never laid an improper hand on her."
posted on 08.31.2004 8:26 PM16
Didn't he also help write the Student Bible series for Zondervan Bibles? I'm fairly certain he had something to do with that as well.
Anyways, great looking site here, I've linked you on my blog.
posted on 08.31.2004 10:11 PM17
When I was a young Christian, Disappointment with God and Where is God When It Hurts? helped me immeasurably. Both books avoided pat, easy answers to very difficult questions while at the same time providing very practical advice for dealing with the disappointment we often feel. I also learned much from The Jesus I Never Knew.
And yes, John, I've always thought he looks like he's about to paint a happy little cloud.
18
My bible study group is doing a series on 'What's so amazing about grace?'. I'd read it before and liked it, but going back over it it really seems it's the kind of thing you could cover once every three months without ever not being challenged by it. Just raising the subject without ducking what the bible actually says about it blows you away.
posted on 09.02.2004 7:18 AM19
OK, OK, OK. I have to weigh in on this: This is an OLD picture of Mr. Yancey! For a more recent look at the man, try:
http://www3.zondervan.com/features/authors/yanceyp/photos.htm
Of course, he still has the hair thing going...
posted on 09.02.2004 10:25 AM20
Joe: I hope you get the idiot who is doing this to your site. The male enhancement thing.
Oh, yeah...Yancey looks like a liberal! ;-)
posted on 09.02.2004 7:09 PM21
Rob,
Joe: I hope you get the idiot who is doing this to your site. The male enhancement thing.
I'm glad you said something. That one had slipped past me.
posted on 09.02.2004 8:34 PM22
Wow, I'm disappointed that most of what is said here seems to be nothing more than a fashion statement. Thankfully, God looks at man's heart. We seem only to care about outward appearances.
I find Yancey a thoughtful writer who has always challenged me on many levels. Check out Soul Survivor, What's So Amazing About Grace, and Disappointment with God. You won't be disappointed!
23
Found this article...see where Yancey is mentioned. Any comments?
http://www.leannepayne.org/gaybishop/DangerOfGraceWithoutTruth.pdf
posted on 09.03.2004 4:30 PM