What's so Amazing About Grace Book Report
Cameron Peterson
Mr. Oswald
Romans Period 4
11 January 2012
What’s So Amazing about Grace? Book Report What’s So Amazing about Grace? is a book written by Philip Yancey. It begins with a twisted story of a prostitute living on the streets. She is unable to feed her two-year old child and has to find another way to earn money. She could not think of any other alternatives and began selling her child out for prostitution. She could make much more money this way than she could in one night. The woman began counseling and when asked if she had ever considered going to church, her response was that attending church would only make her feel worse about herself. Yancey describes Earth as a place full of “ungrace”. This is a term that Yancey uses to describe the absence of grace. He goes on to talk about grace, calling it one of the last “unspoiled” words today and highlighting the lack of it among the church. Yancey says that the world is filled with ungrace and that we live in an atmosphere full of it. We are in danger of it becoming normal to us, and being desensitized to the lack of grace in the world. Yancey uses a few examples to show us what grace should be like in the world we live in. He gives an example using the movie Babette’s Feast. He shows that grace is something given with no strings attached or charge. In the movie, grace is given to those who definitely do not deserve it. In fact, these people barely know how to receive grace in the first place. Yancey also uses Jesus’ parables as examples for grace. One example he uses is the parable of the lost sheep. He explains that the shepherd shows grace to the one sheep that was lost among the other ninety-nine sheep. He points out that grace is not mathematical, and that it is not logical. Yancey tells us that this is what grace is truly about. Illogical giving with no strings attached. Yancey also talks about how grace is for everybody. He uses Jesus as an example many times. Never did Jesus tell
Mr. Oswald
Romans Period 4
11 January 2012
What’s So Amazing about Grace? Book Report What’s So Amazing about Grace? is a book written by Philip Yancey. It begins with a twisted story of a prostitute living on the streets. She is unable to feed her two-year old child and has to find another way to earn money. She could not think of any other alternatives and began selling her child out for prostitution. She could make much more money this way than she could in one night. The woman began counseling and when asked if she had ever considered going to church, her response was that attending church would only make her feel worse about herself. Yancey describes Earth as a place full of “ungrace”. This is a term that Yancey uses to describe the absence of grace. He goes on to talk about grace, calling it one of the last “unspoiled” words today and highlighting the lack of it among the church. Yancey says that the world is filled with ungrace and that we live in an atmosphere full of it. We are in danger of it becoming normal to us, and being desensitized to the lack of grace in the world. Yancey uses a few examples to show us what grace should be like in the world we live in. He gives an example using the movie Babette’s Feast. He shows that grace is something given with no strings attached or charge. In the movie, grace is given to those who definitely do not deserve it. In fact, these people barely know how to receive grace in the first place. Yancey also uses Jesus’ parables as examples for grace. One example he uses is the parable of the lost sheep. He explains that the shepherd shows grace to the one sheep that was lost among the other ninety-nine sheep. He points out that grace is not mathematical, and that it is not logical. Yancey tells us that this is what grace is truly about. Illogical giving with no strings attached. Yancey also talks about how grace is for everybody. He uses Jesus as an example many times. Never did Jesus tell
Cited: Yancey, Philip. What’s So Amazing about Grace?. Zondervan, 1997.