We would like to share with you Ian-Grey Hartley’s book, For God’s Sake. For God’s Sake is a wonderful book for the study of the character of God, filled with scholarly insight, difficult questions, and great answers. In the author’s own words:
“This book is a collection of mostly free standing essays. There is very little documentation and often some repetition. The titles are arranged alphabetically. I have written out of my deep concern for the misconceptions that surround God’s character. What we think of God has the potential fo profoundly changing our ways, thinking and living. We must then come to the best understanding we can of who God is and what His thoughts and attitudes are towards us because this knowledge will, in turn, influence the way we relate to God, others and ourselves.
If my picture of God turns out to be wrong, and we shall soon know, for the end of all things is upon us, it does not really matter since my reason for writing was because I had to speak well of God. One other thing I do know; I am a better man for having met the God of these essays. I can listen to you, because God has heard me. I can forgive you, because God has forgiven me. I can give you the freedom to be what you choose to be, without trying to force you by logic or ridicule to change, because of the freedom I have in God.
It is, after all, the truth about God that sets us free from cruelty, impatience, and all those horrible inheritances we have as sinners. Truth is not tested by what it does for others but what it does in our own lives. This is the acid test. Do the ideas presented in these essays inspire you to be more patient, more kind, and easier to live with? This is where the rubber meets the road. On that criteria I would like them judged. Not all the interesting passages in the Scriptures that portray God in the traditional way can be dealt with. The principles of God’s character are dealt with in the hope that the reader will continue on the greatest journey that can ever be taken: to attempt to understand some of the depth of God’s grace.”
