Your God is Too Small

I have had an earlier printing of this book for many years. It has helped me greatly in forming a balanced view of the nature of God. It is thought that individuals form relationships based on what they have been taught, what they have learned, or what they feel. Conservative Christians often experience spiritual development in a context in which God is used to control behavior or meet group expectations. Hence, many individuals with this sort of background reach adulthood with an unhealthy view of God based on what they have been taught and what they feel. Over the years as a counselor and university professor, I have seen many Christians struggle in their walk with God due to this limited view of the nature of God. Truly, their God is too small. I have referenced this book so many times in helping individuals in the church, in the classroom, and in the counseling room to challenge what they have been taught and what they are feeling about God and to really learn who God really is and what he is really like. This book is truly good news.

Originally published in 1952, this book is as up to date as tomorrow. For many years, I have observed the truth of the statement that we create God in our own image, resulting in an anemic deity no more wise or powerful than we are, and certainly incapable of creation, maintenance, or salvation. Phillips clearly identifies the source of the powerless god that we humans produce when we make the mistake of beginning with ourselves as a paradigm for holiness.

I first read this book in the mid-70s after a few semesters at Bob Jones University and it confirmed the rightness of my decision to move on from fundamentalist and conventional Christianity, including the parochial Catholicism I grew up with. This, and Robinson's Honest To God, helped me in the personal journey from Sunday school and catechism piety to an authentic adult spirituality. Adults everywhere have been making the same move over the past thirty years and it is helping our religions to grow up as well. Read this book and join the movement from the pious pablum of traditional religion to the savory sustenance of adult spirituality.

This book is really rather easy to read and fun. We often "assume" God is supposed to be one way (God is our conscience, God is a policeman, etc) where in truth those ideas are derived from other sources and have nothing to do with scripture. This book points us in the right direction and is refreshing reading for both believers and non-believers.

Do you struggle to understand why God didn't answer your prayer?Are you convinced that He will like you more if you do the right things?Or do you think God is a lovable papa bear in the sky who only wants you to be happy? Reading Phillips' classic may disturb you into a proper understanding of the real and living God, a mystery whose ways are higher than our ways, whose thoughts are unfathomable.In this pocket-sixed book, Phillips deals with incorrect ideas about the God of the Bible. He's not a cosmic policeman or a divine grandfather. Neither is He a bellhop, a tottering old man, nor a fire-breathing despot. He is a God who loves the world for His own glory and calls everyone to repentance for their sins against Him. Does that fit your understanding of God? If not, you may be deceived. Don't let yourself exist with a God too small for your life.Read this book. Come to know the infinite Almighty.