En 1987, una bomba del Ejército Republicano Irlandés enterró a Gordon Wilson y a su hija de veintiún años bajo metro y medio de escombros. Sólo Gordon sobrevivió. Y perdonó. De los que pusieron la bomba, dijo: "He perdido a mi hija, pero no les guardo rencor...Esta noche, y todas las noches voy a orar para que Dios los perdone." Sus palabras captaron la atención de los medios de información, y en el dolor de un hombre, el mundo pudo captar un destello de la gracia. En este libro el galardonado escritor Philip Yancey explora la gracia al nivel de la calle. Si el amor de Dios es para quienes no merecen la gracia, entonces, pregunta, ¿qué aspecto tiene cuando actúa? Y si los cristianos son los únicos que la pueden distribuir, ¿cuán efectiva es la labor que hacemos para derramar gracia sobre un mundo que conoce muchísimo más de crueldad y de falta de perdón, que de misericordia? La gracia no excusa el pecado, dice Yancey, pero valora al pecador. La gracia genuina es sorprendente y escandalosa. Sacude nuestras ideas convenciéndoles con su insistencia en acercarse a los pecadores para tocarlos con la misericordia y la esperanza. In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, "I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge…I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them." His words caught the media's ears--and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinction. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else--for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In this book, award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventional way of thought with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. Philip Yancey es periodista, autor de varios éxitos de librería y conferencista. Sus más de veinte libros son conocidos por su honestidad, profundas búsquedas en torno a la fe cristiana, especialmente en lo que concierne a interrogantes y dilemas personales. Millones de ávidos lectores lo consideran como un compañero confiable en la búsqueda de una fe que importe. Philip y su esposa Janet viven en Colorado. Gracia Divina Vs Condena Humana / What's So Amazing about Grace By Philip Yancey Vida Publishers Copyright © 1998 Philip Yancey All right reserved. ISBN: 9780829718652 Chapter One I MUST ADMIT , it took me a while to warm up to the idea of someonemessing with my book! As I thought about it, though, I realized that people encountergrace in ways other than words. As I have written, I experienced grace first through nature,music, and romantic love, and only later found words to interpret and express what Ihad felt. Why not let some very skilled designers select passages from my book andinterpret them visually? (Okay, I secretly hope that if you like this book you'll look upthe full-text version of What's So Amazing About Grace? It may seem boring in contrast tothis edition, but it may also fill in some gaps.) Almost a million copies of my book have been sold, which says something aboutour thirst for grace. I have received thousands of letters from readers, some grateful,some desperate, some furious. One of my favorites thanks me profusely for my book What's So Annoying About Grace? I'm sure, from the tone of the letter, that the reader meantto write "Amazing" and typed "Annoying" by mistake. Many other letters, however, comefrom readers who truly do find grace annoying. Must we forgive everyone? Shouldn't people have to pay for their mistakes?Would God forgive Saddam Hussein or Hitler? What about justice and fairness? Howcan you keep people from taking advantage of grace? These are some of the questionsreaders have tossed back at me. I imagine some readers will find this visual edition evenmore annoying because it presents the scandal of grace more directly, more "in your face." I cannot claim that grace is fair. By definition, it's unfair: We get the oppositeof what we deserve. I wrote my book to make a simple point, the same point a slave tradernamed John Newton made several centuries ago. Grace is amazing-the most amazing,perplexing, powerful force in the universe, I believe, and the only hope for our twisted,violent planet. If you catch a mere whiff of its scent, it could change your life forever. "JESUS GAINED the POWER to love harlots, bullies, and ruffians ...he was able to do this only because he sawthrough the filth and cru