SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN FURIOUS CHURCH

Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry Church



Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry Church

 Introduction

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church is about the Christians who struggle to relate to a culture that has lost respect for their faith. This book debunks the long-accepted myth that God's followers are supposed to be angry at sinners. The title is a play on words from a popular 18th century sermon by Jonathan Edwards in which he vividly describes God's impending wrath on sinners. The author openly questions whether a scorched-earth policy towards the unconverted is really God's plan for catching their attention. He details how most Christians react to societal decay with anxiousness, anger, or apathy while giving an alternative to the shrill rhetoric that is often expressed. Merrill chronicles how 1st century believers reacted to their culture and explains how their reaction can benefit Christians who want to find a better way to influence their culture without alienating its followers. The final chapter, along with a "to-do list" for Christians, challenges those who claim to follow Christ to stop blaming their culture and start relating to it(Dean, 1997).

Analysis

In this book, Merrill presents an overview of today's culture and points out effective and ineffective methods of influencing the people of today. He does an excellent job of assessing the wrong Christian responses while at the same time giving the correct way to respond. He points out that Christians usually are apathetic, anxious, or angry when dealing with today's problems when they should really be gently defending their faith. He then gives some excellent suggestions for Christian responses, such as praying for our government, censuring, attaching negative stigmas to sinful practices, and calmly sharing the hope that they have. Merrill is very reassuring in that he reminds us that God can work just as powerfully now as he did long ago, even though we may disagree with his timing. Overall, this book gives a clear, concise direction for defending the Bible and for witnessing to others in this sinful world.

Dean Merrill speaks with authority. He spent 32 years in the Christian media, and the focus of this book is, "...about living out our convictions in a Christ-like manner instead of bullying our way into the system like any other loud and selfish government lobby." He uses biblical history - prophets such ...