Book Review: Searching For God Knows What

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Reader Rating: ******** 6.5/10

Just recently finished reading another of Donald Miller's books--this one written a year after his quite successful Blue Like Jazz (also reviewed on this blog). This book wasn't nearly as good as Blue Like Jazz and seemed to meander much of the time. It was more like a journal of scattered thoughts--not bad, but sometimes just lacking in connectedness.

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, serves as campus ministry leader at Reed College. His writing voice is casual and somewhat eccentric, while his theories—largely derived from experience rather than extensive study—are at times brilliant, at times questionable and rarely supported by outside sources. The book covers a great deal of territory: Miller's walking away from God as a teenager and returning to his faith; the competitive nature of human relationships, painfully demonstrated through junior high memories; the meaning of morality and religion; the essence of true Christianity. But Miller's main theme is dissatisfaction with the way Christianity is taught and practiced. He says the religion ought not to be presented as a formula, its tenets broken down into bullet points to fit modern Western thought patterns. At its heart, Miller argues, Christianity is relationship. Interested people should be presented with biblical stories rather than steps to salvation. Miller also believes that many Christians behave correctly but their actions lack meaning: "The tough thing about Christian spirituality is, you have to mean things. You can't just go through the motions or act religious for the wrong reasons... this thing is a thing of the heart." However, Miller offers only faint suggestions to replace the formulaic or systematic approach to faith that he denounces.
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Book Description
In Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller's provocative and funny new book, he shows readers that the greatest desire of every person is the desire for redemption. Every person is constantly seeking redemption (or at least the feeling of it) in his or her life, believing countless gospels that promise to fix the brokenness. Typically their pursuits include the desire for fulfilling relationships, successful careers, satisfying religious systems, status, and escape. Miller reveals how the inability to find redemption leads to chaotic relationships, self-hatred, the accumulation of meaningless material possessions, and a lack of inner peace. Readers will learn to identify in themselves and within others the universal desire for redemption. They will discover that the gospel of Jesus is the only way to find meaning in life and true redemption. Mature believers as well as seekers and new Christians will find themselves identifying with the narrative journey unfolded in the book, which is simply the pursuit of redemption.

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Product Details
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Nelson Books (October 13, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN: 0785263713
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces. (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: based on 38 reviews. (Write a review.)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #614 in Books (See Top Sellers in Books)
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