Catholic Review: God is Not Nice

God is Not Nice by Ulrich L. Lehner, October 20, 2017. 160 pages. Published by Ave Maria Press. Source: Publisher.

Ulrich L. Lehner reintroduces Christians to the true God—not the polite, easygoing, divine therapist who doesn’t ask much of us, but the Almighty God who is unpredictable, awe-inspiring, and demands our entire lives.  Stripping away the niceties with a sling blade, Lehner shows that God is more strange and beautiful than we imagine, and wants to know and transform us in the most intimate way.

With his iconoclastic new book God Is Not Nice, Lehner, one of the most promising young Catholic theologians in America, challenges the God of popular culture and many of our churches and reintroduces the God of the Bible and traditional Christianity. As Lehner writes in the book’s introduction, "We all need the vaccine of the true transforming and mysterious character of God: The God who shows up in burning bushes, speaks through donkeys, drives demons into pigs, throws Saul from his horse, and appears to St. Francis. It’s only this God who has the power to challenge us, change us, and make our lives dangerous. He sweeps us into a great adventure that will make us into different people."

This book is not safe. It may startle and annoy many people—including those who purport to teach and preach the Gospel, but are missing it, according to Lehner. God Is Not Nice intends to overthrow all of our popular misconceptions about God, inviting us to ask deeper questions about the nature of our lives and our relationship with him.

When you're finished with God Is Not Nice, you may find the idols you constructed in God’s name smashed, replaced with a God who will ask you to live an entirely different life full of hope and transformation. 

I have read a lot of incredible books about the Catholic faith this year, but this was definitely one of the best. I will try to break down why this is such a great book, so let's do this! I warn you now, my "review" in no way does this book justice!!

• I have been attempting to write out why this is such a great book since November...yeah. I picked this one to read for two reasons-the title caught my attention and because Scott Hahn wrote the foreword. Going in, I had never heard of Ulrich Lehner but the premise of the book was something that really grabbed my attention; I wanted to see how he would shake things up and break out of the 'squishy' mold the world has created. 

• Personally, I loved so many things about this book. The foremost being that he did not dance around the subject; it was nice to see someone come out and brazenly say the truth- the synopsis will give you a better idea of what I mean. There is so much truth wrapped in this short book that I don't even know where to begin discussing it (neither does it help that my sister ran off with my copy). 

• One of the things that really made me excited whilst reading God is Not Nice was how the Ulrich Lehner dealt with relativism and the dangers that it has imposed on society. While there were many sections in the book that really resounded with me; though it was the ones that dealt with Truth Claims that really spoke to me. I rather like the snippet below as it does a great job of illustrating some of what I, myself, feel. The entire section does a great job of discussing truth and how there is only ONE truth (not mine or yours, just the truth). He does not write from a sentimental nor defiant angle, he is just logically laying out the truth. 

God is Not Nice page 15

Believing in absolute truth does not mean fundamentalism or intolerance or forfeiting the search for truth-quite the opposite: if I am convinced of a truth, I will not enclose it in a shrine but seek to understand it better, especially if this truth is a person, Jesus, as Christians believe. 

• Another aspect of this book that I found refreshing- How he dismantles the whole "Whatever you feel is right" nonsense. When you see how he juxtaposes the argument of how doing things simply from the viewpoint of "it felt right" with what Hitler did, you begin to see things in a whole new light. One that may just have you reaccessing some of your personal viewpoints. Truthfully, so much of what he covered in this book put words and substance to a lot of things that have been running through my head the more I delve into the Catholic faith (one that I fully claim as my own). 

Final Verdict: God is Not Nice- I just really enjoyed this book and that he boldly spoke about so many things that are wrong with the way the world views God these days. It was theologically and logically a fascinating, well-written book. 

God is Not Nice earns

A copy of this book was received for review consideration. All thoughts are my own.