Celebrating the Wrath of God: Reflections on the Agony and Ecstasy of His Relentless Love

by Jim McGuiggan

I stumbled across this volume a few weeks ago at a Christian book warehouse. My experience with McGuiggan was limited, though I knew him to be a good writer. Honestly, I picked this one up just for the title: Celebrating the Wrath of God. And, for the title, it instantly moved near the top of my reading list. Certainly this would be a different kind of "problem of evil" treatment.

And McGuiggan comes out firing: "As long as we continue to croon romantic ballads about God as a heavenly sweetheart...we're going to have difficulties facing a planet that groans under a curse" (10).

"And in our better moments we don't want him to be a heavenly sweetheart. We want him to wage war, however he sees fit, against all the wickedness within us and around us, and if that means we share the pain of this world that is condemned and in need of rescue, we'll take it on" (101).

But perhaps most insightful in this book is McGuiggan's firm outlook on "the problem of evil": not as something that God is forced to live with because He is powerless to stop, but as something He wills (though "God willingly distresses people, he doesn't do it willingly," 40)--hinted at in the quote above, stated more clearly below:

"The pagan crowds at the Roman games expected to see Christians fed to the lions. "Christianos ad leones," they'd yell... Ignatius tells us that when the search for victims was conducted days or weeks before the spectacle, it wasn't uncommon for the 'weakest boy in his quavering tones' to stand up and offer himself with "Christianus sum!" Boys!...

"There was evil there at the Roman games, sinners were there, elements of chance and coincidence there--but God was also there, doing his will in and through it all. To each child, each family, God came and offered a cup to drink, and each drank it. Say what we will about secondary agents and causes, say what we will about randomness and bad luck, say what we want about demonic powers and corrupted free will--say all that and more, but when we're through, say that God was there accomplishing his will. No helpless watcher, wondering what he could do to squeeze some good out of it--he was an active participant!" (105).

This book is definitely a worthwhile read. McGuiggan's approach is one that you rarely see on this subject and proves to be refreshing, insightful and challenging.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.