Powerful. Almighty. Sovereign. Magnificent. Fearsome. This is the God we encounter in the Bible and in prayer – a God who astounds. Yet, Johannes Hartl argues that this is an astonishment that many have lost in the West today.
A challenging rejection of ‘feel-good’ Christianity, God Untamed explores the deep crisis of faith that effects the Western world. At a time where the need for spirituality is great, yet churches are losing more and more members; in the face of a generation with so many opportunities and so little direct threat, yet who are so anxious, depressed and disenchanted – Hartl speaks of the voice that can still oceans. God, as he encounters us, is not simply ‘nice’ and certainly not trivial or comfortable. He is fascinating and intimidating at the same time.
Hartl calls us to rediscover this sense of wonder and reimagine what it is to have a fear of God – not founded in a whimper at the unknown, but a respect borne out of watching his visible power in the nature of our world. Without this fear, Hartl warns that the church is in danger of weakening under the immense pressures of our times.
God Untamed is a compelling charge to get out of our spiritual comfort zones to find a real, truly fulfilled and fulfilling faith.