In Why I Believe, Dr. Henry Cloud is a personal book about part of his life mixed with what he believes on suffering, miracles, science, and faith. He shared in the book at the young age of ten years old. He was at a camp in North Carolina and he felt a sharp pain in his soul. It was a lightly Christian camp and he felt a calling to the Creator. He explained an illustration of a judge condemning us for our sins and crimes. Jesus stands up telling the judge to spare us and He would instead take our fines. This is to convey how Jesus tried for all of our sins and mistakes and He paid in on the cross. This is the first time he felt the presence of God and His love for him. He shared his up bring and how his parents displayed their faith in God and how this influenced him. He also shared how at four years old, he was sitting in Sunday school when he leg began to hurt badly. He would be screaming in pain for hours and he has to be hospitalized. They did lots of test and blood work. He admitted to feeling very afraid and alone. They considered amputating his leg. He explained how his mother heard a voice that told her to leave now and take him to another hospital. His new doctor knew right what the disease was and it affected his hip and he would have to remain in a wheelchair. He then realized that God intervened on his behave with his parents faith. He felt very different from others and he struggled with being normal.
When he was better, he decided to jump into sports especially golf. He played through the pain for two years until he had to give it up at age 20. At this time, he also gotten broken up. He struggled with depression and feeling like a complete washout. He lost his life purpose and started searching for a new path. He recalls being in his dorm room and being drawn to open his Bible and the page opened until Matthew 6:33 and how seeking first the kingdom of God and how all things will be added to you. He started searching actively for God and he turned to Him. He explained how people came into his life and helped him strengthen his faith. This helped to dramatically change his life with the help of mentors and friends. The depression finally went away. He was instructed by God to trust him and to follow him this led him into going after psychology.
One of the chapters of course discussed what the greatest obstacle of all is. This how does a good God allow evil to exist and suffering. He like most have experienced lost and witnessed others and heard others who had gone through horrible events. He shared how everything is related to death and a separation from God. God gave us freedom from the beginning and we chose a different tree. We lost our disconnect from our Creator but still we had a path through the crucifixion that would save the world. If we want to have relationship with Christ, we have a chance to seek Him. He clarified how there is no answer on his side as to why we have to go through things. We have to have faith that Jesus knows better than we humanly do. Even when Jesus was dying on the cross, He asked His own dad why he had forsaken Him. He even explored cognitive thinking and psychology and how we can look at suffering in this way to see a different approach.
I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is wondering what a psychologist thinks about science, faith, suffering, miracles, and much more. I immensely loved how he covered the entire spectrum of faith, doubts, and what his own personal beliefs are. I thought he did a wonderful job is going through details about what psychology has taught him and influenced his Christian beliefs. I really enjoyed hearing from a psychologist approach to faith and suffering. I appreciated how transparent he was in reading about his thought and learning more about his background and how he came in know Christ and how it changed and grew over the years. One of my favorite sections was on that he shared how psychology aligned with things that are also addressed in the Bible and this enclosed an entire list that breaks it down for readers. This book will assist readers into growing deeper in their questions and faith.
I received this book free from Worthy Publishing for my honest review.”
If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Believe-Psychologists-Thoughts-Suffering/dp/154600341X/
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