The subtitle of John Bishop's book, God Distorted, pretty succinctly sums up the content of the book: "How Your Earthly Father Affects Your Perception of God and Why It Matters". For many of us who grew up in the church, God as "father" was the prevailing way we were taught to identify with God. These sermons frequently drew a parallel between the love and care of an earthly father with the love of God. I don't recall many sermons (if any) that addressed the "what if your earthly father sucks" type of questions. John's book covers multiple types of fathers people may have on earth. Each chapter covers fathers who are physically absent, physically present but emotionally absent, abusive, controlling, or enabling. There is even a chapter for those who feel they had a pretty good dad (hint- he still isn't God).
The idea of this book was very interesting to me and the content did not disappoint. John shares his own experiences as the child of several types of fathers (mostly bad but some good) and the challenges he has faced as an enabling father. I appreciate his use of personal stories to demonstrate how damaging a father/child relationship can be for some children, but they can still experience the full love and acceptance of God. I'll still thinking of several points from this book weeks later, so it clearly made an impact. If you at all question how God can be a father to you, I highly recommend you give this book a try. Even if you have or had a great father, I believe you can still gain some new insight into the father role of God.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not otherwise compensated for this review and all opinions stated are my own.
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