Two club members whose opinions I respect have recently commented on this book in the forums. A few others have also told me they found it hard-slogging and uninteresting. I’ve always thought it was brilliant, but it has been several years since I last read it, so I thought perhaps I was remembering incorrectly. I decided to read it again.

Anderson does use some foreign word and phrases — but not many. Most of them are easily understood in context. For your convenience, I’ve defined all those I found below.

He also refers to books and people that may be unfamiliar to you. The book was written almost 100 years ago, so that is to be expected. I’ve included brief comments on a few of these people below. There is a smattering of other people named, but in each case, Anderson’s quoting, referring to or refuting gives all the information you need about them.

Anderson’s writing is a bit flowery for today’s taste, and his sentence structure is occasionally a bit of a challenge, but again, the book is 100 years old. If you can read Dickens or Austen or even Arthur Conan Doyle, you’ll have no trouble with Anderson. (Doyle and Anderson were contemporaries.)

In answering the question, “Why has God been silent for so long?” Anderson presents a logical explanation for the dispensation of grace and how it differs from the Old Testament and apostolic dispensations. His main premise is this: God’s plan for mankind was completed and fulfilled at the cross of Christ. All that remains is His Judgment and His kingdom. But because of His grace, He is delaying, offering reconciliation to anyone by faith alone. His reason for doing this is that He is not willing that any should perish.

The truth is simple and at the same time profound. Anderson’s explanation is excellent. As he presents his case, he stops and refutes the arguments of atheists, agnostics, other religions, those who call themselves Christians but deny the deity of Jesus Christ and the Catholic church. While some of the opposing viewpoints may not be major issues today, in many ways today’s opposition is just the old arguments wrapped up on a new package.

I found the book exciting and still informative (even though this is the fourth or fifth time I’ve read it. I stand by my 10. In my opinion, it’s a great book.

Now, in my never ending effort to make Carpe Libra a full-service book club, here’s a handy reader’s guide to The Silence of God.

Chapter 1 —Why has God been silent for so long? In the face of so much misery and evil, why does God appear so cold and pitiless? Both Christians and non-Christians suffer. Is God powerless or callous, incompetent or heartless?

Chapter 2 — The Bible records God’s manifestation on earth in the person of Jesus Christ, “but the sphere of the display was confined to the narrowest limits — the towns and villages of a district scarcely larger than an English county.” The Old Testament said that the advent of the Messiah would bring a new day. At first, this appeared to be the case — Pentecost, healings, signs and wonders, angelic visits. But that all soon ended.

Chapter 3 — Rationalism states that laws of nature are absolute and universal so therefore miracles are impossible and Scripture is unreliable. If Christ is God, miracles present no problem. The possibility of miracles can’t be denied without denying God as an all-powerful being. Their probability can’t be denied without denying God’s moral perfection. The certainty of miracles can’t be denied without denying human testimony. God can perform miracles, and He did. But He isn’t now.

Chapter 4 — Many Christians believe that Christ came to found a new religion and that Christianity was received on the authority of His miracles. But this isn’t true. Those He ministered to crucified Him. In fact, He didn’t trust those who believed on the basis of miracles (John 2:23-25). So why did Jesus perform miracles? 1) Because God is good. He performed miracles in response to faith. He met unbelief with the Word of God. 2) To accredit the teacher (not the teaching). He performed the miracles the Jews were led by Scripture to expect. He didn’t come to bring a new religion, He came to put an end to religion.

Chapter 5 — The miracles were for the Jews. Acts covers the transition to a new dispensation. The beginning of the book tells of the continued offer of the kingdom to the Jews. Their punishment for rejecting the Messiah was delayed because of His prayer on the cross. Even Paul went to the Jew first because the Jews were chosen by God to be the center and channel of His blessing to the world. The latter portion of the book records the revelation of Christianity. The Jew is given priority until the nation rejects the message everywhere from Jerusalem to Rome. By the end of the book, special testimony to the Jews had ceased.

Chapter 6 — Man is essentially a religious person. But adherence to outward forms of religion won’t save. It’s what’s in the heart that matters. This is the difference between Christendom (the various sects and denominations) and true Christianity.

Chapter 7 — The church of early Acts was Jewish. The message of the apostles was given by Jews to Jews as Jews. Their Bible was the Jewish Scriptures. Their church was the temple. Their leaders responded by stoning Steven. “All manner of sinning against the Son might be forgiven; They had now [with the stoning of Steven] committed that deeper sin against the Holy Ghost for which there could be no forgiveness.” From that point, there were no more public miracles in Jerusalem. The Jewish church was scattered. Paul was given his message and sent to the Gentiles.

Chapter 8 — An argument against those who profess to be Christians but deny the supernatural revelation of Scripture. An argument against the Catholic church which places its own authority above Scripture.

Chapter 9 — Grace is the characteristic truth of Christianity. It is the principle on which God justifies a sinner. Faith is the principle on which the benefit is received. The death of Christ is the ground on which alone all this is possible. If we could earn salvation, there is no need for redemption. If it was owed to us by covenant, there is no room for grace.

Chapter 10 — Paul refers to his message as “my gospel.” It was a special revelation peculiar to himself. He explained it to the 12 apostles, and they saw that it was different from theirs (Gal. 2:7). The apostles gospel was a promise from the Scriptures given by the prophets. Paul’s gospel was the revelation of a mystery — a secret which, once revealed can be understood by anyone — Man, a sinner, can be reconciled to God through Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21). Whoever calls on the name of the Lord is saved. There is no distinction, no favored race.

Chapter 11 — Why do so many miss the truth? We have the wrong view of Satan. We make him the scapegoat for the crimes and vices of humanity, but our own sin natures are responsible for our sin. Satan presumes to consider himself an equal with the Son of God. He “fashions himself into and angel of light” and “his ministers fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness.” Satan works through religion, not immorality. He makes men turn to religion instead of to the cross of Christ.

Chapter 12 — The chief end of man is to glorify God, but man rejects this idea. God doesn’t want our religion or our morality. (They matter to us for our life on earth and our future judgment.) But God has a different requirement. He’s given us the Cross and asks us to accept or reject it. On that basis we are saved or not. God’s work is complete. He is at rest. His final judgment is waiting. His amnesty has been proclaimed. Heaven is now open to all. The one with the power to judge sin is sitting on the throne of grace. The free gift of eternal life is there for the taking.

Chapter 13 — God’s silence is a silence of peace. To break that peace would be to withdraw His amnesty. Man has put to death God’s Son, but judgment has been deferred. There is nothing left for God to say or do. He’s waiting because He’s not willing that any should perish. When man asks, “Where is God’s love?”, God points to the Cross. In past dispensations, there was a public display of Divine authority, but ours is a higher privilege — we walk by faith. Grace is the supreme and final revelation of God.

Now for those foreign words:
1. Nirvana — for Hindus and Buddhists, the state of freedom from desire, illusion and self.
2. En masse — in a body, a quantity together
3. Corpus vile — something of no value, it can be experimented with without concern for loss or damage
4. Petitio principii — the beginning petition or argument
5. Dikaioma — act of righteousness (used for Christ’s death)
6. Plebiscite — a vote or decree of the people

And the people mentioned:
1. Arthur Balfour — British politician, Prime Minister, favored establishment of Jewish homeland, wrote “Theism and Humanism,” and “Theism and Thought.”
2. William Gladstone — British politician, Prime Minister, disestablished the Irish church, wrote “The State in its Relations to the Church,” and other works.
3. David Hume — Scottish philosopher, known for skepticism, restricting human knowledge to experience of ideas and impressions and deny the possibility of ultimate verification of truth, claimed miracles are impossible because they violate natural laws.
4. John Stuart Mills — English philosopher who devised a system of thought that centered on man’s logic as the test of truth.