Grace for Philip Yancey

Commentary

by

Perspectives

Special to United Methodist Insight | March 3, 2026

Responses to my recent column, “Say It Ain’t So, Philip Yancey,” about the popular evangelical Christian author, are still pouring in. Yancey, whose books, including “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” have sold more than 15 million copies, confessed in January to a long-term affair with a married woman.

In a statement emailed to Christianity Today on January 6, 2026, Yancey wrote, “I have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counseling and accountability program. I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused.”

I wrote, “I am still reeling from this news and feeling sad that I will no longer be able to quote Philip in my sermons and columns without some kind of qualifying statement.”

I asked, “Should I throw away all his books? Should Yancey’s books be purged from our church libraries? Are a Christian author’s works still valid after he or she has committed an egregious sin against the body of Christ?”

Here are a few of the almost 300 impassioned responses I have received thus far:

“We all have flaws and sin. From time to time. Some more often than others. Some of us continually. God still uses us. Flaws and sins and all… Because God is the real author of truth no matter who God reveals it through.”  – Randy Neal, Crossville, TN

“…a person’s works can stand on their own… their words can still be inspirational, even though they have not personally lived up to those words… the important thing is how I receive the message… how I use the message to nudge myself forward spiritually.” – Robert P. Smith, Richland Center, WI

“Yes, My Favorite Evangelical. I had just ordered two copies of Yancey’s book, ‘Grace Notes’ for my brother and sister when news broke… I've never read any author that I thought had reached perfection... and Yancey had often written about his own sin and forgiveness... but this is hard.” – Dave Raines, Eugene, OR

“I've taken all of his books off my shelf simply because I know I will never read his books again. Once, twice, maybe. But eight years of an affair, please! …much grace needs to be shown all around, including Yancey, but for me the value of any words written by him mean nothing now.” – Allison King, Navaan, Ireland

 “…this is why we need to make the truths we learn our own… This is why Paul writes: ‘Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.’(I Cor.l10:12) – Mel Flogel, Platteville, WI

“We are all sinners. Does it diminish our talents? Art is often the result of pain and suffering. It is the method some use to heal… If we punish the artist, do we also punish ourselves?” – Susan Turner Thering, Spring Green, WI

“In my profession in college student personnel administration; I probably would not use writings of someone who put themselves in this position.” – James Mathias Chitwood, Oshkosh, WI “Our hymnals, books, and pulpits would all be empty if they were devoid of sinners who wrote hymns, books, and sermons. Are my sins more heinous than another’s? …my sins of omission are no doubt even greater than my sins of commission.” – Sky McCracken, Covington, TN

“The words he wrote are still true words so I will keep and re-read his books. He didn't have to publicly repent... I always admire when someone actually repents and acknowledges their sin. That shows a true heart… And none of us is immune...the sin of pride is the worst of all sins-the sin that says, ‘I could never do that.’ Oh yes, I can!!!” – Linda Kramer, Petaluma, CA

“It is the long time-period of repetitive behavior with no attempt to change that is so troublesome. Each repetition is a conscious choice made. Forgiveness is always our duty. Consequences are how we change.”  – Sheri Graeber, Oshkosh, WI

“I loved his books enough to reread them. I own them but can't imagine re-reading them now because his betrayal of his wife would always be on my mind. I'm so thankful for God's grace toward me and toward Yancey, but his choices can't be erased in this life.” – Laurie Snyder, OR

 “…the deeper problem is this delusional notion that there are perfect people! Jesus himself chastises us for trying to assign him the perfection label and says none are good other than the Father. The fact that ‘good‘ yet sinful people can do good things is no different than the fact that bad people often do good things… Mozart was famously a hedonistic jerk. Does that negate the fact that he made timeless music?” – Joseph Toscano, Brooklyn, NY

“Early Christianity actually had an answer to this kind of situation. Such a person would be placed back into the rank of a catechumen (able to attend at least part of the services, but not able to be present for or receive communion) for at least 12 years. In general, it would seem any works they contributed to the church would remain unused during that time as well – and possibly longer. This was not considered a lack of forgiveness. This was considered the time necessary for someone to be ‘under discipline’ in order to address the gravity of what they had done.” – Taylor Watson Burton Edwards, Columbus, GA

Barbara Lower sent a thoughtful, scripturally based response from her home in Cologne, Germany. She said she is a trained bookseller, a chartered librarian, and that English is her second language. Like many who responded, Barbara told me that Philip Yancey is one of her favorite Christian writers:

“I came across your article quite by chance. The news of Philip Yancey’s confession and its impact had somehow not reverberated in Germany yet. I was really stunned. Once I learned about this, I researched a little more, and what struck me in a lot of articles is the lack of grace. I was taken aback by the often harsh and judging language, the rigidity of heads and hearts.”

Lower joined several other responders in pointing to the Bible stories about King David, who was both an adulterer and a murderer.

She said, “So, should we erase The Psalms? Or the books of Samuel and Kings? David was not just an adulterer; he was also the murderer of his mistress’ husband... Talk about moral failings!  And I presume as a king, and someone literally anointed by God… he was probably also held to a ‘higher standard.’

“Should we accompany every reading of those Scriptures with a ‘qualifying statement?’ How is it that God Himself called David ‘a man after His own heart’ in full knowledge and despite all his heavy moral failings? And if I understand the Bible correctly, grace BEFORE Christ was a lot harder to come by in the eyes of God than after Jesus’ universal sacrifice…”

Then Lower adds a personal note: “I am not excusing Philip Yancey. Adultery is wrong, and painful, and hard – and I know what I’m talking about, as I have been at the receiving end of it, a painful divorce after 32-years of marriage, also to a man of the church. Yet it has been grace that saved me: grace towards my ex-husband, towards myself, towards those who fail and fall short.

 “Does all of this negate Yancey as a writer and teacher for me – no. His words and teachings still resonate with me – as do David’s psalms. What the Bible teaches us is true: ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ We are saved by grace. We all receive grace freely and all we can do is pass it on, extend it to the fallen hero and say, “you too. The body of Christ given for you.” Welcome to the human race, in need of forgiveness, redemption and resurrection.”

I wrote to Barbara, “The King David argument is well taken, though the fact many evangelical Christians have used it as justification for supporting immoral political leaders, both liberal and conservative, is troublesome to me.”

Daphne Honore, a retired English teacher from Castle Pines, Colorado, also sent a thoughtful, biblically based response. She attends Mission Hills Church, where she has spent a decade leading women’s Bible studies and “learning the liberating truth that the Bible is, in fact, a book about God and not her,” she wrote.

“I attended church with Yancey 20 years ago, and while I never met him, I’ve read several of his books, prayed for him after his tragic accident, and he was a frequent guest speaker in the church I called home. Last year, I started my Christmas letter with the Yancey quote, ‘Grace, like water, flows to the lowest parts,’ having no idea how bitterly ironic that would become two weeks later” (when Yancey made his public confession).

 “I appreciate the struggle of your column, because the struggle honors the tension we must hold in our Christian walks. God could have given us His word in bullet points that delineate clear laws and punishments, and most of us, at least as western Christians, would prefer that clarity. Instead, He gave us a collection of stories and poems and literature that we struggle to even understand and called us to be part of His family with those ancient stories as our sacred text.

 “Today I led a women’s Bible study over Genesis 34: the rape of Dinah. Statistically, four of the women in my room have been raped. As we discussed the passage, we didn’t consider if Dinah was alone in a place she should not have been but simply acknowledged that whatever the complexities of her circumstance, she was a victim of sin forced upon her and outside her control.

“And after Moses clearly states this was ‘a thing that should not be done’ (vs 7), scripture leaves us to digest the response of her father – nothing… Clearly Jacob failed his patriarchal duties by neither addressing the rape nor rescuing his daughter. Scripture is clear that punishment was, indeed, appropriate. However, when left to do what their father should have done, Simeon and Levi failed to seek or dispense justice but instead respond with vicious and complete revenge.

 “So how does this relate to Phillip Yancey? I believe the model here is that the appropriate person must justly address the sin. We don’t know exactly who that is – his wife? A pastor? His publisher? Probably all of them, ultimately. Certainly God. But it certainly isn’t us. We must humbly trust that to God and those who actually know the man. I think stepping down from his public roles, whether by choice or coercion, is an appropriate step in that direction, but unlike Simeon and Levi, I recognize I have no role in that.

 “But we do have to wrestle with the rest: What of continuing to read his books? Or quoting him in sermons or Christmas letters as the case may be? Or taking instruction from a man who was living a covenantal lie?

“So much of scripture asks us to hold the tension of sinners and grace. The descendants of Simeon and Levi were disqualified from being in the lineage of Christ, and the Levites later became priests. Jacob/Israel deceives and raises deceivers, and the entire nation of Israel bears his name. God has only sinners to work with. And the kindness of scripture is that there is no rule, or timeline, for such things.

“There is a just God who patiently, faithfully, mercifully draws sinful humans to Himself over years, and journeys, and failures, and lifetimes. Sometimes he is long-suffering to an extraordinary extent (Jacob), other times, he is swift and severe (Ananias and Saphira). Always, He is both merciful and just.

 “Some will continue to quote Yancey because the truth of what he has said is dependent on God, not Yancey. Some will choose not to because it seems like a betrayal of God, of his wife, of righteousness. And we get to decide. We get to decide if, and we get to decide when.”

Daphne Honore concludes, “But Micah 6:8 is about as ‘bullet-pointy’ as the Bible gets. And this, we don’t get to decide: the Lord has shown us, and requires us, to act with justice, not revenge; to love mercy, not punishment; and to walk humbly with our God. Humbly, because we recognize that, but by the grace of that God, there go I. And if I do, grace, like water, will flow to me in the lowest part.”

The Rev. John Sumwalt is a retired United Methodist pastor and the author of “Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives.” Email him.