Reviews for Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem

The average rating for Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-27 00:00:00 Justin Kirker I wanted to love this book. I hoped to find a good book about how a Christian should deal with anger. Instead, I got a book that has some good advice that is mixed with dangerous advice and bad interpretation of Scripture. Jones begins with the assumption that human anger is never righteous. In order for our anger to be righteous, it has to be anger that 1) is a reaction against sin, not inconvenience, preferences, or traditions, 2) focuses on God and not me, and 3) is expressed in godly ways. I can get behind all of that, except that the author takes #2 to mean that a Christian can't get angry about real sin committed against them without being in sin themselves - the only righteous anger is anger at sin committed against others. He writes about Christ's anger that we never see Jesus angry because he was being sinned against, but only because people were sinning against others or trying to get in the way of Jesus' mission on earth (but isn't that being angry because of sin against himself?). I would argue that, if God is angry at something, it's ok for his people to be angry at that same thing as long as they don't sin in their anger. The author gives a fictional couple, Jack and Jill, as examples in the early chapters of two kinds of anger. The problem with Jack and Jill is that Jack is (at least) borderline abusive, but Jill's anger over being verbally abused by her husband is held up as just as wrong and damaging as his anger. Jack rages at her and hits walls, and we read that his anger "was worsening. Violence was on the horizon." So, Jack was following a path of explosive verbal and physical anger that was heading to domestic violence. The author's advice? "Had Jack continued down this path, it would have been right for Jill to seek the help and the discipline of Christ's church." In other words, when Jack finally did hit Jill, it would be ok for her to call her pastor. This is so dangerous. If someone believes that the person they're living with will start physically abusing them, they should get help then and not wait to get hit. This is also a pretty good example of sin leveling. Jack is verbally and physically angry, but Jill is silently angry, so she's just as wrong, right? On the level of sin being the thing that damages our relationship with God, yes. However, on an interpersonal level, they are not equal sins. Jill's quiet anger isn't going to send Jack to the hospital or morgue, and it isn't going to make him feel unsafe in his home and potentially cause a trauma response in him or his children. His anger needs immediate intervention to keep her safe, while her anger can be worked through more slowly in counseling. The author quotes Ephesians 4:26 (Be angry and do not sin) throughout the book, but fails to notice the first part of the quote. If almost all human anger is sin, then why doesn't Paul (and the psalmist he's quoting) say "don't be angry"? If all anger is sin, then how can Paul expect us to be angry without sinning? Jones quotes James 1:20 (for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness) without mentioning that the "Everyone should be...slow to anger" part of 1:19 doesn't mean never be angry, it means don't be someone who gets angry at the drop of a hat. The chapters on anger at God and at self were pretty ok, but I can't recommend this book, even if it isn't solidly bad all the way through.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-02-07 00:00:00 Stephanie Boyden never realized I had an anger issue until this was recommended to me, and I would say that most us have anger hidden within us.