‘Jesus Calling’ Author Sarah Young in ‘Rapidly Failing’ Health, Says Publisher, Urges Prayer
‘Jesus Calling’ author Sarah Young’s health is ‘rapidly failing’ according to a message posted to her Facebook Page August 23, with publisher Thomas Nelson urging readers to pray for her health and recovery.
Published in 2004, Jesus Calling has 45 million copies in print. It is one of the most recognizable devotional books in recent history and has spawned a multitude of spin-offs, from children’s books to phone apps to podcasts and beyond, it includes such books as Jesus Calling, Jesus Always, Jesus Today, Jesus Lives, Dear Jesus, Jesus Calling for Little Ones, Jesus Calling Bible Storybook, Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids, Jesus Always: 365 Devotions for Kids, and Peace in His Presence.
It’s also a hot mess of Montanism, Theoeroticism, and may be the most explicitly mystical book sold on the Christian market.
According to her bio, Sarah, who has long struggled with health issues and has eschewed public and promotional appearances for decades, “is biblically conservative in her faith and reformed in her doctrine. She earned a master’s degree in biblical studies and counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), where her husband, Stephen, is an ordained minister.”
Lies, all. Young can call herself those things, but none of that is reflected in this book that deserves to be burned 45 million times. In his definitive book review, 10 Serious Problems with Jesus Calling, Tim Challies explains why this book is so terrible, explaining in part:
1. She speaks for God. Far and away, the most troubling aspect of the book is its very premise—that Sarah Young hears from Jesus and then dutifully brings his messages to her readers. Jesus Calling makes the boldest, gutsiest, and, to my mind, the most arrogant claim of any book ever to be considered Christian. The publisher describes the book in this way: “After many years of writing her own words in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young decided to be more attentive to the Savior’s voice and begin listening for what He was saying. So, with pen in hand, she embarked on a journey that forever changed her—and many others around the world. In these powerful pages are the words and Scriptures Jesus lovingly laid on her heart. Words of reassurance, comfort, and hope. Words that have made her increasingly aware of His presence and allowed her to enjoy His peace (italics mine).” There is no way to avoid her claim that she is communicating divine revelation, a claim that raises a host of questions and concerns, not the least of which is the doctrine of Scripture alone, which assures us that the Bible and the Bible alone is sufficient to guide us in all matters of faith and practice.
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2. She proclaims the insufficiency of the Bible. Jesus Calling only exists because Sarah Young had a deep desire to hear from God outside of the Bible. In the introduction, she describes the book’s genesis: “I began to wonder if I … could receive messages during my times of communing with God. I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication: I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day.” In those few sentences, she sets up unnecessary competition between her revelation and what we are told of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Biblically, there is no category for what she provides as the heart and soul of her book. Biblically, there is no need for it and no reason we should expect or heed it.
We pray for her recovery, and also that she repents of writing this awful book and repudiates it completely.
h/t CP
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