My Fortunate Brain Tumor from God

By Dave Jiang

Book Overview

After being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, Dave Jiang started asking some hard questions: "Why Me?" "Was the universe just random, or was there reason and purpose behind it?" "What happens... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1602660735
• ISBN13: 9781602660731
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Xulon Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A search for a believable God started by a miracle...

It's not everyday you read of someone either referring to their brain tumor as fortunate, or considering their brain tumor as coming from God. But Dave Jiang does both in the title of his first book, in which he describes the events leading up to his miraculous emergence from a 28-day coma, and results of his search for God spurred by his recovery. The title definitely gets your attention, as the title is in large letters on both the front, the back and the spine of the book. It's definitely a conversation starter. The "Part I" in the subtitle "Part I - Discovering God in the Midst of a Post-Modern Culture" refers to the fact that Jiang is currently writing a companion volume to this book. One could argue that since most of what happens in the book is in the early 80's, the culture wasn't all that post-modern at the time. Jiang devotes about a quarter of the book to events leading up to his emergence from a 28-day coma, noting some of the coincidences considered as providential in retrospect, how doctors at the Mayo Clinic blocked out time to examine him, how a brain tumor was discovered in the nick of time, and how some of the world's most prestigious doctors were dumbfounded by his recovery. When he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, Jiang asked "Why me?" When he emerged from his coma, he asked "Why me" again, and started a spiritual quest for his deliverer and for meaning in life. He considered Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, but rejected them on the basis of a lack of evidence for their truth claims. He noticed that many people embrace a certain religious tradition due to family or cultural tradition. He started to find what he was looking for in the fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament, and the New Testament declaration that Christianity stands or falls on resurrection of Jesus Christ. A large portion of this book could be described as Jiang's personal engagement with the material in the Christian apologetic books "Evidence Which Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell, or "Who Moved The Stone?" by Frank Morison. If you believe that Christians have no rational basis for their beliefs, you will be challenged by this book. There is a little bit of the Christian hedonism of John Piper in this book as well, as Jiang frequently writes of the Christian life as a joyful, abundant, pleasurable life, a life worth helping others to find. If you think the God of the Bible is a cosmic killjoy, you will be challenged by this book. I am expecting more of this to appear in the companion volume, which is due to appear in 2008. The reason I am giving this book four stars instead of five stars is due to some minor problems in organization. The book has a total of 18 chapters. I found the first chapter a little difficult to follow due to some jumps in time. I believe most of the material in Chapter 2 should be moved to either an Introduction section or the next book. I believe you would find the book easier to follow if you start