The Liberty of Obedience

By Elisabeth Elliot

Book Overview

When, on the first night of our arrival in the "savage" Aucas village, they gave us houses to live in, food and water and wood and fire, things were not so simple for me. My categories began to crumble. I had thought I knew what a savage was like. I had thought I knew exactly how the Gospel would change him. As weeks passed, I began to realize that not only had I been mistaken about these things, but very likely I was just as mistaken about some other categories which had seemed clear before. How readily I had seen Christian virtues in those I called Christians in my own country, and the "works of the flesh" in those who did not bear the Christian label. What was I now to do with the apparent manifestation of virtue -- peace, longsuffering, kindness -- in those who had never heard of Christ? Things were not as I had thought. For a whole year, Elisabeth Elliot watched and learned and had nothing to say. She was living among the Auca Indians of Ecuador -- the same tribe which had killed her husband, Jim Elliot -- and she did not know the language. This year of observation and enforced silence stripped her of everything but the barest of essentials and the simplest of truths. In The Liberty of Obedience Elisabeth Elliot calls on us to examine more closely our own obedience to God, measuring it in terms of our experience of his freedom, grace, and love. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0876808313
• ISBN13: 9780876808313
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: Word Books
• Length: 95 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommend- thought provoking

I love Elisabeth’s practical insight. Such Biblical wisdom. It is an intriguing journey to accompany her thought provoking questions theology and doctrine in a manner that deconstructs the man-made cultural inferences we’ve made about the word and invites the reader to step back and examine it for what it is really saying. Jots of her thoughts that really inspire and require depth of thinking. Though short this book is saturated in substance.

What does true Christianity look like?

Elisabeth Elliott's books are amazing. They are not very long, but she doesn't need much to make her points. She has a way of writing that cuts through all the fluff surrounding modern day Christianity and gets to the heart. In this book, she asks if the things that we say identify a Christian are really what the Bible says. She shows how easily we get caught up in legalism and rules. It's an interesting book, which shows how much our culture permeates our faith.

one of e.elliot's best

the best hour i've ever spent reading a book! incredibly insightful. elliot asks great questions... what does it mean to be godly or worldly? how does a christian discern the will of God? for those of us who sometimes fall prey to legalism and merely "following the rules" of christianity, this is a must-read. short but very wise. i will read it again and again to remind myself.

True Christianity

The book impacted me in the following way: checking my motives as a Christian and challenging me to live to please and be motivated by God. It contained biblical insight into some difficult issues as to what it means to be a Christian. It is very short, but definitely worth the read.