Grace Revealed
Finding God’s Strength in Any Crisis
Grace Revealed is a religious self-help work that aims to help relieve the anxiety of those in pain.
Fred Sievert’s religious primer Grace Revealed focuses on the religious phenomenon of grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Arguing that grace is a miracle that is not merit-based, and that the beauty of it is that grace often dispenses itself to people who may be unworthy of it, the book says that grace invariably appears when people are facing difficulties. For such people, this text offers an immediate and attractive solution to common struggles. Beginning with a series of simple questions that take stock of the level of one’s despair, the text becomes a refreshing place for the troubled to turn.
Unpacking multiple, relatable incidents exemplifying the human condition, the text nods to individuals healing from addiction, those dealing with physical and emotional traumas, and those undergoing career-related issues. These informative and pointed case studies posit conflicts, highlight sufferers’ breaking points, and reveal how each person experienced grace at a crucial moment. They reinforce notions of an all-forgiving and all-loving Jesus. Grace is presented as a passive phenomenon that need only be recognized and acknowledged, and that descends of its own accord.
These are uplifting messages for those seeking solace from a specifically Christian perspective. The book’s core message is powerful, though its explanations of grace never move beyond the dynamics of personal troubles that are assuaged by the dispensation and revelation of grace. It varies more when it comes to its case studies, but its structure—chapters focus on daily struggles rather than on explicating what grace is beyond an initial, reductive explanation—is static. Here, grace is present, and the analysis stops at this statement of faith.
The book’s sense of awe suggests that the topic doesn’t need to be complicated; the existence and presence of grace is championed as miraculous, and that may be enough for many audiences This is not a book that tries to be overly abstruse or theological. Its strength lies in its simplicity. The book’s appeal is like the phenomenon of grace itself: immediate, apparent, uncomplicated, and efficacious. At times, it can be appreciated without focusing on its Christian underpinnings: its hope is practical, and may apply to any who feel troubled.
Grace Revealed is a religious self-help work that aims to help relieve the anxieties of those in pain.
Reviewed by
Philip J. Kowalski
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
