Does God speak?

The answer seems clear. Books abound on the topic of hearing God's voice. And many believers testify to God's conversational guidance in their life: "God told me to help you." "I knew it was God speaking to me."

Our culture reinforces the idea that speaking--constant speaking--is good and natural and essential. In those rare moments during a day when talking ceases or when we're alone, we quickly find some way to fill the void, whether turning on the television or radio, or calling someone on the phone. With others, and especially with God, we get the message: speaking is good, silence is bad.

But still, Ruth Tucker is not afraid to ask the question, "Does God speak?" And her answer might surprise you. She urges caution in speaking about hearing God, pointing out that our privatized spirituality often sets those who hear God on a pedestal and leaves those who don't feeling spiritually inferior. Further, she shows how the expectation of conversation may too easily humanize God in our minds, causing us to approach God with the same attitude we have when we call a friend on the phone. And if God does speak, how can we be sure our own desires are not affecting our interpretation of God's voice?

In God Talk Tucker offers us a new paradigm for viewing silence and prayer. Rather than feeling inferior when we don't hear God speak, she helps us lean more deeply on his silent, Spirit-inspired Word. By examining the Trinity, Tucker gives us a new glimpse of how God the Father spoke his words in the past, how Christ the Incarnate Word lived among us, and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us now through Scripture. Here is a probing, thought-provoking read on how our present, active, powerful God relates to us and how we, in turn, should relate to God.