The fourth chapter begins with a quote by Simone Weil that explains love (Yancey 38). I found this quote interesting yet hard to understand. One sentence in that quote was very interesting yet confusing to me: God is abdication. How can God be abdication? By definition, abdication means to give up or renounce. So how can God be giving up or renouncing? I could not really think of any solid explanation for it. When I interpreted that sentence, I thought about God giving up his only son, Jesus. Also, Jesus gives up his life on Earth in order to save us. God and Jesus give up these things because they love us.
One thing that really struck out to me was when Yancey mentioned that Christianity and communism have the same ideals (42). I definitely raised an eyebrow when I read that. I mean how can those two completely different things have anything in common? When you think of Christianity, you most likely think of many positive and good things about Christianity. When you think of communism, however, there are many negative connotations surrounding that word. Even though Christianity and communism are completely different things, Yancey states four things that are common between the two things: equality, sharing, justice, and racial harmony (42).
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Yancey says that “power can force obedience, only love can summon a response of love” (44). This line reminds me of a ruler and his subjects. How can a ruler make his people do the things he wants? A ruler can be ruthless, making his people afraid of him, therefore they will do anything the ruler says out of fear. A ruler can also be kind and caring toward his people, gaining the love and respect out of his subjects, therefore the ruler’s people will do the things he wants out of love and kindness. God wants everyone to show love toward others and not have power over