How Big Is Your God?

by Paul Coutinho, S.J., Loyola Press, 2007, $18.95

(Book Review by V. Heinsz, S.J.)

              How Big Is Your God? is for those who, as the subtitle of the book indicates, want to move to “The Freedom to Experience the Divine.”

              Author Paul Coutinho introduces himself in the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book: this is helpful because he is a Jesuit priest from India with an Eastern view of life and the world.

              The book contains 48 chapters or reflections with the dominant thread being the invitation, the call, the desire to meet and experience the Divine. The 48 chapters, some as short as two pages and others as long as six pages, cover a wide range of topics -- enough for Coutinho to make his point and stir the reader to reflection and prayer. The topics and presentations are, by and large, engaging: for example, Ch. 21 penetrates “Having A Honeymoon with God” (describing Jesus’ temptations in the desert); Ch. 30 “Original Sin, Reconsidered”; Ch. 31 “Confession, Celebration of Divine Presence”; Chs. 41-43 “Harmful Root Beliefs.” By far, most of the reflections are different ways of looking at familiar topics; they entertain with stories, challenge our preconceptions, and often root themselves in Scripture and Ignatian spirituality.

              Catching the flavor and direction of How Big is Your God? Coutinho, in the final chapter, sends the reader off with these words:      

     "I hope you are blessed with an ever-bigger God and an ever-deeper journey into the divine life. I hope you question and reflect, listen and explore, trust and love. I hope you live. As we continue to seek to experience the Divine every more completely, I leave you with one thing. Try this for your personal reflection: Jesus said that if we believe, we can do the same things he did. In fact, Jesus assured us that if we believe, we will do even greater things than he."

              Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, in concluding his Introduction, tells the reader “You are in for a treat, and a treat that will last!” And he is right.