Book Review: God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us by the Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail

Post Author: Alison VanBuskirk Philip

With a title that carries the simple resonance of a Taylor Swift lyric, God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us by the Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail is a book of devotions that sing of God’s grace, creativity, and joy. As the author writes, “God is a lot like music” (17). Her collection of reflections is life-affirming, queer-affirming, and body-affirming. Reading this devotional felt like getting lost in a jazz album: moments of harmony, dissonance, softness, and momentum all working their way toward an expansive sense of spiritual freedom. 

The book is organized into four sections, each one based on shifting a confining myth into a liberating mystery. The first section focuses on the myth of God as male power, inviting readers to embrace a triune, multi-gendered God who exists in relationships. The second section deconstructs the myth that the Bible is a rulebook and alternatively invites us to embrace the holy in the human stories and struggles told in the texts of Scripture. The third section reconsiders the idea that Jesus came only to offer personal salvation that depends on our acceptance, offering instead the spacious possibility that salvation is bigger than the individual, and Jesus shows up in presence and action as we love one another. Finally, the fourth section challenges the common assumption that the point of Christianity is avoiding hell in some distant future by describing the mystery of the kingdom of heaven that is expressing itself in and through the present moment. Each devotion within these sections is based on a Bible story and ends with a prayer that lifts up the devotion’s theme. 

God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us by the Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail

God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us is rooted in strong exegesis of Scripture, a theology of God’s abundant benevolence, and a focus on freeing people from beliefs that generate more fear and restriction than hope and possibility. Personally, I find the section on heaven to be especially poignant. While I didn’t grow up in the church myself, I was surprised to recognize how much I have absorbed from culture about what hell is and what it means to be a good person and Christian. There’s fear in me that exists below the surface of my awareness, and the fourth section speaks love into that fear in a way that allows release.

This devotion book would be helpful for anyone who is in the process of deconstructing negative church experiences, grappling with ways the Bible has been used to cause harm, or seeking faith in a good God who is more about delight than punishment. As a pastor, it’s one I’ll keep on my shelf to give as a gift to those struggling with negative experiences and themes related to church and faith. It’s also one I’ll come back to personally when I need to remember the spiritual music of grace and the rhythm of delight that carried me into ministry.

That said, this book might not be for someone entirely new to faith, unless they are willing to put in the time to become well-versed in the theological and biblical language and ideas that McManus-Dail is de- and re-constructing. In general, these devotions are longer than other common devotional resources and require time to read, absorb, and process. It’s worth the effort; but if you’re looking for something quick and easy, this might not be the choice for you. Additionally, there are a number of stories about being pregnant, giving birth, and parenting a toddler, which I’d keep in mind if I were recommending it to someone for whom those topics are too painful in the moment.

In summary, if you are looking for a biblically grounded, theologically rich, spiritually nourishing devotional book, I highly recommend God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us. It resonates with notes of the Creator’s generosity, the love of Jesus that is deeper and wider and higher than our imagining, and the gentle wisdom of the Holy Spirit who breathes in us and sings through us.