I love Scott Saul's books. They are enjoyable to read while also providing valuable teaching. I appreciate very much his biblical based teaching.

Excellent read that challenges your thinking and perspective to a more gospel centered approach. Highly recommend.

4.5 stars. A Gentle Answer is a challenging, encouraging, and timely read. In a world that often feels divisive and as tensions rise in 2020, Scott Sauls leads readers to both the "why" and the "how" of giving a gentle answer. He discusses blessing our betrayers, forgiveness, receiving criticism, doing anger well -- and more.

Saul’s timely analysis of how Christians should respond is so important. A gentle answer does not mean weakness or timidity, but rather how to speak to other image-bearers when they are wrong, when they hurt you, when you are angry, when you disagree. In an age of “us against them” politics, we need this book.

As many other reviewers have stated this book on gentleness is timely in the present climate. Sauls book is beautifully written. I found it possessed a gentle tone - it wasn't pushy or preachy but with gentleness outlined with examples from the Bible, his own experience and others, how adopting a different posture demonstrates the agape love of Christ within us.

Sauls addresses the chestnuts of anger, criticism and forgiveness having already presented how Jesus demonstrates his gentleness towards us through befriending the sinner, reforming the Pharisee and disarming the cynic prevalent in all of us.

There are only seven chapters and each ends with a few questions of reflection.

My only comment is that this fruit only comes from being transformed internally through the work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:1-2). Willpower won't be successful in the long term and transformation takes time and is driven by the Holy Spirit (not ourselves) and it would have been a wonderful way to end the book with some practical exercises on how to start such a process of transformation.

I received an early ebook version of the book from the publisher via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.

In A Gentle Answer, Scott Sauls offers his scriptural insights and his ministry experience as he invites readers to explore a crucial question for this era:

“What must happen in and around us so that we become the kind of people who offer a gentle answer?”

When we are attacked on Twitter, maligned in our mom-group, or even criticized by family members, we are stepping onto ground Jesus walked–but he walked it gently and without sin. His gentleness set him apart from from the Roman Empire, the Jewish religious elite, and the Greek intelligentsia of his day. His words brought peace, pardon, unity, truth, hope, light, and joy to the world.

Made Great by Jesus’s Gentleness

Just as God’s kindness draws our hearts to repentance, it is his gentleness that makes us great. I’m challenged to explore the gentleness of Jesus as a way of being in the world. Scott Sauls invites his readers to consider behaviors and mindsets that characterize gentle people who give gentle answers:

Gentle people put “indicatives before imperatives.”
(Okay, you knew I couldn’t resist a point with a grammatical overtone…)
Jesus focused on who people could become by his power–the indicatives.
Our tendency is to focus on the imperatives–the list of rules for right behavior. This mindset is best exhibited in Jesus’s handling of the woman caught in adultery.
“Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more” (indicative before imperative) is radically different from “Go and sin no more so that you will not be condemned.” (imperative before indicative) It is scandalous to accept people before their behavior changes, but Jesus practiced a scandalous grace, evidenced in gentleness.
Gentle people recognize that all is gift–even hardship and persecution.
Gentleness should not be confused with “being nice.” Martin Lloyd Jones described well the sacrifices of a following life:
“I gave up nothing; I received everything.”
Gentle people know when to get angry and how to do it without sinning.
When Mother Teresa stood before the gathered dignitaries at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994, she “channeled her own God-given anger by boldly and courageously speaking against the termination of image-bearing children in the womb.” (1236) The tiny woman spoke gigantic words to challenge an entire culture, and she wasn’t worried about how they landed. Righteous anger fights for shalom, God’s all-consuming, all-redeeming peace.
Gentle people care for their neighbors.
“Jesus came to turn his enemies into friends, his friends into family, and his family into joyful participants in his mission.” (509) His gentleness sent him into hostile territory with a peace treaty called the gospel. As his followers, we can, by grace, welcome criticism (even if it is unjust), because we are more concerned about our character than our reputation. Then, based on self-awareness of our own twisted motives, we can forgive, when our caring for others results in our being treated badly or misunderstood.

Armed with a gentle answer, following Jesus’s example, we can stand out as different in a world thirsty for his refreshing presence.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.

Pastor Sauls confronts a timely topic in this age of outrage. The forward by Ray Ortlund notes that "this generation is the first to turn hate into an asset." Sauls does not call us to be passive in the face of evil. However, the call to righteous anger is often misdirected. Sauls calls us to grow thicker skin, to do anger well, to receive criticism graciously and to forgive those that deserve our hatred.
The most powerful chapter deals with lessons that Sauls learned from his mentor, Tim Keller, regarding response to criticism. Keller was often criticized by people who not only did not know him but mischaracterized his positions. He always looked for a kernel of truth in the criticism so that he could grow from the confrontation. Likewise, seminary professor Jack Miller would respond to critiques by telling the person, "You don't know the half of it. I am much worse than you think I am, and so are you."
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Scott Sauls is a voice for Biblical Christianity in our day that is needed, and vital. His clarity on who Jesus is and what he is really like, and how the follower of Jesus is to be like him through the power of the indwelling Spirit, is a much needed message in our day. The timeliness of this book cannot be overstated. We need to understand what a gentle answer is, and how the Gospel, understood and applied, is the fuel and power to give one to people we may otherwise just dismiss or right off. Thank you Scott Sauls for your love Jesus and his church, and for helping us to pursue him with passion and zeal, that he would be seen in how we live our lives in a culture of rage and anger.

I appreciate Sauls' gentle words and wisdom. This book is greatly needed at this time and am hopeful that even though the book has been released on blackout tuesday, it will touch many people.

Some timely and important reminders from Scott Sauls. I am grateful for the author's wisdom, acumen, and pastoral inclination as he leads readers first through a meditation on Jesus' own gentleness and then through a series of suggestions to prompt our own increased gentleness. I was provided an ARC by the publisher and I'm eager to recommend this book, especially right now.

There’s a song that I learnt from my childhood that goes like this;
“This is my first commandment, that you love one another, that your joy may be full”.

Most likely you do know it. And it’s not just kids who need to live by, and practice the message of this song, but every human being, especially Christians, those of us who are recipients of God’s love.

As any honest human being is aware, showing love, and being gentle whilst doing it is something tough, very difficult, although it is the trait that is naturally longing to all of us. So, when I saw the title of this book, it brought about an interest upon me as I need to learn how to love others, especially those who are unlike me.
I’d like to thank the author for taking his time to pen this book, and I hope those who read it may be able to glean a thing or two as to how they may practically live out this calling.

Nonetheless, I’ve got a concern that the author failed to bring out the reason why we ought to loving and gentle. As such, I find how he structured it is a bit moralistic, and as a human being, I know that I won’t be able to be perfectly gentle towards others as I ought to, and thus at the end of the day will make me to despair! I’d have loved this book better if he started off by reminding readers that the motive and reason why we ought to love others is because of the Gospel. Because of God having already first loved us, and saved us, thus, from this loci, we are to show love as an outworking for God’s love for us. Secondly, another concern I have with the book is that he’s relying too much on CRT and intersectionality theories to bring out his ideas, and I can say that this is due to his failure on not anchoring his thesis on the Gospel.

To finish off, I’m giving this book 3 stars as of now, but I hope that should the author consider penning a follow up to this one, I’d request that he begins with the Gospel (kerygma) first as the anchor and foundation for his teaching (Didache) in order to bring out clearly his thesis.

Decent read. Would have expected the author to do some better exegesis on some of the passages he mentions. Apart from that, the author says many things that are worth pondering and I would say the book is worthwhile.