The Heart of Anger: How the Bible Transforms Anger in Our Understanding and Experience

How should Christians understand anger, evaluate it, and respond for good?

We all struggle with anger at times: Our plans suddenly fall through, we lose a prized possession, or our reputation is called into question. More often than not, when anger knocks at the doors of our hearts we easily allow it to take over. But what if getting to the heart of our anger also reveals the way to transform it?

Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley address this question by bringing to bear what the whole Bible has to say about sinful anger-revealing that anger is the sinful response when something we value more than God is taken away or threatened. They reflect on biblical portraits of human anger, God's righteous anger, and how only the gospel of Jesus Christ brings true freedom-transforming a heart of anger into a heart filled with the love of God. Read Chapter 1

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Anger and Why It Matters
Part 1: Biblical Portraits of Human Anger
Chapter 1: Anger and the Human Heart
Chapter 2: Getting to the Heart of Anger
Chapter 3: Anger and Harm
Chapter 4: Anger and Power
Chapter 5: Anger and Self-Righteousness
Chapter 6: Anger and Pride
Chapter 7: Anger and the Crowd
Chapter 8: Using Others to Serve our Angry Madness
Chapter 9: Righteous Anger?
Part 2: Leave Room for an Angry God
Chapter 10: The Anger of God Is Good
Chapter 11: The Anger of God Is Evident
Chapter 12: The Anger of God Is a Jealous Love
Chapter 13: The Anger of God Is Slow but Sure
Chapter 14: The Anger of God Is Revealed in Jesus
Chapter 15: Leave Room for an Angry God
Part 3: First Steps in Defusing Human Anger
Chapter 16: Contrast Our Own Anger with His in the Matter of Knowledge
Chapter 17: Expose the Agenda behind Our Anger: An Example from Parenting
Chapter 18: Feeling Mad: Uncovering the Emotions Hiding Beneath
Part 4: Find Joy in the Peace of Christ
Chapter 19: New Desires in Christ
Chapter 20: A New Crowd in Christ
Chapter 21: A New Peace in Christ
Chapter 22: A New Power in Christ
Chapter 23: A New Humbling from Christ
Chapter 24: A New Love from Christ
Chapter 25: Learn Wisdom in Christ 

Author:

Christopher Ash is writer in residence at Tyndale House in Cambridge and a full-time preacher, speaker, and writer. He previously served as the director of the Proclamation Trust's Cornhill Training Course and as a minister and church planter. He and his wife, Carolyn, are members of St. Andrew the Great Church in Cambridge, and have four children and seven grandchildren.

Steve Midgley is senior minister of Christ Church Cambridge and executive director of Biblical Counselling UK. Steve is a conference speaker, a board member for the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, and a lecturer on biblical counseling at Oak Hill Theological College in London. He and his wife, Beth, have three adult children.

Endorsements:

"I found myself jotting down quote after quote as I read through this book filled with so much insight into the Scriptures, as well as insight into human behavior. Then I came to the question, 'What can Christ do for our anger that anger management courses cannot?' and in the pages that followed, I realized I had just struck gold-gospel hope for those who recognize the damage anger is doing in their lives and relationships and their need of a source outside themselves to deal with it."
--Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Even Better than Eden

"Imagine being more skillful, less reactive, and humble in the face of your own anger or the anger of others. Imagine how many relationships could find peace and avoid prolonged wars. The Heart of Anger guides you there. It is gentle and clear, thorough and hopeful. The illustrations will have you saying, 'That's me.' And it will give you direction today."
--Ed Welch, Counselor and Faculty Member, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation

"Anger, with all its complexity, is still devastatingly simple. This book captures this paradox perfectly. It describes the multiple factors at play in the heart of a person experiencing anger, and it does so with biblical depth and clarity. An excellent guide to the heart of a person's anger."
--Jeremy Pierre, Dean of Students, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

"Anger is a universal human experience and one that often catches us by surprise. Why are we so angry? In this Scripture-saturated book, Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley help us discern what underlies the many manifestations of our anger, while charting a gospel-centered course for change. What difference does Christ make in our struggle with anger? 'All the difference in the world,' say Ash and Midgley. And that is good news indeed for angry folk like you and me!"
--Michael R. Emlet, Faculty Member, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; author, CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet and Descriptions and Prescriptions

"Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley have written a book on anger that is honest, engaging, convicting, and packed with biblical wisdom. I highly recommend it for Christians who want to understand their heart and Jesus's heart for them in their own struggle with anger."
--Darby Strickland, Counselor and Teacher, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; author, Is It Abuse?

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