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As an ordained minister, I've recently begun having a recurring nightmare. It goes something like this: I'm in a dim and damp basement room, a light bulb swinging from the ceiling, and a pair of interrogators standing over me. There's the well-meaning one and there's the bad, unpredictable, aggressive one. I anxiously wonder how many members from my congregation they have crammed into the room behind the two-way mirror. As I begin to sweat under my clerical collar, I feel stuck to the rusty, metal folding chair. Trying to keep my wits intact, I feel a paralyzing dread washing over me. Good Cop: Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? Me: Um...Mostly? Bad Cop: It is a yes or no question! Me: Yes. I think. I don't know. Can I be a "sort of "or a "maybe?" Good Cop: No. Me: But what do you mean by "believe" and "in" and "God"? Also, I am trying to steer away from patriarchal language and using human characteristics to describe God. So, I guess I'm out with God as the Father. Unlike other religious tell-all accounts, Doubting Faithfully: Confessions of a Skeptical Pastor articulates what a spiritual nomadic quest of an active leader of the Sunday morning faithful feels like from the other side of the pews-a confession most other clergy might prefer to keep hidden.
We are taught to doubt but commanded to believe. Somehow we think that admitting to doubt is tantamount to insulting God. But doubt is not a sign of spiritual weakness--rather it's an indication of spiritual growing pains, says Alister McGrath. He explores the origin and nature of doubt and the specific doubts that often plague Christians in a postmodern culture.
Is there a way to walk faithfully through doubt and come out the other side with a deeper love for Jesus, the church, and its tradition? Can we question our faith without losing it? Award-winning author, pastor, and professor A. J. Swoboda has witnessed many young people wrestle with their core Christian beliefs. Too often, what begins as a set of critical and important questions turns to resentment and faith abandonment. Unfortunately, the church has largely ignored its task of serving people along their journey of questioning. The local church must walk alongside those who are deconstructing their faith and show them how to reconstruct it. Drawing on his own experience of deconstruction, Swoboda offers tools to help emerging adults navigate their faith in a hostile landscape. Doubt is a part of our natural spiritual journey, says Swoboda, and deconstruction is a legitimate space to encounter the living God. After Doubt offers a hopeful, practical vision of spiritual formation for those in the process of faith deconstruction and those who serve them. Foreword by pastor and author John Mark Comer.
Many Christians struggle with the concept of walking by faith, especially in a world that says faith is all about taking risks--leaping into uncharted territory and expecting everything to be okay. In Despite Doubt, Michael E. Wittmer reexamines this popular viewpoint and encourages readers to get a clear understanding of their assurance in God and salvation. Readers will examine the flip side of doubt that opens the door to questions, answers, and knowledge about securing their trust in God. Helping readers to discover how to embrace a confident faith, Despite Doubt includes questions for reflection and discussion and is a perfect resource for small group study.
People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts. Even as a pastor, Austin Fischer has experienced the shadows of doubt and disillusionment. Leaning into perennial questions about Christianity, he shows that doubt is no reason to leave the faith—instead, it's an invitation to a more honest faith.
Focussing on three philosophers - Giorgio Agamben, Jacques Derrida, and Slavoj Zizek - Faithful Doubt argues that atheism can be redeeming. Far from being inhospitable to faith, doubt is increasingly necessary for theology. As well as introducing the thought of contemporary philosophers, 'Faithful Doubt' examines the significance of popular entertainment and nrrative. Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin, Neal Stephenson, China Mieville, and others are read alongside 'Star Wars' and 'Battlestar Galactica'. Fiction highlights the fluid nature of the sacred and the secular. On the question of evil, 'Faithful Doubt' suggests that wisdom lies in acknowledging uncertainty. Weaving the story of Job together with St Augustine, Donald MacKinnon, and Eleonore Stump, evil exemplifies the necessity for doubt within theology. 'Faithful Doubt' brings a new perspective to debates about the relationship between faith and reason. Concluding with a discussion of Soren Kierkegaard, Collins presents a compellingcase for harnessing atheism and doubt in service to Christian faith. In order to doubt wisely we need to heed the faith of the faithless.
Faith and doubt. Many assume these are polar opposites. Many Christians think the presence of doubt cancels out faith or makes them somehow unworthy to go to God. Many non-Christians assume they could never have faith because they have so many doubts about the God of the Bible. But what if faith and doubt aren't the polar opposites we often think they are. And what if the expression of doubt can actually be a sign and expression of a healthy faith? If we read through Scripture, we find the puzzling fact that doubts and questions about God and his ways are quite prevalent. In that sense, the entire book of Habakkuk could be described as one man's wrestling with God and boldly stating his questions and doubts. In Faithful Doubt, Travis Scott explores the ancient prophecy of Habakkuk to see how it helps us better understand the relationship between faith and doubt and how the practice of faithful doubt is a necessary part of a healthy spiritual life.
Ortberg demonstrates how doubt is very much a part of faith and how uncertainty can lead to trust. "The beliefs that really matter," he writes, "are the ones that guide our behavior. We cannot hope without faith, and so we must not hope for something but someone--Jesus Christ.
A unique and validating look at the tension you feel between disillusionment and a desire for truth, Searching for Enough helps you see your doubt not as an emotion to fear but as an invitation to be followed. Do you ever find yourself thinking, "I'm not enough, and I'm never going to be. And I know I'm not supposed to say this, but God's not enough for me either." Whether or not we attend church, deep down we wonder if the biblical story of faith is really enough for the complexity of the world in which we live. We fill our lives with other things, hoping that maybe the next experience or accomplishment will complete us. Yet with every goal we reach, we still feel discouraged and anxious. In Searching for Enough, Pastor Tyler Staton draws on ancient and modern insights to introduce us, as if for the first time, to Jesus' disciple Thomas: history's most notorious skeptic. Like Thomas, we are caught between two unsatisfying stories: We want to believe in God but can't reconcile his presence with our circumstances and internal struggles. But what if there's a better story than shame? What if there's redemption so complete that there's nothing left to hide? What if there is a God who can heal your resentments, fears, and loneliness in such a profound way that you feel whole? From a place of spiritual companionship and deep authenticity, Tyler shows us that it is not an empty tomb that will change our lives, but the presence of the living God. Whether you are a distant skeptic, an involved doubter, or a busy but bored Christian, Searching for Enough invites you to find enough in a God who offers the only promises that never disappoint.
Ortberg demonstrates how doubt is very much a part of faith and how uncertainty can lead to trust. "The beliefs that really matter," he writes, "are the ones that guide our behavior."