Surprised by Doubt
How Disillusionment Can Invite Us into a Deeper Faith
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"Those at a faith crossroads will want to pick this up."--Publishers Weekly
The Gospel Coalition 2023 Book Award (Evangelism & Apologetics)
Even those who live by faith sometimes doubt. Those doubts don't have to mean the end of Christian identity.
In Surprised by Doubt, Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson help readers rediscover a deeper faith in the midst of a confusing world. They invite skeptics and doubters to explore the ancient faith for a new perspective on contemporary Christianity.
Chatraw and Carson build on C. S. Lewis's metaphor that envisions Christianity as a house with many rooms, suggesting that readers move beyond the cramped attic of reactionary versions of the faith to explore the larger, more ancient main floors of the house.
With pastoral care and intellectual rigor, Chatraw and Carson not only help Christians think through the issues confronting them. They also help readers engage their emotional journey of anxiety, fear, anger, and frustration. Readers will discover the wisdom of the past and ways to reimagine a faith that can thrive alongside doubt.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this vigorous outing, Beeson Divinity School professor Chatraw (Apologetics at the Cross) and Carson, director for the Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement at Liberty University, urge Christians struggling with doubt to ask questions of their faith instead of suffering in silence. Drawing on C.S. Lewis's analogy of faith as a house, the authors warn against "attic Christianity," a "narrow" notion of faith whose adherents are convinced that their "room... is the entire house," and which was "built in fear to protect from the dangers of the world outside." Instead of abandoning Christianity, those who have become disillusioned with such limited notions of faith should venture to the main floor—a richer, more expansive form of Christianity, which is built on "sturdy foundations" and allows space for productive questions. There, they can tackle sources of doubt, including the question of "salvation for people outside of Israel before Christ came" (the authors point to Augustine's view that "final judgment is our Creator's prerogative, not ours") and the relationship between science and religion, which the authors argue is not antithetical. Drawing on the work of such thinkers as Blaise Pascal and René Descartes, the authors set out a methodical approach to a thorny topic and deliver it with a down-to-earth approachability readers will find refreshing. Those at a faith crossroads will want to pick this up.
