Response and Reflection on “Faith After Doubt.”

I recently read “Faith after Doubt” by Brian McLaren. I loved this book. I want to take a little bit of time to offer a reflection and response to the book. I’ll do this in sections, by pulling out quotes from the book. I welcome your comments and reflections too.

Overview: The overall theme of the book is that doubt and faith are not in opposition to each other, but actually are a part of one another. To have faith is to have doubts because certainty is the opposite of faith. Certainty has to do with knowing and being in control — the first sin in Scripture. McLaren talks about stages of faith (and acknowledges the danger of talking this way too). But his description is also helpful in gaining an understanding of where people are spiritually. I found the book to be really good and inspired a series of questions and ideas as to how the concepts apply to the church. I’ll share those as I go through specific parts of the book.

pg. 10 — “This terror is especially real for people like Michael and me, who were taught that God is an almighty supreme being who demands absolute perfection and submission, a strict and demanding father, and a tough and exacting judge. Yes, we were also taught God is loving, gracious, and forgiving, but the one requirement God demands above all others is precisely the thing that doubters struggle with most: God demands firm, unwavering faith, which we understood to mean correct beliefs. To question those beliefs throws open the terrifying possibility that God might at any moment…