We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Speaking of Doubt

Blackfield

Xava du via Compfight

As long as we’re on the topic of faith and doubt, here’s an excellent piece by Richard Beck on The Gifts and Benefits of Doubt. Are you struggling with doubt and feeling like a spiritual loser for it? We think you’ll appreciate Beck’s insight on this.

From the article:

The assumption might be that doubters would make a church less biblical. However, in a certain key respect doubters often make the church more biblical. Many churches tend to be pretty selective in how they read the bible. These churches often “read around” the more difficult or embarrassing parts of the bible. You can see this vividly in the Lectionary itself. Doubters, by contrast, tend to be drawn to the more difficult parts of the bible and they insist that the church, as hard as this might be, pay attention to these passages. Doubters insist that the whole bible be read. Warts and all.

Category:
Tags:

Related Reading

Benefit of the Doubt: Sneak Peek

We’ll be leaking little tidbits from Greg’s soon-to-be-released book Benefit of the Doubt from today until the book release. We’re really excited about the potential of this book to impact the lives of those who have limped along with the assumption that doubts and questions disqualify them as “faithful”. Here’s today’s snippet: The truth is,…

When Jesus Questioned the Father

Though the sinless Son of God had perfect faith, we find him asking God the Father to alter the plan to redeem the world through his sacrifice—if it is “possible” (Matt. 26:42). As the nightmare of experiencing the sin and God-forsakenness of the world was encroaching upon him, Jesus was obviously, and understandably struggling. So,…

Tips on what NOT to say to someone struggling with their faith

Neal Fowler via Compfight Here’s a post from a year ago from Elizabeth Esther on What NOT to say to someone struggling with their faith. Historically, the church has been a very unsafe place for people expressing doubts or struggles. Let’s be safer than this. From the blog post: “Don’t throw the baby out with…

Part Three of Greg’s Interview with David D. Flowers

Here’s the final interview that Greg did with David D. Flowers in which he discusses his upcoming book Benefit of the Doubt: Dismantling the Idol of Certainty. Check it out! From the interview: Faith in Scripture isn’t about striving for certainty: it’s about being willing to commit to a course of action — to a way…

Are You a Church Misfit?

Romain Guy via Compfight Here’s a lovely reflection from Rachel Held Evans on the experience of finding that your questions are unwelcome in church. Evans is bumping up against this material as she reads Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior. I suspect this kind of experience is much more common that we’d like to admit. Can you…

Interview with Drew Marshall

Greg was interviewed by Drew Marshall on Saturday, November 2, on the topic of his new book Benefit of the Doubt, and we thought you might like to listen to what he had to say. You can find the interview here. Enjoy!