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.

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, the process of learning and growing almost always involves a certain amount of pain. Perhaps you, like me, were a child who found it very hard to accept that Santa Claus wasn’t real. I fought my doubt for at least a year, and when my older brother finally convinced me, I cried. Then I got angry—very angry. Feeling I’d been duped, I vowed I’d never believe anything anyone ever told me again. While this pledge thankfully didn’t stick, I sometimes wonder if this experience is part of the reason I have always had a skeptical streak. I don’t like being fooled.
This experience illustrates how painful growing out of old, cherished beliefs can be, which is why we sometimes fight tenaciously, and often irrationally, to resist letting them go, or even letting go of our certainty about them. And yet, if we want to continue to grow, and if we are genuinely concerned with believing the truth, there is no way to avoid this pain. Indeed, having the courage to embrace the pain of doubt and to face unpleasant facts, as well as to embrace challenging questions and to live with ambiguity, is the hallmark of a mature and responsible human being. As we’ll see in the next chapter, one of the unfortunate consequences of the certainty-seeking model of faith is that it encourages pain-avoidance and thus keeps people from learning, growing, and maturing.
Boyd, Gregory, Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty, Baker, 2013
Also, today and tomorrow are the last days to get the early bird registration rate for ReKnew’s upcoming conference Faith, Doubt & the Idol of Certainty. Hope to see you all there!
Category: General
Tags: Benefit of the Doubt, Doubt, Doubt and the Idol of Certainty, Faith, ReKnew
Related Reading

Fundraiser Update
THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who have contributed to this ministry. This is such a great start and we’re feeling very grateful! Here’s where we’re at today: 56 monthly supporters $4810 in one-time gifts $2185 monthly budget We’re keeping this fundraiser going through the end of the year and we’re hoping…

Why Doesn’t God Make Himself Obvious?
Why is faith so difficult? Why isn’t God more obvious? Why doesn’t God come out and provide irrefutable proof that he is God so that there is no more doubt? Greg’s father raised such questions and Greg’s responses are recorded in the book Letters from a Skeptic. _______________________ What would happen … if God individually…

Why Bart Ehrman Doesn’t Have to Ruin Your Christmas (Or Your Faith) Part 4
This is the fourth of several videos Greg put together to refute Bart Ehrman’s claims published in the article What Do We Really Know About Jesus? We hope you’re enjoying these! They really provide a great overall approach to Biblical Criticism. If you missed the first three installments you can find them here, here and here.

Faith in the Midst of the Storm
This last weekend Greg was in Michigan preaching at Mars Hill. If you’d like to download the audio of the sermon click here. Greg continues his thoughts on faith and doubt in this sermon, focusing on the gospel account of Jesus walking on the water. What does it mean to have faith?

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!

Beyond Theoretical Salvation
Profession of Christ’s lordship in our lives isn’t a magical formula. It’s more than a theory about how we can get saved if we confess the right doctrines. The confession has meaning only when it’s understood to be a genuine pledge to surrender one’s life to Christ. (See yesterday’s post.) But I want us to…