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Reflecting on the Conference and Cynicism

greg benefit of the doubtWe had such a great time this weekend at the Faith, Doubt & the Idol of Certainty conference. People came from all over the United States and it was good to get a chance to connect. We’re more convinced than ever that God is up to something beautiful and real. You’ll be hearing more about this last weekend soon. Thanks to everyone who came and participated. It was a huge blessing.

We thought it would be good to follow up our week of posts on doubt with David Flower’s reflections on cynicism. We received a question during the Q&A session of the conference asking whether too much doubt can lead to cynicism. The short answer is, “Yes”. Doubt and cynicism are two different animals. We are not championing doubt, we’re championing openness and honesty. If you feel like you’ve fallen into cynicism, David’s words will provide a needed corrective and some encouragement for you.

From David’s piece:

But let me be clear. It’s not cynicism simply to acknowledge reality. It’s just that we can’t fully know what’s real without considering the God revealed in Jesus. Reality must conform to the good news of Christ.

Cynicism leads to despair. Repent of it when it’s at work in you.

Repent by believing that God is greater than the evil at work in the world. He calls us to be people of hope. Hopeful realism is about resurrection and the promise of new creation. It allows us to see the Spirit of God at work, and it empowers us to join him in shaping God’s good future.

 

Related Reading

Gungor and Doubt

Gungor is working through the issue of doubt on their new album. (Thanks Orlando for the heads-up.) We’re busily getting ready for the Faith, Doubt & the Idol of Certainty conference tomorrow. It’s not too late to join us. Hope to see you there.

Greg’s Interview on The Christian Transhumanist Podcast

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The Evangelical Mind

Peter via Compfight As a follow-up to Rachel Held Evans’ thoughts yesterday on the Scandal of the Evangelical Heart, we thought we would post this reflection by Peter Enns about the Deeper Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. He claims that in the current environment when professors and pastors are constrained by the consequences of asking…

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