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In a recent article from The Guardian, it was reported that ‘Less than half of Britons expected to tick ‘Christian’ in UK census’. This is a significant drop in people who identify themselves as Christian. The number is predicted to possibly fall below 50%. Part of this is attributed to "Christianity" as an identity being used less nowadays - a trend that comes in part from the effect of the Baby Boomer generation largely choosing not to raise their children in Church. Another part of this is certainly due to the loss of being in a physical Church community throughout the past year of lockdown.
Doubt is on the rise. Whether you are grappling with questions about Christianity, are unsure about what you believe or feel disenfranchised with the Church, these books help you understand doubt and disbelief.
Here, I’ve chosen books that meet you in your doubt, rather than trying to out-and-out trying to explain you back into faith. In this list of seven books, you’ll find authors who tackle some of the key factors behind doubt. From feeling that your faith isn’t what it once was to falling out of love with the Bible to struggling with the Church’s recent revelations. These books have been handpicked for their ability to understand exactly what you are feeling.
With doubt, the best way out is through.
These seven books take you through doubt to a deeper faith on the other side.
7. Out of Sorts by Sarah Bessey
Part of doubt is coming to terms with the difference between the faith you once had and the shape it takes now. Sometimes, things just don’t go as simply as they used to when you were younger Times were simpler then. Now, there is a wrestling with the issues that comes from being a Christian. Someone who is all too familiar with this kind of struggle is Sarah Bessey.
In her book Out of Sorts, Sarah Bessey shares her own personal struggles with a number of questions about faith, the Bible, the Church and who Jesus is. What is great about Out of Sorts is that Sarah Bessey doesn’t simply give you what she thinks are the answers to your questions, but instead shows you how to approach and walk through these questions. It’s the doubter's equivalent of saying “the journey is as important as the destination”. She teaches you how to hold uncertainty and questions close. She also explores how doubting and questions can help you gain a deeper, more secure faith in the storms ahead.
Click here to find out more about Out of Sorts.
6. Inspired by Rachel Held-Evans
In times of doubt, falling out of love with the Bible is almost inevitable. This creates a negative feedback loop as people will point to the Bible as evidence for faith without recognising how your relationship with the Bible has shifted. Being told the Bible is the evidence for the Bible will likely only further push you away from it.
Instead, readdressing your relationship with the Bible will give you the tools to rekindle your love of God’s word. The perfect read for getting back into the Bible is Inspired by Rachel Held-Evans.
Inspired draws on a mix of recent study and literary insight to show how the Bible is much more than you may have previously thought. In it, Rachel Held-Evans shows some of the struggles she went through in her own relationship with the Bible and how she overcame them.
Click here to find out more about Inspired.
5. If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk by John Pavlovitz
Many people lose their faith in God, but many many more people lose their faith in the Church.
Let’s be honest for a moment, it’s not hard to see why. Dozens of prominent Christian leaders have a spotlight shone on their inappropriate activities in the wake of the Church Too movement. Further compounding the issue are the times when those leaders were protected by other leaders and systems. Actions were hidden, victims encouraged to be silent. With all these stories coming out, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s something rotten in the state of the Church today. A lot of other people have. It is all too easy to lose faith in Christians first and in Christianity soon after.
If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk comes from a similar place. John Pavlovitz offers a message of learning to practice what we preach - something that is simple to say, but difficult to actually do. Whilst he doesn’t offer defences for some of the less-than-Christ Like behaviour to come out of the Church at times, that fact that he so passionately works to show Christianity as a force for overall good is sure to restore some of your lost faith in the Church.
Click here to find out more about If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk.
4. Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
The picture we have of Jesus rapidly changes when we are uncertain of faith. Whilst there are countless books examining the historical evidence for Jesus, if you have in the past been shown a version of Jesus that steered you away from wanting to believe, then no amount of archaeological fact-presentation will move you any closer to belief. It may even push you away as it fails to address the issues at heart but rather continue to push a Jesus that you are trying to move away from.
Gentle and Lowly offers a refreshingly different portrait of Jesus. Based on Matthew 11, Dane Ortlund’s surprise bestseller seeks to find a truer Christ. One who did not come to judge. One who is God’s compassion and heart for humanity in human form.
You’ll soon find that the Jesus you were unsure of and the Jesus of the Bible are not the same people.
Click here to find out more about Gentle and Lowly.
3. Disappointment, Doubt and Other Spiritual Gifts by Mark Yaconelli
More people struggle with doubt than will ever let on. Attached to doubt is a feeling of shame that can easily slip into imposter syndrome. Standing in a Church service, seeing the raised arms and hearing the passionate voices of all those people around you in the throes of worship can be terribly alienating when you are in a season of doubt. Like doubt is a dirty word. Like you don’t belong here.
Well, you do. Every Christian experiences doubt - and that is not a bad thing at all. Disappointment, Doubt and Other Spiritual Gifts by Mark Yaconelli is an antidote to shame about doubt. It was written for every single Christian who has felt like a failure. The book is built on Mark’s own experiences as a believer and as a minister. Through his open and honest voice, feelings of failure are reframed. The book has a wonderful generosity of spirit. It shows how suffering can be a spiritual gift and a catalyst for greater spiritual growth.
Click here to find out more about Disappointment, Doubt and Other Spiritual Gifts.
2. Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren
All these previous books are my indirect approach to some of the aspects of doubt. From falling out of love with the Bible to being disillusioned with the Church, they offer personal and specific explorations of factors in doubt. However, this one confronts doubt head-on.
Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren takes you along the full arc of doubt, from why you stopped believing to what your disbelief means to what the road ahead looks like for you.
Being in doubt can seem like everything suddenly breaks apart. Faith After Doubt not only shows how those kinds of breakages happen, but why, and what it takes to rebuild it. Along the way, you’ll see that doubt is one of the most natural and human expressions there is. That is part of growth and not the end of a road.
Click here to find out more about Faith After Doubt.
1. Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
Finally, this one has a bit of everything. There are countless arguments for why you shouldn’t believe. You’ve no doubt heard a good number of them. Arguments about the damage religion has done. Arguments about taking the Bible literally. Arguments that rest on the track record of the Church and its actions. Each of these is met head-on in Confronting Christianity.
The book is a smart and unafraid counterargument. Rebecca McLaughlin doesn’t shy away from answering the hard questions. In reading the book, you’ll see the hard questions as being the best ones. Sometimes, in times of doubt, it is important to know the emotional and spiritual factors of why you are feeling doubt. Other times, it takes answering the hard questions to firm up the foundations of your belief.
Confronting Christianity tackles those hard questions head-on and gives you the answers to help you move forwards.
Click here to find out more about Confronting Christianity.
What books have helped you in doubt? Let us know in the comments. We love to hear about the Christian books that have impacted your faith and life.
