I think this book embodies a tremendous amount of what troubles me about the postmodern church in America. I have not read it, nor do I intend to. Life is too short and the arts too long to waste either one on initiatives like this one. I would not even write this blurb on it except that people seem to gravitate to stuff like this and there ought to be someone speaking against it.

To begin with, his prima facie premise that doubt is a necessary element of faith that can not only co-exist with it but may also be found to be a beneficial component of it is ludicrous. Scripture knows of no such idea, nor is it found in the teachings of historic Christianity. Doubting is supposing that God is not going to do what He says He will do, and it leads us to the conclusion that we must do things our own way instead to get what we want. This happens over and over in the Bible and from the OT to the NT it is ALWAYS presented as a failure, a bad idea, something we ought to steer away from. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” is Christ’s answer to our unbelief every time. Not – “Great job there, way to embrace your doubt!”

This is not to say that doubting should be condemned out-of-hand. That it is a sin does not make it unforgivable, nor should we forget that it probably has not been very long since the last doubt ran through the mind of each one of us. Great has been the grace God has shown each of us in our doubt. Jude teaches that we are to have mercy on those who doubt; it is to be dealt with tenderly in the church. But doubt is still a sin, and the teaching of Biblical and historic Christianity is that we are to repent of sins and turn away from them, not celebrate them as somehow the spirit of our age has led us to do. Talking as a Christ-follower about “faithful doubt” would be like talking about “honorable adultery” or “steadfast theft” or “commendable murder.” It is simply a spiritual contradiction in terms, and the fact that it has become fashionable for theologians to espouse doctrines so patently false on their face that even our unbelieving friends could tell you it’s stupid is not a mark in its favor.

Why not write a book about actually being faithful? Or about what it is we believe? Or about “faithful belief”? Or any number of things that would be much more beneficial than trying to make a sin into something Christians should be attaining to? But instead we call evil good and good evil, we put darkness for light and light for darkness, we put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And my people perish for lack of knowledge.

It comes as no surprise to me whatsoever that the author was a member of the secret group in the PCA called the National Partnership. To those who may not know the denominational inside baseball, it’s a bad thing to have a secret political group in your church to stack committees and sway votes to get your progressive doctrinal agendas rolled into its constitution – and then lie about its existence and your participation in it. Bad, not good. Dark not light, bitter not sweet.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

May the Lord grant us faith to believe His Gospel, and may we never doubt His good promises again.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55539060-faithful-doubt

Author: Jeremy Vogan

My name is Jeremy Vogan. I live in Staunton, VA with my wife and four kids. I love to write, and seek to honestly explore the intellectual and emotional implications of following Jesus as a deeply broken person in a twisted, cruel world that is full of veiled beauty and meaning. Writing is part of how I faithfully look for Jesus Christ to someday make all things new. I'd enjoy hearing your feedback! JV