Two of my students, in the last month, have sat in my office in tears — their problem, though from two different angles, was doubt. Everything was changing, they were confused, they were having trouble finding their way …
Robert Wennberg, emeritus professor of philosophy at Westmont College, has given us all a gift: a book about doubting that is brief, thoughtful, careful, encouraging, but deadly honest and realistic. I suspect anyone plagued by doubts will find immense help from this pilgrim who knows the road and one who has lived in both the summer and the winter of faith. So, I recommend Faith at the Edge: A Primer for Doubters
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OK doubters, what has been your story? Your discoveries? Your helps? What is the one thing that has helped you the most with doubt? Another question: What is doubt? What are words that get connected to “doubt” that you think are mistaken connections? What is the opposite of doubt? (Think about that one.)
What I liked most about this book is the topics: the distinctions between doubters, skeptics and seekers; relativism won’t help; that the first bout with doubt is the hardest; the importance of a theology of God’s absence; stuff on CS Lewis and Mother Teresa and St John of the Cross; hope as sustenance during doubt; the Christian community as the best location for doubters; that Christians aren’t always as good as non-Christians; and this one is so good: why God chooses not to make his presence more obvious. And that God is both adversary and ally.
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