Wandering Toward God: Finding Faith amid Doubts and Big Questions

Philosophy professor Dickinson (Logic and the Way of Jesus) makes a fitfully thoughtful case that doubt can lead to stronger faith. He suggests that “faith, when understood properly, can tolerate big questions and significant doubts,” and argues that they are a normal part of a “mature Christian faith.” He admits that while “doubting is not where we want to end up,” God doesn’t expect unwavering certainty from followers and that Christians should aspire to “rational confidence.” To build that confidence, Dickinson rebuts major criticisms of Christianity and posits that though some of God’s judgments may appear harsh (e.g., Noah’s flood), humans cannot know God’s reasons. Examining the historicity of Jesus’s resurrection, Dickinson overstates the significance of Roman historian Tacitus’s writings about Jesus, making the leap that a passage about Christianity’s resurgence after the crucifixion proves Jesus’s resurrection. The discussion of how to transform doubt into faith offers a nuanced and pragmatic perspective on resolving internal conflicts of belief. However, the flimsy apologetics won’t sway skeptics; for example, the author answers the question of theodicy by claiming that God allowed WWII because it stopped the Axis powers, but he doesn’t address why God permitted the Axis powers to form. Though Dickinson preaches to the choir, Christians wrestling with doubt will find some pearls of wisdom. (Oct.)