As I noted earlier, this one by Guinness has been the “book of the month” for me in many ways: God in the Dark: The Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt (Wheaton: Crossway, 1996). As Christians, many of us have a tough time admitting that we have some doubts about the faith. If that describes you, I recommend this book. In it, Guinness defines doubt, discusses it, and shows seven major areas of doubt in the Christian life (a few examples: doubt from a faulty view of God, doubt from lack of commitment, doubt from unruly emotions, and doubt from weak foundations).
The book is well written; it is clear and (thankfully) lacks all the buzzwords so common in Christianity today. Though the book is easy to read, it is not a quick read because Guinness packs a lot in each chapter. In fact, after reading it once and skimming it again, I’ve decided the best way to profit from this book is to outline it for myself. To get you more interested, here are a few quotes.
“Anyone who believes anything will automatically know something about doubt. But those who know why they believe are also in a position to discover why they doubt. The follower of Christ should be such a person…they are those who ‘think in believing and believe in thinking,’ as Augustine expressed it” (p. 14).
“Doubt is not the opposite of faith, nor is it the same as unbelief. Doubt is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief so that it is neither of them wholly and it is each only partly” (p. 26).
“Doubt is not always fatal but it is always serious” (p. 29).
“Believe in God for wrong reasons or for no reason at all and you cannot expect to be free from doubt” (p. 40).
“We love our idols because we made them. God’s truth, however, is much less comfortable, and the habit of being stretched by its demands is challenging” (p. 73).
“The Christian faith is not true because it works. It works because it is true” (p. 77).
“Mystery is beyond human reason, but it is not against human reason” (p. 80).
“We do not trust God because he guides us; we trust God and then are guided, which means that we can trust God even when we do not seem to be guided. Faith may be in the dark about guidance, but it is never in the dark about God. What God is doing may be mystery, but who God is is not” (p. 176). (Note: Guinness is talking about the fact that God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness are not mysteries.)
One more:
“The waters may be dark and swirling, but faith steps from one stepping stone of God’s Word to another” (p. 205).
The whole book is like this – full of brilliant parts that take much reflection. I’ll come back to this later…
shane lems
sunnyside wa
