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Faith in the Shadows: Finding Christ in the Midst of Doubt
"People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts."
Too often, our honest questions about faith are met with cold confidence and easy answers. But false certitude doesn't result in strong faith—it results in disillusionment, or worse, in a dogmatic, overweening faith unable to see itself or its object clearly.
Even as a pastor, Austin Fischer has experienced the shadows of doubt and disillusionment. In Faith in the Shadows, he leans into perennial questions about Christianity with raw and fearless integrity. He addresses contemporary science, the problem of evil, hell, God's silence, and other issues, offering not only fresh treatments of these questions but also a fresh paradigm for thinking about doubt itself. Doubt, Fischer contends, is no reason to leave the faith. Instead, it's an invitation to a more honest faith—a faith that's not in control, but that trusts more fully in its Lord.
Too often, our honest questions about faith are met with cold confidence and easy answers. But false certitude doesn't result in strong faith—it results in disillusionment, or worse, in a dogmatic, overweening faith unable to see itself or its object clearly.
Even as a pastor, Austin Fischer has experienced the shadows of doubt and disillusionment. In Faith in the Shadows, he leans into perennial questions about Christianity with raw and fearless integrity. He addresses contemporary science, the problem of evil, hell, God's silence, and other issues, offering not only fresh treatments of these questions but also a fresh paradigm for thinking about doubt itself. Doubt, Fischer contends, is no reason to leave the faith. Instead, it's an invitation to a more honest faith—a faith that's not in control, but that trusts more fully in its Lord.
183 pages, Paperback
Published September 11, 2018
About the author
Austin Fischer
8 books14 followersAustin Fischer is the Teaching Pastor at Vista Community Church. His first book "Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed" was published by Wipf & Stock in January 2014.
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May 7, 2019
Summary: Explores how one may live a life of faith in Christ in the midst of doubts and questions.
Austin Fischer was a pastor who struggled with doubts and feared they might lead him to abandon his faith. Then he came to this pivotal realization:
"People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts."
In this book, Fischer explores how it is possible to be a Christian for whom doubt is the path to a deeper and more honest faith. He begins with the mistaken notion that faith requires certainty, and the misbegotten quests for the proof that answers every question and defenses of hyper-literal readings of the Bible. So many who go down that road leave the faith when certainty fails them. Instead, Fischer invites us to be "ants on a rollercoaster" who throw up their hands "in equal portions of terror, bliss, and surrender."
He observes how Job teaches us to doubt by telling God the truth about our doubts. In the end, he was commended by God as speaking rightly of him. Fischer writes of evil, not as a problem, but as a crisis, and of a God who is there on the gallows who fights back against evil. He writes of Jesus who forgives sin, heals disease, casts out evil, and conquers death. Rather than starting from sovereignty and the glory of God that makes evil a problem, he begins from the freedom God gives and the love of God, that bids us resist evil. He explores the times when God is silent, and offers no easy answers but simply waiting, with the hope that Christ waits with us.
He then turns to a trenchant critique of fundamentalism, drawing heavily on Mark Noll's work in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind about the intellectual retrenchment and rigid ways of reading scripture that developed. He argues this simply gave people more ways to lose their faith. He explores the challenges science has posed, particularly when it dismisses the idea of God, moving from a method to a metaphysic. He argues that the real place where people often have the most problem is with stuff--affluence that gives us the luxury to consider God superfluous, in a way rare among the poor.
He deals with hell, in which he agrees with a congregant that he believes in hell, but is not happy with it. He explores the idea that the love of God is wrath to those who hate God and heaven is hell to them. Paraphrasing Barth, he claims that "anyone who does not hope for universal restoration is an ox, but anyone who teaches it is an ass." Ultimately, Fischer argues for the priority of the way of love in dealing with our doubts, that our love for the beauty of Jesus means "we would rather be wrong about him than right about anything else" and living in curious wonder rather than certainty.
There is so much that seems right about this book (perhaps because Fischer agrees with my own way of thinking in so many ways!). Working among graduate students and faculty, I'm surprised how many that are resistant to Christian faith came from very fundamentalist backgrounds and concluded that because they could not attain the certainty required, that they could not be Christians. I've witnessed the incredible relief of students when it was affirmed to them that they could doubt and still be Christians and that doubt didn't preclude faith, especially when one believed enough to voice one's doubts to God. I also prefer the approaches of resisting evil to debating it as a problem, and proclaiming the gospel rather than speculating whether all will be saved in the end.
Most of all, I loved the insight that faith is not the absence of doubt but the presence of love. It tracks with my own experience of watching doubting folks remain in community, continuing to care for each other, continuing to learn with each other from scripture, praying with and for each other, and moving to a deeper place of faith.
This book is classified as an apologetics book. It is, but not the sort you would expect. It doesn't give answers that "demand a verdict" even though it explores some of the toughest questions Christians face. It offers instead reasons for hope in Christ in the midst of a messy world, and ways to live one's faith when God is silent and doubts impose. For most of us, this may be the most necessary apologetic of all.
Austin Fischer was a pastor who struggled with doubts and feared they might lead him to abandon his faith. Then he came to this pivotal realization:
"People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts."
In this book, Fischer explores how it is possible to be a Christian for whom doubt is the path to a deeper and more honest faith. He begins with the mistaken notion that faith requires certainty, and the misbegotten quests for the proof that answers every question and defenses of hyper-literal readings of the Bible. So many who go down that road leave the faith when certainty fails them. Instead, Fischer invites us to be "ants on a rollercoaster" who throw up their hands "in equal portions of terror, bliss, and surrender."
He observes how Job teaches us to doubt by telling God the truth about our doubts. In the end, he was commended by God as speaking rightly of him. Fischer writes of evil, not as a problem, but as a crisis, and of a God who is there on the gallows who fights back against evil. He writes of Jesus who forgives sin, heals disease, casts out evil, and conquers death. Rather than starting from sovereignty and the glory of God that makes evil a problem, he begins from the freedom God gives and the love of God, that bids us resist evil. He explores the times when God is silent, and offers no easy answers but simply waiting, with the hope that Christ waits with us.
He then turns to a trenchant critique of fundamentalism, drawing heavily on Mark Noll's work in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind about the intellectual retrenchment and rigid ways of reading scripture that developed. He argues this simply gave people more ways to lose their faith. He explores the challenges science has posed, particularly when it dismisses the idea of God, moving from a method to a metaphysic. He argues that the real place where people often have the most problem is with stuff--affluence that gives us the luxury to consider God superfluous, in a way rare among the poor.
He deals with hell, in which he agrees with a congregant that he believes in hell, but is not happy with it. He explores the idea that the love of God is wrath to those who hate God and heaven is hell to them. Paraphrasing Barth, he claims that "anyone who does not hope for universal restoration is an ox, but anyone who teaches it is an ass." Ultimately, Fischer argues for the priority of the way of love in dealing with our doubts, that our love for the beauty of Jesus means "we would rather be wrong about him than right about anything else" and living in curious wonder rather than certainty.
There is so much that seems right about this book (perhaps because Fischer agrees with my own way of thinking in so many ways!). Working among graduate students and faculty, I'm surprised how many that are resistant to Christian faith came from very fundamentalist backgrounds and concluded that because they could not attain the certainty required, that they could not be Christians. I've witnessed the incredible relief of students when it was affirmed to them that they could doubt and still be Christians and that doubt didn't preclude faith, especially when one believed enough to voice one's doubts to God. I also prefer the approaches of resisting evil to debating it as a problem, and proclaiming the gospel rather than speculating whether all will be saved in the end.
Most of all, I loved the insight that faith is not the absence of doubt but the presence of love. It tracks with my own experience of watching doubting folks remain in community, continuing to care for each other, continuing to learn with each other from scripture, praying with and for each other, and moving to a deeper place of faith.
This book is classified as an apologetics book. It is, but not the sort you would expect. It doesn't give answers that "demand a verdict" even though it explores some of the toughest questions Christians face. It offers instead reasons for hope in Christ in the midst of a messy world, and ways to live one's faith when God is silent and doubts impose. For most of us, this may be the most necessary apologetic of all.
April 13, 2019
"We are all at the mercy of massive mysteries and should treat each other with tenderness."
This is the best theological book I've read about faith and doubt, because it is not certain. The beauty in that mystery is its power, as is in faith. Austin Fischer manages to write a book with a conversational tone without being too folksy (my biggest pet peeve with Christian authors trying to be "relatable") but instead writes from brutal honesty, from his own pit of doubt that I've found myself in, and with no pretenses of having it figured it out. He comes with his thoughts and wrote them down intelligently, bringing in other thinkers with grace.
My relationship with God, with Christianity as a system, and with the Church as a system has been a battle lately. That's the thing: I viewed uncertainty and doubt as enemies. For about the last two years, I surrendered. I thought I had lost, and that cynicism was someone no one else really understood. I felt isolated and ugly; I lost the desire for faith, and I felt equally that Christianity and Christians who had it all together didn't want me either.
But this book reminded me, in a very upfront and honest way, that love is what matters. That love, which I sometimes see as ineffectual, as a weak replacement for knowing it all, is actually the most powerful aspect of my relationship with God. The greatest of all traits is love, and that by loving, I can see more clearly the face of God in those who I actively love. Mystery is not an additive to my beliefs; it's the core.
This is the best theological book I've read about faith and doubt, because it is not certain. The beauty in that mystery is its power, as is in faith. Austin Fischer manages to write a book with a conversational tone without being too folksy (my biggest pet peeve with Christian authors trying to be "relatable") but instead writes from brutal honesty, from his own pit of doubt that I've found myself in, and with no pretenses of having it figured it out. He comes with his thoughts and wrote them down intelligently, bringing in other thinkers with grace.
My relationship with God, with Christianity as a system, and with the Church as a system has been a battle lately. That's the thing: I viewed uncertainty and doubt as enemies. For about the last two years, I surrendered. I thought I had lost, and that cynicism was someone no one else really understood. I felt isolated and ugly; I lost the desire for faith, and I felt equally that Christianity and Christians who had it all together didn't want me either.
But this book reminded me, in a very upfront and honest way, that love is what matters. That love, which I sometimes see as ineffectual, as a weak replacement for knowing it all, is actually the most powerful aspect of my relationship with God. The greatest of all traits is love, and that by loving, I can see more clearly the face of God in those who I actively love. Mystery is not an additive to my beliefs; it's the core.
September 18, 2018
Austin grasps the reader who is fearing the doubts in their faith and carries them through his struggles to highlight the insights in his journey. His discourse allows the untraditional conversations to happen while guiding the doubter back to Jesus's love.
I can not say that I've had the same doubts or have the same theology as the author, but I believe that his work is an important, welcoming pool of hope for struggling Christians to come out of the shadows and wade in.
I can not say that I've had the same doubts or have the same theology as the author, but I believe that his work is an important, welcoming pool of hope for struggling Christians to come out of the shadows and wade in.
January 22, 2019
"Hurricanes come, and if you praise is the only language you can't speak, you will often find yourself speechless and imploding, We must learn the language of lament so we can give voice to our faith when praise just won't do. We must speak to God even when we don't have anything nice to say. We must keep the conversation going."
This is easily the best book I ever read, I really needed to read something that will motivate me to keep going. As I mentioned before many times before, I was raised in a very charismatic church where Jesus was the center and we were warned to depart every trace of evil. My upbringing is not a positive one, I grew up terrified that a God that I suppose to adore and grateful that I received Jesus in fear of Hell that awaited me if I did not keep every commandment. Gratefully I abandoned a lot of teachings that were rooted in legalism but my faith in God never wavered. I am so grateful that I read this book because this goes against any teaching that suggests that you can't doubt and have faith at the same time. It tells a story of many people in the Bible that doubted God but still had assurance that He was there in the moment. Stories from experience of how people have trusted in God even when they did not know how He was going to come through. Can you still trust God when you don't how He is going to get you through the storm? Dismissing many myths that many believe teach about Salvation, Hell, doubt, the author explained beautifully of how you can still doubt but still trust.
I saw myself in this book in myriad of ways, yes you can find faith in the midst of doubt..When the night is holding on to me..God is holding on.
Highly recommended, it quickly became my favorite book I read so far.
This is easily the best book I ever read, I really needed to read something that will motivate me to keep going. As I mentioned before many times before, I was raised in a very charismatic church where Jesus was the center and we were warned to depart every trace of evil. My upbringing is not a positive one, I grew up terrified that a God that I suppose to adore and grateful that I received Jesus in fear of Hell that awaited me if I did not keep every commandment. Gratefully I abandoned a lot of teachings that were rooted in legalism but my faith in God never wavered. I am so grateful that I read this book because this goes against any teaching that suggests that you can't doubt and have faith at the same time. It tells a story of many people in the Bible that doubted God but still had assurance that He was there in the moment. Stories from experience of how people have trusted in God even when they did not know how He was going to come through. Can you still trust God when you don't how He is going to get you through the storm? Dismissing many myths that many believe teach about Salvation, Hell, doubt, the author explained beautifully of how you can still doubt but still trust.
I saw myself in this book in myriad of ways, yes you can find faith in the midst of doubt..When the night is holding on to me..God is holding on.
Highly recommended, it quickly became my favorite book I read so far.
December 1, 2018
This is a book for people who have questions or doubts about God. It is readable and well-researched, and as someone who "struggles" (the word an elder at my church used for me) with doubt, I found it refreshing. Here are some nuggets I came away with:
1. LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAITH. It's biblical, but I feel like we definitely forget this one a lot.
2. Maybe the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Fischer quotes CS Lewis on this one, and somehow I'd never heard this quote before. The idea that God isn't holding people in Hell but that they are holding themselves is a concept I hadn't come across before.
3. "Wisdom is a sort of second naiveté, returning to curiosity and turning from ambition, receiving all things as gifts instead of grasping them as possessions. Wisdom is not getting so obsessed explaining the mystery you forget to live it." Yeah, I like that. It seems like we humans want so badly to attain certitude that we miss out on the wonder of this miraculous life we have!
4. "Cynicism is easy, safe, indulgent, progressive, and most of all, boring. It shrinks the world down to a manageable size -- but the world is not manageable." That's the thing, isn't it: the world isn't manageable. And if you think it is, do you have a pulse?
5. Fischer's section "There are no atheists in a slum" resonated with me. He says, "in America, most self-described atheists are young, white, educated males. [A]theism seems a rather privileged position to take. Personally, my moments of atheistic temptation often come sitting in a lush, leather chair in a trendy coffee shop, sipping on a five-dollar cup of imported coffee, doing my Kierkegaard impersonation, philosophizing about humanity's deep melancholy. If I don't think about it, who will? What would the proletarian masses do without me thinking about all this for them?"
6. And finally, worst-case scenario: "If the fog of skepticism will not lift, and all the rational and theological and emotional arguments leave you stuck in a place of exhausted paralysis, and you have lost all faith that anything could happen to give you more faith, walk toward Jesus. Why? Because he is beautiful. And even if the worst case happens to be the case and Christianity is an untrue myth, it's still a myth worth living -- perhaps the only one."
Hey, thanks for reading my long review. I hope you got something out of it. And I hope you give the book a read.
1. LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FAITH. It's biblical, but I feel like we definitely forget this one a lot.
2. Maybe the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Fischer quotes CS Lewis on this one, and somehow I'd never heard this quote before. The idea that God isn't holding people in Hell but that they are holding themselves is a concept I hadn't come across before.
3. "Wisdom is a sort of second naiveté, returning to curiosity and turning from ambition, receiving all things as gifts instead of grasping them as possessions. Wisdom is not getting so obsessed explaining the mystery you forget to live it." Yeah, I like that. It seems like we humans want so badly to attain certitude that we miss out on the wonder of this miraculous life we have!
4. "Cynicism is easy, safe, indulgent, progressive, and most of all, boring. It shrinks the world down to a manageable size -- but the world is not manageable." That's the thing, isn't it: the world isn't manageable. And if you think it is, do you have a pulse?
5. Fischer's section "There are no atheists in a slum" resonated with me. He says, "in America, most self-described atheists are young, white, educated males. [A]theism seems a rather privileged position to take. Personally, my moments of atheistic temptation often come sitting in a lush, leather chair in a trendy coffee shop, sipping on a five-dollar cup of imported coffee, doing my Kierkegaard impersonation, philosophizing about humanity's deep melancholy. If I don't think about it, who will? What would the proletarian masses do without me thinking about all this for them?"
6. And finally, worst-case scenario: "If the fog of skepticism will not lift, and all the rational and theological and emotional arguments leave you stuck in a place of exhausted paralysis, and you have lost all faith that anything could happen to give you more faith, walk toward Jesus. Why? Because he is beautiful. And even if the worst case happens to be the case and Christianity is an untrue myth, it's still a myth worth living -- perhaps the only one."
Hey, thanks for reading my long review. I hope you got something out of it. And I hope you give the book a read.
September 9, 2018
Faith in the Shadows reaches out to answer many questions about Christianity. So often people do not get their answers to their questions. The author says it is good to have questions. He addresses the problem of evil, hell, science and how God can fit with the questions in these areas. He encourages people to look for the answers and seek God in the midst of the answers. He tells believers to not stop believing when they have questions and God can meet us where are questions are. So often people stop following the Lord when they have doubts. The Lord can meet us where we have doubts and cares about our doubts. He is faithful. When we have the answers to our doubts we have a more secure and firm faith. This book "Faith in the Shadows" was given to me by the publisher and netgalley for review purposes only . I appreciate this opportunity to read and review this book.
March 8, 2019
At just over 200 pages, Austin Fischer packs a whole lot of topics, ideas, and theology into this little book: theodicy (the problem of pain/evil), to doubt vs. certainty, the silence of God, why fundamentalism and biblical literalism doesn't work, science vs. faith and why that doesn't have to be the case (yes, including how evolution doesn't destroy Christianity); and even belief in some kind of hell vs. some kind of christian universalism.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Brian Zahnd
1. Graffiti: An Invitation to a Rebellion
2. Ants on a Rollercoaster: Losing a Certainty Seeking Faith
3. How to Survive a Hurricane: Doubting with Job
4. Beautiful, Terrible World: The Burden of Reality
5. Four Letter Word: (Kind of) Making Sense of Evil
6. Silence: Believing When God Isn’t Speaking
7. Death by Fundamentalism: Talking to Fish About Water
8. Science: God Doesn’t Exist
9 Stuff: Our New Religion
10. Hell: Hitler Gets Five Minutes in Heaven
11. Faith, Doubt, and Love: The Real Remedy
12. Christ or the Truth?: A Case for Faith in the Worst Case
13. Walking on Water: The Proof Is in the Living
I agree with Fischer when he says he doesn't see hidden joy or design behind the tragedies of children dying of cancer or people dying in car accidents. Like him, "I see nonsense. I don’t feel divinely comforted; I feel rage."
Fischer writes, "I tried to pray and preach myself out of the dark, but the harder I tried, the bleaker the situation became. And then finally, I stopped trying—not because God told me to but because I was so exhausted I had no choice. I stopped trying to force the light and pretend the dark wasn’t really that dark. I let myself envision the blasphemous and felt the chill of a world without God" (Loc 578).
It really struck me when Fischer pointed out that "it is often those with deep faith, firmly grounded in the love of God, who find their faith languishing in the shadows when faced with creation’s ceaseless pain: “The more a person believes, the more deeply he experiences pain over the suffering of the world” (Loc 592). Furthermore, he says, "A crisis of faith in the face of evil can be the truest expression of faith, because what we interpret as a loss of faith are often the growing pains of learning to live with a heart three sizes larger beating inside our chest. So if evil (almost) makes us lose our faith, it might be because our faith is growing strong, not growing weak" (Loc 597).
I love where Fischer talks about how the Bible does not contain one theology, but multiple theologies, that uses a diverse range of voices which "don't always harmonize perfectly".
"when we claim the Bible clearly teaches something that has been rigorously debated by the best and most faithful minds for thousands of years, we could at least have the decency to blush. A couple thousand years of mercurial biblical interpretation suggest we’re not being very honest with ourselves." (Loc 770-780)
I appreciated his reminder that Mother Teresa also struggled with spiritual darkness and depression, as revealed in her private letters.
Chapter 7 - Death by Fundamentalism
I really loved this chapter!
"The spirit of fundamentalism is perhaps best described as a rigid mental attitude that seeks control by pursuing certainty [...] Fundamentalism mistakenly assumes it looks on the world with “a view from nowhere,” objectively staring down at reality from above."
[Read The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns for more in depth treatment of this problem.]
Fischer then mentions Mark Noll's book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, which I still need to read. Still talking about Noll's book, Fischer says, "In a truly novel development in the history of Christian theology, many Christians began trying to read all the Bible as literally as possible, thinking that by doing so and using the objective, fact-finding method of modern science, they could work to a sure, certain faith—the whole truth and nothing but it. Reading the Bible “literally” and “scientifically,” Christians could discover truth every bit as objective as the truths being discovered in the natural sciences. And so a house of cards was built on a foundation of sand."
I remember Greg Boyd talking about that "house of cards" kind of faith also in his book, Benefit of the Doubt.
I really loved this: "After a sermon in which I mentioned the two creation stories of Genesis cannot both be read literally, I was confronted by a wellmeaning parishioner who informed me that he had been informed the Bible was the literal word of God and any belief otherwise was a slippery slope toward perdition. He was a very kind man and had only recently become a Christian, so I understood his concerns and asked him if he had read Psalms. He had. Then I asked if he thought Psalms was the word of God. He did. Then I asked him if he read all of the psalms literally—did he believe mountains pulled up their britches and skipped along like rams when God came walking by (Psalm 114)? He assured me he did not because that would be silly. “So,” I asked, “you think something can be true and the word of God and yet not literal?” A smile crept across his face and he responded, “Well—I guess I do.” And intuitively, we all do. Like many others, I read The Chronicles of Narnia when I was a child and it never occurred to me that Narnia was a real place and Aslan a real lion. I knew they were fictional. And yet I also knew those fictional tales of Narnia told the truth—the truth about good and evil and courage and sacrifice. In fact, I knew those fictional tales told deeper and truer truth than the “just the facts” information collected in my textbooks. Something does not have to be literal in order to be true. In fact, the truest things probably cannot be spoken literally." (Loc 1052)
Fischer takes to referring to this biblical literalism as "biblical flatland", which I love. (This is a reference he explains earlier about Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott. But the idea is that strict, biblical literalism flattens out the text and actually undermines the beauty and layers of meanings available to us.
Chapter 8: Science - God Doesn't Exist
Here Fischer talks about how there is no reason Christians can't accept the scientific consensus on evolution:
"Scientists are not split over evolution. Every reputable survey you come across puts scientific support for evolution in the range of 90-99 percent, with that number tending toward the latter among scientists who actually specialize in fields that would make them experts on the issue. This is a remarkable consensus. Yes, the theory itself continues to evolve and mature, but the basic premise that terrestrial life has evolved over time from common ancestry has been confirmed over and over. And God need be in competition with evolution no more than God need be in competition with sperm or gravity." (Loc 1180)
So how does evolution supposedly conflict with Christianity? The big one has to do with coming up against that biblical literalism that was just covered in chapter 7.
"If we read the first two chapters of Genesis as a literal description of how God made the world, then evolution and Christianity are in conflict. But we should not read Genesis 1 and 2 literally! In fact, a rigidly literal reading of Genesis 1–2, resulting in the belief that God created the world ten thousand years ago (known as young-earth creationism), has only gained traction within the last hundred years. It is an overwhelmingly minority position in orthodox Christian theology, a novelty on the theological scene. As Noll states, “Despite widespread impressions to the contrary, [young-earth] creationism was not a traditional belief of nineteenth-century conservative Protestants or even of early twentieth-century fundamentalists.” This needs to be said as clearly, consistently, and charitably as possible: not only is rigid biblical literalism and young-earth creationism not essential, but it is fundamentally biblically, theologically, philosophically, historically, and scientifically mistaken. It may come from a sincere place, but it can be very dangerous. It produces bad Bible reading, bad theology, and very bad science." (Loc 1238)
[In seminary I wrote a whole paper on how we should read and interpret Genesis 1-2 based on the genre of the text. You can read that here if you wish.
TL:DR - Just go read the book for yourself. It is well worth your time!
Thanks to InterVarsity Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Brian Zahnd
1. Graffiti: An Invitation to a Rebellion
2. Ants on a Rollercoaster: Losing a Certainty Seeking Faith
3. How to Survive a Hurricane: Doubting with Job
4. Beautiful, Terrible World: The Burden of Reality
5. Four Letter Word: (Kind of) Making Sense of Evil
6. Silence: Believing When God Isn’t Speaking
7. Death by Fundamentalism: Talking to Fish About Water
8. Science: God Doesn’t Exist
9 Stuff: Our New Religion
10. Hell: Hitler Gets Five Minutes in Heaven
11. Faith, Doubt, and Love: The Real Remedy
12. Christ or the Truth?: A Case for Faith in the Worst Case
13. Walking on Water: The Proof Is in the Living
I agree with Fischer when he says he doesn't see hidden joy or design behind the tragedies of children dying of cancer or people dying in car accidents. Like him, "I see nonsense. I don’t feel divinely comforted; I feel rage."
Fischer writes, "I tried to pray and preach myself out of the dark, but the harder I tried, the bleaker the situation became. And then finally, I stopped trying—not because God told me to but because I was so exhausted I had no choice. I stopped trying to force the light and pretend the dark wasn’t really that dark. I let myself envision the blasphemous and felt the chill of a world without God" (Loc 578).
It really struck me when Fischer pointed out that "it is often those with deep faith, firmly grounded in the love of God, who find their faith languishing in the shadows when faced with creation’s ceaseless pain: “The more a person believes, the more deeply he experiences pain over the suffering of the world” (Loc 592). Furthermore, he says, "A crisis of faith in the face of evil can be the truest expression of faith, because what we interpret as a loss of faith are often the growing pains of learning to live with a heart three sizes larger beating inside our chest. So if evil (almost) makes us lose our faith, it might be because our faith is growing strong, not growing weak" (Loc 597).
I love where Fischer talks about how the Bible does not contain one theology, but multiple theologies, that uses a diverse range of voices which "don't always harmonize perfectly".
"when we claim the Bible clearly teaches something that has been rigorously debated by the best and most faithful minds for thousands of years, we could at least have the decency to blush. A couple thousand years of mercurial biblical interpretation suggest we’re not being very honest with ourselves." (Loc 770-780)
I appreciated his reminder that Mother Teresa also struggled with spiritual darkness and depression, as revealed in her private letters.
Chapter 7 - Death by Fundamentalism
I really loved this chapter!
"The spirit of fundamentalism is perhaps best described as a rigid mental attitude that seeks control by pursuing certainty [...] Fundamentalism mistakenly assumes it looks on the world with “a view from nowhere,” objectively staring down at reality from above."
[Read The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns for more in depth treatment of this problem.]
Fischer then mentions Mark Noll's book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, which I still need to read. Still talking about Noll's book, Fischer says, "In a truly novel development in the history of Christian theology, many Christians began trying to read all the Bible as literally as possible, thinking that by doing so and using the objective, fact-finding method of modern science, they could work to a sure, certain faith—the whole truth and nothing but it. Reading the Bible “literally” and “scientifically,” Christians could discover truth every bit as objective as the truths being discovered in the natural sciences. And so a house of cards was built on a foundation of sand."
I remember Greg Boyd talking about that "house of cards" kind of faith also in his book, Benefit of the Doubt.
I really loved this: "After a sermon in which I mentioned the two creation stories of Genesis cannot both be read literally, I was confronted by a wellmeaning parishioner who informed me that he had been informed the Bible was the literal word of God and any belief otherwise was a slippery slope toward perdition. He was a very kind man and had only recently become a Christian, so I understood his concerns and asked him if he had read Psalms. He had. Then I asked if he thought Psalms was the word of God. He did. Then I asked him if he read all of the psalms literally—did he believe mountains pulled up their britches and skipped along like rams when God came walking by (Psalm 114)? He assured me he did not because that would be silly. “So,” I asked, “you think something can be true and the word of God and yet not literal?” A smile crept across his face and he responded, “Well—I guess I do.” And intuitively, we all do. Like many others, I read The Chronicles of Narnia when I was a child and it never occurred to me that Narnia was a real place and Aslan a real lion. I knew they were fictional. And yet I also knew those fictional tales of Narnia told the truth—the truth about good and evil and courage and sacrifice. In fact, I knew those fictional tales told deeper and truer truth than the “just the facts” information collected in my textbooks. Something does not have to be literal in order to be true. In fact, the truest things probably cannot be spoken literally." (Loc 1052)
Fischer takes to referring to this biblical literalism as "biblical flatland", which I love. (This is a reference he explains earlier about Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott. But the idea is that strict, biblical literalism flattens out the text and actually undermines the beauty and layers of meanings available to us.
Chapter 8: Science - God Doesn't Exist
Here Fischer talks about how there is no reason Christians can't accept the scientific consensus on evolution:
"Scientists are not split over evolution. Every reputable survey you come across puts scientific support for evolution in the range of 90-99 percent, with that number tending toward the latter among scientists who actually specialize in fields that would make them experts on the issue. This is a remarkable consensus. Yes, the theory itself continues to evolve and mature, but the basic premise that terrestrial life has evolved over time from common ancestry has been confirmed over and over. And God need be in competition with evolution no more than God need be in competition with sperm or gravity." (Loc 1180)
So how does evolution supposedly conflict with Christianity? The big one has to do with coming up against that biblical literalism that was just covered in chapter 7.
"If we read the first two chapters of Genesis as a literal description of how God made the world, then evolution and Christianity are in conflict. But we should not read Genesis 1 and 2 literally! In fact, a rigidly literal reading of Genesis 1–2, resulting in the belief that God created the world ten thousand years ago (known as young-earth creationism), has only gained traction within the last hundred years. It is an overwhelmingly minority position in orthodox Christian theology, a novelty on the theological scene. As Noll states, “Despite widespread impressions to the contrary, [young-earth] creationism was not a traditional belief of nineteenth-century conservative Protestants or even of early twentieth-century fundamentalists.” This needs to be said as clearly, consistently, and charitably as possible: not only is rigid biblical literalism and young-earth creationism not essential, but it is fundamentally biblically, theologically, philosophically, historically, and scientifically mistaken. It may come from a sincere place, but it can be very dangerous. It produces bad Bible reading, bad theology, and very bad science." (Loc 1238)
[In seminary I wrote a whole paper on how we should read and interpret Genesis 1-2 based on the genre of the text. You can read that here if you wish.
TL:DR - Just go read the book for yourself. It is well worth your time!
Thanks to InterVarsity Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
July 21, 2024
A good resource for re-thinking what doubt is, and how we can approach it.
Basically, we’re allowed to have doubts! So many faithful Biblical figures do. What matters is how we react to doubts. His chapter on turning to God and praying about our doubts was really good.
Turning away from a ‘scientific’, ‘we have all the answers’, fundamentalist mindset of reading the Bible was also a well written argument.
“These three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” —> in other words, faith is not our highest ideal.
And then the final appeal, that if all else fails, even if you’re struggling to believe, is not Jesus’ story beautiful? Are we not kinder and more generous with Christ than without him? We cannot be 100% certain of anything, so why not choose, despite our doubts, to believe in a beautiful redemption.
Basically, we’re allowed to have doubts! So many faithful Biblical figures do. What matters is how we react to doubts. His chapter on turning to God and praying about our doubts was really good.
Turning away from a ‘scientific’, ‘we have all the answers’, fundamentalist mindset of reading the Bible was also a well written argument.
“These three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” —> in other words, faith is not our highest ideal.
And then the final appeal, that if all else fails, even if you’re struggling to believe, is not Jesus’ story beautiful? Are we not kinder and more generous with Christ than without him? We cannot be 100% certain of anything, so why not choose, despite our doubts, to believe in a beautiful redemption.
December 13, 2018
Beautiful, moving, and wonderful. One of my favorites this year, easily.
Fischer, above all else, is honest, and he gives others permission to be similarly honest about things that don't make sense with the rigid Christian world-view many of us have inherited. A few chapters nearly brought me to tears, especially in his unflinching look at suffering. The chapters on hell, suffering, science, and fundamentalism provide some of the best pastoral responses to those issues that I've seen in a book. And not for nothing, the writing itself is beautiful. Fischer draws on some of the best literary thinking the Christian tradition has to offer (David Bentley Hart, Dostoyevsky, Hans Urs Von Balthasar) and puts forward something in his unique voice. His honesty and humility propel a unique confidence that I hope to emulate in my own life and ministry.
Thank you for this, Austin.
Fischer, above all else, is honest, and he gives others permission to be similarly honest about things that don't make sense with the rigid Christian world-view many of us have inherited. A few chapters nearly brought me to tears, especially in his unflinching look at suffering. The chapters on hell, suffering, science, and fundamentalism provide some of the best pastoral responses to those issues that I've seen in a book. And not for nothing, the writing itself is beautiful. Fischer draws on some of the best literary thinking the Christian tradition has to offer (David Bentley Hart, Dostoyevsky, Hans Urs Von Balthasar) and puts forward something in his unique voice. His honesty and humility propel a unique confidence that I hope to emulate in my own life and ministry.
Thank you for this, Austin.
May 28, 2019
Fantastically written book on the subject of doubt in Christianity, and how having doubt doesn't mean you're not a good Christian or that Christianity has failed you, but how in fact doubt is an intrinsic part of Faith, and learning to live with it is a part of healthy Christianity. The writer Austin Fischer does a fantastic job talking about relatively complex issues of faith, from doubt, to the Problem of Evil, to Universalism and Hell, to fundamentalism and it's history all while maintaining a tone and style that is incredibly readable and feels like you're sharing a beer with the guy and having a friendly, deep conversation.
Personally, it matched a lot of the thoughts I have, a lot more of the thoughts I'd been trying to form and couldn't articulate as well as he has, and lastly gave me a ton of new knowledge and thoughts to consider. This has probably been one of the most, possible THE most, enjoyable Christian book I've ever read, and I think it definitely has helped my faith already. I plan on re-reading it again soon, and will probably buy it for other people as well.
Personally, it matched a lot of the thoughts I have, a lot more of the thoughts I'd been trying to form and couldn't articulate as well as he has, and lastly gave me a ton of new knowledge and thoughts to consider. This has probably been one of the most, possible THE most, enjoyable Christian book I've ever read, and I think it definitely has helped my faith already. I plan on re-reading it again soon, and will probably buy it for other people as well.
October 13, 2018
I've said it before, and it's worth saying again. I'm pretty certain I'm right...but there's always that niggling little question mark in the back of my heart and head. I've been seriously wrong before, and I just could be wrong about some things now. Austin Fischer, lead pastor at Vista Community Church in Temple Texas, brings his doubts and question marks to the fore in his recently published 183 page paperback, "Faith in the Shadows: Finding Christ in the Midst of Doubt". Mildly irreverent at times, forcefully honest, leaning toward Eastern Orthodoxy while remaining securely Protestant, the author challenges the "certainties" of Fundamentalism and fundamentalist Evangelicalism. Primarily, it is a book that seeks to give voice to the misgivings Christians can have, and to soften some of the sharp, jagged edges of rock-hard answers.
Fischer tackles evil, the silence of God, Fundamentalism, evolution and the place of Genesis 1-3, God's existence and apologetics, and hell. In many ways its a wonderfully useful read because the author is not only skeptical, but skeptical of his own skepticism. Fischer moves through all of these subjects toward his main concept: certainty is an enlightenment, rationalist notion; and Fundamentalism swallowed that pill long ago and has been infected since. Therefore faith "is not the absence of doubt. Faith is the presence of love" (146).
"Faith in the Shadows" has many bright points. I enjoyed the way Fischer dealt with Job, doubt, and evil. Another bright spot that I wasn't prepared for was as the author recounts the reasons he now embraces evolution as okay with Scripture. Here he throws himself his own curve ball that he just can't hit: "Simply put, evolution is a brutal, vicious, wasteful, and cruel process. It involves the creation of life through monstrous violence over immense ages of time. It is difficult to believe that God who would use evolution it bring about humanity could be the same God who took on flesh in Christ to redeem humanity" (109). Exactly so! I have said it all along! And here is someone who has come to accept theistic evolution, and sees one of the major problems with theistic evolution.
"Faith in the Shadows" is a decently written dossier on one pastor's loss of Fundamentalist certainty, and his willingness to walk forward following Christ, while being willing to voice his own doubts and queries. Though there are conclusions the author makes that I simply can't swallow, nevertheless he has drawn forth a beneficial perspective: faith requires humility, not hamfisted certainty. "Christianity promises more than we can hope for without giving up control" (160). In light of some of my concerns already mentioned, I can still give my prudent recommendation.
I am truly thankful to IVP for sending me a copy of the book at my request. They made no demands, and they issued no diktats. Ergo, I am free to give my own review as I see fit, which I have done here.
Fischer tackles evil, the silence of God, Fundamentalism, evolution and the place of Genesis 1-3, God's existence and apologetics, and hell. In many ways its a wonderfully useful read because the author is not only skeptical, but skeptical of his own skepticism. Fischer moves through all of these subjects toward his main concept: certainty is an enlightenment, rationalist notion; and Fundamentalism swallowed that pill long ago and has been infected since. Therefore faith "is not the absence of doubt. Faith is the presence of love" (146).
"Faith in the Shadows" has many bright points. I enjoyed the way Fischer dealt with Job, doubt, and evil. Another bright spot that I wasn't prepared for was as the author recounts the reasons he now embraces evolution as okay with Scripture. Here he throws himself his own curve ball that he just can't hit: "Simply put, evolution is a brutal, vicious, wasteful, and cruel process. It involves the creation of life through monstrous violence over immense ages of time. It is difficult to believe that God who would use evolution it bring about humanity could be the same God who took on flesh in Christ to redeem humanity" (109). Exactly so! I have said it all along! And here is someone who has come to accept theistic evolution, and sees one of the major problems with theistic evolution.
"Faith in the Shadows" is a decently written dossier on one pastor's loss of Fundamentalist certainty, and his willingness to walk forward following Christ, while being willing to voice his own doubts and queries. Though there are conclusions the author makes that I simply can't swallow, nevertheless he has drawn forth a beneficial perspective: faith requires humility, not hamfisted certainty. "Christianity promises more than we can hope for without giving up control" (160). In light of some of my concerns already mentioned, I can still give my prudent recommendation.
I am truly thankful to IVP for sending me a copy of the book at my request. They made no demands, and they issued no diktats. Ergo, I am free to give my own review as I see fit, which I have done here.
August 26, 2023
This was written by a local pastor I went to college with, and that alone made this book very interesting because many of the things he referenced were places and experiences I was familiar with. Although I don’t agree with every place he landed theologically, I very much appreciated the thought process he took to get there. I was surprised by how much more we had in common than different. A good reminder for me about how important it is to continue listening to the voices you are sure you disagree with. Our shared human experience unites us all. As the book says, may we approach all things with less certainty and more wonder.
June 6, 2020
At times I thought Fischer was a heretic, but his intentions are honest and legitimate. Fischer's syntheses of many different false dichotomies are an interesting read and his conclusion that loving God and loving others is the solution to a shaky faith was really strong! I recommend this book if you've had bad experiences with Christianity, Christians, faith, God, evil, etc. I think it will get you thinking in a fresh way.
October 19, 2018
Here is a book I actually read shortly after it was released (for a change). ‘Faith in the Shadows’ by Vista Community Church pastor Austin Fischer is a brisk dive into the subject of doubt that is more refreshingly honest than most Christian books on this topic.
Fischer brutally recounts his wrestling with doubt...as a pastor and accurately surmises that crisis of faith come often not from a single moment but from numerous thoughts that have piled up over time. He talks about the vastness of space and the universe while quoting the late atheist astronomer Carl Sagan. There is an excellent summary of the crazy account of Job in the Old Testament. His experiences and parishioner’s questions fill the pages. The moment he directly challenged God to reveal Himself is included.
The approach of Fischer is to be honest about doubt and to not put up phony facades around other Christians but to embrace the thoughts and the questions which keep us up into the night. To have faith, after all, implies at least a small amount of doubt just by the definition of the terms.
A striking way to think about doubt is presented by Fischer later in the read. There is a riff on 1 Corinthians 13 where the Apostle Paul tells us that faith, hope, and love remain but the greatest of these is love. Fischer postulates that when we have doubts, we often go immediately to a perceived conclusion that more faith is the answer to our probing inquisitions. This concept is flipped by Fischer suggesting that perhaps love is the answer to our doubts and here, thinking about the great commandment: love God and love your neighbor. After all, Paul said the greatest of the virtues was love.
I’m a person that doesn’t struggle too much with doubt although I have at various junctures of my life. Don’t get me wrong. There are a legion of questions that I do not have the answer too and passages in the Bible that I don’t quite know what to do with all the time. However, the divine person of Jesus remains compelling to me and more so than when I first encountered Him at the age of 14.
Fischer reinforces the important ideal that doubt is a part of life. People do not need to be shamed for having doubt or severely judged for asking tough questions. Rather we should approach one another humbly and prayerfully by our love (as the church and we have a long way to go here) be the answer to our doubt as we seek to serve and make a positive difference in the communities we find ourselves residing in.
Fischer brutally recounts his wrestling with doubt...as a pastor and accurately surmises that crisis of faith come often not from a single moment but from numerous thoughts that have piled up over time. He talks about the vastness of space and the universe while quoting the late atheist astronomer Carl Sagan. There is an excellent summary of the crazy account of Job in the Old Testament. His experiences and parishioner’s questions fill the pages. The moment he directly challenged God to reveal Himself is included.
The approach of Fischer is to be honest about doubt and to not put up phony facades around other Christians but to embrace the thoughts and the questions which keep us up into the night. To have faith, after all, implies at least a small amount of doubt just by the definition of the terms.
A striking way to think about doubt is presented by Fischer later in the read. There is a riff on 1 Corinthians 13 where the Apostle Paul tells us that faith, hope, and love remain but the greatest of these is love. Fischer postulates that when we have doubts, we often go immediately to a perceived conclusion that more faith is the answer to our probing inquisitions. This concept is flipped by Fischer suggesting that perhaps love is the answer to our doubts and here, thinking about the great commandment: love God and love your neighbor. After all, Paul said the greatest of the virtues was love.
I’m a person that doesn’t struggle too much with doubt although I have at various junctures of my life. Don’t get me wrong. There are a legion of questions that I do not have the answer too and passages in the Bible that I don’t quite know what to do with all the time. However, the divine person of Jesus remains compelling to me and more so than when I first encountered Him at the age of 14.
Fischer reinforces the important ideal that doubt is a part of life. People do not need to be shamed for having doubt or severely judged for asking tough questions. Rather we should approach one another humbly and prayerfully by our love (as the church and we have a long way to go here) be the answer to our doubt as we seek to serve and make a positive difference in the communities we find ourselves residing in.
August 26, 2018
Fischer gives permission to explore doubts about the faith. He helps to confront the "athiest within" in this fantastic work about how to be a follower of Jesus in an increasingly secular world. While this is worlds away from Bob Goff's "Everybody, Always," I find this thread through scripture and scores of Christian authors that "the greatest of these is love." Love for others and the beauty of Jesus have the power to put our doubts at ease.
If you find yourself firmly in the camp of fundamentalists, this book will make you mad. But, that's probably okay.
If you find yourself firmly in the camp of fundamentalists, this book will make you mad. But, that's probably okay.
September 22, 2018
Honest, approachable, compelling, smart. Distills the best of Christian approaches to dealing with doubt through the years, from Dostoevsky to Hart, without being too cerebral. Fantastic read.
January 1, 2025
Wow. This book will sit with me for awhile.
Through Faith in the Shadows, Austin Fischer gives a brilliant, but accessible perspective for how we can retain our faith while working through doubt. When we as Christians made the decision to turn to Christ, we recognized that we wouldn't know everything, but we decided to follow Jesus anyway out of faith. But sometimes this lack of knowledge weighs on us. Life is confusing, and the Bible can be even more confusing. Oftentimes when we think about Christianity for too long we're left with more questions than answers, and it's exhausting. How do we get those questions resolved? Is that even possible?
The major point Fischer makes is that we actually have to work through our doubt. We shouldn't ignore it. We shouldn't suppress it. And we definitely shouldn't pretend to have all the answers. Because that's how we turn God into a being of our own image. And the faith we claim we have will be based on a flimsy foundation. Fischer begins the book by providing tools for how to approach the process of working through doubt. And throughout the rest of the book he provides some answers to some of the most common reasons for doubt. But unlike most modern apologetics, Fischer uses more art than science. He gives some concrete answers, but he also inspires us to wonder. He reminds us to not "get so fixated on explaining the mystery that [we] forget to live it." I love his approach because it makes his answers raw and refreshing.
Fisher starts off in chapters 1-3 setting up the approach for how best to work through faith and doubt. He explains that ignoring doubt often does more harm than accepting it. He says instead we should be "faithful with our doubts", and people in the church should welcome doubters and wrestle with their questions. He then breaks down how it's impossible to know everything because the world is so vast and we are so small. He uses the metaphor "ants on a rollercoaster" to describe human beings in relation to the universe. And finally he uses the example of Job to teach us that faux certainty will get us nowhere, and like Job's friends if we pretend to know everything, it will eventually be revealed that we know nothing. In contrast, Job, who was honest with his frustration and doubts, was commended by God when at the end of the book God says, "Job spoke rightly of me."
The next seven chapters make up the apologetics portion, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I get why some people may find his approach shallow. There's just far too much material to cover comprehensively in 170 pages, but I thought Fischer did an admirable job. He covers the problem of evil, the hiddenness of God, God vs science, hell, and a few other things. A few of his answers I found the most interesting were:
1) His answer to the problem of evil was excellent. He says evil should enrage us, confuse us, and frustrate us, because "if evil almost makes us lose our faith, it's because our faith is growing stronger, not weaker." The point here is that God is just, and if we're angry at injustice happening in the world it means we're becoming more like God. God may not answer why evil exists, but He does promise that it will be destroyed, so it's something we should actively anticipate
2) When answering the question of why God seems silent, Fischer reminds us that as human beings we have a negativity bias. God could answer 99/100 of our prayers, but we'll forget the one he didn't answer. Was helpful to be reminded that God is working constantly, even if we aren't attentive to it
3) I don't know how I feel about his take on hell, but it was definitely thought-provoking. His take is CS Lewis-esque in the sense that he believes God will reconcile all to himself, but those in "hell" will be people that continually refuse His love even as it's available to them on the other side of eternity
With the last three chapters, he ends the book by offering some suggestions for how to remain in faith if nothing in the previous seven chapters was convincing. He offers 3 primary pieces of advice:
1) Love > faith. 1 Corinthians 13:13. If you can't get there mentally, try and get there socially, by loving God and loving others, since that's what Jesus calls us to do anyways
2) See the beauty in the person of Jesus. The story of the incarnation is so uniquely beautiful, that even if the logic doesn't all make sense, if you pay enough attention it's a thoroughly gripping and compelling truth
3) Embrace wonder and curiosity. The world is a miraculous place. Jesus tells us to have "childlike" faith. One way to understand that saying is to see how children are amazed by routine things. But just because they are routine doesn't mean they aren't amazing. If we accept that we won't know everything, it gives us room to be amazed by all that God is and all that God does, and that in turn can draw us closer to Him.
Through Faith in the Shadows, Austin Fischer gives a brilliant, but accessible perspective for how we can retain our faith while working through doubt. When we as Christians made the decision to turn to Christ, we recognized that we wouldn't know everything, but we decided to follow Jesus anyway out of faith. But sometimes this lack of knowledge weighs on us. Life is confusing, and the Bible can be even more confusing. Oftentimes when we think about Christianity for too long we're left with more questions than answers, and it's exhausting. How do we get those questions resolved? Is that even possible?
The major point Fischer makes is that we actually have to work through our doubt. We shouldn't ignore it. We shouldn't suppress it. And we definitely shouldn't pretend to have all the answers. Because that's how we turn God into a being of our own image. And the faith we claim we have will be based on a flimsy foundation. Fischer begins the book by providing tools for how to approach the process of working through doubt. And throughout the rest of the book he provides some answers to some of the most common reasons for doubt. But unlike most modern apologetics, Fischer uses more art than science. He gives some concrete answers, but he also inspires us to wonder. He reminds us to not "get so fixated on explaining the mystery that [we] forget to live it." I love his approach because it makes his answers raw and refreshing.
Fisher starts off in chapters 1-3 setting up the approach for how best to work through faith and doubt. He explains that ignoring doubt often does more harm than accepting it. He says instead we should be "faithful with our doubts", and people in the church should welcome doubters and wrestle with their questions. He then breaks down how it's impossible to know everything because the world is so vast and we are so small. He uses the metaphor "ants on a rollercoaster" to describe human beings in relation to the universe. And finally he uses the example of Job to teach us that faux certainty will get us nowhere, and like Job's friends if we pretend to know everything, it will eventually be revealed that we know nothing. In contrast, Job, who was honest with his frustration and doubts, was commended by God when at the end of the book God says, "Job spoke rightly of me."
The next seven chapters make up the apologetics portion, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I get why some people may find his approach shallow. There's just far too much material to cover comprehensively in 170 pages, but I thought Fischer did an admirable job. He covers the problem of evil, the hiddenness of God, God vs science, hell, and a few other things. A few of his answers I found the most interesting were:
1) His answer to the problem of evil was excellent. He says evil should enrage us, confuse us, and frustrate us, because "if evil almost makes us lose our faith, it's because our faith is growing stronger, not weaker." The point here is that God is just, and if we're angry at injustice happening in the world it means we're becoming more like God. God may not answer why evil exists, but He does promise that it will be destroyed, so it's something we should actively anticipate
2) When answering the question of why God seems silent, Fischer reminds us that as human beings we have a negativity bias. God could answer 99/100 of our prayers, but we'll forget the one he didn't answer. Was helpful to be reminded that God is working constantly, even if we aren't attentive to it
3) I don't know how I feel about his take on hell, but it was definitely thought-provoking. His take is CS Lewis-esque in the sense that he believes God will reconcile all to himself, but those in "hell" will be people that continually refuse His love even as it's available to them on the other side of eternity
With the last three chapters, he ends the book by offering some suggestions for how to remain in faith if nothing in the previous seven chapters was convincing. He offers 3 primary pieces of advice:
1) Love > faith. 1 Corinthians 13:13. If you can't get there mentally, try and get there socially, by loving God and loving others, since that's what Jesus calls us to do anyways
2) See the beauty in the person of Jesus. The story of the incarnation is so uniquely beautiful, that even if the logic doesn't all make sense, if you pay enough attention it's a thoroughly gripping and compelling truth
3) Embrace wonder and curiosity. The world is a miraculous place. Jesus tells us to have "childlike" faith. One way to understand that saying is to see how children are amazed by routine things. But just because they are routine doesn't mean they aren't amazing. If we accept that we won't know everything, it gives us room to be amazed by all that God is and all that God does, and that in turn can draw us closer to Him.
September 11, 2018
Doubt.Is.Real. There’s a stark and harsh reality of life, one that we should and must grapple with. There are a lot of questions about living a Christian life, and not all get answers. But that’s the point of this intelligently and thoughtfully written book by Austin Fischer, a pastor in Central Texas. In Faith in the Shadows, Fischer shares deeply personal experiences, insights and admissions that are often made with an affecting honesty and will likely be genuinely relatable to most readers. He invites, indeed encourages, us to come alongside him as he explains his journey from once being both ashamed and proud of his doubts to now trying to be faithful with them.
“Two thousand years ago, Jesus gathered a group of worshiping doubters on a mountain, sent them out, and the world was never the same. And this is why no one should ever think they must choose between Jesus and doubt. The church is built on people who lived the contradiction.”
Calling on science, familiar Bible stories, Bigfoot, history, Dostoevsky and an arsenal of historic and contemporary Christian writers, Fischer shares insight on his personal struggle with doubt and the lessons he’s learned during the process to move his faith into the light.
The scope of doubter’s subjects is well-rounded: Certainty, Hypocrisy, Evil (the reality and the paradox), God’s Silence, Fundamentalism, God’s Existence, Science + Religion (evolution), the Fall, “Stuff” (wants and desires), and Hell. The subjects of doubt are beautifully contrasted with the generous themes of The Beauty of Christ, Love and Wonder.
I was particularly drawn to the beauty of Fischer’s style of writing, blending an obvious love of language and a matter-of-fact conversational approach to story-telling. I laughed, I cried, I said “amen” numerous times, I sighed, I agreed, I questioned and I pondered. The chapter entitled “Four Letter Word” took my breath away. But Chapter Seven, “Death by Fundamentalism”, well, that’s where the rubber started to meet the road for me, and Chapter Eight, “Science”? Whoa. Suffice it to say that the balance of the book crescendos to the final page.
Fischer addressed concerns about my own personal doubts, helping me to understand the reasons behind my doubt and to recognize that doubt can actually be healthy if I use it to open a conversation with God. Doubt will likely be a constant companion for me, but “The way of God is wild and mysterious, and we must learn to live with unanswered questions and open wounds.” I too believe I can move out of the shadows when I constantly seek Christ in the midst of doubt.
“Two thousand years ago, Jesus gathered a group of worshiping doubters on a mountain, sent them out, and the world was never the same. And this is why no one should ever think they must choose between Jesus and doubt. The church is built on people who lived the contradiction.”
Calling on science, familiar Bible stories, Bigfoot, history, Dostoevsky and an arsenal of historic and contemporary Christian writers, Fischer shares insight on his personal struggle with doubt and the lessons he’s learned during the process to move his faith into the light.
The scope of doubter’s subjects is well-rounded: Certainty, Hypocrisy, Evil (the reality and the paradox), God’s Silence, Fundamentalism, God’s Existence, Science + Religion (evolution), the Fall, “Stuff” (wants and desires), and Hell. The subjects of doubt are beautifully contrasted with the generous themes of The Beauty of Christ, Love and Wonder.
I was particularly drawn to the beauty of Fischer’s style of writing, blending an obvious love of language and a matter-of-fact conversational approach to story-telling. I laughed, I cried, I said “amen” numerous times, I sighed, I agreed, I questioned and I pondered. The chapter entitled “Four Letter Word” took my breath away. But Chapter Seven, “Death by Fundamentalism”, well, that’s where the rubber started to meet the road for me, and Chapter Eight, “Science”? Whoa. Suffice it to say that the balance of the book crescendos to the final page.
Fischer addressed concerns about my own personal doubts, helping me to understand the reasons behind my doubt and to recognize that doubt can actually be healthy if I use it to open a conversation with God. Doubt will likely be a constant companion for me, but “The way of God is wild and mysterious, and we must learn to live with unanswered questions and open wounds.” I too believe I can move out of the shadows when I constantly seek Christ in the midst of doubt.
June 19, 2024
I appreciated a lot about this book. The idea of living out faith from the shadows of life is resonating. There’s a truth to having faith and doubt co-exist. It was a liberating and helpful thought as I’ve found myself walking out my faith and feeling the heaviness of the shadows, too. In the southern Christian realm of fundamentalism and staunch dogma I’m surrounded by, the reminder that faith isn’t black and white and that faith won’t produce love was a release I didn’t know I needed but very much treasure.
My only complaint about the book as a whole is that after the first few chapters hammering out the shadows of faith we are allowed to operate from, the remainder of the book turned into “theology according to Austin Fischer.” It seemed like his own personal avenue for throwing out random tidbits of theological debate and really didn’t explain the chasm between his thoughts and what he described as “faith in the shadows.” I didn’t need the rambling of his own theological beliefs - which also were not as Biblically rooted as I would’ve liked. It didn’t seem like these thoughts fit in with the whole of the book.
My only complaint about the book as a whole is that after the first few chapters hammering out the shadows of faith we are allowed to operate from, the remainder of the book turned into “theology according to Austin Fischer.” It seemed like his own personal avenue for throwing out random tidbits of theological debate and really didn’t explain the chasm between his thoughts and what he described as “faith in the shadows.” I didn’t need the rambling of his own theological beliefs - which also were not as Biblically rooted as I would’ve liked. It didn’t seem like these thoughts fit in with the whole of the book.
August 9, 2020
I came to a point in my life when I concluded there was no possibility that I could ever deny the existence of God. But the nagging doubt was the question of Christ. Why him? Maybe I am just a created being and what happens, happens. Whatever meaning there is in my life will just be a mystery that I will have to live with. So, books on the subject of doubt have interested me. But until I read this one, I found it hard to identify with other writers experiences and journeys down this agonizing path. Austin nails every thought, emotion, philosophical and theological rabbit trail I've experienced and comes to rest at a place in the walk of faith that I can live with and where I can regain the joy of being a believer and follower of Christ. Austin's concluding remarks brought me peace in the puzzle. I will return to them.
In addition to the content of Austin's message, I recommend the work on the quality of the writing. His poetic voice will reach into your heart, not just the mind. Tears and breakthrough will come.
In addition to the content of Austin's message, I recommend the work on the quality of the writing. His poetic voice will reach into your heart, not just the mind. Tears and breakthrough will come.
October 18, 2018
Faith in the Shadows
Finding Christ in the Midst of Doubt
by Austin Fischer
InterVarsity Press
Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 11 Sep 2018
I am reviewing a copy of Faith in the Shadows through InterVarsity Press and Netgalley:
In this book Austin Fischer reminds us that people don't abandon Faith because they have doubts but they abandon faith because they fear they are not allowed to have doubts.
To often when we ask honest questions regarding our faith we are met with cold and easy answers. This false certitude often leads to disillusionment.
Faith in the shadows remind us that it's okay to ask questions!
Five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
September 19, 2021
This book broke my heart. If anyone is struggling with the claims of historic Christianity, I would recommend Alisa Childers' Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity.
June 12, 2019
It's hard to form a compelling argument about doubt and Christianity. I had hoped about this book because the forward was written by Brian Zahnd whom I respect but by the end it just didn't pan out.
August 25, 2019
A great look at ways of examining tough life challenges from a faith perspective. I appreciated his honesty in discussing topics like: evil, silence, science, hell. His summary of faith is: faith is not the absence of doubt. Faith is the presence of love. Yes!
September 28, 2019
Pivotal. I am so glad that I read this book. And then I listen to this book. And then I took notes on this book. It both helps me with my own process of faith and helps me in dialoguing with others in this great journey!
July 18, 2021
His discussions of various objections people might struggle with often devolve into autobiographical ramblings on his own experiences with faith and doubt. It's not thoroughly researched or anything, but it fueled some interesting discussion in our study group so
April 20, 2022
Honest look at where faith goes array and where faith grows. The author is honest, humble, and honoring to Christ... willing to accept questions as unanswered by Christ and therefore unanswered by us. Worth the time to read slowly and with regular times of reflection.
May 24, 2019
So good. I couldn’t stop highlighting. Seriously, everyone just get this book and read it.
July 10, 2020
A very honest look at personal struggles with doubt vs. faith in the Christian life. I don’t agree with everything he says in the chapter on science but that’s ok. Good food for thought.
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