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Finding Faith: A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest
Is there a God? - What might God be like? - What is the relationship between faith and certainty? - Can intelligent people believe in spiritual realities? - Why are there so many religions? - Is it possible to experience a relationship with God--and if so, how? If you've asked questions like these, you're in good company. From songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Jewel Kilcher to TV shows such as The X Files and Touched by an Angel, the media and the arts reflect postmodern men and women's search for a living faith and a spiritually oriented life. Real faith isn't blind believism. It is a process that engages your intellect as well as your emotions. If you think faith requires turning your back on truth and intellectual honesty, then Finding Faith is one book you really ought to read. With logic, passion, and even-handedness that the thinking person will appreciate, this book helps you face your obstacles to faith by focusing not on what to believe, but on how to believe. Whether you want to strengthen the faith you have, renew the faith you lost, or discover faith for the first time, Finding Faith can coach, inspire, encourage, and guide you, and help you discover more in life than you'd ever imagined or hoped for.
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1999
5 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Brian D. McLaren
124 books553 followersBrian D. McLaren is an internationally known speaker and the author of over ten highly acclaimed books on contemporary Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Secret Message of Jesus.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 12, 2010
What a relief! An honest assessment of Christianity from a practicing pastor. Here are a few sections that really caught my attention:
"Now you should know that I have great faith in the Bible, and have found it to have an importance and value for me above all other books, and I in fact used to be among those who thought the Bible solved the whole epistemological problem simply and cleanly, as many of my friends now feel. But I can't follow that logic anymore." (p. 56)
(The following paragraph is one of four principles (that help him deal with his idea of the "modern faith trilemma") which is entitled "1. Honor the Truth Wherever It Is Found".)
"Many years ago, I committed myself to the Christian faith (more on that later). As a Christian, I am taught to seek the truth, wisdom, and humility. That means that if a Buddhist teaches me, I must gratefully honor the truth - because truth is truth, whoever brings it. Not only that, I should gratefully honor the bearer of that truth as well. The Bible is full of people of other faiths being used as messengers or conveyers of important truths. As a young Christian, I was too proud to admit that a Muslim could teach me, or that a Hindu could teach me, or that an atheist could teach me, but I have grown to learn to honor the truth wherever it is found. Doing so, I believe, doesn't make me less mature as a Christian, but rather more." (p. 150)
(The following is a comment regarding a Venn diagram of one giant circle "A" with six smaller circles around it overlapping "A" and the circle next to it, but none of the six are completely within in "A". He incorrectly says there are five other circles in his diagram, just in case you are confused.)
"Imagine that Circle A represents the ultimately true religion, possessing all truth (and no falsehood) about God, life, the universe."
"...Let the other five circles represent various religions. One could be Buddhism, one Christianity, another Hinduism, and so forth."
"...As we would expect, each circle 'covers' some truth, but not all, and each includes some misconceptions, misunderstandings, falsehood, and so forth." (p. 155)
(In a short description of The New Testament...)
"These documents include history, poetry, prophecy (messages from God in specific situations, sometimes, but not all that often really, predicting the future), and personal letters." (p.234)
(The following describes his loss of appetite for science that had been previously kindled at a very young age.)
"Eight grade biology taught me that I would rather pursue my interest in the natural world on my own, having been thoroughly turned off by scientific reductionism, where everything is "understood" when it has finally been reduced to a numeric equation or a Latin name of some sort. It's amazing any sense of wonder survives that kind of education. It strikes me now, looking back, as a kind of sick brainwashing, a kind of secular fundamentalism that is too proud, rigid, and closed-minded to admit a sense of awe, to acknowledge the mystery beyond the rim of mathematical orthodoxy. I guess that's why I decided to pursue literature and music instead of science; they allowed me to explore and celebrate the very things that science determined to explain away as 'nothing but...' " (p. 271)
I was a bit dismayed by this paragraph after seeing many of his previous thoughts as honest and open-minded. He embraces willful ignorance of the "scientific reductionism" benefits which cured his very own son of cancer! In fact, he seems ironically ungrateful to science which saved his son's life with modern techniques of treatment while he freely (and admirably) admits he may have had a large role in his son's illness, both with the initial cause of cancer and a subsequent compromise of his immune system with salmonella during chemotherapy.
Overall, this is a satisfying Christian book wherein the author isn't afraid to admit that the proper answer (from any pastor) to many of Christianity's toughest objections is a simple, yet honest, "I don't know."
"Now you should know that I have great faith in the Bible, and have found it to have an importance and value for me above all other books, and I in fact used to be among those who thought the Bible solved the whole epistemological problem simply and cleanly, as many of my friends now feel. But I can't follow that logic anymore." (p. 56)
(The following paragraph is one of four principles (that help him deal with his idea of the "modern faith trilemma") which is entitled "1. Honor the Truth Wherever It Is Found".)
"Many years ago, I committed myself to the Christian faith (more on that later). As a Christian, I am taught to seek the truth, wisdom, and humility. That means that if a Buddhist teaches me, I must gratefully honor the truth - because truth is truth, whoever brings it. Not only that, I should gratefully honor the bearer of that truth as well. The Bible is full of people of other faiths being used as messengers or conveyers of important truths. As a young Christian, I was too proud to admit that a Muslim could teach me, or that a Hindu could teach me, or that an atheist could teach me, but I have grown to learn to honor the truth wherever it is found. Doing so, I believe, doesn't make me less mature as a Christian, but rather more." (p. 150)
(The following is a comment regarding a Venn diagram of one giant circle "A" with six smaller circles around it overlapping "A" and the circle next to it, but none of the six are completely within in "A". He incorrectly says there are five other circles in his diagram, just in case you are confused.)
"Imagine that Circle A represents the ultimately true religion, possessing all truth (and no falsehood) about God, life, the universe."
"...Let the other five circles represent various religions. One could be Buddhism, one Christianity, another Hinduism, and so forth."
"...As we would expect, each circle 'covers' some truth, but not all, and each includes some misconceptions, misunderstandings, falsehood, and so forth." (p. 155)
(In a short description of The New Testament...)
"These documents include history, poetry, prophecy (messages from God in specific situations, sometimes, but not all that often really, predicting the future), and personal letters." (p.234)
(The following describes his loss of appetite for science that had been previously kindled at a very young age.)
"Eight grade biology taught me that I would rather pursue my interest in the natural world on my own, having been thoroughly turned off by scientific reductionism, where everything is "understood" when it has finally been reduced to a numeric equation or a Latin name of some sort. It's amazing any sense of wonder survives that kind of education. It strikes me now, looking back, as a kind of sick brainwashing, a kind of secular fundamentalism that is too proud, rigid, and closed-minded to admit a sense of awe, to acknowledge the mystery beyond the rim of mathematical orthodoxy. I guess that's why I decided to pursue literature and music instead of science; they allowed me to explore and celebrate the very things that science determined to explain away as 'nothing but...' " (p. 271)
I was a bit dismayed by this paragraph after seeing many of his previous thoughts as honest and open-minded. He embraces willful ignorance of the "scientific reductionism" benefits which cured his very own son of cancer! In fact, he seems ironically ungrateful to science which saved his son's life with modern techniques of treatment while he freely (and admirably) admits he may have had a large role in his son's illness, both with the initial cause of cancer and a subsequent compromise of his immune system with salmonella during chemotherapy.
Overall, this is a satisfying Christian book wherein the author isn't afraid to admit that the proper answer (from any pastor) to many of Christianity's toughest objections is a simple, yet honest, "I don't know."
May 23, 2025
A BOOK TO READ ALONG WITH HIS ‘A SEARCH FOR WHAT IS REAL'
Brian McLaren was the founding pastor in 1982 of the nondenominational Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland (he left that position in 2006); and he currently serves with the Centre for Action and Contemplation.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1999 book, “Several months ago… A very simple thought dawned on me… I need faith. Here I am, someone who is writing a book on faith, and I am realizing as never before how I need faith not only to live my daily life to the full, but to grow and nurture and sustain my faith itself and also to write the book that you are now holding. I suspect that the very act of reading this book will be an act of faith for you, just as writing it has been for me… This book can become our extended conversation…
“For you, faith is perhaps like death, a subject you know you shouldn’t deny or avoid, but one that is profoundly uncomfortable. You wish, and I wish for you, that faith could be a subject of joy, vitality, hope, and healing. It is for people like you that I have written this book. If it can help you who struggle the most, I know it can help many others too, others whose struggles with faith are perhaps not as radical or extreme, but who struggle nonetheless. (The people for whom faith comes easily and whose faith is never called into question probably would never pick up a book like this anyway…”) (Pg. 9-10)
He adds in the Introduction, “I am a pastor, but before entering ministry, I worked in secular higher education (as an academic counselor and college English instructor). And in each role, I have become more and more sensitive to the predicament of the intelligent adult who begins searching for faith, for spirituality, and for God. I can’t pretend that I’m completely neutral… Here’s my bias: I sincerely hope you find what you’re looking for. Toward that end I am dedicating myself in these pages.” (Pg. 15)
He continues, “Many of us were brought up with some sort of faith as children… One way or another, we outgrew the faith of our childhood. Now we’re seeking for a faith that we can hold with adult integrity, clear intelligence, and honest feeling. So, many of us need… to renew or replace the faith we lost… to let a mature, refreshed faith become the new eyes through which we see life. Others of us have faith, but it is weak or damaged… Still others of us were brought up in a secular context. Faith to us seems strange, an oddity, an embarrassment, superstitious, primitive… Yet we find our secular culture unfulfilling, able to tell us much about the world, but unable to account for much of our own experience… We need to find the faith we never had before. That’s why this book was written: to help you replace the faith you lost, invigorate the faith that you have, and develop the faith you desire but never had before.” (Pg. 17-18)
He offers a definition: "Faith is a state of relative certainty about matters of ultimate concern sufficient to promote action.” (Pg. 31) Later, he adds, “I don’t think the greatest enemy of monotheism is atheism, agnosticism, polytheism, dualism, or pantheism. It is bad monotheism, monotheism carried out in bad faith. Show me a person who has rejected faith, and nine times in ten I’ll show you a person or group nearby who turned them sour with their example of bad faith. The great spiritual need of our world… is good faith.” (Pg. 38)
He clarifies, “I don’t want to give you the impression that I live in this constant bliss of relative certainty about these matters… Much of my spiritual life has been tortured by doubt… those of us who are by nature reflective and who find doubt inescapable gradually must learn to see the curse as a mixed blessing. For example, if I am able to help some readers work through their doubts … it is only because I have been there myself. Being of some help to you is a meaningful consolation for me. But… there isn’t any alternative to learning to deal with doubt… Even the convinced atheist---if he is the slightest bit reflective---has his doubts about atheism---whether they occur in a foxhole, hospice lobby… or wilderness hike. Doubt is part of the human condition.” (Pg. 65)
He says of novelist Walker Percy, “he exemplified in his novels and essays an approach to Christianity that was more stable… full of more intellectual integrity, than anything I had seen in my Protestant evangelical circles… it was a Christianity engaged with modernity (and postmodernity)---grappling with the issues… It was a ‘third-way' course which would avoid defensive retreat and isolation on the one hand and capitulation and sellout on the other.” (Pg. 76)
He observes, “I know that many religious people have set up creation and evolution as enemies, basically forcing you to choose either their antievolutionary version of theism, or evolution-and-atheism as a package deal. I don’t see it that way at all… if by the term ‘evolution’ we mean simply ... adaptive development from simple to complex, a pattern of change suggested by … the fossil record, an elegant process involving adaptation through inherent flexibility and survival of the fittest then we have something potentially very different from an enemy to theism… but rather as a creation of God, and a grand one at that… another great reason to admire and even worship God rather than doubt or disbelieve.” (Pg. 89-90)
He acknowledges, “Ritual has a bad name. Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to enjoy it, how to profit by it… Perhaps we expect too much of it, that it will ‘work’ too quickly, ‘deliver’ too automatically, ‘function’ in a foolproof way … I don’t think we should give up on ritual. I don’t think we should give up on any possible means of experiencing God.” (Pg. 166)
He points out, “A friend of mine has been deeply troubled by history’s atrocities---Hitler, Pol Pot, abortion, the Plague, and so forth. His conclusion: If God exists, God must be … incapable of feeling any compassion, uncaring, apathetic… Might my friend’s own compassion, his outrage, his deep feeling itself be a reflection of the care of God?... if God were dispassionate, how could God create beings with compassion?... Probably there is no answer to make this problem more tolerable; probably our best response is not to try to devise an intellectual system that accounts for suffering, but rather to feel the outrage and compassion and be driven by them to action.” (Pg. 183-184)
He argues, “Nor can [the Bible] be a one-read book, after which we say, ‘The Bible? Oh, yes, I read that years ago,’ implying that we’ll never need to look at it or think about it again. If God wants the book to be an authentic medium of spiritual enlightenment and instruction, then how can it be a book that we feel we can fully grasp… feel competent in regards to?” (Pg. 233)
He suggests, “May we assume that whatever is meant by heaven and hell is meant as an encouragement not to lose interest… to weigh the negative consequences of losing interest as so undesirable and their positive consequences as so wonderful that you will not want to abandon your spiritual quest, no matter the difficulties?.... that the real point of the concept of heaven and hell is to impress upon us how CONSEQUENTIAL our spiritual decisions are?” (Pg. 260)
He admits, “I don’t want to make it sound like I have Jesus all figured out, I don’t… I have read hundreds of books about Jesus and his message and his ongoing mission on earth… But still, I must confess that Jesus in many ways eludes me, even as he attracts me. Behind the pages of the gospels I find someone really there, someone substantial, too real, too vigorous, too alive, too robust to be reduced to a quick formula or set of principles… He won’t be domesticated, mastered, outlined, packaged, shrink-wrapped, or nailed down (at least, not for long). That’s frustrating at times. But it’s also quite wonderful.” (Pg. 287)
This book will be of keen interest to people wanting to explore the phenomenon of faith.
Brian McLaren was the founding pastor in 1982 of the nondenominational Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland (he left that position in 2006); and he currently serves with the Centre for Action and Contemplation.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1999 book, “Several months ago… A very simple thought dawned on me… I need faith. Here I am, someone who is writing a book on faith, and I am realizing as never before how I need faith not only to live my daily life to the full, but to grow and nurture and sustain my faith itself and also to write the book that you are now holding. I suspect that the very act of reading this book will be an act of faith for you, just as writing it has been for me… This book can become our extended conversation…
“For you, faith is perhaps like death, a subject you know you shouldn’t deny or avoid, but one that is profoundly uncomfortable. You wish, and I wish for you, that faith could be a subject of joy, vitality, hope, and healing. It is for people like you that I have written this book. If it can help you who struggle the most, I know it can help many others too, others whose struggles with faith are perhaps not as radical or extreme, but who struggle nonetheless. (The people for whom faith comes easily and whose faith is never called into question probably would never pick up a book like this anyway…”) (Pg. 9-10)
He adds in the Introduction, “I am a pastor, but before entering ministry, I worked in secular higher education (as an academic counselor and college English instructor). And in each role, I have become more and more sensitive to the predicament of the intelligent adult who begins searching for faith, for spirituality, and for God. I can’t pretend that I’m completely neutral… Here’s my bias: I sincerely hope you find what you’re looking for. Toward that end I am dedicating myself in these pages.” (Pg. 15)
He continues, “Many of us were brought up with some sort of faith as children… One way or another, we outgrew the faith of our childhood. Now we’re seeking for a faith that we can hold with adult integrity, clear intelligence, and honest feeling. So, many of us need… to renew or replace the faith we lost… to let a mature, refreshed faith become the new eyes through which we see life. Others of us have faith, but it is weak or damaged… Still others of us were brought up in a secular context. Faith to us seems strange, an oddity, an embarrassment, superstitious, primitive… Yet we find our secular culture unfulfilling, able to tell us much about the world, but unable to account for much of our own experience… We need to find the faith we never had before. That’s why this book was written: to help you replace the faith you lost, invigorate the faith that you have, and develop the faith you desire but never had before.” (Pg. 17-18)
He offers a definition: "Faith is a state of relative certainty about matters of ultimate concern sufficient to promote action.” (Pg. 31) Later, he adds, “I don’t think the greatest enemy of monotheism is atheism, agnosticism, polytheism, dualism, or pantheism. It is bad monotheism, monotheism carried out in bad faith. Show me a person who has rejected faith, and nine times in ten I’ll show you a person or group nearby who turned them sour with their example of bad faith. The great spiritual need of our world… is good faith.” (Pg. 38)
He clarifies, “I don’t want to give you the impression that I live in this constant bliss of relative certainty about these matters… Much of my spiritual life has been tortured by doubt… those of us who are by nature reflective and who find doubt inescapable gradually must learn to see the curse as a mixed blessing. For example, if I am able to help some readers work through their doubts … it is only because I have been there myself. Being of some help to you is a meaningful consolation for me. But… there isn’t any alternative to learning to deal with doubt… Even the convinced atheist---if he is the slightest bit reflective---has his doubts about atheism---whether they occur in a foxhole, hospice lobby… or wilderness hike. Doubt is part of the human condition.” (Pg. 65)
He says of novelist Walker Percy, “he exemplified in his novels and essays an approach to Christianity that was more stable… full of more intellectual integrity, than anything I had seen in my Protestant evangelical circles… it was a Christianity engaged with modernity (and postmodernity)---grappling with the issues… It was a ‘third-way' course which would avoid defensive retreat and isolation on the one hand and capitulation and sellout on the other.” (Pg. 76)
He observes, “I know that many religious people have set up creation and evolution as enemies, basically forcing you to choose either their antievolutionary version of theism, or evolution-and-atheism as a package deal. I don’t see it that way at all… if by the term ‘evolution’ we mean simply ... adaptive development from simple to complex, a pattern of change suggested by … the fossil record, an elegant process involving adaptation through inherent flexibility and survival of the fittest then we have something potentially very different from an enemy to theism… but rather as a creation of God, and a grand one at that… another great reason to admire and even worship God rather than doubt or disbelieve.” (Pg. 89-90)
He acknowledges, “Ritual has a bad name. Perhaps we’ve forgotten how to enjoy it, how to profit by it… Perhaps we expect too much of it, that it will ‘work’ too quickly, ‘deliver’ too automatically, ‘function’ in a foolproof way … I don’t think we should give up on ritual. I don’t think we should give up on any possible means of experiencing God.” (Pg. 166)
He points out, “A friend of mine has been deeply troubled by history’s atrocities---Hitler, Pol Pot, abortion, the Plague, and so forth. His conclusion: If God exists, God must be … incapable of feeling any compassion, uncaring, apathetic… Might my friend’s own compassion, his outrage, his deep feeling itself be a reflection of the care of God?... if God were dispassionate, how could God create beings with compassion?... Probably there is no answer to make this problem more tolerable; probably our best response is not to try to devise an intellectual system that accounts for suffering, but rather to feel the outrage and compassion and be driven by them to action.” (Pg. 183-184)
He argues, “Nor can [the Bible] be a one-read book, after which we say, ‘The Bible? Oh, yes, I read that years ago,’ implying that we’ll never need to look at it or think about it again. If God wants the book to be an authentic medium of spiritual enlightenment and instruction, then how can it be a book that we feel we can fully grasp… feel competent in regards to?” (Pg. 233)
He suggests, “May we assume that whatever is meant by heaven and hell is meant as an encouragement not to lose interest… to weigh the negative consequences of losing interest as so undesirable and their positive consequences as so wonderful that you will not want to abandon your spiritual quest, no matter the difficulties?.... that the real point of the concept of heaven and hell is to impress upon us how CONSEQUENTIAL our spiritual decisions are?” (Pg. 260)
He admits, “I don’t want to make it sound like I have Jesus all figured out, I don’t… I have read hundreds of books about Jesus and his message and his ongoing mission on earth… But still, I must confess that Jesus in many ways eludes me, even as he attracts me. Behind the pages of the gospels I find someone really there, someone substantial, too real, too vigorous, too alive, too robust to be reduced to a quick formula or set of principles… He won’t be domesticated, mastered, outlined, packaged, shrink-wrapped, or nailed down (at least, not for long). That’s frustrating at times. But it’s also quite wonderful.” (Pg. 287)
This book will be of keen interest to people wanting to explore the phenomenon of faith.
February 18, 2012
Well-intentioned, with some helpful thoughts, but ultimately underwhelming. While McLaren does try to empathize with those who doubt (and actively leaves room for them to do so), he doesn't really dig that deeply into some key questions about the existence/nature of God, casually dismissing real philosophical concerns about the matter and instead opting for a surface-only, digestible treatment. Honest seekers of truthful spirituality should find a fair amount to value, and people who are wrestling with a faith that they already have will likely find it refreshing (especially if their doubt is in its early stages), but more skeptical people will probably be frustrated by the lack of depth in some sections and won't find McLaren's thoughts particularly challenging or convincing.
February 18, 2007
Despite the beating McLaren takes in the conservative evangelical press, I find him thoughtful, refreshing, and an excellent writer.
This book guides seekers and veteran Christians through tough waters in a pastoral way that respects the reader. BC never talks down to his audience.
Parts are reformulated traditional arguments for faith; other parts are more novel. I enjoyed both.
This book guides seekers and veteran Christians through tough waters in a pastoral way that respects the reader. BC never talks down to his audience.
Parts are reformulated traditional arguments for faith; other parts are more novel. I enjoyed both.
May 12, 2018
The author did an excellent job writing about what faith is and approaches it in a very inviting way. A recommended read for anyone with questions regarding the legitimacy of pursuing faith.
May 3, 2021
Insights that are "freeing" when you encounter them in your own life.
Want to read
June 16, 2024Helpful apologetics/reference book -have not read yet
March 10, 2008
I enjoyed this book. It wasn't completely satisfying to me but I felt the author was very reasonable and honest in his approach to individual spiritual journeys.
The author is a Christian, and explains from the outset that he as a bias. That bias comes through in the text but at the same time I appreciated the amount of respect to those who question or doubt.
It's a thoughtful book that gives helpful suggestions while not beating the reader over the head with the author's personal convictions. I appreciate that level of dialog and overall liked this book.
The author is a Christian, and explains from the outset that he as a bias. That bias comes through in the text but at the same time I appreciated the amount of respect to those who question or doubt.
It's a thoughtful book that gives helpful suggestions while not beating the reader over the head with the author's personal convictions. I appreciate that level of dialog and overall liked this book.
December 4, 2013
This book was amazing and really helped me to open up my understanding of faith and how it works in my life. It's great both for people curious about why they should ever believe in the Christian God, as well as for Christians who are struggling with their faith and just confused about the mess that is Christianity.
November 7, 2009
I happened to pick up this book in a bookstore and was hooked after reading a few pages. It’s the best summary I’ve read so far of many issues surrounding faith, written in a clear, understandable way.
March 21, 2008
This is one of my favorite books to recommend to true "seekers"... it does an excellent job of helping frame spiritual questions without shoving Christianity down someone's throat.
July 24, 2011
A good how-to manual for anyone on a "spiritual" quest. And by "spiritual," I mean Christian. There are no other options.
November 29, 2014
It was just too academic for me but i tried as a good friend loaned it to me. I'm not very religious but it made me think about a few things.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews