Doubtless: Because Faith is Hard

by Shelby Abbott

Is God good? Can I trust him with my life? Is the Bible true? These are just some of the questions that can plague young adults as they stand at the crossroads of life, when new responsibilities loom large and the world around them treats God as a small or irrelevant part of life.

In DoubtLess, author and Cru campus minister Shelby Abbott comes alongside young Christians to help them honestly face their doubt and turn to God for the gift of faith. He reminds readers that biblical scripture recounts the stories of many men and women who have also faced deep misgivings and uncertainty in their walk of faith. Using both Scripture and personal illustrations, Abbot shows us how to feed our faith in seasons of doubt through authentic relationships with other Christians, hearing from God in the Bible, and practicing thankfulness. Doubt should not scare us, nor should it become our obsession. He urges readers to see the difference between doubt and unbelief, assuring us that big questions can press us deeper into the heart and character of God rather than push us away from him.

Used for biblical reflection, group discussion, devotional reading, DoubtLess is full of gospel hope for those grappling with the mysteries of Christian faith.

Genres: Faith, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Spirituality

128 pages, Paperback

Published August 17, 2020

About the author

Shelby Abbott is an author, campus minister, and conference speaker on staff with the ministry of Cru. His passion for university students has led him to speak at college campuses all over the United States and author the books Jacked, I Am A Tool (To Help With Your Dating Life), and Pressure Points: A Guide to Navigating Student Stress (New Growth Press). He and his wife Rachael have two daughters and reside in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Jennifer DeFrates · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a long time, Christians have been taught to ‘just have faith’ when they start to ask serious questions about our beliefs, but Doubtless by Shelby Abbott gives believers permission to explore their doubts, not only to walk in them, but push through them, developing a deeper, richer faith for having done so. A faith that hasn’t survived some testing, won’t survive when it is tested.

Doubtless isn’t the typical apologetics book filled with answers to common doubts. Instead it is almost a workbook challenging you to wrestle with those doubts. Each chapter has a handful of questions designed to help you embrace your questions and seek Godly answers.

He doesn’t offer many answers (because this isn’t the purpose of his book), but does have some excellent points that will strengthen the faith of many readers who have some doubts. He gives us enough reasons to believe that Christianity is true so we can stop hiding from our doubts and be bold enough to look them in the face to find answers.

For example, “If Jesus is alive right now and the resurrection actually happened, then he is who he said he is . . . the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords . . .” (72)

We can believe in what Jesus said and did if we can believe He is alive today. Everything we believe rests on this fact. While Abbott only gives a few ideas to confirm this, he encourages believers to start researching the historicity of the resurrection as a first step in answering specific doubts.

This book was clearly written for young believers, as Abbott works for CRU, a campus crusade ministry. He focuses on college age believers in many of his examples, but I believe this book could be helpful for believers of any age who have doubts. We all need to know how Jesus viewed doubt and that our faith can take questioning.

The most important aspect of this book is how Abbott invites the reader to be part of the special joy of truly searching for God. While knowing God is a blessing, there is more joy in finding Him after a difficult search. We know that what we fight for and work for is always treasured far more than what we simply have always had. Shelby Abbott equates a rich faith developed through our doubts, struggles, afflictions, and through our very weaknesses with the joy of a childhood treasure hunt.

Even if you’re well versed in Apologetics, this is still a book to have on your shelf because it will help you talk to those you most want to reach, people struggling with their faith. Abbott lets us see behind the curtain into the minds of young people experiencing doubt and offers ways to speak life into those young believers by walking with them.

Doubtless by Shelby Abbott is a treasure map for doubting believers to follow to build a rich faith. He doesn’t give us the answers, but points us in the direction to find them.

I was provided a copy of the book to review by New Growth Press. My review is my own, independent thoughts about the book.

[BarnettCourt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author makes baseless assertions with no supporting data. Just a book of fallacious claims.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you do when you have doubts about your faith? Where do you go?

This book by Shelby Abbott would be an excellent place to start. As he notes, all Christians experience doubt, but there are risks when it begins to lead to unbelief, and so doubts need “to be discussed in a safe environment of grace, truth, and love.” What he wants to do is ”give you the tools to develop a healthy sense of godly perception when doubt hits.”

It’s aimed at young adults in academic contexts of “deep thought, intentional study, and challenging opinions”, however, I think older believers will also benefit from Abbott’s wisdom. He is not dealing with apologetics (the answers to the tough questions), but rather the issues behind the questions people have when they are wrestling with doubt.

His encouragement as people deal with doubt is:

“to lean into your relationship with God in the process, instead of succumbing to the temptation to flee from him. Let’s link arms together and move forward, with a spirit of hope and expectancy, as we trust the Lord during the struggle. May our faith in Jesus Christ be anchored and strengthened through our wrestling with doubt.”

In Section One, he considers seven foundational issues to do with doubt. These include realising that doubt is biblical and common, following through on questions, feeding your faith, admitting it is arrogance to think you can know everything with certainty, and ensuring you have the truth of the bible’s reliability and Jesus’ resurrection core in your heart.

Section 2: Everyday Doubts cover these which can erode your faith over time. These include the unwillingness to ask questions, to be able to trust in God’s sovereignty and care, and well as warning about wallowing in doubt rather than researching issues.

He finishes with practical strategies to combat doubt: practice thankfulness, meet with ‘real and right’ people to work them through, continually remind yourself of the gospel and share your faith.

An excellent book for young adults (and others) encouraging them to work through doubts, be honest about them, seek help and guidance in them, and continue to so while growing in their relationship with God, trusting in Jesus and all he has done. As he encourages:

“lean into your relationship with God in the process, instead of succumbing to the temptation to flee from him. Let’s link arms together and move forward, with a spirit of hope and expectancy, as we trust the Lord during the struggle. May our faith in Jesus Christ be anchored and strengthened through our wrestling with doubt.”

I was given an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

[Shirley Alarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Christian hasn’t experienced doubt at one point or another? It’s hard enough to work through doubt as an adult, but it’s even more challenging for young adults. Author Shelby Abbott’s DoubtLess is just the rulebook doubters need. He provides guidance for finding your way through doubt before it turns into unbelief.

Abbott hits the mark with his explanations and guidance for doubters. He has a history of working with and writing for young adults. Although younger people are his target audience, I felt as if an adult could gain as much from DoubtLess as anyone. It’s written generically enough that it doesn’t focus on today’s specific issues for teens or young adults and the concepts are presented in an ‘adult’ way.

This is a great book for budding apologists, as Abbott creates the interesting and logical case that Jesus actually rose from the dead. He describes the circumstances that lead to doubt and the steps to take to prevent the doubt from becoming unbelief. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking reflection questions that help the reader work through their current doubts.

DoubtLess is packed with practical information and guidance. It provides the reassurance doubters need and the roadmap from doubt to faith. DoubtLess is an antidote to today’s secular society.

How this book affected me: I love books that offer substance and DoubtLess delivered! Doubt and faith are such abstract topics that I wondered if the author could hit his mark, but he did. Also, the actions he suggested to strengthen your faith are things I already do to keep my faith strong, so I know they work. I was pleasantly surprised that the author tackled this topic so well.

Who would enjoy this book: Young adults (or any adults) who are struggling with Christian doubt would appreciate DoubtLess. It’s not necessarily an ‘easy’ read because the concepts are thought-provoking, but anyone who genuinely wants to work their way through doubt would be well served by this book.

Our Christian Book Reviews: The book reviews at Finding God Among Us focus on Christian books – adult and children, fiction and nonfiction. Our specialty is books on faith and new Christian book releases. We’re proud to be included in the Top 50 Christian Book Review Bloggers. Our publisher partners include New Growth Press, Shadow Mountain Publishing, and Revell and BakerBooks, divisions of Baker Publishing Group. I chose to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Alistair Chalmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I really enjoy about my job is that I get to spend a lot of my time in 1-1s with people. I spend hours reading the Bible with, praying with and discussing some of the difficult questions people have about the Christian faith. Too often I’ve seen Christians worry that their questions will be thought of as doubts and a lack of faith. This is a great book touching on that very topic…

In Doubtless Shelby Abbott does a great job at helping Christians see that God is not annoyed at their questions. Abbott stresses the importance of brining your questions, all of your questions about the Christian faith, to God and to fellow Christians. Here’s what Abbott himself says…

“It’s important to understand what doubt actually is and what it isn’t before making assumptions on the nature of what we’ll be talking about in the coming chapters. Many people, Christians in particular, conclude that doubt is the same thing as unbelief. Let me assure you that it’s not. If doubt were the same as unbelief, I don’t know a single follower of Christ who could be certain that their salvation was secure. They would feel as if their eternal destiny were in the throes of a cosmic ping-pong match, bouncing back and forth between heaven and hell, peace and anxiety, joy and despair. Unbelief is a conclusion someone reaches—a deliberate decision to live life as if there is no God. Doubt is something significantly different.”

This book is jammed with pastoral experience of serving and discipling university students and young adults. The thing I like about this book is that it doesn’t tackle the normal apologetics questions. Instead Abbott addresses questions like…

- What does it mean for my Christianity if I’m doubting?
- I don’t feel loved by God right now, is He really there?
- Why am I so anxious when I have questions and doubts about God?
- Am I alone in my doubt?

See full review at; https://achalmersblog.com/2020/09/07/...

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

We Christians are faced with doubts. That is not a bad thing. As Abbott points out, we need doubt as it helps strengthen our faith. We should not avoid nor ignore doubt. But we cannot be passive about it either. We must work through doubts with intention and enthusiasm, Abbott writes. This is not a book of apologetics. It deals with the principle of doubt in general with ideas to work through it.

I like the way Abbott distinguishes doubt and unbelief. Doubt is the natural questioning one has about faith. Unbelief is a deliberate decision one makes about belief. Even though doubt is far from unbelief, Abbott reminds us doubt, unchecked, can lead to unbelief. Hence the encouragement to work through doubt.

We cannot think we will get a definitive answer to our every doubt, however. I like how Abbott points out the arrogance of having the unreasonable attitude we can know and have the ability to understand everything about God. We are not on the same level as God in knowledge and understanding and we must leave room for mystery. So it might seem a fine line, feeling one must work through doubt yet knowing there will not always be answers.

College students and young career age are often the most challenged about their Christian faith. Abbott has written this book to help them work through the idea of doubt, what doubt is and how it is to be tackled. He has practical teaching and thought provoking questions at the end of each chapter.

Abbott points out the value of having the right people beside us as we struggle with doubt so I would recommend this book be used in a group of trusted friends. Going through this book will be a good help in understanding and working through doubt.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise read, that tackles the topic of doubt. Shelby Abbott, minister with CRU, takes us through the different types and reasons for doubts, and how we can take that doubt and feed it with faith.

I think that this is a fitting book for this author to write, he knows his audience well, and he does an excellent job of presenting this topic in a conversational, digestible way, while still hitting hard. I loved how he talks about how doubt in and of itself is not a bad or negative thing, but it is when we take that doubt and take it into unbelief that it becomes a serious problem. Having questions and feeding our curiosity is normal and how we grow by seeking those answers.

One of my favorite quotes is: "People with little or no visible faith are people who just react and don't think. They let their feelings and emotions harass them; the circumstances of their lives corner and oppress them. It takes thought to have faith. When in doubt, don't think less and let circumstances push you further into doubt. Work through your doubt and think more."

Overall, an encouraging book about struggling with doubt and how we can take that doubt and grow by feeding it with faith instead of unbelief. This book also has many good resources, giving readers who are interested, a good reading list to feed their faith.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful little book. It's aimed at students, but that only comes through explicitly at a few points, and I would feel comfortable handing it to someone of any age struggling with doubts over the truth of Christianity.

The main point he makes it that doubt, in and of itself, is not the enemy. Lingering over those doubts in a morbid way, being a lazy doubter who won't bother to actually seek answers, or we might say being the wrong kind of doubter, is the issue. Doubts used as motivation to lean into our search for truth, doubts used to push us further into the arms of the loving Father, these can actually become His tools for our joy.

[Deep Frey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for young (teens + college-age) Christians to read. It does not chastise the reader for struggle with doubt, but challenges them to seek answers to difficult questions. The author continues to point the reader back to the cross and the empty tomb as reminders of Christ's grace and power.

As a volunteer youth leader, I plan to gift this book for a handful of high school seniors graduating from our youth ministry.

[Marcy Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a teenager or are the grandparent of a teen, I'd suggest you buy this for them. So many Christian teens (and adults) don't know what to do when they have doubts. This book explains how doubt is part of the Christian life and gives Biblical examples, so that Christians know that having doubts isn't the same as unbelief.

One of the most important parts of this book is its instructions for how to deal with doubts.

The only flaw in this book is that the writing style is a bit clunky.

[Beth S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking and eye opening to ways you can let doubt damage your faith.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read that helps answer the doubts many believers face.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little book for anyone wrestling with doubts about the Christian faith - particularly college students and young adults. Shelby Abbott explores the Biblical examples of doubt and lessons to be learned from them. He gives wise advice on dealing with doubts the right way, and helpfully shows the difference between doubt and unbelief. While he uses works by some deep thinkers like Tim Keller and Alister McGrath, he successfully distills them into easy to understand truths, complete with helpful illustrations and real life examples. This is a helpful and important book in an age when deconversion stories are all the rage and fuel the doubts of many young people. I encourage you to read it, and get some copies to give away to help others!