Faith after Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do about It

by Brian D. McLaren

From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world and your faith.

Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart.

Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages—Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony—offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Faith, Theology, Christianity, Christian

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2021

About the author

Brian 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.

Reviews

[Lesa Engelthaler · Rating 5 out of 5]

If like me, Du Mez's "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" scarily and yet, on-point describes the Evangelical outer life you grew up under. Then like me, McLaren's "Faith after Doubt" might help you untangle your inner tangled-up faith. I cried. Made exclamation marks on most pages! Over and over said, I am not alone. I understood for the first time the connection to so much of what felt wrong (with me and my faith) but I did not know why. And lastly, I felt great hope, especially for the next generation. Highly recommend.

[Beth Given · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cradled in the snug nest of my faith community, inside the brittle shell of beliefs, faith was quietly incubating. The cracking open of my beliefs was not the destruction of faith, but its liberation into a new tender stage, a new fledgling consciousness, a new freedom to stretch my wings and fly."

As I look back on my faith over the past decade or so, I can see it evolving. It feels only natural that as I mature as a person, my faith will also go through a maturing. Some people describe that evolution of faith as a "faith crisis," or maybe a wrestle -- and it feels that way at times. Doubts emerge and, in spite of real efforts, are not easily reconciled; for many, religious traditions often give only superficial solutions to resolve those doubts.

In this book, Christian author and speaker Brian McLaren puts forth a framework that not only acknowledges the existence of doubts but celebrates doubt as a path toward faith rather than away from it. He himself has moved through four stages of faith in his own journey:
1. Simplicity (faith involved a deference to authority figures, dualistic thinking, and obedience)
2. Complexity (faith that values independent thinking and learning, pragmatism, effectiveness, and results)
3. Perplexity (a stage where faith feels perplexing; you have more questions than answers; you feel skeptical of not only beliefs but entire institutions)
4. Harmony (a "second simplicity" that has built upon all the previous stages; an acceptance that the world is complex and perplexing while also trusting in God; a humility that God can solve our problems without our understanding them all; faith manifest through love)

This framework resonated with me, especially as McLaren explained how fluid and nuanced each stage is; just as we have snowy days in spring or oppressively warm fall days, we find ourselves in different faith stages depending on the day, though one stage may be "home." He is careful to point out that one stage is not better than others; like a tree that grows in rings, we carry the lessons and values of each stage with us on our faith journeys.

McLaren argues that we need to de-stigmatize doubt, because it is doubt that leads to a deeper, more loving faith. Jesus challenged the traditional beliefs of the time during his sermon on the Mount; so many verses follow the pattern "ye have heard it said ... but I say ..." It's okay if we are also challenging the traditional beliefs to lead to more love.

The second half of this book urgently outlines the importance of building faith communities that are more accepting of stage three and stage four believers. This part didn't resonate with me quite the same (maybe I'm too early in stage-three faith for that? I feel like such a skeptic sometimes!). But there were still many gems scattered throughout this part of the book that I appreciated. I love how he talked about his stage-one parents who, though they never seemed to wrestle with their own faith, had chosen to love the doubters in their lives without gatekeeping them out of religion altogether.

Overall, this book was helpful and hopeful. I devoured it on audio.


More quotes:

"It's hard enough having doubts. It's impossibly hard to have them and feel that you must pretend that you don't. Right now, let's grant one another permission to doubt, and let's see the doubt in ourselves and each other not as a fault or failure to be ashamed of, but as an inescapable dimension of having faith, and being human, and more: as an opportunity for honesty, courage, virtue, and growth -- including growth in faith itself. I promise you, there is faith after doubt … wait until you see where doubt can lead you and what doubt can teach you."

"Doubt isn't the opposite of faith, it is an element of faith." --Paul Tillich

"The origin of the word doubt helps name the pain. Doubt derives from the same roots as 'duo' and 'double,' suggesting that 'to doubt' is to be in two minds: one that believes and one that doesn't. The two minds wrestle and writhe in tension, pulling you in two directions, leaving you in distress. You can see with the eyes of faith or with the eyes of skepticism, leaving you with double vision or with internal division. Before doubt, you simply believed. You were in one innocent and undivided mind, seeing with one vision, feeling a comfortable confidence rather than distress, but that innocence, that simplicity, that peaceful unity of mind and clarity of vision now slip away, the first casualties of doubt."

"Now, it's scary to be a sinner falling into the hands of an angry God. But it can be equally scary to be a doubter falling into the hands of angry believers."

"For some of us, faith is a fortress of certainty we will defend to the death. For others, faith is a prison to leave behind forever. Many of us linger at the threshold … afraid to move ahead but unable to stay wherever are. If we dare take a first step, we discover faith can can be a road, a doorway out of the fortress prison of certainty, and into the adventure of living."

"Expressing or even entertaining doubt sometimes takes so much takes so much courage that we may say it takes real faith to doubt." --Lloyd Geering

"Acknowledging how little we know is, I think, at the core of mature faith. What we boast of as 'great faith' may merely be a boatload of indoctrination and overconfidence."

“If you need permission … don’t expect stage-one or stage-two gatekeepers to give it. They never will for they simply can’t. Pull away into solitude. Open your heart to the Spirit and listen; you will receive all the permission you need. From that point on, it will not be permission you require, but courage and creativity.”

"Faith was about love all along, we just didn't realize it -- and it took doubt to help us see it."

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that I could have used years ago, definitely one I needed right now Everyone should read this book. Even non-believers. This book strengthened me. Faith is such a personal thing, and yet we are taught all these ways of achieving faith that could actually hurt us in the long run. Such as accepting one doctrine or belief system at the cost of any others. This book was so good about confronting doubt, embracing doubt. The former pastor shared his story, along with others he had encountered over the years. Insightful. He describes faith in different stages, and offers many appendices as a “cheat sheet” of sorts. But above all "faith expressing itself in love". A great book, and a definite keeper for me to return to again and again.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost never give single ⭐️ ratings, so I feel compelled to explain. I recently enjoyed “Think Again,” by Adam Grant, about embracing doubt and uncertainty as growth, maturity, and progress. A curiosity about how the message of “Think Again,” applies to religion and faith drew me to the title “Faith After Doubt.” Both books offer a similar call away from dualistic and simplistic ways of seeing the world and different systematic frameworks for processing and embracing doubts and uncertainty. If asked to rate McLaren’s book in the first several chapters, it was an easy ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ s. He spoke of faith as having four stages which he named SIMPLICITY, COMPLEXITY, PERPLEXITY, and HARMONY. He granted permission to doubt things we’ve always thought were certain with statements like, “doubt is not the opposite of faith, it is an element of faith.” And he described the “letting go of many things and holding onto a precious few.” This resonated with me and I wholeheartedly agree with McLaren, “certainty is not the same thing as truth.” But I do not agree Truth itself is changing, abstract, or relative. About half way through it becomes obvious this is the book’s underlying assumption. As he begins talking about the fourth and final stage of faith, he offers a “brand new” simplistic and dualistic answer to the meaning of life. This new “stage 4 faith” is vaguely defined as “nondual, nondiscriminatory, unconditional, revolutionary love.” It is an abandonment of organized religion while embracing a specific political and social agenda. McLaren has the answer to ending all war, poverty, discrimination, hate, and the like, and it all begins with doubt. He has the answer no religion has yet to provide for humanity, and the answer appears to be- being certain of your doubt. Eventually McLaren says belief is the enemy of faith, and doubt the end goal of faith. He says, “belief is clinging to certain ideas, but true faith is clinging to doubt.” As he begins to describe stage 4 faith you realize he has not moved us from faith to doubt to faith, but rather from one brand of dualistic thinking (which for him was a very specific brand of “Christianity”), through doubt, to a different brand of dualistic thinking (where “God is happy to be anonymous”). He claims he and his fellow faithful doubters are the only “hope for civilization.”

Not only did his whole construct fall apart as soon as he tried to define a final destination of faith this side of eternity, but the entire second half of the book is full of painful repetition, contradictions, and logical fallacies.

His tone is bitter, cynical, hollow, and despairing while telling his reader to choose to be “better or bitter…cynics or sages…hollow or holy…to love or to despair.” His message is emphatically anti-dualistic while embracing a very black and white formulaic social and political ideology and activism. Warning against the “catastrophe unfolding in organized religion today”, while holding to “moralism and pragmatism as ends in themselves.” It’s like he went from dualistic thinking to dualistic thinking jumping right over true resonance of faith that holds simplicity, complexity, perplexity, and harmony in tension. The paradox of living in holy tension is not either simple or harmonious, but (as a counselor I know once told me), “it’s the living in the tension of good, godly extremes” all at the same time.

McLaren says “I do not use the Bible as a constitution or law by which I argue my cases,” but then he constantly quotes the Bible to prove his case. He quotes Paul and Jesus, using their words to establish the grounds of his new brand of faith which he calls: “a new kind of spirituality for a new generation…religion in its current form being not good enough…we must change from belief factories to schools of moral intelligence or studios of love.” At one point he adds words to the Sermon on the Mount…”blessed are the uncertain…blessed are the suspicious…blessed are the doubters.” And as if quoting (and adding to) the Bible to argue his case was not bad enough, he also quoted himself often referring to other books he’s written to further prove his points. He also quoted CS Lewis several times which was ironic to me as I kept being reminded of this Lewis quote as I read- “Blinded by the cataract of nonsense that pours from the press, and the microphone of his own age, he sawed off the branch he is sitting on.” I have read enough of Paul, Lewis, and Jesus’ writings to know they all starkly contradict the new spiritually this book offers and defends with their words.

Here is McLaren’s stated formula for spiritual formation:
“I offer 5 essentials for deep spirituality:
1. Parents and adults who model it
2. Deep encounter with nature
3. Deep encounter with others
4. Deep encounter with one’s own personal soul
5. Support of a faith community”

Then when we arrive at harmony, this is what happens next:
“Listen for the sound of the genuine in yourself, and then you can learn to listen for the sound of the genuine in others. The sound of the genuine goes beyond, and we become one with the plants and the animals. The sound of the genuine flowing through everything.”

McLaren confidently preaches the future of the world rests in his message. I kept waiting for the koolaid recipe at the end. But alas, we only get a recipe for ending all wars…

1. Teaching a greater moral intelligence
2. Helping others go beyond thinking right from wrong
3. Help people link reason and emotion
4. Have moral courage to act against oppressive authority and not go along with the crowd

If only wars and faith were this simple, and doubt and uncertainty this powerful and glorious- able to conquer all that is wrong in us and in the world.

I landed at ⭐️ because I see nothing humble about squeezing God into our human reason and constructs, and nothing sophisticated or grownup about culturally glorified skepticism. Maturity and growth can’t possibly look like moving from one cultural dualism to an opposing cultural dualism or from arrogant certainty to arrogant uncertainty. It can’t mean moving from submitting to a religious culture to submitting to a some other human institution or cultural reality. Might it look like the holy tension of humble confidence, embracing good godly extremes all at the same time, and submitting to a God in whatever way He has chosen to reveal Himself.

I think McLaren might need to read Adam Grant’s book, “Think Again.”

[Ari DeBenedictis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started out as really good! And then it kind of turned out eh. But at the end of the day, it helped me feel seen.

For the past year and a half or so, i've been really struggling with my faith. But after reading this book, I think I've been struggling more with my beliefs than with my faith in God. How do I balance my progressive liberal views and also my love for Jesus? Long story short it's hard. But this book made me feel not alone in my thoughts and doubts and confusion. I felt like a lot of this book was written in metaphors which was kind of hard for me to fully grasp/understand so that was the eh part. Did this book make me want to go to church again? no not really haha but it did make me still want to read christian books, listen to christian sermons and not like fully walk away from christianity. If anything, this book reinforced ideas that I already had but made them more solid. I think right now I'm struggling with The Church (i'm using capital letters to emphasize the church as a whole not the church that I sort of kind of go to) and not with the divinity of Jesus.

I definitely would like to read more of this author's books. And although they weren't all good, I did like some of the questions after each chapter! Glad I read it and would probably see myself picking this up later in life too. And would recommend if you're in the same stage of life/faith as me.

[Haley Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 1/2 - 2/3 of the book was affective and engaging. McLaren tackled the hurt in doubt and affirmed those who have never had a church to affirm them. However, beyond this, the book quickly turned into (I felt) ranking denominations and pushing political beliefs. The book began by being overwhelmingly inclusive yet concluded in a polarized, cold way.

[Nollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The best book I’ve read describing adult spiritual development. What it looks like in each of the four stages of faith (simplicity, complexity, perplexity, harmony) and what do do when you no longer align with how you used to believe. I felt a little discouraged in the middle, wondering how it’s possible to continue participating in a stage 1 or 2 religion marked by more rigid black and white thinking where religious gatekeepers and congregations fear and don’t make space for honest doubt. But the end gave me hope.

I recommend this for all religious people, especially leaders, even if you have not experienced a faith transition or doubt. Religions of all types are experiencing loss of members who want more spiritually but don’t find their religions can provide what they need. This issue affects people you love and it helps us all how to move from being people who express faith through “correct” beliefs to expressing faith through love. That we can grow past the supremacy of a beliefs paradigm to the humility of a love paradigm. Not that one stage of faith is superior, but that everything we do, wherever we are, should be shaped by love.

My main takeaways since I think a lot how to teach kids. We frame boundaries around sex, drugs, and safety as respect and love for others and our bodies. We frame how we choose to eat, recycle, etc as love for our earth. We frame education as love for our minds. We frame serving others and seeing beyond ourselves as love for our fellow man. That the values we choose as a family are rooted in love.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has struggled with doubt in the last few years, this was really interesting and thought-provoking. Full review coming for Shelf Awareness.

[Rachel Cottam · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for me because it was just what I needed to hear, but I could see how the book wouldn’t apply to everyone.

He does a good job of making a case for faith without ignoring the major challenges that organized religion presents.

My conclusion? No faith tradition really has it all. But the gift of choosing a primary faith tradition is that it allows you to understand each complementary faith tradition better. Just don’t put a lid on the box.

***

Lots of notes:
- Doubt is an inescapable dimension of having faith
- Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith, it is an element of faith
- Spiritual conversations often go best in the outdoors, in nature
- People experience paradigm shifts as personally traumatizing
- When your companions think as you do, it’s easier to speak freely or think creatively. When you’re out of sync, it’s natural to feel guarded.
- Three modules of the brain: instinctive, intuitive, and intellectual or gut, heart, and head or survival, belonging, and meaning —- Faith or religion often captures all three
- It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it (climate change eg)
- Thinking and believing are social acts, not just individual acts
* was I only staying moral because I was staying religious?
* “You have heard it said, but I say unto you…” Jesus
* As a child, we master “dualism” — right and wrong, black and white — this requires authorities who know everything that we are highly dependent on
* Us vs them is a natural byproduct of dualism
* If Christ can doubt (my god, why hast thou forsaken me), then surely all of us can
* Stage 3 (perplexity/curiosity) people are wary of almost any organization
* Justice is what loves looks like in public
* Faith was about love all along
* Dualistic thinking is necessary for growth and development—those binaries reveal much, but they also obscure much
* For many after stage 3, cynicism appears to be the only intellectually honest choice
* In stage 4 (harmony) instead of seeing through things, we see into them, we go deeper
* Learn how to approach other human beings with curiosity, respect, and love (non discriminatory, revolutionary love) — this is a lot easier when you’ve moved to stage 4
* If there’s anything to regret, it’s refusing to grow when life invites you to do so
* When we leave religion, we often form quasi-secular religions (racism, hate groups, etc) — why would they join a hate group? Meaning, belonging, and Purpose
* “If we as humans don’t find meaning, belonging, and purpose in healthy forms of spirituality, we’ll seek them in unhealthy forms of ideology”
* In the absence of religion, we will inevitably unite and divide over other things
* Not everything you learn about spirituality to fit into a box. So maybe we can just leave the lid off the box.
* Our faith tradition is treasure, but it never contain all of the goodness and wisdom in humanity, or all of god. It’s the starting line not the finish line.
* Parents living out their faith are the primary sacred texts from which children will learn how to love
* We will help children understand that we encounter the love of god in others
* Contemplation is work. But it is also how we move through the stages of faith towards harmony.
* When they discovered the genuine in their own tradition, the greater their love and curiosity for other religions.
* Wake up in a world of wonders rather than a world of answers
* Whether our religious stories are factually true or not matters less than how they motivate us to live
* Let’s gladly trade supremacy for solidarity

[conor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps if I had read this a few years ago I would have found this more inspiring. Still, I found much of value here. I think there are many people who need the message that McLaren offers here--that doubt and faith can coexist, that faith can look different than you expect, and that living in a way that spreads and embodies God's radical love will help change the world.

My biggest frustration with the book is that McLaren relies on his own four stages of faith model (derived from a combination of loads of other such models and his own lived experience), which like all such models creates a sense of hierarchy, and almost inherently, superiority. McLaren to his credit tries to combat this by talking about the benefits and necessity of every stage and even having some very moving passages in the final pages about his mother's faith. Unfortunately, this doesn't make up for the negative ways that Stages One and Two (Simplicity and Complexity) and to a lesser extent Stage Three (Perplexity) are described throughout the book. Especially for the disparaging terms that McLaren uses to describe faith leaders at Stages One and Two.

I just don't think this is a helpful, productive approach to faith! Faith is not nearly that static, nor is its journey that linear (in my own experience anyway). And McLaren's book (and every other such model of faith like this that i've encountered) describes the faith experience of a particular sort of person (interested in intellectual questions, bookish, etc.), which then implicitly asserts that the Harmony, faith after doubt that these folks achieve is superior to the rich, deep faith that others could arrive at through a very different set of experiences.

My other large frustration is with this whole genre of book, which in its efforts to help people escape the faith/doubt binary that they experience, it in some ways reifies that very binary (this is not totally McLaren's fault, and like I mentioned earlier, there is a need for this type of book, I'm just wary of it becoming the dominant story, or like dominant counter-story). I want to see and read books that take as true the ideas that McLaren is so desperate to prove. Don't take all your time arguing that doubt and faith can coexist, just talk about what faith is and what it means to have faith when you accept the proposition that faith and doubt coexist.

Anyway. If you wrestle with expectations that your faith must be weak because of doubts and questions that you have, this could be very productive for you! If you don't but are interested in better understanding folks in that situation, this could be helpful for you! Could be really productive as part of a book club of such folks, interested in creating a more welcoming, radical love-driven community (especially if you're willing to challenge McLaren and bring the shared experiences into conversation with his).

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first three-fourths of this book perfectly capture ideas I have spent hours trying to put into words myself. I listened to the audiobook and could not stop. Just a few years ago, I likely would have felt very apprehensive and even defensive towards the 4-stage framework described. Today, I feel the description of stages 1-3 captures my religious experience perfectly, and I can genuinely say I’ve had glimpses of the harmony he describes in stage 4. We’ll see if I get there.

1 - Simplicity
2 - Complexity
3 - Perplexity
4 - Harmony

I especially love the goal of fostering “4-stage communities” VS “stage 4 communities”. Each stage plays an important role in fostering a productive religious atmosphere. My personal faith community is very effective at fostering stages 1-2, but the type of religious experience described in 3-4 feels very foreign to how we generally talk about faith/doubt.

The final fourth of the book describes the author's vision for how faith communities ought to adapt. This section is filled with the most ambitious (and likely problematic) ideas, but the need for greater interfaith collaboration resonates with my own conclusions.

[Stephen Kramar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars because it has shown me a window into a future faith for me that I didn’t know was possible. Now that I’ve glimpsed this faith I recognize a lot of people who have it, and it turns out they are people (mostly authors) that I have been drawn to. Now I know why.
I have a lot of investigation and contemplation ahead of me in order to move into harmony, I think, but I am more hopeful than I’ve been in almost a decade.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a warm hug for my soul. I raced through the beginning, which seemed like he was telling my personal story. The ending gets a little more woo-woo, but I did appreciate McLaren’s attempt to point the way forward for the spiritually battered. His 4-stage faith paradigm was helpful.

[John Martindale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the best Brian McLaren book since Generous Orthodoxy. There is a bit too much left-wing ideology for my taste, especially towards the end (thus the one star which was removed) but other than his wokeness and his full embrace of identity politics, this book is gold.

McLaren synthesizes research from numerous stage theorists like James Fowler, into a four-stage of faith model—that like rings of a tree has growth periods that includes and builds on the previous stages. The latter stages are not “better” and more “advanced” than the others, but they simply are stages of change that some Christians experience in their faith journey. I love that he mentions his mother at the end of the book who remained a "level one" Christian her entire life. It seems ultimately there is the "right way" and a wrong way that people can do these early levels.

The first stage is analogous with a child who is completely dependent upon the “Big People” to show them the rules: what is good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate, safe and unsafe, and is right and wrong. McLaren calls the first stage Simplicity, since almost everything can be sorted into two categories: good and bad, true and false—it is the simplicity of dualism. It is also the Stage of Authority and Trust; there is a childlike faith in the gatekeepers, for the authorities know everything, and their place is to trust and obey them. Gradually, it is learned that other people have different sets of authorities; these other authorities are understood as the enemy; they are wrong and dangerous and must be resisted and fought. Many are able to remain in Stage One throughout childhood and into adulthood, and once they become authorities, they expect the same submission to their authority that they gave to their betters. Finally, Stage One can also be known as the Stage of Certainty—the Truth is perfectly clear to them, and it is thought that the truth is obvious to any other honest and thinking human being.

Stage Two is analogous to the teen years when many begin to question authority. In this stage of faith, individuals discover that other Christians interpret scripture in different ways and they don’t quite seem that evil. The strict dualisms are thus undermined; things no longer appear so simple. Rather than just taking their authority figures' word for it, these Christians learn how to study and interpret the bible for themselves. This stage, McLaren calls Complexity. Often in Stage Two, there is the pursuit to find the “right” doctrines and practices. Those in Stage Two, while considering themselves fully within the boundaries of evangelical orthodoxy, may, for example, move from thinking the bible teaches that “women should keep in their place,” to finding the biblical case to be strong for women having positions of authority over men; or go from thinking the spiritual gifts like tongues and prophecy have ceased, to believe they are for today; or to find themselves persuaded by the scriptural argument for conditional immortality over the traditional view of hell; or convinced by the New Perspective’s understanding of Jesus, Paul and justification; to even replacing the Penal Substitutionary view of the atonement with something like the Christus Victor model. It is doubt concerning the soundness of one’s inherited beliefs, and openness to other perspectives being more biblical that leads to adjustments and the formation of a Christian that doesn’t exactly fit in any denomination. Still, the doubt is limited in scope—leading to sifting through the parts, rather than challenging the whole. There are certain things not to be touched: for example, in my own case, anything produced by “liberals” and derived from the critical biblical scholarship.

The Third Stage, McLaren calls Perplexity. This is a time when the armor that has so effortlessly deflected all major doubts for years, forms a chink, and the poisoned arrows can sink deep. It is now as if an entirely new set of lenses are set in front of the eyes allowing them to see the myriad of devils in the details. Much that once seemed perfectly reasonable will now appear repugnant, absurd, and immoral. The stock answers to hard questions that once seemed satisfactory now fail. Suddenly, even the most sacred and central parts of their faith system seem questionable. One’s internal BS protector is on high alert. Scripture begins to seem like a deeply human and flawed book; God seems absent, silent, and unreliable, and impossible to trust. Those in Stage Three, likely don’t have a community that fits their stage. If they remain in an evangelical church, they likely wrestle with their doubts alone. Some can swing from Stage Three Perplexity, to a Stage One faith elsewhere in religion-like movements such as Leftist Ideology, Scientism, or Humanism, however, returning to Stage One or a Stage Two Evangelical faith seems utterly out of reach and impossible since they’ve fallen down that slippery slope. It is possible, however, for them to enter Stage Four.

McLaren calls Stage Four: Harmony. If “the journey of faith through Simplicity and Complexity involves learning and perfecting beliefs. The Journey of doubt through Perplexity involves questioning not only specific beliefs but the whole belief system approach to faith. Then, the journey into Harmony is a journey beyond beliefs into revolutionary love”. Though beliefs are necessary, interesting, and unavoidable, they now are second place to faith exercising itself through love. These individuals find it possible to continue in faith, though they no longer affirm their belief in those things which are unverifiable, and they don’t confess what they find morally repugnant and obviously untrue. It’s a stage where they find peace with the vastness of their uncertainty, and rather than an obsession with correct beliefs, or restless angst of the breadth of their inescapable agnosticism, they’ve learned that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).

Concerning Doubt, Politics and Christianity

The majority of individuals that I know who are wrestling with their faith are also disillusioned with the Religious Right and have swung hard Left. For them, a large part of what it means now to be a follower of Christ is to identify and fight on the Left side of the culture war. Brian McLaren, who specifically hopes to start a movement for the gathering of Threes and Fours in matters of faith, envisions groups that largely express themselves by being activists for Liberal Progressive causes. Sadly, I don't think McLaren included a single example of someone who struggled with doubt who wasn't also a political leftist.

To me, McLaren's biggest blind spot not recognizing how members who are Threes and Fours in matters pertaining to Christian faith, can simultaneously swing into Stage One in their certainty and trust in Liberal ideological authorities. McLaren seems to be blissfully at Stage One in his politics, there are no shades of gray, he displays utter certainty and the tribalism comes through. McLaren even had to apologize for writing the book because of the whiteness of his skin. Wokeism displays the worst elements of religion. We see the Twitter mobs, the inquisition without the willingness to forgive anyone deemed unorthodox. There is the original sin of whiteness, the shame, and guilt of whiteness, and for this, unlike in Christianity, there is no redemption--just condemnation and self-loathing for being the cause of all evil and racism. There is the continuous fear of one's woke friends, who if they interpret anything to be out of alignment with the ever-changing woke orthodoxy and new speech codes, will be swift to cancel you.

McLaren appears to be very satisfied in his Stage One Wokology. I imagine he is a little less hateful, intolerant, and quick to judge and condemn than many of his fellow religionists. Still, it is disturbing his ability to embrace, put his full trust in a religious movement that has strong totalitarian leanings, is deeply intolerant, and embodies the worst elements of tribalism and could potentially lead to mass murder such as in the Chinese cultural revolution.

It was an extraordinarily BAD idea for Evangelicals to throw their lot with Republicans, something that McLaren is well aware of, now if only, McLaren could see it is equally a BAD idea to put one's trust in the far-Leftist.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

McLaren’s books have been pivotal to my spiritual journey. He proposes that the spiritual life (not just Christian) has four stages that may overlap or repeat: simplicity, complexity, perplexity and harmony. The first stage is for new zealots who draw us–them divisions and are most concerned with orthodoxy. In the second, practitioners are more concerned with practicalities: what works, what makes life better. Perplexity is provoked by cynicism about injustice and hypocrisy, while harmony moves beyond dualism and into connection with other people and with nature.

McLaren suggest that honest doubting, far from being a problem, might present an opportunity for changing in the right direction, getting us closer to the “revolutionary love” at the heart of the gospel. He shares stories from his own life, in and out of ministry, and from readers who have contacted him remotely or come up to him after events, caught in dilemmas about what they believe and whether they want to raise their children into religion. Though he’s fully aware of the environmental crisis and doesn’t offer false hope that we as a species will survive it, he isn’t ready to give up on religion; he believes that a faith seasoned by doubt and matured into an understanding of the harmony of all things can be part of a solution.

It’s possible some would find McLaren’s ideas formulaic and his prose repetitive. His point of view always draws me in and gives me much to think about. I’ve been stuck in perplexity for, ooh, 20 years? I frequently ask myself why I persist in going to church when it’s so boring and so often feels like a social club for stick-in-the-mud white people instead of a force for change. But books like this and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, my current soul food, encourage me to keep pursuing spiritual connection as a worthwhile path. I’ll be seeking out his forthcoming book (due out in May), Do I Stay Christian?, too.

Some favourite lines:

“only doubt can save the world. Only doubt will open a doorway out of hostile orthodoxies – whether religious, cultural, economic or political. Only through the difficult passage of doubt can we emerge into a new stage of faith and a new regenerative way of life. Everything depends on making this passage.”

“Among all the other things doubt is – loss, loneliness, crisis, doorway, descent, dissent [these are each the subject of individual chapters early on in the book] – it is also this: a crossroads. At the crossroads of doubt, we either become better or bitter. We either break down or break through. We become cynics or sages, hollow or holy. We choose love or despair.”

“Blessed are the wonderers, for they shall find what is wonderful. … Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods. Blessed are the lovers, for they shall see God everywhere.”

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been life altering, affirming, expanding, etc. I listened to the audiobook read by the author and it was great. I will be purchasing a copy that I can go through more slowly and take lots of notes. The underlying message of the importance of love was so solid. His vision for the future helps alleviate some of the despair I sometimes feel and has given me a little more wind in my sail.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person deep in the throes of Perplexity, this acknowledgement that it’s okay to be there, that the pain of these questions are essential to growing into something more, is something I need right now. However, it’s hard to see a path into Harmony for me at this point; the cynicism is too strong with this one. But I appreciate Brian McLaren’s perspective, hope, love, and acceptance for people—no matter what their religion or lack thereof—and their journeys—no matter where they are on their way. It was nice to felt seen.

[Richard Propes · Rating 4 out of 5]

With "Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It," noted theologian Brian D. McLaren adds structure to a theological landscape explored with heartfelt vulnerability by the late Rachel Held Evans, whose book "Searching for Sunday" feels as if it's constantly in the shadows throughout this engaging, informative work that continues McLaren's long-standing commitment to creating a path toward faith that is mature, fruitful, and centered squarely in love.

The challenge of writing a book that constantly reminds one of Rachel Held Evans is, of course, the fact that she covered the material so beautifully and, of course, the fact that her recent passing lingers in the hearts and minds of those who loved and respected her work.

"Faith After Doubt" never quite reaches the level of emotional and intellectual resonance as did Held Evans, though it's certainly a meaningful work by one of this generation's most gifted authors and speaks existing within the realm of what is considered a more progressive Christianity.

While Held Evans largely centered "Searching for Sunday" within a theological exploration of her own journey, McLaren's "Faith After Doubt" is, I think it's fair to say, a more intellectual pursuit that finds its foundation with McLaren's proposition of a four-stage model of faith development that embraces the idea of doubt rather than considering it the enemy of faith. The four stages - Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony - offer a path forward that McLaren believes can help sincere people leave behind unnecessary baggage and, instead, intensify their commitment to what matters most.

McLaren believes that doubt can, in fact, save the world and save one's faith. "Faith After Doubt" explores this belief, McLaren offering his usual weaving together of his rich humanity and critical thinking to create valuable insights into both personal and universal truths. As always, McLaren's a storyteller and he pulls from his years as a pastor along with his more recent years as a writer, speaker, and activist. "Faith After Doubt" is at its most immersive when McLaren is weaving his personal stories into the discussion. "Faith After Doubt" is, at times, a little less engaging when we find ourselves whipping back-and-forth between the various stages and even various degrees of various stages. While I'm all for critical thought, at times it feels like there's more emphasis on doubt than faith.

The only other aspect of "Faith After Doubt" that I occasionally found distracting came as a result of McLaren's years as a respected Christian voice as once in a while those stories involved other familiar voices giving "Faith After Doubt" a feeling of name-dropping.

McLaren has long been a voice for progressive theology and "Faith After Doubt" shares the costs for those early doubts and questions that weren't accepted within his conservative evangelical upbringing and in the early churches and Christian circles where he found himself. Indeed, the cost was great. Yet, perhaps, it is precisely this journey that makes McLaren such an essential voice - he's been speaking out and living these truths since long before progressive theology became visible and he's openly embraced the younger voices who've since surfaced and given those questions, doubts, and challenges new light. There's simply no doubt that McLaren continues to be one of the most respected of contemporary progressive Christian writers and speakers.

While I had some minor concerns with "Faith After Doubt," the entire dialogue is so essential and valuable that it's easy to set them aside. In addition to exploring his material, McLaren ends each chapter with exercises that help integrate the material and apply it to daily life.

Additionally, I'd dare say that one of my favorite parts of the book is at the end as we experience multiple appendices and resources that are beautifully written and offer places to go for those who embrace McLaren's teachings here. I was just having a conversation with a friend the other day over lunch about the difficulty one has in finding progressive worship experiences that vibrate with the life and energy that we used to feel in our more conservative evangelical churches.

I've long resonated with McLaren's teachings and "Faith After Doubt" is the next step in a journey he's been sharing for years. It feels as if it's one of McLaren's more accessible works, simultaneously intellectual in structure yet infused with life experience and meaningful stories. Most likely to resonate with those familiar with McLaren's works or those who embrace a more progressive theology or, at minimum, those who can embrace that doubt is a valuable part of the faith journey, "Faith After Doubt" meets the reader where they're at and helps equip them to get where they want to go.

[Gideon Yutzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christianity is going through another identity crisis and this is a good analysis of what's happening. I was hoping for more solutions for finding a faith community for Stage 3 Christians (which is where I would currently place myself), but he doesn't include many that are viable for me. The big takeaway was that while doubt is essential for faith, it won't profit anything unless we also eventually find our "Yes!"

[Leigh Kaisen]

Another good one for the recovering from religion bookshelf. I'd especially recommend this for a book club study or buddy reading, as I personally found it really good to unpack this with others who are in a similar place.

I've always loved the way Brian McLaren puts things, and the first part of this book especially captures the present moment of taking an honest look at Christianity and some of its harsher angles and wondering if there's anything good still left. McLaren puts forth four different phases as ways to refer to the different parts of a faith journey, and the final phase is one that exists harmoniously, or reaching an enlightened perspective. This is essentially where we might find space to create a new kind of unified Christian church. As much as I would love for American Christianity to reclaim some kind of goodness and redeem much of its injustices, it does seem like there's still a lot of barriers that could continue to get in the way of this goal. And while I didn't feel totally satisfied with some of the guideposts McLaren puts forth as ways to save the church, I also realize that it's a pretty big problem for one guy to solve. The main food for thought I took away from his outlines of potential solution-builders is wondering if some of the things he's describing don't already exist in a way, such as in a Unitarian Universalist church or something similar. And, given how McLaren is also very honest about all the issues that come with reimagining church, it makes me wonder if it's too tall of an order, and if it would be easier to embrace what's already been formed and get behind those movements, perhaps on a more local level or focusing on what good can be done in one's community rather than trying to save the world all at once.

I do, however, align more with the book's beginning and very end. The beginning does an excellent job of articulating what's gone wrong, namely in the American evangelical Christian church, and why we can't really expect those systems to serve us anymore. They've done way too much damage, and we are long overdue for an overhaul. And while the book does largely hold that the church is still worth saving, its final chapters come with a tone of letting go, and being okay with the church no longer looking like the way it's been. This is certainly something I can get on board with, and commend McLaren for tackling such a big question and attempting to answer it while at the same time being okay with uncertainty alongside of keeping some kind of faith. Overall this book is a refreshing invitation to rethink where we've been and where we're going, even if that includes dwelling in doubt, which can actually be an all right place to be.

[Alain Verheij]

In november 2021 interview ik hem in De Nieuwe Koers. In het echt is McLaren heel aardig en zijn boek is ook pastoraal van toon, vlot geschreven en met veel anekdotes. Met het bekende dualisme van ‘oud christendom’ naar ‘nieuw christendom’ dat alle Amerikaanse kerkvernieuwers gebruiken. Deze keer in 4 geloofsfasen. Het is een royale denker die goed heeft nagedacht en het verraderlijk vlot vertelt. Soms inzichtelijk, soms ontroerend, soms een paar bladzijden overslaan, soms een korreltje zout, al met al de moeite waard, zeg ik net als de nodige keer dat ik iets van hem las niet zonder tegenzin, want eigenlijk heb ik niks met Amerikaanse theologie. Het hielp dan ook dat hij op Zoom zei: ‘Eoropa loopt 100 jaar op ons voor’. Een beetje vleierij doet wonderen. Dit boek ook, denk ik, als jij nu met geloofstwijfel zit en je daardoor alleen of reddeloos voelt.

[Nigel Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of great summaries of this book online so I won't delve into the cliff notes here. However, what I'd like to share is the profound sense of relief that I experienced through my journey with this book. Though twenty-some years younger than Brian, our upbringings in Evangelicalism offered us many of the same gifts and challenges. There's an intimacy, a vulnerability of sorts that is put on display when we discuss our doubts and the impact they've had on us over time.

Doubt was so often framed as a "slippery slope" that much of my religious community was unable to mature through the various stages of belief to offer me something more substantial. This became especially concerning when I served as a young pastor who wanted to faithfully lead people into truth and goodness to the best of my ability. My doubts made my first ministry job out of college very short-lived.

The last few years have felt an entangled mess of hope, regret, loneliness, dissatisfaction, curiosity, wonder, and discontent. In many ways, life has felt like a "beautiful mess" and Faith After Doubt was a helpful book for me to categorize some of those experiences and emotions in a framework that not only makes sense from my own experience but that also left me feeling less alone and more hopeful about the future. If any parts of the book's description or subsequent reviews resonate with you, I'm confident that there is something good to be found within its pages.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great book for those who grew up in conservative or fundamentalist religious environments. The author tells you that it's okay to have doubts - those doubts are a healthy sign of spiritual growth and emerging maturity.

I love Brian McLaren's books. This one has a lot to unpack. I was most intrigued by a short section in which he talks about clergy who have subconsciously sabotaged their careers when struggling with ministry burnout or spiritual crisis. He could have written a whole book about this (and I hope he will at some point).

Most of this book focuses on McLaren's 4 point stages of faith theory. I think it works for those who works for those who grew up in fundamentalist religions. Personally, I'm going to stick with James Fowler's stages of faith. The big aspect of faith that McLaren misses in his theory is the mystical wonder and acceptance of God that small children experience. He clearly appreciates the mystics in the church, but I'm not sure his stages of faith allow for them in his structure.

Towards the end of the book, McLaren touches on where the Christian faith and the church is going. I think he's got some insightful ideas on this topic, but I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to these questions for sure yet. Overall, this was a great book and highly recommended.

[David McCormick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose to read this book in order to gain perspective and understand what the nones are facing and feeling. Although, it is important to consider the ways Christians have done much harm, however this book hinges on its emphasis on relativism that has no more substance. The Bible does conclude that faith must be expressed as love, but the Gospel is not that we act out our faith in love and herein is the deep problem with this book: it utterly lacks Jesus. We cannot have true faith without an object of that faith

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so refreshing and encouraging. As I navigate my way through Perplexity, it is so hopeful and helpful to know that I'm not alone and that I'm not crazy!

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Brian McLaren, I’m so thankful for you. You make me feel seen, both in my faith and my doubts. I read this book at just the right time too – I’m glad I didn’t read it immediately upon publication.

McLaren discusses a four stage model of faith development: Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony.

"Faith before doubt, it’s about correct beliefs. Faith after doubt, it’s about revolutionary love. In other words, the journey of faith through simplicity and complexity involves learning and perfecting beliefs. The journey of doubt through perplexity involves questioning not only specific beliefs but the whole belief system approach to faith. Then, the journey into harmony is a journey beyond beliefs into revolutionary love."

I very much appreciated hearing about his dialogue with various seekers he encounters, either on the road or via email correspondence. This quote from a young pastor hit especially close to home in terms of my current church community. She worries about struggling to lead authentically versus the likely result of firing or transferring:

"Most of them come to church for comfort, for confirmation of what they already think, to hear old familiar hymns and old familiar themes with just enough freshness to keep them interesting. They want their sermons to be comfort food, and if I serve up a spiritual meal with kale, broccoli, and tofu, rather than butter, salt, and sugar, there will be grumbling for sure. If I don’t give them what they want, they’ll just transfer to the spiritual restaurant down the street. And don’t even get me started on the challenges of preaching about politics, that’s a recipe for disaster."

[Peter Butler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let’s consider Christianity specifically: have you ever had doubts about the authority of the Bible, the truth of the history or doctrinal claims of the Bible? Have you ever not been able to reconcile what you believe in your heart is just and living with what the Bible seems to say?

A friend generously gave me a copy of Brian McLaren’s book, Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It.

McLaren begins his book with all-too-familiar anecdotes: people who question how God could allow evil and command genocide, how God could be against LBGTQ+ relationships, how could God send all people of all faiths to Hell who don’t believe what the Church teaches to be true, and how can we believe the origin story of the Bible when science shows something utterly different? These and other issues that may arise doubt and confusion about what to truly believe are common. I was shaken when I began seminary and was told that the history of the Old Testament was largely myth.

McLaren rightly says it is good and right to admit when we don’t know an answer or how to get out of a textual and/or textual-scientific problem (75). Being glib or trying to force an answer only makes the problem worse.

McClaren explains that there are four stages of belief (87ff, 163ff):

The first, which he calls simplicity, accepts the correctness of the dualistic theology that is handed down from the teachers of the religion. That is, there is truth and there is untruth and nothing else – there are not shades of grey. There is good and there is evil. Period.

Second, complexity, in which one comes to focus on the effectiveness of living out the teachings of the Church, rather that slavishly believing them. Here, one begins to acknowledge that all religions have truth in them, so one begins to use the tools one has to bring about world connection and universal love.

Third, perplexity, in which one honestly and critically considers the beliefs one has been taught and looks at them with suspicion and doubt. This critique and challenge even reflects back on oneself.

Finally, harmony, in which one denies dualistic theology, rather, one zooms out one’s perspective to see all peoples and idea in the context of faith expressing love.

This progression is not a once only event. As one continues to grow and mature in faith expressing love, one will go through the stages again.

The expressing of faith, then, moves from belief to activity to doubt and, finally, to love (167). This pattern of growth through doubt ends up helping human nature and society move towards non-violence and love (180).

McLaren explains that once one is in stage three, one understands that religion cannot be divorced from social justice (183) and believing in absolutes and not doubting leads to deterioration of the self (191).

By stage four, one understands that everyone has the Holy Spirit within them and the presence of grace (201).

This, McLaren has found in his own spiritual journey that whether or not the stories of the Bible are historical is not what matters most. Rather, what matters most is understanding the meaning of the stories and putting that meaning into action (207).

There are six appendices to the book: 1. A chart of the four stages, 2. What the move out of infancy looks like, 3. Various authors’ namings of the four stages, 4. Resources, 5. Three points of prayer for each of the four stages, and 6. Group guidelines.

I appreciate that McLaren does not dismiss the struggles many people have in understand what the Bible says and how to understand it in the light of feelings and the sciences. I also appreciate his emphasis that we don’t know or understand everything, and we ought to be willing and able to admit when we don’t know, or to ask for time to think things through. No one has all the answers, and no one perfectly understands everything in the Bible. He is also right to emphasize that belief cannot be stagnant/inactive. Belief must lead to action. Orthodoxy leads (necessarily) to orthopraxy. If you say you do believe and don’t live it out, you are lying or self-deceived (see the book of James, for example).

However, McLaren’s book suffers fatally from an overarching false dichotomy – that being that one either believes blindly and does not act on one’s beliefs, or one doubts one’s beliefs/considers them equal in truth to all other’s beliefs and does act in faith expressing love.
That is simply not true.

Even as he quotes from James, we read, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22-25, ESV).

McLaren does not allow for the person who sincerely believes what the Church teaches (even if that person struggles to understand portions of the Bible – or even never understands portions of the Bible), but also follows the teachings of the Church and the Bible (when the teachings of the Church are those of the Bible), and acts on those beliefs with purposeful and merciful action towards all people (even while believing that a just and loving God cannot allow sin to go unpunished).

McLaren also disagrees with Paul when McLaren says that the historicity of the Bible is not what matters most. Paul says that this is the Gospel:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (I Corinthians 15:3-8, ESV).

Paul says historicity is of paramount importance.

I appreciate McLaren’s desire to help those who doubt/struggle with understanding the Bible and living it out, but he has written in his own first stage – and either/or that does not leave room for other understandings with action.

(Also, the partisan political bashing is not helpful to getting his views across.)

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].

[Greg Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially, I wrestled with the author's title as it seemed to suggest that doubt is something that can be left behind or somehow transcended and extinguished. My personal experience continues to reinforce the coupling of faith and doubt; not as diametrically positioned opposites - but complementary forces that promote growth and maturity when channeled constructively. McLaren gets this (much better than I do) and reframes this concept as faith after (and WITH) doubt - a subtle but important parenthetical insertion that I really appreciated.

I found his use of a tree's growth rings as a developmental metaphor for spiritual growth particularly insightful and that our beliefs and ideas about God (religion's obsessive need to "factualize" etc.) should never be allowed to overshadow our actual relationship with God. Brian doesn't pretend to have all the answers, in fact - he doesn't even allege to have better answers. But what he does do quite beautifully is create a space for sacred solidarity where one can feel safe in asking our bigger and better questions.

Are we chasing a faith to be "factualized" or real relationship(s) to be actualized? Such questions fuel the kind of faith I wish to practice because they orient me toward the kind of God I wish to worship - a God much less interested in my getting my arms around him/her, and one eternally invested in getting his/her arms around me. This is real faith WITH real doubt and it can be as rich and rewarding as it is often unnerving. We all need more Brian McLarens to walk into the unkown and the uncertain with us, because at the end of the day, in his words, "We are all in this together."

[Leela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the second half much more useful and insightful, highlighted lots of interesting sections and quotes from other authors. About how small we are relative to the future of humanity and how that can be a chance to live into the questions and the wonder of not knowing rather than needing to find the answers; how God is not a destination but, like a river or a road, takes us somewhere; listening for "the sound of the genuine" in yourself and others; the difference between belief and faith, one which clings and one which lets go.

[Ana Morriss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely eye opening book. When I bought it, I was amidst a tricky time of battling doubt. This book helped me relish that doubt it what has allowed me to always pursue greater faith. Above all, it made me see Christ more fully and beautifully, and emphasized the greater capacity we all have to express our faith as love.