Benefit Of The Doubt Breaking The Idol Of Certainty

Download or read book Benefit of the Doubt written by Gregory A. Boyd and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2013-09-15 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Benefit of the Doubt, influential theologian, pastor, and bestselling author Gregory Boyd invites readers to embrace a faith that doesn't strive for certainty, but rather for commitment in the midst of uncertainty. Boyd rejects the idea that a person's faith is as strong as it is certain. In fact, he makes the case that doubt can enhance faith and that seeking certainty is harming many in today's church. Readers who wrestle with their faith will welcome Boyd's message that experiencing a life-transforming relationship with Christ is possible, even with unresolved questions about the Bible, theology, and ethics. Boyd shares stories of his own painful journey, and stories of those to whom he has ministered, with a poignant honesty that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Download or read book Present Perfect written by Gregory A. Boyd and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular author and pastor Gregory Boyd's Present Perfect will help you experience true spiritual transformation. Boyd shows you how in this thoughtful, accessible book. Ponder the meditations. Consider the practical applications. Then embrace this discipline and discover its life-transforming significance!

Download or read book Rethinking Hell written by Christopher M. Date and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2014-04-15 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Download or read book Seeing Is Believing written by Gregory A. Boyd and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2004-04 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Break out of spiritual performance into a liberating relationship with Christ. Experience the reality of Jesus through the imaginative power of prayer.

Download or read book Why I Still Believe written by Mary Jo Sharp and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For anyone who feels caught in the tension between the beauty of God's story and the ugliness of human hypocrisy, Why I Still Believe offers a stirring story of hope. Why would anyone be a Christian when there is so much hypocrisy in the church? Mary Jo Sharp shares her journey as a skeptical believer who still holds to a beautiful faith despite wounding experiences in the Christian community. At a time when de-conversion stories have become all too common, this is an earnest response - the compelling conversion of an unlikely believer whose questions ultimately led her to irresistible hope. Sharp addresses her own struggle with the reality that God's people repeatedly give God's story a bad name and takes a careful look at how the current church often inadvertently produces atheists despite its life-giving message. For those who feel the ever-present tension between the beauty of salvation and the dark side of human nature, Why I Still Believe is a candid and approachable case for believing in God when you really want to walk away. With fresh and thoughtful insights, this spiritual narrative presents relevant answers to haunting questions like: Isn't there too much pain and suffering to believe? Is it okay to have doubt? What if Jesus' story is a copy of another story? Is there any evidence for Jesus' resurrection? Does atheism explain the human experience better than Christianity can? How can the truth of Christianity matter when the behaviors of Christians are reprehensible? At once logical and loving, Sharp reframes the gospel as it truly is: the good news of redemption. With firmly grounded truths, Why I Still Believe is an affirming reminder that the hypocrisy of Christians can never negate the transforming grace and truth of Christ.

Download or read book An Uncertain Certainty written by Graham Buxton and published by Lutterworth Press. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people in Christian ministry are tired of simplistic certainties; what they need is permission to live with uncertainty, with mystery, ambiguity, and paradox. Because we live in a world that is far removed from the modernist version of reality,with its rational, clinical, and superficial presentation of life, we need the courage and wisdom to embrace the presence of uncertainties in the midst of certainty. In this book, the author offers snapshots of a number of central Christian topics-God, the gospel, the church, salvation, ministry-inviting us to treat them as features of a landscape to explore rather than a set of propositional statements to sign up to. Each chapter-short enough to provoke interest and curiosity-will be a catalyst for deeper reflection and enquiry, inviting us to discover a new freedom in ministry as we embrace a more generous both-and perspective in place of a more narrow either-or interpretation of the Christian faith. In the process, we may find ourselves rediscovering the Life we have lost in living as we imaginatively participate in the life, ministry, and mystery of the triune God of grace in our midst.

Download or read book When Faith Fails written by Dominic Done and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wrestling with doubt can be profoundly lonely, but Portland pastor Dominic Done offers a safe place to openly wrestle with your faith without being criticized or judged. Writing with humor and candor out of his own experiences, and incorporating Scripture, literature, and accounts of others who have doubted, Dominic Done argues that not only is questioning normal, it is often a path toward a rich and vibrant faith. Rather than viewing trust and doubt as incompatible, When Faith Fails provides readers with a way to wrestle and ask questions while growing ever closer to God. No subject is off-limits, and Dominic fearlessly and graciously addresses topics including: the experience of tragedy the difficult parts of the Bible the intersection of science and faith the times when God is silent By walking in the path that many others have trod, you can move through doubt into a deeper, fuller faith—a faith that doesn’t run from questions and the hard work of honest wrestling but instead embraces the mysteries of belief. "This book is for those of us who have experienced a gut check, or two, when it comes to some of the intersections between our lives and our faith. It’s for those of us who no longer want to add unnecessary explanations to our beliefs just because we can’t fully see what God is doing in our lives." —Bob Goff, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody, Always “This book is one of those books that I will be buying to give to multiple friends.” —Jefferson Bethke, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion “This book will help you surrender and trust the areas of your life that are meant to exude God-designed mystery, while also holding your hand as you search for substance and truth.” —Audrey Rolo­ff, coauthor of A Love Letter Life, founder of Always More, and cofounder of Beating50Percent “Doubt is such a pertinent issue in this cultural moment. Dominic walks us through the issues of doubt with which we wrestle but he does so in pastoral practicality. One feels as though you are seated in his living room sipping coffee. Dominic is the type of soul who understands the questions of the heart. He never shames. He’s always transparent. He gives substantive hope.” —Emerson Eggerichs, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Respect