Faith in the Shadows: Finding Christ in the Midst of Doubt

"People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts."Too often, our honest questions about faith are met with cold confidence and easy answers. But falsecertitude doesn't result in strong faith―it results in disillusionment, or worse, in a dogmatic, overweening faith unable to see itself or its object clearly.Even as a pastor, Austin Fischer has experienced the shadows of doubt and disillusionment.In Faith in the Shadows, he leans into perennial questions about Christianity with raw and fearless integrity. He addresses contemporary science, the problem of evil, hell, God's silence, and other issues, offering not only fresh treatmentsof these questions but also a fresh paradigm for thinking about doubt itself. Doubt, Fischer contends, is no reason to leave the faith. Instead, it's an invitation to a more honest faith―a faith that's not in control, but that trusts more fully in its Lord.

Austin Fischer is the lead pastor at Vista Community Church in Temple, Texas, and the author of Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed.

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for his theologically informed preaching and his embrace of the deep and long history of the church, Zahnd is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities, and seminaries around the world. As a pastor-theologian, he is the author of numerous titles, including The Wood Between the Worlds, When Everything's on Fire, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, A Farewell to Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.