Guide for the Christian Perplexed

Thoughtful Christians are legitimately perplexed by a number of issues relating to the church's belief and practice. They are perplexed partly because they recognize that the issues themselves are thorny, and partly because they are not sure how to test the mutually inconsistent theories and explanations affirmed by diverse voices speaking with equal assurance. Most Christians find relatively little occasion or encouragement to address their perplexities with intellectual candor and integrity. If they dare to acknowledge their theological perplexities at all, they are too often told that these perplexities are unimportant, or that they can be answered very simply, or that they should be left to the experts. Guide for the Christian Perplexed, written by members of the faculty of Wycliffe College, Toronto, aims to explore a diversity of issues and questions to do with o our knowledge of Jesus o the meaning of suffering o the function of doctrine o the understanding of Scripture o the place of other religions o the challenge of atheism o the pleasures and complications of sexuality o the nature of worship o the way to evangelize o understanding who our neighbor is locally and globally o diversities of spirituality Here you will find thoughtful reflections and answers to the questions around these issues. A study guide is included for individual and group use.

Thomas P. Power is sessional lecturer in the history of Christianity, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He is the author of The Apocalypse in Ireland: Prophecy and Politics in the 1820s (2022). He is general editor of the series Wycliffe Studies in History, Church, and Society.