Faith after Doubt

Not extremely profound, but it's a great articulation of a sense of loss and grief. What do you do when all your beliefs stop working? Do you give up? Do you look elsewhere?

Without going into much detail I think this book really struck a chord in a time where I was rediscovering some riches in religions (not just Christianity), in a time where I could relax a bit more instead of just finding things to throw sticks at.

Too Much Faith, Not Enough Doubt. I've read McLaren for a few years and knew him to be of the more “progressive Christian” bent, so I knew what I was getting myself in for in picking up this book. But as always, he does have at least a few good points in here, making the book absolutely worthy of reading and contemplating. However, he also proof texts a fair amount, and any at all of this particular sin is enough for me to dock any book that utilizes the practice a star in my own personal war with the practice. (Though I do note that he isn't as bad as other writers in this.) The other star removal comes from the title of this review, which is really my core criticism here. As is so often in his previous books as well as so many other authors, McLaren has good points about the need for doubt and how to live in harmony... but then insists on praising cult figures on both sides of the aisle such as Greta Thurnberg and David Grossman. In encouraging evaneglicals to doubt their beliefs, he seems rather sure of his own beliefs in the religions of science and government - seemingly more comfortable worshipping these religions than the Christ he claims. Overall, much of the discussion here truly is strong. It simply needed to be applied in far more areas than McLaren was... comfortable... in doing. Recommended.

I read Kathy Escobar's book, “Faith Shift: Finding Your Way Forward When Everything You Believe Is Coming Apart” back in 2014 and I believe that was the first time I heard of James Fowler's book, “Stages of Faith.”

Brian McLaren is drawing on Fowler's idea along with many others, including Richard Rohr's book, “Falling Upward”, as he synthesizes research into a four-stage faith model. He uses an analogy of the rings of a tree that include and build on the previous stages. He tries to emphasize that later stages are not better or more advanced but it's hard not to think that they are. And as the title of the book suggests, McLaren sees doubt as vital to our process of moving and growing between stages. on our faith journey.

The four stages he discusses are:

Stage One: Simplicity - dualistic/binary thinking, a focus on right or wrong, and pleasing authority figures.

Stage Two: Complexity - pragmatic, focused on success or failure, achieving goals, being free and independent

Stage Three: Perplexity - critical/relativistic, values honesty/authenticity, sees through appearances to reality; skeptical of everything, beliefs, and institutions

Stage Four: Harmony - integral/holistic, focus on inclusion and transcendence, wants to find connection, make a contribution, values being compassionate, seeking the common good, assumes we are all connected, part of a greater whole.

Overall, this is a great book that I think many will find very helpful if they have been through any kind of “deconstruction” period in their faith. It is one of my favorites by Brian McLaren and I've read a lot of his books! (A Generous Orthodoxy was wonderful and a big catalyst for some of my own evolving faith journey.)