A Must-Read for Those Who Doubt

As a young pastor in ministry, I read and re-read and re-re-read two of Randy Newman’s previous volumes on evangelism, Questioning Evangelism and Corner Conversations. His work introduced me to a way of sharing Jesus that was focused less on preparing a dazzling presentation and more on getting to know the person across the table from me by asking questions and being genuinely interested in their thoughts, their perspective, their story. I quickly discovered that his insights were key for student ministry and recommended his books to many of my youth leaders.  

I didn’t need Dr. Newman to lay out an anthropological justification for his approach to evangelism, but that’s exactly what we get—though cleverly disguised—in Questioning Faith: Indirect Journeys of Belief through Terrains of Doubt. 

Through a series of six questions, Dr. Newman dials in on (most of) the key assumptions held by particularly young, modern, Western people—assumptions which keep people from believing in Jesus. And by skillfully addressing each of these questions, Newman deftly accomplishes two goals. For the believer, he compassionately highlights real objections to faith that many people have. And for the non-believer, he pastorally walks through each objection, kindly asking the non-believer to reconsider the assumptions they may have brought to discussions of faith. 

Dr. Newman argues that people bring more than just intellectual objections to faith conversations. We all—believers and non-believers alike—come to our faith commitments for a variety of different reasons. Because everyone worships something, faith is inevitable, not optional. And yet nothing in which we put our faith provides air-tight, slam-dunk certainty; we can realistically expect confidence, but not certainty.

And while many believe that all religions ultimately teach the same message, he argues this perspective is actually quite arrogant and self-defeating. It assumes that just as adherents of any one particular religion believe their perspective on religion is correct and all others are wrong, the religious pluralist believes his perspective is correct and all others are at least incomplete, if not outright incorrect. 

Where Dr. Newman particularly shines is in his last two chapters, addressing in turn the question of pain and the question of pleasure. Though pain and suffering often push people away from faith, he shows the inadequacy of atheism to address questions of pain and suffering while also admitting that no perspective on the question, even the Christian perspective, ultimately satisfies. In his chapter on pleasure and beauty, he argues that our deep desire to find beautiful objects and meaningful experiences argues persuasively for a good God who created the world.  

Though the book is skillfully written, easily readable and compellingly argued, I do have one minor quibble. I wish Dr. Newman had included a chapter on “The Question of Story,” asking a question like, “What if we aren’t the authors of our own narrative?” Judging by the rest of the book, he could have skillfully argued that the post-modern rejection of all metanarratives is unworkable in real life. Perhaps he could have shown how the Bible’s story of Creation, Fall, Redemption and Re-Creation provides a more coherent and satisfying understanding of the world than any other metanarrative. 

Regardless, any pastor and ministry leader can profit from reading this short, helpful book. In fact, I may just purchase a hundred copies for the adults in our church who are going through evangelism training right now. I haven’t found a better resource highlighting how God can break down walls of hostility to faith by the kind and gentle questions His people ask in love.