"Surprised by Doubt" by Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson. A Review
So much of our social encounters feel off these days: marriages,
sex roles, parental responsibilities, educational tasks, and more. Even Christianity
in North America seems off kilter with allegations of patriarchal heavy-handedness,
charges of abuse, and stories of deconversion. Into this odd time steps Joshua
D. Chatraw, the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Engagement at
Beeson Divinity School, and Jack Carson, the executive director of the Center
for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement and as an instructor at Liberty
University. These two have teamed up to publish a new 192-page hardback, “Surprised
by Doubt: How Disillusionment Can Invite Us into a Deeper Faith”. The book
is about the credibility of the Christian faith. But it reaches deeper into the
questions, misgivings, and suspicions of those who have felt burned by their Christian
experiences. And it’s readable, friendly, serious without any of the highbrow
paternalism of some apologetic approaches.
The authors pick up and use C.S. Lewis’s analogy of the house.
They track with Lewis regarding the main floor hallway being mere
Christianity and the rooms being the different forms of the Christian faith
expressed by different denominations. But Chatraw and Carson go beyond Lewis.
They climb up into the attic in the house, that unseen upper story that has
many narrow rooms built to keep the residents from external contamination and
to attain certainty. Unfortunately, these constructed spaces become all-encompassing
worlds that are presented as essential Christianity. These rooms often use the
rhetoric of resentment “that reinforces the practice of defining itself in opposition
to others” (31). These are the spaces where the heart of the New Testament’s “vision
of the Christian life – faith, hope, and love – is gradually overshadowed by
fear, anxiety, and disillusionment” (29).
I found this whole section discussing attic Christianity
intriguing and insightful, especially from my early personal experiences inside
a sect that promoted itself as the only form of Christian faith acceptable to
God. What was touching was how the authors charitably dealt with the attic
rooms. But how they also talk to those who have ‘jumped out’ of the attic
thinking they know what Christianity is, based on their attic experience, and have
said ‘good riddance!’ There is much in this section that goes beyond
apologetics, to helping readers feel seen and heard, even the ‘deconverted’. It
was, maybe accidentally, profoundly therapeutic.
The authors then come down out of the garret and walk outside
the house to converse with those who jumped out of the attic windows. Whether they
have fled into new atheism, optimistic skepticism, open spirituality, or mythic
truth. Chatraw and Carson engage with the mouthpieces of each of these
approaches, to include Jordan Peterson, Richard Dawkins, Bart Ehrman, and Rhett
McLaughlin, among others. But they’re not confrontational or demeaning. Instead,
they acknowledge what is legitimate about each, and reasonable regarding their
critiques of Christianity. But they also thoughtfully respond in ways that keep
the conversation going, with a goal in mind of helping others to consider
coming inside and investigate the ground floor of the house.
Finally, the authors open the front door and walk into the
house, inviting readers inside. And the authors do not disappoint. Remaining
ever charitable, they show the layout of the house from the foundation with
Jesus as the center, the loadbearing walls and more. This whole section helps
to bring those who jumped out of the attic windows to consider that maybe there’s
more to Christianity than they had believed, to ponder how expansive the house
is, and to reassess their skepticism. Though much inside these chapters might
be thought of as classic apologetics, nevertheless the authors remain gracious
and add their own approach that is helpful, even for Christians.
“Surprised by Doubt” seems primarily focused on challenging attic Christianity’s overreach as it asserts a ‘beyond any doubt certainty’. But it also addresses the modern fundamentalist mindset of many who have deconverted, jumped out of the windows, and fled the premises. If you’ve been in the attic, you should grab a copy. You may find it restorative. If you’ve jumped out of the attic window, give it a read and see how it feels. If you’ve never been in the house at all, you ought to examine this work and see if it speaks your secret doubts. I highly recommend the work.
Comments