In Search of a Confident Faith: Overcoming Barriers to Trusting in God
Authors: J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler
Intervarsity Press
Review: Mary Jo Sharp

In Search of a Confident Faith is an excellent comprehensive apologetic for establishing trust in God “for real.” I wanted to review this book due to my own interest in Christians becoming confident in their faith. The book reaffirms the Christian faith as one of propositional knowledge confirmed through personal experience; but does so at a very accessible level. Moreland and Issler address many helpful points concerning the influence of Western culture in creating doubt in Christians’ faith. First, the authors address the misuse of the term “faith” in today’s culture as a “blind leap” or as in place of reason. The term historically entailed a much richer meaning of trust and confidence, which crucially required the proper exercise of reason, evidence, and knowledge. Second, they describe the essential role of knowledge in the Christian faith; through a look at the Biblical view of knowledge, through breaking down the concept of knowledge, and through addressing our plausibility structures (explained more thoroughly later). Third, the authors attend to intellectual and emotional doubts: both through logical arguments and then through practical steps in handling these doubts. Fourth, Moreland and Issler handle doubt caused by low expectations of God’s intervention into a believer’s life and make practical suggestions for increasing trust in God. Their writing systematically and carefully treats each area without losing interest or bogging down in terminology.Of particular interest is the section on plausibility structures, which the authors define as a set of background assumptions that establish a tone for what people think, how they feel, and how they act. Plausibility structures form our default beliefs and determine the things we are embarrassed to believe. According to Moreland and Issler, “Our current Western cultural plausibility structure elevates science and scorns and mocks religion, especially Christian teaching.” (page 46) The result is a tendency for Christians to doubt the supernatural worldview of the Bible. Those Christians who experience this doubt may not even realize their assumptions about knowledge are based on influence from this plausibility structure.

The Western cultural plausibility structure is broken down by analyzing commonly accepted background assumptions involved, including: 1) “It is smarter to doubt things than to believe them. Smart people are skeptical.” 2) “Religion is a matter of private, personal feelings and should be kept out of debates—political and/or moral—in the public square.” 3) “Science is the only way to know reality with confidence….science has made belief in God unnecessary.” 4) “We can only know things through our five senses.” (page 48) Plus, the authors provide steps to appraise and refute doubts caused by this plausibility structure, including a thorough questioning of the validity of the doubt itself. For example, is it really true that “it is smarter to doubt things than to believe them”? The authors suggest this kind of thinking is “intellectually irresponsible because our lives flourish with truths but flounder with falsehoods.” (page 51) For an example, the correct medicine for an ailment will help a person get well, but the wrong medicine (or taking no medicine at all due to skepticism) could have devastating effects.

Moreland and Issler then move onto dealing with specific intellectual doubts and emotional wounds, including childhood coping strategies that keep us from moving into a relationship of trust in God. The section on treating emotional wounds is reminiscent of Neil T. Anderson’s approach in “Victory Over the Darkness.” The source of the coping strategy is targeted (i.e. an abusive parent, failure to live up to parent expectations, etc.) and then a biblical truth is put in its place. And by including the source and treatment of emotional doubt, the authors have produced a comprehensive apologetic that is refreshing and transforming.
In part two, the authors investigate possible ways of increasing expectations of our faith in God. First, they explain why believers should expect God to intervene in their lives: Jesus promised to intervene in their lives. Second, they offer the example of Jesus’ faith and how he lived his life fully in God’s Kingdom through reliance on the Holy Spirit and reliance on God. Third, the authors give an explanation of some of the indicators of a life lived with a supernatural worldview. They explain that much of the doubt believers experience is caused by the apparent lack of God’s activity in their lives. So the solution to this particular doubt is to give more witness of the supernatural activity of God in our individual lives. If more Christians would give this witness, their testimony would build up other believers’ trust in God; their “God-confidence.”
This section of the book is strung together with candid personal stories by both authors. Not only do Moreland and Issler offer stories, but they also share their own struggles with and failings in spiritual transformation. Their personal touch in this section gives the book a “realness” lacking in some apologetic literature. The reader will not find merely another discourse in theology or another lecture in philosophy; but will find these authors are sitting down with the reader to share their own journey to the truth about world in which we live. In keeping with the personal feel of the book, the conclusion to part two offers active steps to grow in reliance on God; including a brief but extremely helpful discussion on the difficult subject of discerning God’s Will. Christians who read this book will definitely be edified and encouraged.

MJ