Is God good? Can I trust him with my life? Is the Bible true? These are just some of the questions that can plague young adults as they stand at the crossroads of life, when new responsibilities loom large and the world around them treats God as a small or irrelevant part of life.
In DoubtLess, author and Cru campus minister Shelby Abbott comes alongside young adults to help them honestly face their doubt and turn to God for the gift of faith. He reminds readers that Scripture recounts the stories of many men and women who have also faced deep misgivings and uncertainty in their walk of faith. Using both Scripture and personal illustrations, Abbot shows us how to "feed our faith" in seasons of doubt through authentic relationships with other Christians, hearing from God in the Bible, and practicing thankfulness. Doubt should not scare us, nor should it become our obsession. He urges readers to see the difference between doubt and unbelief, assuring us that big questions can press us deeper into the heart and character of God rather than push us away from him.
Used for biblical reflection, group discussion, devotional reading, DoubtLess is full of gospel hope for those grappling with the mysteries of faith.
"It's time that we bring doubt out of the closet of shame, and fear of man into the shining light of the wisdom of God's Word and beautiful grace. This is exactly what DoubtLess does. Here is ancient truth communicated and applied in winsome and fresh new ways. Since doubt is a tool God regularly uses to strengthen our faith and draw us closer to him, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit from DoubtLess, which helps us to face our struggles of faith in the presence of our patient and loving Lord. This is a really needed and very good book."
Paul David Tripp, Pastor; author; international conference speaker
"With over two decades of experience in meaningful relationships with the rising generation, Shelby Abbott guides you through an honest and healthy space to process doubt and questions, while seeking answers and authentic faith formation."
David Robbins, President, FamilyLife
"When it comes to conveying gospel truth to young adults, Shelby Abbott is one of the most trustworthy and effective voices I know."
Matt Smethurst, Managing Editor, The Gospel Coalition; author of Before You Open Your Bible: Nine Heart Postures for Approaching God's Word
"Shelby Abbott has given the body of Christ a great gift by writing this book. He has given us a practical resource that encourages the doubting Christian to confront, lean in to, and walk through their doubts. In each chapter, he digs beneath the surface, helping to navigate the reasons why we doubt, while offering healthy ways to address the issues that lead to a faltering faith ultimately encouraging the Christian to keep their eyes fixed on the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ. Wildly encouraging!"
Alisa Childers, Speaker; author of Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity
"Shelby Abbott brings years of ministry experience and wisdom to this book and provides a path forward when we experience doubt in our walk with Jesus. We learn to feed our faith, focus on the foundations of God's Word and the resurrection of Christ, and move from cynicism to trust. This exceptional and beautifully written book invites us to work through not wallow in our questions and doubts in a mature and productive way."
Heather Holleman, Speaker; author of Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison and Sent: Living a Life that Invites Others to Jesus
"How should we respond to those in our day who celebrate skepticism and suggest that having doubts about your faith is somehow a virtue or a hallmark of genuine spiritual enlightenment? We should respond as my friend Shelby Abbott has done masterfully in this important book. This will be a needed lifeline for so many."
Bob Lepine, Cohost, FamilyLife Today radio
"If you think about it, doubt has a significant social dimension a badge of authenticity to brag or post about, an isolating struggle to keep hidden from others, a stigmatizing mark of spiritual weakness or immaturity, or an affirmation of personal courage and individualism. DoubtLess is, to my knowledge, the only book on the subject that speaks to this social dimension, and what is unique about doubt in a digital age. I could not recommend the book more highly, nor Shelby Abbott as the person to engage the subject he's safe, affirming, humble, empathetic, honest, and above all, biblical in his counsel."
Rick James, Publisher, Cru Press
"Shelby Abbott has taken something with the power to thwart the growth of Christians and tamed it into submission. His honest and sympathetic words on the subject of doubt reveal a depth of understanding that can only come through experience. Abbott shows us that it's easier to overcome doubt when it's not viewed as a powerful monster, and in Doubtless he slays the dragon; not through apologetics so much as through the love and mercy of God."
Katherine James, Author of Can You See Anything Now? and A Prayer for Orion
"Doubt is not a word we want to be associated with our faith. Doubting God can feel shameful and even sinful. DoubtLess does the important work of meeting us in our questions and teaching us how to honestly bring them to God and fellow Christians. In the process, we learn that humbly wrestling with our questions is essential to developing a mature, discerning, and persevering faith. In these pages, Shelby provides the gentle shepherding we need to lean upon God, even when we're tempted to doubt him."
Garrett Kell, Pastor, Del Ray Baptist Church, Alexandria, VA
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Thought provoking and eye opening to ways you can let doubt damage your faith.
If you have a teenager or are the grandparent of a teen, I'd suggest you buy this for them. So many Christian teens (and adults) don't know what to do when they have doubts. This book explains how doubt is part of the Christian life and gives Biblical examples, so that Christians know that having doubts isn't the same as unbelief. One of the most important parts of this book is its instructions for how to deal with doubts. The only flaw in this book is that the writing style is a bit clunky.
A concise read, that tackles the topic of doubt. Shelby Abbott, minister with CRU, takes us through the different types and reasons for doubts, and how we can take that doubt and feed it with faith. I think that this is a fitting book for this author to write, he knows his audience well, and he does an excellent job of presenting this topic in a conversational, digestible way, while still hitting hard. I loved how he talks about how doubt in and of itself is not a bad or negative thing, but it is when we take that doubt and take it into unbelief that it becomes a serious problem. Having questions and feeding our curiosity is normal and how we grow by seeking those answers. One of my favorite quotes is: "People with little or no visible faith are people who just react and don't think. They let their feelings and emotions harass them; the circumstances of their lives corner and oppress them. It takes thought to have faith. When in doubt, don't think less and let circumstances push you further into doubt. Work through your doubt and think more." Overall, an encouraging book about struggling with doubt and how we can take that doubt and grow by feeding it with faith instead of unbelief. This book also has many good resources, giving readers who are interested, a good reading list to feed their faith.
This is a great little book for anyone wrestling with doubts about the Christian faith - particularly college students and young adults. Shelby Abbott explores the Biblical examples of doubt and lessons to be learned from them. He gives wise advice on dealing with doubts the right way, and helpfully shows the difference between doubt and unbelief. While he uses works by some deep thinkers like Tim Keller and Alister McGrath, he successfully distills them into easy to understand truths, complete with helpful illustrations and real life examples. This is a helpful and important book in an age when deconversion stories are all the rage and fuel the doubts of many young people. I encourage you to read it, and get some copies to give away to help others!
Helpful little book. It's aimed at students, but that only comes through explicitly at a few points, and I would feel comfortable handing it to someone of any age struggling with doubts over the truth of Christianity. The main point he makes it that doubt, in and of itself, is not the enemy. Lingering over those doubts in a morbid way, being a lazy doubter who won't bother to actually seek answers, or we might say being the wrong kind of doubter, is the issue. Doubts used as motivation to lean into our search for truth, doubts used to push us further into the arms of the loving Father, these can actually become His tools for our joy.
DoubtLess does a phenomenal job of addressing the issue of doubt when it comes to faith. It specifically hones in on the difference between doubt and unbelief. Written to target college student and other young adults, this text is encouraging and empowering. While this complimentary book was provided for review by New Growth Press, no other compensation was given. All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.
DoubtLess does a phenomenal job of addressing the issue of doubt when it comes to faith. It specifically hones in on the difference between doubt and unbelief. Written to target college student and other young adults, this text is encouraging and empowering. While this complimentary book was provided for review by New Growth Press, no other compensation was given. All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.
What do you do when you have doubts about your faith? Where do you go? This book by Shelby Abbott would be an excellent place to start. As he notes, all Christians experience doubt, but there are risks when it begins to lead to unbelief, and so doubts need “to be discussed in a safe environment of grace, truth, and love.” What he wants to do is ”give you the tools to develop a healthy sense of godly perception when doubt hits.” It’s aimed at young adults in academic contexts of “deep thought, intentional study, and challenging opinions”, however, I think older believers will also benefit from Abbott’s wisdom. He is not dealing with apologetics (the answers to the tough questions), but rather the issues behind the questions people have when they are wrestling with doubt. His encouragement as people deal with doubt is: “to lean into your relationship with God in the process, instead of succumbing to the temptation to flee from him. Let’s link arms together and move forward, with a spirit of hope and expectancy, as we trust the Lord during the struggle. May our faith in Jesus Christ be anchored and strengthened through our wrestling with doubt.” In Section One, he considers seven foundational issues to do with doubt. These include realising that doubt is biblical and common, following through on questions, feeding your faith, admitting it is arrogance to think you can know everything with certainty, and ensuring you have the truth of the bible’s reliability and Jesus’ resurrection core in your heart. Section 2: Everyday Doubts cover these which can erode your faith over time. These include the unwillingness to ask questions, to be able to trust in God’s sovereignty and care, and well as warning about wallowing in doubt rather than researching issues. He finishes with practical strategies to combat doubt: practice thankfulness, meet with ‘real and right’ people to work them through, continually remind yourself of the gospel and share your faith. An excellent book for young adults (and others) encouraging them to work through doubts, be honest about them, seek help and guidance in them, and continue to so while growing in their relationship with God, trusting in Jesus and all he has done. As he encourages: “lean into your relationship with God in the process, instead of succumbing to the temptation to flee from him. Let’s link arms together and move forward, with a spirit of hope and expectancy, as we trust the Lord during the struggle. May our faith in Jesus Christ be anchored and strengthened through our wrestling with doubt.”
One of the things I really enjoy about my job is that I get to spend a lot of my time in 1-1s with people. I spend hours reading the Bible with, praying with and discussing some of the difficult questions people have about the Christian faith. Too often I’ve seen Christians worry that their questions will be thought of as doubts and a lack of faith. This is a great book touching on that very topic… In Doubtless Shelby Abbott does a great job at helping Christians see that God is not annoyed at their questions. Abbott stresses the importance of brining your questions, all of your questions about the Christian faith, to God and to fellow Christians. Here’s what Abbott himself says… “It’s important to understand what doubt actually is and what it isn’t before making assumptions on the nature of what we’ll be talking about in the coming chapters. Many people, Christians in particular, conclude that doubt is the same thing as unbelief. Let me assure you that it’s not. If doubt were the same as unbelief, I don’t know a single follower of Christ who could be certain that their salvation was secure. They would feel as if their eternal destiny were in the throes of a cosmic ping-pong match, bouncing back and forth between heaven and hell, peace and anxiety, joy and despair. Unbelief is a conclusion someone reaches—a deliberate decision to live life as if there is no God. Doubt is something significantly different.” This book is jammed with pastoral experience of serving and discipling university students and young adults. The thing I like about this book is that it doesn’t tackle the normal apologetics questions. Instead Abbott addresses questions like… What does it mean for my Christianity if I’m doubting? I don’t feel loved by God right now, is He really there? Why am I so anxious when I have questions and doubts about God? Am I alone in my doubt? Doubts and questions can be scary, it can feel like the thing that you’ve believed your whole life is crumbling under your feet. But the questions is, what do we do with our doubts? Abbott rightly highlights the danger of dwelling on our doubts and the negative effects that can have on our spiritual life. This doesn’t mean that Christians should have questions. Every Christian does, whether they admit it or not. But there is a big difference between recognising doubts and questions and dwelling on them almost to the point of them being an obsession. The later can lead to a person walking away from their faith. We must let our doubts, our questions and our worries make us run to God and seek Him in absolute honesty and faith. Faith can be unfairly characterised as a leap in the dark or blindly stepping into the unknown. “faith isn’t ultimately about absolute certainties. It’s about a willingness to trust in the promises of God and the saving work of Christ, knowing that one day our trust will be vindicated. One day we’ll have all our questions answered; but for the moment, we walk by faith, not by sight.“ It is important that we’re honest about our doubts because not speaking about them can have real consequences… “Doubt becomes unbelief when you let it become unbelief. When you cling to unrealistic ideas about the Christian faith, get hopelessly preoccupied with doubts that are a natural part of the life of a believer, or fail to allow your faith to grow, you are making active choices to move to unbelief. It’s important not to be ashamed of your doubts. When you are, hiding, isolation, and loneliness become the natural by-product. Consequently, the cycle of shame, hiding, isolation, and loneliness feeds on itself, driving you further away from your faith.” I could go on and continue to quote some really good and helpful advice that Abbott gives in this book. I could continue to highlight some of the great teaching points and applications that he brings out in this short book. However, the best thing for you to do is just go buy it for yourself. I wish I had this book as I was wrestling with my faith when I was younger. Do you have doubts? Do you have questions? Are you unsure about how to reconcile your doubts and your faith? Is the whole situation sending you into a negative spiral? Then I highly recommend this book. It would be a great book to discuss in a 1-1 with another person, it would also be a great one to work through with a group of students and teens.
One of the things I really enjoy about my job is that I get to spend a lot of my time in 1-1s with people. I spend hours reading the Bible with, praying with and discussing some of the difficult questions people have about the Christian faith. Too often I’ve seen Christians worry that their questions will be thought of as doubts and a lack of faith. This is a great book touching on that very topic…
