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
For a long time, Christians have been taught to ‘just have faith’ when they start to ask serious questions about our beliefs, but Doubtless by Shelby Abbott gives believers permission to explore their doubts, not only to walk in them, but push through them, developing a deeper, richer faith for having done so. A faith that hasn’t survived some testing, won’t survive when it is tested. Doubtless isn’t the typical apologetics book filled with answers to common doubts. Instead it is almost a workbook challenging you to wrestle with those doubts. Each chapter has a handful of questions designed to help you embrace your questions and seek Godly answers. He doesn’t offer many answers (because this isn’t the purpose of his book), but does have some excellent points that will strengthen the faith of many readers who have some doubts. He gives us enough reasons to believe that Christianity is true so we can stop hiding from our doubts and be bold enough to look them in the face to find answers. For example, “If Jesus is alive right now and the resurrection actually happened, then he is who he said he is . . . the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords . . .” (72) We can believe in what Jesus said and did if we can believe He is alive today. Everything we believe rests on this fact. While Abbott only gives a few ideas to confirm this, he encourages believers to start researching the historicity of the resurrection as a first step in answering specific doubts. This book was clearly written for young believers, as Abbott works for CRU, a campus crusade ministry. He focuses on college age believers in many of his examples, but I believe this book could be helpful for believers of any age who have doubts. We all need to know how Jesus viewed doubt and that our faith can take questioning. The most important aspect of this book is how Abbott invites the reader to be part of the special joy of truly searching for God. While knowing God is a blessing, there is more joy in finding Him after a difficult search. We know that what we fight for and work for is always treasured far more than what we simply have always had. Shelby Abbott equates a rich faith developed through our doubts, struggles, afflictions, and through our very weaknesses with the joy of a childhood treasure hunt. Even if you’re well versed in Apologetics, this is still a book to have on your shelf because it will help you talk to those you most want to reach, people struggling with their faith. Abbott lets us see behind the curtain into the minds of young people experiencing doubt and offers ways to speak life into those young believers by walking with them. Doubtless by Shelby Abbott is a treasure map for doubting believers to follow to build a rich faith. He doesn’t give us the answers, but points us in the direction to find them.
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.”
What Christian hasn’t experienced doubt at one point or another? It’s hard enough to work through doubt as an adult, but it’s even more challenging for young adults. Author Shelby Abbott’s DoubtLess is just the rulebook doubters need. He provides guidance for finding your way through doubt before it turns into unbelief. Abbott hits the mark with his explanations and guidance for doubters. He has a history of working with and writing for young adults. Although younger people are his target audience, I felt as if an adult could gain as much from DoubtLess as anyone. It’s written generically enough that it doesn’t focus on today’s specific issues for teens or young adults and the concepts are presented in an ‘adult’ way. This is a great book for budding apologists, as Abbott creates the interesting and logical case that Jesus actually rose from the dead. He describes the circumstances that lead to doubt and the steps to take to prevent the doubt from becoming unbelief. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking reflection questions that help the reader work through their current doubts. DoubtLess is packed with practical information and guidance. It provides the reassurance doubters need and the roadmap from doubt to faith. DoubtLess is an antidote to today’s secular society. How this book affected me: I love books that offer substance and DoubtLess delivered! Doubt and faith are such abstract topics that I wondered if the author could hit his mark, but he did. Also, the actions he suggested to strengthen your faith are things I already do to keep my faith strong, so I know they work. I was pleasantly surprised that the author tackled this topic so well. Who would enjoy this book: Young adults (or any adults) who are struggling with Christian doubt would appreciate DoubtLess. It’s not necessarily an ‘easy’ read because the concepts are thought-provoking, but anyone who genuinely wants to work their way through doubt would be well served by this book. Our Christian Book Reviews: The book reviews at Finding God Among Us focus on Christian books – adult and children, fiction and nonfiction. Our specialty is books on faith and new Christian book releases. We’re proud to be included in the Top 50 Christian Book Review Bloggers. Our publisher partners include New Growth Press, Shadow Mountain Publishing, and Revell and BakerBooks, divisions of Baker Publishing Group. I chose to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
What Christian hasn’t experienced doubt at one point or another? It’s hard enough to work through doubt as an adult, but it’s even more challenging for young adults. Author Shelby Abbott’s DoubtLess is just the rulebook doubters need. He provides guidance for finding your way through doubt before it turns into unbelief. Abbott hits the mark with his explanations and guidance for doubters. He has a history of working with and writing for young adults. Although younger people are his target audience, I felt as if an adult could gain as much from DoubtLess as anyone. It’s written generically enough that it doesn’t focus on today’s specific issues for teens or young adults and the concepts are presented in an ‘adult’ way. This is a great book for budding apologists, as Abbott creates the interesting and logical case that Jesus actually rose from the dead. He describes the circumstances that lead to doubt and the steps to take to prevent the doubt from becoming unbelief. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking reflection questions that help the reader work through their current doubts. DoubtLess is packed with practical information and guidance. It provides the reassurance doubters need and the roadmap from doubt to faith. DoubtLess is an antidote to today’s secular society. How this book affected me: I love books that offer substance and DoubtLess delivered! Doubt and faith are such abstract topics that I wondered if the author could hit his mark, but he did. Also, the actions he suggested to strengthen your faith are things I already do to keep my faith strong, so I know they work. I was pleasantly surprised that the author tackled this topic so well. Who would enjoy this book: Young adults (or any adults) who are struggling with Christian doubt would appreciate DoubtLess. It’s not necessarily an ‘easy’ read because the concepts are thought-provoking, but anyone who genuinely wants to work their way through doubt would be well served by this book.
What Christian hasn’t experienced doubt at one point or another? It’s hard enough to work through doubt as an adult, but it’s even more challenging for young adults. Author Shelby Abbott’s DoubtLess is just the rulebook doubters need. He provides guidance for finding your way through doubt before it turns into unbelief. Abbott hits the mark with his explanations and guidance for doubters. He has a history of working with and writing for young adults. Although younger people are his target audience, I felt as if an adult could gain as much from DoubtLess as anyone. It’s written generically enough that it doesn’t focus on today’s specific issues for teens or young adults and the concepts are presented in an ‘adult’ way. This is a great book for budding apologists, as Abbott creates the interesting and logical case that Jesus actually rose from the dead. He describes the circumstances that lead to doubt and the steps to take to prevent the doubt from becoming unbelief. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking reflection questions that help the reader work through their current doubts. DoubtLess is packed with practical information and guidance. It provides the reassurance doubters need and the roadmap from doubt to faith. DoubtLess is an antidote to today’s secular society. How this book affected me: I love books that offer substance and this book delivered! Doubt and faith are such abstract topics that I wondered if the author could hit his mark, but he did. Also, the actions he suggested to strengthen your faith are things I already do to keep my faith strong, so I know they work. I was pleasantly surprised that the author tackled this topic so well. Who would enjoy this book: Young adults (or any adults) who are struggling with Christian doubt would appreciate this book. It’s not necessarily an ‘easy’ read because the concepts are thought-provoking, but anyone who genuinely wants to work their way through doubt would be well served by this book. Our Christian Book Reviews: The book reviews at Finding God Among Us focus on Christian books - adult and children, fiction and nonfiction. Our specialty is books on faith and new Christian book releases. We're proud to be included in the Top 50 Christian Book Review Bloggers. Our publisher partners include New Growth Press, Shadow Mountain Publishing, and Revell and BakerBooks, divisions of Baker Publishing Group. I chose to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
We Christians are faced with doubts. That is not a bad thing. As Abbott points out, we need doubt as it helps strengthen our faith. We should not avoid nor ignore doubt. But we cannot be passive about it either. We must work through doubts with intention and enthusiasm, Abbott writes. This is not a book of apologetics. It deals with the principle of doubt in general with ideas to work through it. I like the way Abbott distinguishes doubt and unbelief. Doubt is the natural questioning one has about faith. Unbelief is a deliberate decision one makes about belief. Even though doubt is far from unbelief, Abbott reminds us doubt, unchecked, can lead to unbelief. Hence the encouragement to work through doubt. We cannot think we will get a definitive answer to our every doubt, however. I like how Abbott points out the arrogance of having the unreasonable attitude we can know and have the ability to understand everything about God. We are not on the same level as God in knowledge and understanding and we must leave room for mystery. So it might seem a fine line, feeling one must work through doubt yet knowing there will not always be answers. College students and young career age are often the most challenged about their Christian faith. Abbott has written this book to help them work through the idea of doubt, what doubt is and how it is to be tackled. He has practical teaching and thought provoking questions at the end of each chapter. Abbott points out the value of having the right people beside us as we struggle with doubt so I would recommend this book be used in a group of trusted friends. Going through this book will be a good help in understanding and working through doubt. I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
There is tremendous wisdom in this short book. Shelby Abbott brings together his Biblical knowledge and ministry experience to dispel the false notion that doubt is the same as unbelief. He also shows us that faith isn’t the absence of doubt; it is rather the means by which we “overcome and walk through the valley of doubt.” Most importantly, he points us to Jesus, who is the source and the object of our faith. Shelby points out astutely that doubt arises within the context of faith. In the words of Alister McGrath, doubt is “a wistful longing to be sure of the things in which we trust.” He shows us clearly from Scripture that doubt was common both in the Old and New Testaments. But doubt, though not the same as unbelief, can easily turn into or lead to unbelief, if we constantly feed it instead of faith. He rightly explains the difference between living a life of anxiety and a life of faith. Anxiety because of doubt brings turmoil, takes us away from God and changes nothing, while faith amid doubt brings peace, draws us closer to God and changes our lives. In chapter 3, he simply says, “Feed your doubts and your faith will starve…Conversely, if you feed your faith, your doubts will starve.” Indeed! In Chapter 5, he shows us 3 common roads to unbelief: an unrealistic attitude in relation to faith, a morbid obsession with doubt and a refusal to grow up in our faith. He tells us that the road to unbelief is marked by daily active choices that move us to unbelief, “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.” Shelby also shows us that our suffering can easily lead to doubt. When life’s circumstances cause us to doubt, Shelby encourages us to look to the cross and the resurrection as vivid reminders of God’s compassion and power, despite the evidence against His love and ability. Shelby then shows us the need to work through our doubts with intentionality, instead of treating them with indifference. Doubt in one sense is needed to develop “antibodies” to fight our future battles, which can help strengthen our faith. Working through our doubts is a process and the method used to conquer our doubt is faith in the Son of God. Shelby concludes with four practical strategies to fight doubt: practicing thankfulness, engaging in community, remembering the gospel, and sharing the gospel. These strategies are powerful weapons in our fight against doubt that leads to unbelief. I was encouraged and challenged by this brilliant book. I could relate well to most of the chapters and am thankful for the insight I gained as I made my way through the book. I was especially glad to know and understand that faith isn’t about absolute certainties, but rather “a willingness to trust in the promises of God and the saving work of Christ, knowing that one day our trust will be vindicated.” I am glad to commend this book to young people and all leaders, especially those in youth ministry. 5/5 stars. *I received this free book from New Growth Press, but was not required to write a favorable review.*
