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Can it be true?For doubting disciplesCAN IT BE TRUE? The author worked for many years in pioneer mission in India and Pakistan with Operation Mobilisation. Subtitled 'a personal pilgrimage through faith and doubt' the book will be an eye opener for those who assume that people in full time Christian ministry never have to struggle with doubts! In an odd way that can be an encouragement to others who do so. It is written very honestly and many Christians, old as well as young, will be able to identify with the challenges to biblical faith that the author has encountered. These range quite widely from basic questioning about the existence, character and power of God, the person of Jesus and the trustworthiness of the Bible, to that which arises from the failure of other Christians and the bizarre claims of some Christian leaders. The book is very readable and interested non Christians as well as believers may find it helpful. The answers to some of the expressed doubts could have been set out in a more structured way and, in some cases, I thought they were not as adequate as they could have been. The book is also marred in a few places, in my view, by some theological weakness. After some very good comments about the absolute authority of the Bible, the author accepts that God also speaks today through dreams, visions and prophecies and in our inner minds. He warns however that such claims or impressions should be treated with caution and carefully tested by Scripture. And, whilst identifying the 'health and wealth' Gospel as false, he rather puzzlingly says that its emphasis is preferable to the 'sickness and poverty' brand of Christianity which gives little hope short of heaven. Nevertheless there is much that is good and helpful here. Peter Seccombe, © Evangelicals Now - June 2003 |