Expect great things

IN SEARCH OF A CONFIDENT FAITH
Overcoming barriers to trusting God
By J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler. IVP. 230 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-327-8

This is one of the most interesting and satisfying books I have read in 2008. Rarely does a book combine the profound and the simple in such a way that challenges our thinking, stretches our faith and addresses our emotions.

It has two halves: in the first, Moreland and Issler address obstacles to genuine Christian faith, and, in the second, they seek to stimulate a growth in expectation of God.

The authors suggest that ‘Faith has a public relations problem’. Part one seeks to reshape our thinking about faith; faith is redefined as ‘God-Confidence’. This is explored following the classic three-fold understanding of faith as: Noticia (the content of our faith: belief), Assensus (the personal affirmation of faith: trust) and Fiducia (the practical outworking of faith: faithfulness).

The remaining section of part one deals with obstacles to Christian faith; these are categorised under two headings, intellectual and emotional. It is helpful to explore the point that Christian faith can be undermined both by flawed understanding and blighted experience. This cautions the reader against assuming that all problems with faith can be remedied by simply repeating the same truths a little louder.

Part two attempts to expand our expectations of our ‘God-confidence’. In three chapters, dealing with healing, providence and guidance, the authors challenge an evangelical tendency toward anti-supernaturalism. Put simply, this is an issue of where we might be in the debate between those who ‘always’ expect God to perform a miracle and those who ‘never’ expect him to do so. Moreland and Issler prompt us to replace the ‘always’ and ‘never’ with a ‘sometimes’.

We have to rely on the word of the authors concerning the veracity of the stories they include. Whatever our opinion about that, the final chapters do issue a challenge to reflect on ways in which we might expand our expectation of the God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine!

John Woods,

pastor of Lancing Tabernacle, West Sussex