Faith after Doubt: Why your beliefs stopped working and what to do about it by Brian D. McLaren. Hodder and Stoughton (2021). Pbk. 335 pages. £12.15.
My sister-in-law often admonishes me for 'bigging things up'. Too enthusiastic a review of a musical or theatrical performance makes her suspicious and in fear of being let down by the hype. With that in mind, trust me when I say I would like to place this book into the hands of every member of the Sea of Faith!
Faith after Doubt took me back over thirty five years to the beginnings of the network when conference attendees were reluctant to put their names on the attendance list for fear of reprisals from their church. In the first part of his book, Brian McLaren tries 'to help you understand why your doubts can be so scary and painful'. As a former English lecturer, an international speaker and activist, he writes well. As a former Pentecostal minister, one of the '25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America', forced to resign his post, he writes from experience, as he looks in the first five chapters at Doubt as Loss, Loneliness, Crisis, Doorway and Growth. There will be many readers who recognise the emotional cost described in these chapters. Each chapter is followed by points for reflection and action.
I'm reminded of the first days of the East Midlands Sea of Faith group. We never had an agenda but turned up prepared to listen to the agony of new members falling foul of their churches. But, do we still serve those whose beliefs have stopped working for them? In the network, we quickly went on to argue about our positions and labels – Non-Realist, Humanist, Christian Atheist, Non-Supernaturalist or whatever. But what about those who today feel themselves in the middle of an identity crisis, as the certainties of their faith begin to crumble? Have we forgotten them?
In Part Two of the book, Brian McLaren presents doubt 'not only as a deterioration process but as a growth process that provides you with an opportunity to mature intellectually, spiritually, morally and relationally.' He bases this section on a four-stage theory of faith development that integrates the insights of many major theorists. In this country, James Fowler, and Michael Jacobs who spoke at one of our early conferences, have been amongst the main proponents of faith development. As with intellectual and moral stages of development, these are not hierarchical nor clearly defined, but characterise the shape and style of our faith at different times of our life. McLaren heads them Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity and Harmony. Doubt helps us transition from one stage to another.
Here I found myself being challenged again. Have we too easily portrayed those who have come to us with their doubts, as being in the process of losing their faith, becoming atheists or agnostics, people who used to assent to required beliefs which they have given up? Or have we seen them as moving to a different stage in their faith development and understanding? The first of these portrayals is not dissimilar to the conclusion a church in the Simplicity stage might draw. Is Sea of Faith a mature organisation in its portrayal of faith?
There's a bigger question here; one which our network has tried to grapple with over the years. For those who have suffered a crisis of doubt in their church or religious community, where do they go? It's the question McLaren has been asked and which he goes on to address in Part Three, 'Life after (and with) Doubt': 'where can I find a faith community that welcomes doubters like me and my friends, a good place in which to raise children, a fellowship that helps us move towards "faith expressing itself in love"'. This latter phrase is key to the author's understanding of faith.
Undoubtedly, Sea of Faith has welcomed such people but, as we have often said, it has hardly fulfilled the role of a faith community in their lives. What can we do to encourage existing faith communities to embrace people at all stages of their faith development? This is, for me, the most powerful, challenging and practical section of the book. 'I can't give up on faith and faith communities,' he writes. 'I can't give up on the potential of a new generation of four-stage faith communities to teach a new kind of spirituality to a new generation of people. That's why I must doubt that religion in its current form is good enough, and that's why I reach forward into the unknown towards something better that I trust can become real.' Brian McLaren has begun to make that dream a reality for many faith communities. I think he has something to say to us.
Stephen Mitchell is a retired priest and former chair of the SOF Steering Committee. His book God in the Bath was published by O Books (Winchester, 2006) and his Past Perfect by Christian Alternative (Winchester, 2018).