Walking Away from Faith: Unraveling the Mystery of Belief & Unbelief

by Ruth A. Tucker

Book Overview

Why do some people lose their faith?Why do some choose to abandon religious beliefs that were once meaningful to them?And what happens when they do?In this no-holds-barred book, Ruth Tucker tackles... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830823328
• ISBN13: 9780830823321
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Sensitive and understanding! Highly recommended!

I read this book shortly after I walked away from the Christian faith. I appreciate Ruth Tucker's sensitivity towards those who have major doubts about their faith and have subsequently abandoned it. She also confesses to her readers that she also has had serious doubts. Other authors who have written on this subject have missed the point and have erroneously offered solutions for those experiencing doubt. Most experiencing doubt are not looking for solutions but understanding and sympathy. Tucker outlines many of the reasons that people have for leaving the faith. These reasons tend to break down into objective (science, philosophy, biblical criticism) and subjective (psychology, social, emotional). For most there is no one reason for doubt and typically there is a combination of both of the objective and subjective. I do think the author should pursue the reasons for her doubts and think through them in more detail.

Bridged The Gap With My Family

I came across this book at just the right time in my life. For years, I have anguished over my faith (or lack thereof), which put incredible stress on my relationship with my family. They could not conceive how it was possible for me to doubt my faith since I grew up in a committed, Bible-believing family. The relationship grew so hostile and strained that I thought we were finished. Ruth Tucker's book helped bridge the gap. It expressed my struggles with faith in just the right tone and manner. After not speaking to my family for several months, I sent my mother a copy of the book. I think the title scared her at first, but she eventually she picked it up. Ruth Tucker explains the struggle of faith in a way that I couldn't. I highly recommend this book to Christian families trying to understand the sincere struggles of their black sheep family members.

Doubt your doubts, but in the meantime read this!

Ruth Tucker was teaching an adult Sunday School class on this topic of doubt shortly after writing this book. She was well received, but after the class one older man came to her and asked, "I really appreciated all that you taught. But one thing you never addressed: how did you finally overcome all your doubts?" Tuckers was floored. He missed her whole point: she has never completely overcome all her doubts. Nor will she ever this side of glory. She teaches theology at a solidly orthodox seminary. She is involved ijn proclaiming and defending the faith. But she is not free of all doubt. Calvin said that just as sin is always mixed in with holines sin the Christain life, so is doubt always mixed in with faith. We are not fully rid of it until we are glorified. Liberal churches tend to wrongly make a virtue of doubting -- you are not being honest and sophisticated unless you remain skeptically detached to every belief. But conservative churches (like Tucker's audience) can be guilty of teh other extreme: 'since doubting is bad, then doubters are not welcome here.' So when you have doubts (as all believers do) you can not voice them and seek others to help you answer them. We need to be honest about our doubts to the appropriate people (peers and those with headship over us). We know that doubts are generally more to do with heart problems than head problems. Tucker does not say doubt is good. But she does show it is inevitable and we shouldn't panic and think we are losing faith when it bubbles up (any more than we should when we fall into sin). Very nice packaging by the publisher also. The antidote to doubt is faith in Christ, through his Word, administered in community (Church). Christ tunrs our skepticism back onto our skepticism -- doubt your doubts! Tucker's book is good medicine.

Lord, I Believe. Help Me In My Unbelief

Ruth A. Tucker's WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH doesn't pull any punches. Whether we in the church like to admit it or not people do fall away from their faith, and not necessarily due to ignorant reasons. WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH presents their side of the story. It is a personal and sometimes painful read, full of emotion and transparent revelations. Drawing strongly on individual stories, this is a case study on the why's and the how's of the loss of faith. It is not an apologetic work, so when the "why's" are explored a lengthy rebuttal is not given. Rather, WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH focuses on the human side of the equation. It challenges a lot of pre-conceived notions regarding doubt and even presents a surprising picture of life on the other side of the decision to walk away - something that might not want to be heard but in an honest work such as this it is welcome and enlightening. Overall, Tucker does a fine job of exploring the issue from all sides. The reason this book is so important is that is shines a bright light on an aspect of the Christian life that is too often ignored. Doubt. The reality is that most Christians at one time or another experience doubt of some sort. Usually it will not lead to a loss of faith but even in those instances it can be a very lonely experience. WALKING AWAY FROM FAITH challenges us to be a church that is more honest about these feelings. Tucker repeatedly wonders aloud if the people she interviewed would have chosen differently if the church would've better responded to their doubts and fears. This book will not solve the problems related to loss of faith, but it does graphically demonstrate the need for the church to re-examine its methods when it comes to handling these situations. It should also be a wake up call to Christians on an individual basis, to be more sensitive to instances of doubt in the lives of each other and, more importantly, to be Jesus to the person experiencing those doubts - not to condemn, shun, or spout pat answers. More than likely, at some point in life, we're going to be on the opposite end of that situation. Hopefully when that happens someone will be there for us to walk us through those shadows, and to help us pray, "Lord, I believe. Help me in my unbelief." FOUR 1/2 STARS.

Disturbing and Uncertain; Just Like Doubt

This book is disturbing, because it doesn't take the typical "doubt can be good for you, and if you truly believe you'll come back to the faith" route often taken by works on this subject. By the time you finish, you are humbled, as you realize that despite how strong you feel now, you don't know what the future will bring, or what it could do to you. Tucker takes us through three levels of the subject. The first third of the book compares stories of faith and doubt, focusing on the mystery of faith and the anxiety of facing God's silence and hiddeness. The second third surveys the standard problems people encounter in their trials of belief and how they damage faith. I can see some being disappointed with this section, as it does not challenge the issues to the extent they could be, but then Tucker is clear that she's not writing an apologetic work. The final third attempts to clarify common myths Christians have about the quality of life experienced by those who walk away, and attempts to understand the motives of those who've taken that route. It also gives some examples of those who have returned to the faith, and includes a chapter entitled "Answering Doubt and Unbelief," which is actually about the care needed in dealing with those experiencing doubt, rather than answers to what raises those doubts. Due to Tucker's personal encounters with her own doubt and unbelief, she is very sensitive to the mental state and emotions of those going through hard times. Unfortunately, it is this same sesitiveness that will likely leave some readers feeling the work ends on an uncertain tone, caught between the vagueness of faith and doubt, but I think that, for pastoral reasons, that is exactly what she wants the reader to appreciate.