Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 9
Introduction 11
Part 1 Why We Doubt
Chapter 1 Plain Ordinary 17
We'll never stop asking questions because doubt is a normal part of our lives.
Chapter 2 The River of Doubt 29
Doubt is necessary and even useful as we ask questions about ourselves, others, and the world.
Chapter 3 In Herod's Prison 43
We can doubt without sinning as long as our doubts bring us back to Christ.
Chapter 4 The Boy with the Cigarette 55
Doubt is a lot like temptation and should be faced by following Jesus' example.
Chapter 5 Asaph's Story 71
We can stop stumbling over doubt and plant our feet again in a stronger, more settled faith.
Chapter 6 Windows in Heaven 85
There are good reasons to believe even when our minds can't fully understand.
Chapter 7 A Foot in Both Worlds 101
When we see God's hand in the world around us, we're already halfway to faith.
Part 2 How We Believe
Chapter 8 Under a Fig Tree 115
Faith responds to the smallest hints of God's goodness in the world and in the Word.
Chapter 9 First Things First 127
Genuine faith rests on a foundation of first principles-the belief that God is real and good.
Chapter 10 The Mainspring of Life 143
Faith is God's central power source for salvation and the Christian life.
Chapter 11 How Faith Is Built 155
Faith is always nurtured and expressed within the community of believers, the church.
Chapter 12 Simplified by Faith 169
Faith cuts through the clutter of failure to simplify our lives before God and others.
Chapter 13 A Cloud of Witnesses 183
We are spurred on to faith by the examples of believers who have gone before us.
Chapter 14 The End of the Line 195
Faith will come to a perfect end someday when we see Christ face-to-face.
Endnotes 205
