Sermons of hope and faith for those who have lost both. Many of us struggle with doubt, uncertainty, and disbelief. The problem is not the struggle but when we stop wrestling; not when we lose sight of God but when we stop looking. Fleming Rutledge speaks directly to readers who are plagued by doubts and uncertainties about Christian faith. Among the host of challenging questions she addresses are: Doesn't everyone have their own idea of God? What if I'm not very religious? Can we still believe in the Resurrection today? Rutledge approaches these questions with a combination of pastoral warmth and intellectual fearlessness. She aligns herself with the struggling questioner as she faces the most penetrating theological challenges of our day. Provocative, learned, and displaying the elegance of expression for which Rutledge is well known, Help My Unbelief does not offer arguments but points toward the One who creates and sustains faith. Table of Contents Introduction: "Help My Unbelief" (Mark 9:24) THE NATURE OF GOD Haven't we learned how to deal with the important questions without recourse to the God hypothesis? 1.
Moses and Monotheism: A Response to Dr. Freud Doesn't everybody have his or her own idea of God? 2. Re-imagining and Revelation How can I respond to an abstraction like the Trinity? 3. The Trinity in the Last Ditch GUILT AND INNOCENCE: JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH Isn't Christianity about being good? 4. Christ vs. Adam: Kosovo and Beyond 5. Death Sentence, Life Sentence What makes us OK with God? 6. Flying First Class Shouldn't we get rid of the idea that God is judgmental? 7.
Access to Peter Didn't St. Paul mess up the simple gospel of Jesus? 8. Hope Among the Weeds Don't we need to make Christianity more inclusive? 9. True Inclusiveness 10. Mrs. Hammer, Mrs. Durr, Brother Will, and the Word of Faith Why all the theological apparatus? Isn't it enough just to be loving? 11. The Faces of Love 12.
Love and Power 13. Rewriting the Book of Love THE GOSPEL AND RELIGION What if I'm not very religious? 14. No Religion Here Today 15. The Once and Future Doctrine SIN, EVIL, AND SUFFERING We don't still talk about sin, do we? 16. God-damned Christians What does the cross mean? 17. Common Sense, or Christ-Crucified? 18. Steering Toward the Pain 19. King, and God, and Sacrifice FAITH AND WORKS If God is doing everything, what is there for us to do? 20.
The Resurrection Reach-Out If we focus on eschatology (God's future), doesn't that discourage human action in the present? 21. Money in Trust CONTEMPORARY ATTITUDES TOWARD THE GOSPEL Isn't Christianity outmoded? 22. Can These Bones Live? 23. Nothing Virtual Tonight How can I believe stories like that of the Transfiguration? 24. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory Can we today continue to believe in the Resurrection? 25. Death Shall Have No Dominion 26. A Way Out of No Way 27. Doubting and Believing Hasn't the notion of the Second Coming been discarded? 28.
Jesus Will Show 29. Beyond the Valley of Ashes Isn't the Bible patriarchal? 30. Ruth's Redeemer 31. Abigail's Strategy 32. Lydia: The First Christian in Europe CODA: TWO STORIES OF LITTLE FAITH GROWN GREAT 33. Gideon's Three Hundred 34. Even Peter, Even Us.