From the back cover:

“a book about breaking free from a spiritually weak life to achieve the consistently powerful one that is available to every believer.

It’s a Bible Study 101 that guides reader to a greater revelation of God.”

Summary of Beyond Belief

The 66-page book is a simple explanation of basic Christian belief and it’s relevance to life today.  The chapters are short, with related Scriptures listed at the end of each.

It uses the basic gospel script of the sharing the Law and then the Gospel.

It covers other basic points such as the authority of Scripture, sovereignty of God, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and so forth.

His goal within each chapter seems to want to build a case that the best spiritual life is one centered in a relationship with Christ.

In Chapter 9, he offers a roadmap on how to begin your spiritual life by inviting Christ into your heart.

Yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, available only to those who have received Christ as Savior and Lord, will change your life today, not just for eternity.

Chapter 1 is available for free online at Beyond Belief Book.

My take on Beyond Belief

Worldview Assumptions in Beyond Belief

The book can be used as a primer or a review in your basic discipleship work.    It assumes the reader has a biblical worldview and agrees with the authoritativeness of Scripture.

As a tool to use in evangelism, the biggest challenge will be the book’s generous use of Scripture.  The assumption of biblical authority runs through the text.

If the seeker reading the book doesn’t yet share that foundation of biblical authority, the proofs offered in the book may seem circular or insufficient.

They might say –- “the bible says it, ok.  So what?”

(Read about handing biblical illiteracy here under the header Seeds already planted)

To use Beyond Belief as a pre-Christian evangelism tool in small groups, the small group leader should be aware of how to handle alternative worldviews and help the seekers discover biblical authority.

Exclusivity of the Gospel in Beyond Belief

I appreciated the simplicity of how he treats the exclusivity of the gospel, and how he affirms that Jesus is the only way to salvation.   I share that belief so I had no problem with it’s presentation.

For my readers who don’t share that viewpoint, this book may seem too fundamentalist to your liking.

Overall reaction to McElroy’s Beyond Belief

The book is simple, short, and can likely be read in one sitting.

As a small group resource, I can see where it can be useful for those who grew up in a church and left and are reaching a season in their life where they are returning to their Christian roots, where there are still seeds of respect for Biblical authority.

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This new book, Doubting: Growing Through the Uncertainties of Faith, by Alister McGrath, speaks of the presence of doubt in our Christian walk, but also during the conversion process. He raises excellent points about the role of doubt in our evangelism.

What is doubt?

Doubt, he writes, is part of our human nature.

It’s not skepticism, nor is it unbelief.

Rather, its a difficulty understanding.

Skepticism is willful doubt as a matter of principle.

Unbelief is a decision not to believe, but doubt exists in the abscence of information, when we have an incomplete understanding.

The role of doubt in Christian Conversion

In our conversion experience journey, some of us likely had lots of doubts to overcome.

We wanted to gather as much information as possible to know that we were making a rational evaluation of the evidence and consequences of accepting Jesus into our life.

We searched intently for answers until we had enough doubts settled to commit ourselves fully to following the Lord.

Here, doubt was a major obstacle to coming to faith.

Others of us may have had a powerful encounter with the Lord, decided to follow him, and then begin to wrestle with the truth of it all.

The experiental encounter was enough to allow us to risk everything without full knowledge of what we were getting into.

The character of God that we discovered in that encounter revelaed enough to us to trust Him for everything else, and sort it out as we mature in faith.

Here, doubt becomes a partner in the journey of faith.

Faith and doubt co-exist

Ultimately however, to believe in God demands faith.

To accept Christ into our lives demands fatih. To accept Christianity as true demands faith. Becuase faith is required, doubt will exist in our life.

“Faith is not belief without proof, but turst without reservations — a trust in God who has shown himself worthy of that trust.” — McGrath.

“Faith needs the vitality of experience if it is to live — and the support of undrstanding if it is to survive.” (McGrath, p. 31).

Doubt and Evangelism

As evangelists, we have to deal with doubt in our own life, and in the life of people we share with.

1.  First, we deal our own doubt.

• Do we really believe what we share, what we proclaim?
• How active is your relationship with the Lord?
• Do you have the “vitality of experience” that supports your belief in the gospel?
• Or is what you share some one else’s script?

We want to be authentic in our sharing, and your owned lived experience in your relationship with the Lord is the most authentic of testimony.

How can we truthfully proclaim that we know we are forgiven with we question the truthfulness of that statement in our own heart?

Sure we can proclaim it because its part of the gospel content, as a propositional idea.

But, can we share it with conviction because we believe it ourselves?

If we doubt our own forgiveness, or our own hope for life after death, or even the love of God for us in Christ, I’m not sure we can proclaim it ourselves convincingly.

The problem is not the gospel itself, it’s our doubt in its validity for us.

2. We have to deal with doubt in the people we share with.

As mentioned, doubt can be a hurdle to overcome that keeps a person from committing to Jesus Christ, or doubt can cause people to question their initial commitment.

Again, the problem is not with the gospel itself, but with our inabiliy to see what God is doing with the seeds we plant.

The seed works in secret, the problem is not with the seed itself.

As evangelists, we help people along in their journey to Christ, planting seeds as prompted by the Lord.

Some will fall on good ground, others will be eaten by the birds. The problem is not the seed, its the soil.