Wandering Toward God: Finding Faith amid Doubts and Big Questions, By Travis Dickinson
Wandering Toward God
paperback
  • Length: 216 pages
  • Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 in
  • Published: October 18, 2022
  • Imprint: IVP
  • Item Code: 4717
  • ISBN: 9780830847174

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Outreach Resource of the Year

Is it wrong to doubt? Many Christians assume that doubt is faith's opposite and that wandering among the hard questions of faith will lead us further and further away from God. True believers, the assumption goes, never waver in their confidence in the fundamental truths of the Christian faith.

Professor and philosopher Travis Dickinson disagrees. Instead, he says, our doubts and hard questions about the faith are actually an important way we can express our commitment and love to God. Doubt isn't our destination but it's an important step on the way. It's possible to wander toward God as we ask our questions honestly, in faith and trust. As we do, we'll discover the truth, goodness, and beauty of God waiting for us.

"Travis Dickinson possesses that rare talent of combining high-level scholarship with a winsome ability to communicate to a popular audience. The result is material that one can trust will be accessible and based on solid research. Wandering Toward God is a beautiful example flowing from Dickinson's pen. For a long time, we have needed an informed, fresh new guide in navigating through stormy waters of doubt. Careful to distinguish doubt from unbelief and offering an extremely helpful definition of faith (ventured trust), Dickinson's book has it all. It begins with chapters that clarify doubt, faith, and related notions, along with locating the place of doubt in the process of spiritual growth. It moves on to discuss strategies for dealing with doubt, and it provides accessible answers to specific topics often involved in doubt. A truly wonderful book."

J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and author of A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles

"In my work as a detective, doubt has always been a useful tool, especially when interviewing witnesses and potential suspects. If you believe everything you hear, you're unlikely to push past the initial claims and discover the truth. Doubt can play a similar role in motivating our spiritual investigations. Travis Dickinson's new book, Wandering Toward God, captures the important role doubt can play in our faith journey. This book will change the way you consider doubt, grow your confidence and comfort as you examine your own spiritual hesitation, and provide ample reason to trust the claims of Christianity. Every seeker and believer who has wrestled with doubt should read this book."

J. Warner Wallace, Dateline-featured cold-case detective and senior fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

"Beginning with a true story of being lost in a Wisconsin forest all the way to three final chapters on pithy aspects of the issues surrounding suffering and evil, this volume by Travis Dickinson packs a wallop. Since it's very well written in nontechnical language that moves quite quickly, the reader can jump on board with both feet. Short sentences spark the brain and keep things moving. Before long, it becomes obvious that a number of principles already have been communicated and are ready to be applied. I enjoyed it—highly recommended."

Gary R. Habermas, Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy at Liberty University

"Travis Dickinson's Wandering Toward God is a superb guide to dealing with doubt. It is honest, insightful, nuanced, and practical. While many helpful books on the topic of doubt have been written, Dickinson provides us with a unique resource. He brings together a wide array of doubt-related themes and carefully arranges them into a well-crafted book—one that will serve doubters and other strugglers well as they wander and find their way back to God."

Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University and author of Is God a Vindictive Bully?

"What a masterful balance of clarity, accessibility, depth, and wisdom for anyone struggling with doubts about Christianity! Wandering Toward God is a perfect starting point for learning to think well about how to approach faith questions. It's filled with practical insights that will guide, equip, and encourage you on your journey of faith."

Natasha Crain, podcaster and author of Faithfully Different

"This is such a helpful guide to belief, doubt, and how to hold the Christian faith with confidence in a skeptical world. It is engaging, accessible, and honest. Anyone struggling with faith or seeking answers to their questions will find it a helpful road map to navigating a path toward God."

Justin Brierley, broadcaster and host of the Unbelievable? radio show and podcast

"With refreshing candor, Wandering Toward God offers an engaging corrective to pervasive mischaracterizations of faith and a helpful road map for navigating doubt with intellectual rigor. Using accessible illustrations drawn from both everyday life and Scripture, Dickinson affirms the tremendous value of faith seeking understanding and demonstrates a clear-minded, rational approach to common challenges leveled at Christianity. Those struggling with difficult questions will find encouragement and guidance—away from fear and confusion and toward a thoughtful, vibrant faith."

Melissa Cain Travis, author of Science and the Mind of the Maker
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CONTENTS

1. Wandering but Not Lost
2. Doubt Defined
3. Certainty Is a House of Cards
4. The Virtue of Faith
5. Doubt Your Doubts
6. Asking Big Questions
7. The Reason for God
8. Something Extraordinary Happened
9. Our Deepest Longings
10. Is the God of the Bible Good and Loving?
11. Why Is There So Much Pain and Suffering?
12. Why Isn't God More Obvious?

Conclusion: Christianity as the Way
Notes

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Travis Dickinson

Travis Dickinson (PhD, University of Iowa) is professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University. He has taught courses in philosophy and Christian apologetics for over twenty years and has done apologetics and evangelism in more than thirty-five countries. He lives with his family in Fort Worth, Texas.