The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Humbler Faith, Bigger God: Finding a Story to Live by, Samuel Wells

Humbler Faith, Bigger God: Finding a Story to Live by

Samuel Wells

Finding a renewed Christian story in a time of skepticism and doubt

Is Christianity just a fairy tale for the infantile? Or worse, a cruel fantasy--the perpetrator of terrible harm and the cause of endless conflict? At most, one path among many? Such questions reflect the skepticism of outsiders and the doubts of insiders--some perennial, some underscored by recent events and movements.

The answer to these objections isn't a louder faith to shout them down--it's a humbler faith that points to a bigger God. Samuel Wells shows the way through his generous, respectful, and earnest engagement with ten difficult questions about Christianity. In each case he portrays the traditional position and the skepticism of the modern age as two rival stories. Transcending both, he then offers a revitalized Christian story that better renders the radical, courageous, and vulnerable nature of authentic faith. Wells is unwaveringly honest about the failures of the institutional church and acknowledges many people's negative prior experiences of Christianity--making this a book for both Christians and non-Christians who have found the stories of their lives disrupted and now seek a fulfilling and truthful story to live by.

Book Details

  • Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
  • Publish Date: Mar 29th, 2022
  • Pages: 248
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.60in - 5.70in - 1.10in - 0.90lb
  • EAN: 9780802879318
  • Categories: Christian Theology - ApologeticsChristian Living - Spiritual GrowthChristianity - General

About the Author

Wells, Samuel: - Samuel Wells is vicar of St. Martin-in- the-Fields, London. His previous books include Walk Humbly, Incarnational Ministry, Incarnational Mission, Shaping the Prayers of the People (with Abigail Kocher), and Learning to Dream Again.

More books by Samuel Wells

Book Cover for: Being with Course Participants' Companion: A Course Exploring Christian Faith and Life, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: The Heart of It All: The Bible's Big Picture, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Being with Leaders' Guide: A Course Exploring Christian Faith and Life, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: A Future That's Bigger Than the Past: Towards the Renewal of the Church, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: How to Preach: Times, Seasons, Texts and Contexts, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: A Cross in the Heart of God: Reflections on the Death of Jesus, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Constructing an Incarnational Theology, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Hanging by a Thread: The Questions of the Cross, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Living Without Enemies: Being Present in the Midst of Violence, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: The Moment of Truth: Reflections on Incarnation and Resurrection, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Eucharistic Prayers, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Liturgy on the Edge: Pastoral and attractional worship, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: ACT Justly: Practices to Reshape the World, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Incarnational Ministry: Being with the Church, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: Great Sacred Music: A Resource Book for Mission Through Music, Samuel Wells
Book Cover for: How Then Shall We Live?: Christian Engagement with Contemporary Issues, Samuel Wells

Praise for this book

"A book at once incisive, wise, compassionate, and deeply devout. Wells avoids with equal agility the traps of empty dogmatism and empty faddishness, never forgetting that it is the love of God and neighbor--on which depend all the Law and the Prophets--that provides the proper key to any interpretation of the Christian mystery."
-- David Bentley Hart
author of Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief

"I'm not sure who else alive could have written this book. Scholars are not usually this accessible. Pastors not usually this sharp-eyed. Critics not usually this devastating. Advocates not usually so beautiful. This unusual book calls to mind Augustine's heart, Aquinas's mind, Day's activism, Temple's leadership. You say I exaggerate? Take up and read before you tell me I'm wrong."
-- Jason Byassee
coauthor of Following: Embodied Discipleship in a Digital Age

"God has surely heard it all: the complaints, the objections, the silence of a back turned on faith. Samuel Wells asks us--those of us who still believe that God can be found in Christian faith and its expression--if we have taken seriously the protests of our disbelieving neighbors. Now is the time for humility, church. Now is the time to listen. Now is the time for us to put up or shut up. Humbler Faith, Bigger God is here to help."
-- Katie Hays
author of God Gets Everything God Wants

"Once again, Samuel Wells leads his readers into the puzzling space between belief and unbelief, a region as familiar to Christians as it is to secularists. That he does so with a combination of humility and a deep sense of the holy comes as no surprise to those familiar with his ministry or his many books. Humbler Faith, Bigger God is a profoundly honest and enriching conversation in which we are privileged to have a part."
-- Richard Lischer
author of Just Tell the Truth: A Call to Faith, Hope, and Courage

"Samuel Wells gets right to the heart of real questions people struggle with and the real challenges the church and the Bible raise for thinking people. He addresses all this with honesty, humility, intelligence, and love. This book is for seekers, doubters, questioners, and those who wonder what faith might mean in these days."
-- Heidi B. Neumark
author of Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump