Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Myth of Certainty: The Reflective Christian and the Risk of Commitment
by
Daniel Taylor (Goodreads Author)
Do you feel equally uncomfortable with closed-minded skepticism and closed-minded Christianity? If so, then The Myth of Certainty is the book for you. Daniel Taylor suggests a path to committed faith that is both consistent with the tradition of Christian orthodoxy and sensitive to the pluralism, relativism and complexity of our time. Taylor makes the case for the reflecti...more
Paperback, 158 pages
Published
December 2nd 1999
by IVP Books
(first published 1986)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
260)
This book is about faith in a post modern context, and what it could mean. Basically he says that faith is not certainty. This is how i think of it: does it take any balls to jump off a 2 foot cliff onto a sea of mattresses? No. Does it take any balls to jump off a cliff when you have no idea what is on the other side? Yes. Faith is not knowing if what you believe is true, but believing it anyways because it is something worth believing. Am I a Christian? Yes. Am I going to heaven? I don't know...more
This book was recommended to me by a friend whom I deeply respect while we were having a late morning discussion. He took it out of his office library and handed it to me, and I was done with it by three in the afternoon. No breaks, skipped lunch, and utterly devoured this book.
I was captured by the question posed on the dust cover: "Do you resent the smugness of closed-minded skepticism on the one hand but feel equally uncomfortable with the smugness of closed-minded Christianity on the other?"...more
I was captured by the question posed on the dust cover: "Do you resent the smugness of closed-minded skepticism on the one hand but feel equally uncomfortable with the smugness of closed-minded Christianity on the other?"...more
If we’re lucky, every once in a while a book will come along that speaks directly to the soul. "The Myth of Certainty: The Reflective Christian & the Risk of Commitment" was one of those books for me.
As a person who inhabits the sometimes seemingly incommensurable worlds of faith and intellect, I found author Daniel Taylor channeling my thoughts and questions and struggles and hopes on nearly every page.
Taylor examines the sub-cultures of intellect (particularly in the academic realm) and fa...more
As a person who inhabits the sometimes seemingly incommensurable worlds of faith and intellect, I found author Daniel Taylor channeling my thoughts and questions and struggles and hopes on nearly every page.
Taylor examines the sub-cultures of intellect (particularly in the academic realm) and fa...more
1 like · like · see review
I was very happy to see that InterVarsity Press has brought this book back into print. When I first read it in 1987, I had the eerie feeling that the author had had a peek into my head at the concerns that were most affecting my commitment to Christianity at the time.
This book is for Christians who can't help inquiring about their own beliefs and who wrestle with doubt and uncertainty, but who also see their need for a strong personal commitment to the Faith. It's for those who see closed-minded...more
This book is for Christians who can't help inquiring about their own beliefs and who wrestle with doubt and uncertainty, but who also see their need for a strong personal commitment to the Faith. It's for those who see closed-minded...more
I got this book from my American friends who warned me that as a European I might find it not as relevant as they did and perhaps even a bit strange. And having read it I understand what they meant. The conflict between Christian and scientific attitudes may also exist in Europe but definitely not to such an extent as in the US. The characters whom a reflective Christian named Alex encounters in the fiction part of the book may be exaggerated but I assume they were all inspired by discussions wi...more
Jul 27, 2011
Ron Mackey
added it
This is one of the best books I've read this year. He does a great job of spinning out the tensions that are common to the reflective person in the life of faith. I've known these tensions in my own life and after reading this book, I feel far more freedom to embrace them openly and live out the my 'never-completed' faith boldly. Being raised in a 'redeemer college world' (you have to read the book to know what that means), it has taken me 40 years to be at peace with the unknowns and free to em...more
This book was wildly encouraging to me when I first read it. I was a young (and reflective) Christian at the time, struggling madly to hold onto my faith in the face of burgeoning doubts. It might have kept the proverbial demons at bay for a while, but not indefinitely--for I speak now as a dyed-in-the-wool non-Christian (for the most part) who has moved onto greener pastures (or at least more tenable ones). Re-approaching this book reminded me just how wholesome and positive faith can be, and h...more
Can we be certain of anything? How do we define certainty?
This is an extraordinarily ballsy book written by Daniel Taylor. Especially courageous is the fact that Mr. Taylor wrote this book within the context of Evangelical Christianity. He points out that beginning in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, the evangelical church has been obsessed with fighting secular humanism and relativism. In so doing, the church has established a rigid absolute truth sentiment. Now, we are on tricky waters.
The...more
This is an extraordinarily ballsy book written by Daniel Taylor. Especially courageous is the fact that Mr. Taylor wrote this book within the context of Evangelical Christianity. He points out that beginning in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, the evangelical church has been obsessed with fighting secular humanism and relativism. In so doing, the church has established a rigid absolute truth sentiment. Now, we are on tricky waters.
The...more
First published in 1986, this book explores what it’s like to be a Christian caught between two worlds—that of the close-minded Christian and the sometimes equally close-minded skeptic. Such a Christian might feel frustrated by the tendency of some in the church to dismiss difficult questions or to refuse to really engage with thinkers who challenge them. They might feel equally irritated by those outside the church who blithely dismiss any beliefs that cannot be rationally proven and paint all...more
An awesome read for Christians I'm sure. Anyone who doesn't identify themselves as a Christian can still find some interesting insights, but may ultimately find many of the arguments ill-supported. The intent of the book is not to be apologetic, however. In a nutshell, it's what the title implies; certainty does not exist. This fact is as much true for the believer as it is the skeptic. The cockiness of many secularists and the dogmatic behavior of many fundamentalists is daft. It is aimed at th...more
Perhaps I don't have a completely objective view of this book since I was one of the "reflective Christians" that the author spoke of. But that's just the point isn't it? He highlights the disenfranchisement of those who prefer to be intellectually nomadic in the search for truth, instead of the soft beds of social acceptance.
Wonderfully validating for me. May even be the best Christian book I've read but it's maybe not a read for the spiritually conventional.
Wonderfully validating for me. May even be the best Christian book I've read but it's maybe not a read for the spiritually conventional.
This was a life changing book for me. I have read it three times, and I will probably read it again! It delves effectively into the thought processes of people who genuinely care to explore the true meanings of Christianity, and the constant search for authenticity and faith.
I liked this book because it validated that it is okay to be a committed Christian but harbor questions as long as those questions don't paralize your faith. Complete certainty even as a Christian is not possible. That is after all where faith comes in.
One of the books that finally made sense. Someone thought similarly to how I thought - to things I wondered about. And it was okay to ask the questions.
my walk away:
"I do not expect to leave this life with all my doubts resolved; I do hope to leave it in good standing with Him from whom all meaning flows."
"I do not expect to leave this life with all my doubts resolved; I do hope to leave it in good standing with Him from whom all meaning flows."
A book for those who find themselves uncomfortable in settings (secular or religious) that allow no room for the possibility of being mistaken.
This book will challenge you to truly think about grace and faith.
Jul 24, 2011
Keith Bell
added it
Just finished this for Book Club. Great read. Thought (and discussion) provoking.
The only thing that was interesting about this book was the story about Alex, and even that was too short and a little brief.
A truly valuable book for me and for people who are questioners. It helps find that balance between blind faith and skepticism, both of which can be so unappealing and unsatisfactory.
I started this book last summer and then got busy with other things. Maybe it is time to get back to it. I agree with much of what Daniel Taylor has to say in this book, although I don't always like his style.
All I can really remember is the main theme from this book, no details. It is trying to say that there is no such thing as being 100% certain that God is real....that's why it is faith. Good thoughts.
An ideal read for anyone involved with both the evangelical world and academia.
A good book for affirming question askers but less strong in its conclusions...
Currently re-reading
May 18, 2013
Connie Blanchette
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Steffan Bard
added it
May 07, 2013
MrWalterN
is currently reading it
May 06, 2013
Brandon Halvorsen
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Daniel Taylor (Ph.D., Emory University) is the author of ten books, including The Myth of Certainty, Letters to My Children, Tell Me A Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories, Creating a Spiritual Legacy, and, most recently, The Skeptical Believer: Telling Stories to Your Inner Atheist. Dr. Taylor is also co-founder of The Legacy Center, an organization devoted to helping individuals and orga...more
More about Daniel Taylor...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Nothing should be of higher value to the reflective Christian in difficult circumstances than an unqualified desire to see truth triumph. One should wish passionately that it prevail, should love it more than one's own prestige or sense of security.”
—
3 people liked it
“It is simultaneously the blessing and the curse of the reflective Christian that believers are called to live out their faith in the church. No institution has accomplished so much for good in the world; none has fallen so short of its calling! The church is God-ordained, God-inspired, but accomplishes its work through human beings subject to every possible failing.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Mar 21, 2008 04:47pm
Yeah i have heard of Rob Bell, but i haven't been really drawn to his stuff. I get turned off by things that seem like post modern gimmicks. Tha...more
Apr 08, 2008 08:43am