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Reddit mentions of The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections On the Quest for Faith
Sentiment score: 2
Reddit mentions: 2
We found 2 Reddit mentions of The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections On the Quest for Faith. Here are the top ones.
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- Great conversation piece
- Collectable features
- Limited production
- Leather neck strap
Features:
Specs:
| Number of items | 1 |
| Weight | 0.85 Pounds |
I'm pretty sure I've been in your shoes. In my experience, a lot of the resolution for the questions you have won't be found in neat and tidy fairlds responses, but rather in an acceptance of the limits of your own knowledge combined with an acknowledgement that, despite your newfound knowledge of how much you don't know, you can still recognize the church for the blessing it is, for the vehicle it can be to commune with God.
My own perspective has shifted from one that relied on the truthfulness of the church to inform my beliefs about the meaning and purpose of my life to one that relies foremost on a personal relationship with God to guide me. I have come to a point at which, though I hope the church is true, my happiness and meaning in life is no longer contingent on it being so. It hasn't been all smooth sailing, and, frankly, I don't really know what the future holds, but that's okay. My only advice to you would be to wait. Study, pray, ponder, take your time. You don't have to be all in our all out right now. Be honest with yourself and your loved ones who will provide support as you navigate the road ahead.
Here are some resources that helped me navigate my own faith crisis. Perhaps they may help you:
http://terrylgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Letter-to-a-Doubter-2014-Revised.pdf
Terryl Givens is an LDS scholar and English professor at the University of Richmond. In the above letter, he discusses and provides historical context to some of the major theological and historical issues in a way that only he can do. He's very eloquent, I think, and draws from non-LDS literature to express his thoughts in a poetic yet understandable way. He, along with his wife, also wrote a couple books entitled, "The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections On the Quest for Faith," and The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life." The Crucible of Doubt talks about overarching, not specific, reasons why we may doubt our faith--and why that's okay. The God Who Weeps discusses the nature of God and our relationship with him. Both are excellent. Here are the Amazon links if you're interested:
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/1609079426
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B009GKP78K
Since we're on the subject of letters, here's another one called, "Letter to a College Student" by Eugene or "Gene" England.
http://www.eugeneengland.org/letter-to-a-college-student
It discusses the same general idea of struggling with doubts, but especially as they relate to certain undesirable cultural aspects of the Church. England was a Mormon scholar who, sadly, died in 2001 from cancer. I've read several of his essays and never been disappointed. He speaks so insightfully yet humbly about his own struggles with discipleship as he shares experiences from his personal life. I definitely could relate to him. He wrote another essay, "Why the Church is as True as the Gospel," that is really good, I think.
http://eugeneengland.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/1999_e_004.pdf
Here's the synopsis from the top: "This classic essay makes the case for the Church being as (or even more) important than the gospel for our salvation because of its role as a 'school of love.' It serves us this way by forcing us to interact with and giving us opportunities to learn to love those we might otherwise never choose to associate with." Basically, he argues that the things we find exasperating about Church and its flawed members often are the schools of love we need in order to grow and become more like Jesus Christ. This essay has helped me be more positive and patient with others who think or behave differently that I do.
The next item is a blog post by Mormon scholar Adam Miller entitled, "Letter to a CES Student," which plays off the title of a certain "Letter to a CES Director" that is popular in ex-Mormon circles.
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2014/10/letter-to-a-ces-student/
Miller's piece does not attempt to refute its namesake piece point-by-point; rather, it addresses the importance of not letting our doubts and speculative questions prevent us achieving the real business of life, which is "to pay attention, to care for the world pressing in on you, and pull out that arrow thickly smeared with poison before you and those you love die from the wound. You business is to sacrifice all of it. Your business is consecration. And you have to consecrate everything, not just part. Even your doubts and questions need to be consecrated. Even Mormonism itself must be consecrated and returned. This work is more than enough."
The last item that I'll recommend is an essay from staylds.com entitled, "How to Stay in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after a Major Challenge to Your Faith."
http://staylds.com/docs/HowToStay.pdf
Originally penned by John Dehlin, who has since disassociated himself from the staylds.com website and the Church, the essay offers practical advice about how to navigate the middle ground of Mormonism between literalistic orthodoxy and complete abandonment. My biggest takeaway was that, should one desire to stay in the Church, there are legitimate ways (and reasons) to do so, even if you have serious doubts about your testimony. Even though the essay is quite long, it is very accessible, and it deeply resonated with me when I was in the darkest time of my spiritual crisis.
Hope this helps. PM me if you'd ever like to talk.
May be it would be helpful to point you to some honest source that seeks to give a non subjective and fair evaluation for the claims of the church.