Well, it’s less than 2 months to go before the release of my next book The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our “Correct” Beliefs. Whenever I get to this stage, I feel like I need a break to recharge—but not before I took the time to sit down with myself for an interview. Frankly, I seemed somewhat distracted most of the time, but all in all I think I did a good job talking to myself and getting my point across.
Me: First of all, explain what you mean by the title. What is the “Sin of Certainty”?
Me: Basically, it’s about the unfortunately common preoccupation with “knowing what you believe” in order to feel that you have “strong” faith. When faith is seen as the flip side to correct thinking about God, the Bible, etc., uncertainty about those things (which is inevitable) is then easily equated with “lack of faith,” which circles back to the preoccupation with getting that certainty back. The “sin” is that such preoccupation derails a deeper process of spiritual formation and growth.
Me: Sounds like a bunch of hokey meely-mouthed stupid liberal clap-trap wolf-in-sheeps-clothing heresy to me.
Me: Yeah, well, who cares what you think.
Me: And the next thing you’re going to tell me is that you waste all of our time by relaying some of your own “experiences” in the book.
Me: In fact, yes I do, but more here and there. It’s not a memoir or anything, but the book has grown out of my own experiences and how I’ve made sense of them.
Me: So the book’s basically about you, you’re favorite topic.
Me: Remember that time when you were little and mom got really mad because you were really mean and loud and nobody liked you? You’re doing it again.
Me: Whatever. OK, so if you don’t talk about yourself all of the time, what DO you talk about?
Me: A bunch of stuff. For example, I talk about where all this preoccupation with “getting it right” came from for Christians today, especially evangelicals . . .
Me: Why don’t you give it a rest already with the whole evangelical thing. It’s like you’re a voyeur or something. You think evangelicals are whacked. Fine. We get it. Move on.
Me: . . . and that preoccupation can be traced to the Protestant Reformation, where getting the Bible “right” became a major goal in ways it hadn’t before. That legacy has remained strong and is a prime reason why evangelicals have had such a hard time handling things that seem to “challenge” the Bible and shake their sense of certainty.
Me: You mean like evolution and historical criticism, those other topics you keep ranting about?
Me: I rant because they keep coming up generation after generation and that’s a big shame, that faith needs to be guarded by an intellectual fortress of solitude.
Me: Hey, that was nice. Is that line in the book?
Me: No. Just came to me now.
Me: Ok, well, anyway, that chapter sounds completely boring. Please tell me you didn’t lead with it.
Me: No. It’s chapter 2.
Me: Way to go, Hemingway.
Me: I really had to. I needed to lay out how we got into this mess before talking about a better way forward.
Me: Were you at least funny about it?
Me: Of course.
Me: Like how?
Me: For example, I call Charles Darwin “Chuck.”
Me: Wow, that’s really funny. Give me minute to compose myself. . . . What else ya got?
Me: Next I spend some time showing how the Bible has all sorts of examples of true people of faith who didn’t “know” what they believed but kept moving anyway.
Me: You mean like lament psalms, Job, and Ecclesiastes?
Me: You expected anything else? You know me. I love these books. These parts of the Old Testament are raw and honest about the deep unhinging struggles of faith that are a normal part of the life of faith. These writers used to be “certain” about what God was up to, even when the Bible “told” them what God was up to, but then life happened and then they aren’t so sure. People like me—and many other people I know—gravitate to these books. Like those writers, we live in a place where faith doesn’t always work out. In fact, it is these challenges to our faith—our Uh-Oh moments—that drive us toward a deeper faith rooted in trust rather than feeling like we have an intellectual handle on God and the universe.
Me: So it’s a self-help book.
Me: I hate you.
Me: How does the book end? (Quickly, I hope.)
Me: I tie some themes together by being pretty honest about experiences I and my family had over the last 10 years—professional and personal—that were very hard and for that very reason wound up pushing me out of my false sense of being “certain” and toward trusting God regardless of how certain or uncertain I happened to be. I think of those times now as God-moments.
Me: OK, well, we’re running out of time. Thanks for stopping by.
Me: But I have a lot more to say.
Me: Maybe next time.
Me: You know where to find me.
[You can preorder The Sin of Certainty here. If you’d like to join my mailing list to receive approximately monthly updates, you can sign up at the top of the main page. And if you don’t want to sign up do it anyway.]
Very funny! Pete, we need you to publish Spanish editions of your books, please!!!
Very funny! Pete, we need you to publish Spanish editions of your books, please!!!
Hey Pete, one thing that recently came to mind was how the first “councils” got together and laid out basics of the faith in a sort of “certain” way. Do you talk about this in the book?
You may be surprised as I was and maybe Pete can something on; why did the council of Nicea put the books under the table and expect that to work? https://books.google.com/books?id=MC9cCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT4&lpg=PT4&dq=council+of+nicea+put+books+under+the+table&source=bl&ots=GFvZN0JOYo&sig=GpR3f1UCUdCjv9EIx36D-qI5HY0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmlpb7pPbKAhUTwWMKHTeCCcwQ6AEINjAJ#v=onepage&q=council%20of%20nicea%20put%20books%20under%20the%20table&f=false
Hey Pete, one thing that recently came to mind was how the first “councils” got together and laid out basics of the faith in a sort of “certain” way. Do you talk about this in the book?
You may be surprised as I was and maybe Pete can something on; why did the council of Nicea put the books under the table and expect that to work? https://books.google.com/books?id=MC9cCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT4&lpg=PT4&dq=council+of+nicea+put+books+under+the+table&source=bl&ots=GFvZN0JOYo&sig=GpR3f1UCUdCjv9EIx36D-qI5HY0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmlpb7pPbKAhUTwWMKHTeCCcwQ6AEINjAJ#v=onepage&q=council%20of%20nicea%20put%20books%20under%20the%20table&f=false
Still considering whether to buy or not….how badly do you need the money Pete?
Still considering whether to buy or not….how badly do you need the money Pete?
Your a hoot Pete. Look forward to the book.
Your a hoot Pete. Look forward to the book.
where you say ‘faith needs to be guarded by an intellectual fortress of solitude’, my dyslexia clicked on and change the ‘intellectual’ to read ‘international’. so yah, faith needs to be guarded by an international fortress of solutude. best way to justify & make a preemptive strike! ::]=•D
where you say ‘faith needs to be guarded by an intellectual fortress of solitude’, my dyslexia clicked on and change the ‘intellectual’ to read ‘international’. so yah, faith needs to be guarded by an international fortress of solutude. best way to justify & make a preemptive strike! ::]=•D
The subtitle “Why God desires (___)…” is quite bold IMO. I’m still rather stuck on understanding the pre-requisites: that 1) God exists, 2) God has desires, 3) God’s desires are knowable, and 4) the reasons for God’s desires are knowable. I think I’m quite behind on the chain of certainty and not even as far along as your starting line.
in my case perhaps a miracle is that i’m still here looking to find out what I’m missing and desperately hunting for. if only I could find that dog who will hunt!
*iiii):D
Respect for you still searching 🙂
The Strong never give up
Hi Gary,
Desire is behind everything.
God does indeed have desires; that is why we do.
IMNSHO.
Blessings.
I doubt it.
The subtitle “Why God desires (___)…” is quite bold IMO. I’m still rather stuck on understanding the pre-requisites: that 1) God exists, 2) God has desires, 3) God’s desires are knowable, and 4) the reasons for God’s desires are knowable. I think I’m quite behind on the chain of certainty and not even as far along as your starting line.
in my case perhaps a miracle is that i’m still here looking to find out what I’m missing and desperately hunting for. if only I could find that dog who will hunt!
*iiii):D
Respect for you still searching 🙂
The Strong never give up
Hi Gary,
Desire is behind everything.
God does indeed have desires; that is why we do.
IMNSHO.
Blessings.
I doubt it.
Classic, as always Pete. I love it when you’re beside yourself.
Classic, as always Pete. I love it when you’re beside yourself.
Hmm, I do get a wee bit concerned about how you tend to publicise your own missives. As a Brit I’m aware that one should never call attention to oneself. However I have paid for some of your books, which have been to some extent worthwhile.
I recognise that Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul all died in penury to “post-final-exhilation” publishers and wonder why you feel that G-d calls you to support yourself and family due to your labours instead of dying in similar saintly penury.
I must remind you that I still refuse to buy in to your capitalist “newsletter” trick to get your work free, as I prefer to pay for the quality of your work to spite my own self, as the Bible calls me to. I shall now go and whip myself thrice for buying your books and four times over for you for writing them, as I’m sure you will neglect to do so.
Hmm, I do get a wee bit concerned about how you tend to publicise your own missives. As a Brit I’m aware that one should never call attention to oneself. However I have paid for some of your books, which have been to some extent worthwhile.
I recognise that Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul all died in penury to “post-final-exhilation” publishers and wonder why you feel that G-d calls you to support yourself and family due to your labours instead of dying in similar saintly penury.
I must remind you that I still refuse to buy in to your capitalist “newsletter” trick to get your work free, as I prefer to pay for the quality of your work to spite my own self, as the Bible calls me to. I shall now go and whip myself thrice for buying your books and four times over for you for writing them, as I’m sure you will neglect to do so.
O.k., I first thought of the Bible as incarnational revelation several decades ago, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to write a book about it. And about the same time I invented the Chuck Darwin Memorial Marathon for a film project at Westmont. I’m getting tired of you following me around and stealing my ideas. The book sounds like 1) it will drive evangelicals bonkers, because 2) it is exactly what they need to hear. How’s this? Inerrancy (and belief in it) isn’t going to do anyone a particle of good on the judgement day. You can have that one for free; and even write a book on it if you want.
O.k., I first thought of the Bible as incarnational revelation several decades ago, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to write a book about it. And about the same time I invented the Chuck Darwin Memorial Marathon for a film project at Westmont. I’m getting tired of you following me around and stealing my ideas. The book sounds like 1) it will drive evangelicals bonkers, because 2) it is exactly what they need to hear. How’s this? Inerrancy (and belief in it) isn’t going to do anyone a particle of good on the judgement day. You can have that one for free; and even write a book on it if you want.
This is why I read your blog, Pete 🙂
This is why I read your blog, Pete 🙂
“Me: Sounds like a bunch of hokey meely-mouthed stupid liberal clap-trap wolf-in-sheeps-clothing heresy to me.
Me: Yeah, well, who cares what you think.”
This is about the greatest thing I’ve ever read. Ever. Can’t wait to see this book! Pre-ordering it now!
“Me: Sounds like a bunch of hokey meely-mouthed stupid liberal clap-trap wolf-in-sheeps-clothing heresy to me.
Me: Yeah, well, who cares what you think.”
This is about the greatest thing I’ve ever read. Ever. Can’t wait to see this book! Pre-ordering it now!