Frasch Ideas—Examine, Inquire, Explore

Dr Ruth and the Five Myths

• Posted by Theresa on September 12th, 2006 filed in Book Review, Believe It or Not

This morning I came across an interesting person via Debunking Christianity, the author of 14 books, Dr. Ruth Tucker. She has written a book called Walking Away from Faith: Unraveling the Mystery of Belief and Unbelief.

The the basis of her book; the progression from faith to unbelief, has many accounts of those who have left the fold feeling liberated and joyful in their departure. Professor Tucker said that she understands this, but that she, herself, will not leave her faith. In an interesting phrase, she said: “I would be doomed if my faith depended upon my belief.”

Professor Tucker has struggled with the intellectual and emotional causes of religious doubt in her own life. In her book she shares the outcome of her struggles and offers case studies of other evangelicals to examine why people lose and rediscover faith.

A Calvinist, Dr. Tucker believes in a “sovereign God” that assumes doubt and faith equally. Her faith is more a matter of “God’s grace” than “personal will.” The meaning, purpose, comfort and fulfillment she derives from the story of Jesus, his death and resurrection is a key part of her life and who she is, going directly to her emotional/affective state of being.

In a way she reminds me of Bishop Shelby Spong, also the author of many books, including Why Christianity Must Change or Die. They both manage to debunk Christianity in a gracious way and yet still hold on to their faith.

From her research, Dr. Tucker lists five myths about people who have abandoned their faith.

1) “They are angry and rebellious.” She found virtually no evidence for this. Rather, people felt sorrow, initially. They experienced pain, not anger.

2) “They can be argued back into faith.” Because the person leaving his/her faith has carefully and painstakingly dissected the reasons behind this major worldview change, the Christian who proffers apologetics is more likely to convert into non-belief in such an exchange.

3) “Doubters can find help at Christian colleges and seminaries.” This is not seen to be the case.

4) “They abandon their faith so that they can go out and sin freely.” Our presenter pointed out that too many people who profess faith sin more often than non-believers and that this argument was not a motivational issue in de-converting from faith.

5) “They were never sincere Christians to begin with.” She has come across example after example of the most earnest and devout of evangelical, fundamentalist believers who became non-theists.

She also lists the reasons people have stepped away from the fold or have lost faith in faith:

1) Science and philosophy has eroded the faith of many former believers.

2) The sense of absence of any caring God.

3) The myth-shattering experience of the critical examination of the scriptures.

4) Disappointment in God (God’s apparent apathy or antipathy to his creation).

5) The hypocrisy of Christians.

6) The perception of a dogmatic anti-feminist and anti-homosexual stance of fundamentalist Christianity.

I like people like Dr. Ruth Tucker and Bishop John Shelby Spong that can take a real look at Christianity, the Bible, fundamentalism, and the early characters of Christianity apart from their faith. The fact that they still have their faith amazes me and I admire them for it. I think it speaks well of their character that they can see Christianity for what it really is and separate out the myths and misunderstandings passed on from generation to generation and get down to the core of the matter. I wish more Christians would.

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