Customer Reviews

When Faith is Not Enough

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This book was amazing! Clark took an brutally honest look at Faith in God - when God seems so near and when you feel abandoned. His honesty made me take a hard look at where my Faith is. Before each chapter he has a few quotes by famous theologians, philosophers & other writers which are so powerful in themselves. The quotes are evidence of the struggle that even the most godly people have had w/ their Faith - C.S. Lewis for example. One point that Clark makes very clear is the need for all people to be honest w/ themselves and to be AUTHENTIC. So many people don't take the time to sit back and reflect on life - they are blind to the reality of life around them. Most are in the rut of following cultural standards - get up, eat, work, come home, watch TV, and sleep, while never taking time to truly reflect on life. Only then will you truly know who you are as a person and you will be on your way to becoming authentically YOU. There's so much more to this book so you MUST read it! This book is remarkable and I would recommend it for everyone - Christian or not.

I totally disagree with the two previous inane reviews. I am a philosophy graduate student at a major research university in the US and a seminary lecturer, and have read Dr. Clark's book at least twice. I found it to be an absolutely wonderful book that would both enlighten the mind and touch the heart of many people, no matter whether they are philosophers or not, nor whether they are Christians or not.

Dr. Clark, who is one of the most prominent analytic Christian philosophers in the US, writes in a crystal clear manner about the meaning of life and being an authentic Christian. I have read several books on these subjects, including ones by Tillich (The Courage to Be), Frankl (Man's Search for Meaning) and other stuff by Camus, Sartre, and Kierkegaard. The reading list could go on (even though actually there are not really many books on these issues), yet Dr. Clark's book is still unique because it contains a highly engaging discussion of deep philosophical topics (such as Kierkegaard's existentialism) while remaining extremely accessible to a broader audience other than philosophers or theologians or psychologists. This is partly because Dr. Clark also gives powerful personal illustrations that would both help the readers understand important points and relate to the issues better.

There is a very strong existential element in the book that would force the readers to boldly contemplate faith and the reality of life. This book really has helped me in my struggle to make sense of life as a Christian. The book starts off with a deep struggle of doubt, but it is victorious in the end. Dr. Clark elegantly talks about the need to have epistemic humility in our spiritual journey, as we must always consider taking a leap of faith into the embrace of our loving God. The nature and cause of doubt presented in this book indeed represent the concern of many people I know both at universities and in religious communities. Bill's remark in his review that Dr. Clark's approach is arrogant is completely unacceptable (and perhaps arrogant).

I have been recommending this book to my friends, especially lay people, and have heard unqualifiedly positive feedback from them. If you are also questioning about the meaning of life, as I am, I highly recommend this book to you. I am pretty sure that by reading this book, you will find strength and a spark of hope in the midst of the absurdity of life.

Dr. Clark succeeds in tapping into the frustration many Christians have with those who seem to that the faith in "obvious", the belief is simple. In fact, doubt is essential to faith and causes us a crisis which inevitably forces us to come face to face with who we are and what reality itself entails. Dr. Clark takes onthe challenge of appealing to doubters, but also lending them hope and a reason to continue to believe. His helpful, though cursory, study of Kierkegaard has opened my eyes to this philosopher and wants me to read more. And an author that can make one want to read more has succeeded greatly. This is a must-read for all Christians.

My life and faith collided in a big way last week. I was about to lose my mind with the disillusionment. This book helped me not to neccessarily make sense of it, but to understand reality as it is and to understand my duty and place in it in relation to my relationship with God. I learned so much. It took me to familiar scriptures (especially Ecclesiastes, Psalms and Job)and showed me the truth of this human existence in light of eternity. It reminded me of who and what I am and who God is-HE is God and answerable to no man. How can we think that we can truly understand His ways and purposes- He who sees the beginning from the end? It does not (nor do the scriptures) paint a cute and cuddly version of God but a God who truly does loves us whether that love is always understood and felt or not. It gives the reader a way to live this miserable life in light of the ugly truth of it and to live it with purpose and a desire to look for the splashes of joy in this cesspool. It helped me quiet the constant screaming "why" that raged in my mind and brought me to a place of acceptance and therein lied my peace. It helped me to find a way to soar above my circumstances, to rise up on eagle wings, to be able to walk and not grow weary, to run and not faint. I truly believe that only a precious few of us Christians who have been or who are going through "the dark night of the soul" can lay hold of the truths in this book and the scriptures it leads us to. The deeper Christian life is not for cowards and though not rewarded in this brief life, will be rewarded when our Saviour says, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" in eternity. I highly recommend this book to any modern day Jobs and there are more out there than you think who suffer in silence because they are in a place few are led to for a purpose unto which few are called.

Dr. Kelly James Clark wrote an exceptional book on doubt, loss, and suffering and how to overcome it through faith, hope, and love. Dr. Clark takes his reader on a journey to the vast depths of the human soul, through the heart of a person, and back to one's true self. Along the way, he creates vivid analogies for his readers that are sensitive to the topic and yet powerful enough to delve the reader's mind into the heart of his book. One keen example of creative sensitivity and power is in chapter two, titled, "Moments of Light." In this personal reflection Dr. Clark retells a dark experience he had of hitch-hiker he brought home to stay the night because of the blustery conditions. He sweeps his reader into an adrenalin rush when recalls that evening in 1980 and his near regretful experience turned blessing.

Interestingly, Dr. Clark keeps his readers on their toes with many insightful and philisophical pearls of wisdom. One of the best insights in this book, "We are as far from God, and understanding his ways, as a worm is from understanding us and our ways." An amazingly sensible analogy! Dr. Clark truly brings the image of a personal relationship with God to life! His book offers a step-by-step method to aligning a spiritual relationship with the Lord on the right track. A quick and splendid read for the philosopher and psychologist alike! It's a book you just can't put down until your finished!! Highly recommended.

Dr. Clark's book rightly shouldn't be read as an apologetic of the Christian faith (although the (tenuous) argument from design he provides might tend to construe the work as such). Drawing on various literary sources, and notably Soren Kierkegaard, Clark attempts to engage the reader in a dialog about the the meaning of faith, despite the ambiguity and vexations of living in the so-called postmodern world.

It's difficult to say, after reading through the book, what virtue or merit it has -- other than perhaps opening up a potential channel of dialog among those readers who may have not begun to think earnestly and honestly about the struggles they face as believers in the postmodern milieu. For those readers, I should be glad to recommend the book; to others, however, who have begun to confront their own horizon of unbelief and the problem of developing a self-conscious and honest hermeneutic of faith, I would venture to guess that the book will be of limited interest and value.

Dr. Clark's follow up to Return to Reason is geared toward the average person, unlike its predecessor, which was laden with terminology only those practiced in philosophy have committed to memory. In clear, crisp prose, he takes the reader on a journey of discovery, using personal experience and the thoughts of great thinkers to make his points. He presents the positions of believers, as well as non-believers, whose doubts he has often experienced. He is a serious man trying to understand why there is so much suffering in life. He finds meaning in it. He believes every story, even that of an often bleak world, has an author. The most touching aspects of the book involve his reflections on his family. He is brutally honest, taking himself, as well as people in general, to task for misplaced ego, which he believes must be shed in order to foster communion with God. He stares into the void that scares anyone who ponders life's great mysteries and comes away with a faith that all will be right in the end. He believes even though he knows he is destined to become "worm food" and that he will be forgotten eventually. This is a valuable book that forces the reader to think. Kudos.

This Book is an excellent resource for anyone who suffers from depression. Very easy to read. Clark gives plenty of analogies, which make it easy to relate this book to your own life. At times we all suffer and doubt. This book was not only written for the laymen, it was written for the intellectual.

If you are looking for a universalist's approach to dealing with doubt, then this is the book for you. Clark's arguments completely miss the nature and cause of the majority of doubt that i have encountered (Pastor 25 years). To offer advice to Christians over and above Faith is not only foolish it is dangerous. Clark's arrogant approach may work in the ivory tower, but for the rest of us, dont waste your time or money.

I never made it through this book. after the first two chapters i just had to put it down. the writing is so poor that i could not justify spending anymore time on it. hope this helps.