This is an easy book to read. Its subject matter is not so easy to practice. The theme, as the title suggests, is ‘confidence’. We are reminded that the word itself comes from two Latin words: con, meaning ‘with’, and fides, meaning ‘faith’; hence, with faith.
Faith is the hallmark of the Christian. We are saved by faith, and have faith in God — faith that the Bible is true, faith in a resurrected Christ, faith in a new world to come, and faith that God’s almighty power will triumph and conquer in the end.
And yet, that faith is and always has been, tested and tried. In many cases, it is tried almost beyond the stage of surviving. We are given a telling example of how not to respond to the sky falling in on us, that of hiding and dying in a cave like Jerome! We are called to be more like Augustine, who in his crisis of faith wrote his masterpiece The City of God. Both men were to witness the collapse of Rome, yet responded in entirely different ways.
For Christians living in what has been called a post-Christian society, confidence is a must. By that we don’t mean confidence in ourselves, abilities, or in one another. But we mean confidence in God, the Bible, Christ, the gospel and hope. These terms comprise the chapter headings of this book.
The author begins with where we find ourselves as a society and culture and calls us to a ‘time for confidence’. Unless living with his head stuck in the sand, the Christian is very conscious of where in a short space of time our western society has gone.
Issues threaten to overwhelm us: same sex marriage; pluralistic faith beliefs; the ever-increasing pressure that all opinions are valid and true! This clashes with biblical teaching at every point.
We can, as has sadly been the case with individuals and whole church denominations, capitulate to the culture around us and deny the very faith we claim; or we can stand firm and exercise a bold confidence in God and his Word. This book will aid every Christian in their stand for the gospel that never changes with time or culture.
Stephen Holland
Westhoughton
