Honest Faith: The Possible Friendship of Athens and Jerusalem

An Honest Faith tackles the thorny question of whether Christian faith is compatible with the questing and questioning spirit of philosophy. The author argues that a mutually productive friendship between Athens (philosophy/science) and Jerusalem (theology/faith) is possible and, in fact, necessary, given that various forms of the faith resist questioning and therefore end up holding onto outdated, unsupported, and damaging beliefs, for example, on matters of gender and sexuality. The author draws upon his own experiences in the conservative Anglican Diocese of Sydney and his teaching career in philosophy to issue a challenge to Christians to have an honest faith and not hold back from the quest for answers, which lies at the heart of religion, philosophy, and science. The book's first half, which can be characterized as an exercise in faith deconstruction, lays out a number of the more serious challenges to historic or traditional Christian faith while noting its rapid demise in Australia, the US, the UK, and throughout the Western world. The book's second half recommends a careful reconstruction or reformation of the faith.