The Lost Faith, and Difficulties of the Bible, as Tested by the Laws of Evidence

Thomas S. Childs wrote these letters in 1888 to a friend losing his Christian faith, and what emerges is something rarer than polemic: a minister wrestling honestly with the very questions that haunted his era's brightest minds. The format transforms theological argument into intimate counsel. Childs meets skepticism not with condemnation but with careful evidence and historical reasoning, defending the Bible's integrity by examining its textual tradition, the testimonies of its witnesses, the stability faith has provided to countless lives. He argues that doubt's uncertainties stand in stark contrast to the assurance found in trusting God's promises. This isn't a systematic theology treatise but a human document, one that acknowledges the genuine intellectual challenges facing believers while maintaining that faith, tested by reason, emerges stronger. For readers interested in how earlier generations navigated the collision between modern thought and religious belief, these letters offer both historical window and quiet provocation.