Letting Go of Certainty

Katie Langston grew up in a tradition where certainty was the point—where a missionary lesson literally stacked paper cups, prophets on the bottom and Jesus on top, and showed you that pulling any one of them brings the whole thing down. In this solo episode, she makes a case that a lot of what people describe as losing their faith is something more specific: a loss of certainty. The episode traces where the demand for certainty came from; why fundamentalism is a modern movement in anti-modern clothes; and why so few people still claim to have it. To support Faith After Faith, visit http://faithafterfaith.com/support. A recurring donation of any amount will give you access to exclusive bonus content and full, unedited conversations. Chapters 00:00 Cold open: fast and testimony meeting 02:35 Jenga towers, Christmas lights, and a stack of paper cups 04:45 Pope, king, God: where the questions came from 06:45 Establishment, association, authenticity 08:40 Fundamentalism is a modern movement 12:55 Postmodernity in one sentence 14:45 A nine-year-old asks the postmodern question 17:15 What the Pew numbers actually show 18:50 Cross-pressure: Charles Taylor and C. S. Lewis 20:25 "I just miss being able to say I know" 22:20 Brueggemann: orientation, disorientation, reorientation 25:30 Embrace the questions, grieve, find people who can hold them 27:15 Scrupulosity, OCD, and accepting the risk 31:20 Hope and trust, not knowledge Resources "God Invites Your Questions" — http://katielangston.com/podcast/god-.... "Am I Even Allowed to Think This?" — http://katielangston.com/podcast/am-i.... "Were We Better Off Believing in Charms?" — http://katielangston.com/podcast/were.... "Who Gets to Tell You What's True?" — http://katielangston.com/podcast/who-.... "Where Have All the Women Gone?" — http://katielangston.com/podcast/wher.... _Charles Taylor,_A Secular Age* * * (Belknap/Harvard, 2007) _C. S. Lewis,_Mere Christianity* * * (1952), Book III, ch. 11, "Faith" _Walter Brueggemann (1933–2025),_The Message of the Psalms* * _(Augsburg, 1984) and_Spirituality of the Psalms* (Fortress, 2002) _Jean-François Lyotard,_The Postmodern Condition* * * (1979) *Sealed: An Unexpected Journey into the Heart of Grace —*Katie Langston. Second edition, 2026. http://katielangston.com/books/sealed... Thirteen Lives (2022).