What is faith and where does it come from? Is faith just a whim? Or is there something deeper? In A Holy Haunting, Sam D. Kim shows “why faith isn’t a leap but a series of staggers from one safe place to another.”
Kim is the perfect author for this type of book. He is a Harvard-trained ethicist and a former research fellow at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. He’s also the co-founder of 180 Church in downtown Manhattan and a recipient of the lifelong Learning Fellowship at Yale Divinity School and Yale Medicine, which aims to close the gap between faith and science. His background makes him the perfect person to help both skeptics and believers take a fresh look at faith.
After a foreword by Leighton Ford, founding president of the Lausanne Movement, Kim shares a story of how he went from being a skeptic to a worshiper, although not in the typical way of religion. To illustrate, Kim writes how he didn’t have crushes on girls at all—not until he found the one who would be the love of his life. Kim compares this drastic change to spiritual rebirth. He refers to these inner workings of the soul—a transformative developmental process—as spiritual puberty. Salvation can be complex, and this book helps to make sense of the mess and growth.
A Lifelong Longing
In Part 1, Kim defines biblical faith as a lifelong evolutionary longing to make meaning of human existence in light of a higher plane of reality. Kim speaks of the spiritual consciousness as a basic part of human development and how it is bridged with the academic disciplines of biology, psychology and theology. While this is a book that deals with heavy discussions, Kim remains conversational and sprinkles stories throughout his writing.
Part 2 discusses deconstruction and the need for a safe harbor for those who have been spiritually displaced. Kim is direct, yet kind. He tells of the beginnings of his own deconstruction when he doubted the reality of Heaven during his mother’s diagnosis of a stroke. I was most moved to read on how some who deconstruct choose to live as expats in a self-imposed exile.
Kim goes on to explain how faith is not opposed to doubt. Reading this chapter made me more sensitive to those who are deconstructing, while also giving me points to discuss in conversation.
When Faith Becomes Sight
Part 3 deals with four big questions and objections to the Christian faith: (1) Did God create the world? (2) Did Jesus of Nazareth really exist? (3) Are the gospels a reliable source? (4) Does God still speak today?
In regards to the historical Jesus, I was most surprised to read that even the Talmud makes reference to Jesus. Furthermore, even non-Christian scholars argue for the existence of the historical Jesus. Finally, the pull of Jesus across generations and as the dominant figure of Western culture for the past 20 centuries is undeniable.
The book concludes with a call to “cross the swamp” of doubt. He admits that conversion is less like a leap of blind faith and more like somehow making it from one area of confidence to another.
Those who doubt their faith will find a friend in Kim. For firm believers, you will be equipped to come alongside those who struggle. My heart was moved to worship, thanking God for the gift of faith and anticipating the day for when my faith will become sight.
I received a media copy of A Holy Haunting and this is my honest review.