Most college students raised in a Christian home leave the church after going off to college. In a study that was released in 2019, Barna reported that sixty-four percent of 18-29-year-olds who were active in church as a child or teen have withdrawn from church involvement.[1] There are a plethora of reasons for this exodus, but one big one is an inability to answer doubts.
Children and teenagers who grow up in church are often told what to believe, but they’re not always told why they should believe it. Many are never exposed to other belief systems, and they have blindly believed what their parents and Sunday School teachers have taught them (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Some have even been scolded for asking any kinds of questions about their faith.
Then, they go off to college and enroll in a religion or philosophy course, and that’s when things go south. Their entire belief system is challenged by older and seemingly wiser professors, and they have no idea how to rebut the arguments. Instead of searching for the truth, they go with the flow and accept the theories and philosophies of the sacred texts of their universities (aka college textbooks). They leave true, biblical Christianity for a pseudo-Christianity, atheism, or another religion altogether.
This is obviously a big problem, and to help solve this problem, scholar Michael J. Kruger wrote a book called Surviving Religion 101.
In 1989, Kruger went to school at UNC Chapel Hill, and he quickly realized that he was not intellectually prepared to answer the challenges of his non-Christian professors. As his beliefs and convictions were questioned, he dove into historical sources to find the truth, and this journey led him to becoming a New Testament scholar.
In 2019, Kruger’s daughter, Emma, started college at the very same university he went to thirty years before. Knowing that she would face the same questions, challenges, and objections he did, Kruger set out to write Surviving Religion 101, a collection of letters to Emma (and to other college students like her) the equip her to answer these questions and defend her faith.
The book answers all kinds of questions about God, the Bible, and Christian doctrine- Is Christianity the only true religion? How could a loving God send people to hell? Why is there so much evil in this world? Can we actually trust what the Bible says? Kruger answers all these questions and more with biblical truth, solid research, and fatherly advice. Throughout the book, one thing is clear:
“It’s normal to struggle with doubt in the Christian life. It doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. The issue is not whether you face doubt but how you respond to it.”[2]
Having questions or doubts about one’s faith is something that all Christians struggle with at one point or another. But we must fight the temptation to give up and give in and instead search diligently for the truth. And when we do this, we will be strengthened in our faith and assured of our convictions. The journey may seem daunting but reading Surviving Religion 101 will help answer some of the most common challenges.
I LOVED Surviving Religion 101, even though I didn’t read it until after I graduated college. Each letter is concise and easy to comprehend, and I found Kruger’s answers extremely helpful. This book is easily one of my favorite books (if not the favorite book) I’ve read this year, and I think this book is for everyone, not just college students. If you’ve ever struggled with doubts or felt like you couldn’t answer someone’s objection to Christianity, you definitely need to read this book ASAP!
[1] “Church Dropouts Have Risen to 64%—But What About Those Who Stay?,” Barna Group, accessed August 23, 2021, https://www.barna.com/research/resilient-disciples/.
[2] Michael J. Kruger, Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College (Wheaton: Crossway, 2021), 220.
