An Old Story that Tends to New Wounds
A Review of
You Can Trust a God with Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul
Jared Ayers
Paperback: NavPress, 2025
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Reviewed by Douglas Brouwer
Jared Ayers begins his new book exactly where many honest spiritual questions are born: over huevos rancheros and an Americano at a neighborhood café in Philadelphia. His companion, a young man named Daniel, would greet him weekly with a question both touching and telling: “What are you preaching about today, Father?”
“Think of what follows here as an extension of those conversations Daniel and I had,” writes Ayers. And he makes good on that promise. You Can Trust a God with Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul is Ayers’s attempt to answer that question for anyone who has ever asked it—whether with a sincere heart or a skeptical eye. Writing as if the reader is standing on the “outside of the decaying ruins of Christendom,” Ayers avoids insider jargon in favor of a raw, honest conversation with those who are barely interested or deeply hurting.
Ayers knows his intended audience well. As the book progresses, he has more conversations with people who are not just skeptical but hurting and disillusioned, lingering in what he describes as the borderlands between faith and doubt. With a fascinating mix of theology, art, Scripture, music, and literature, Ayers invites the reader into a conversation about a Christianity that embraces doubt and mystery and about a God who understands suffering intimately. Here is a safe, compassionate space for readers to reawaken hope and find meaning in the Christian story despite living in a fractured world.
What sets Ayers apart from many contemporary theologians is his refusal to stay in a religious bubble. He treats pop culture, philosophy, and classical theology as part of the same vital conversation. In a single chapter focused on sin—titled “Miserable Offenders”—there are references to comedians and actors (Dana Carvey’s “church lady” from Saturday Night Live and the existential wit of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag), giants of thought (Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud), theological heavyweights (Martin Luther, N.T. Wright, and Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.), literature and art (the poetry of John Milton, the wisdom of G. K. Chesterton, and the haunting melodies of indie folk artist Sufjan Stevens), as well as modern critique (the social science of Jonathan Haidt and the animated skepticism of Lisa Simpson from The Simpsons). Ayers is clearly in touch with contemporary culture as well as current theological thinking, and in weaving all of this together he demonstrates that the Christian story is robust enough to engage with both high-brow and low-brow sensibilities without losing its soul.
In an era where “deconstruction” is more than just a buzzword, and disillusionment with organized religion is at an all-time high, Ayers offers something rare: a seat at the table for the skeptics, the wounded, and the spiritually weary. You Can Trust a God with Scars isn’t a collection of easy answers or “just have more faith” platitudes. Instead, it’s a compassionate, intellectually rigorous invitation to look at the Christian story through the lens of a God who doesn’t just watch our suffering from a safe distance but carries the wounds of it.
The book addresses the tension many of us feel: How do you trust God when the news cycle—and your own life—feel like a series of tragedies? Ayers suggests that the answer isn’t to ignore the “scars” but to find a God who has them too. For those lingering in the borderlands between faith and doubt, this book provides honest hospitality (it doesn’t rush you to a conclusion; it sits with you in the mess), intellectual depth (it respects your brain as much as your heart), and a framework for reflection. With questions at the end of each chapter, the book could serve as a practical tool for groups or individuals trying to make sense of a fractured world. I can easily imagine the book being used in a church study group.
You Can Trust a God with Scars is for anyone who wants to see if the “old, old story” of Christianity can still handle the new wounds of the 21st century. It is a timely, beautiful, and deeply human book that reawakens hope without ever asking you to check your questions at the door.
In a touching epilogue, Ayers tells the story of a young woman named Abigail, a Harvard-educated medical researcher, who has started to attend worship at his church. In their first conversation, she tells Ayers that she is an atheist. After thanking her for her honesty, Ayers asks, “Then why do you bother coming to worship?”
She replies, “I’m not sure. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
After several conversations, spanning a few months, she confesses to Ayers that when she stands in worship to say the creed, “I don’t think I’m lying anymore. What should I do?” And then Ayers tells the story of Abigail being baptized on Easter morning and “welcomed into the community of sinners and saints, believers and doubters that we all are.”
Douglas Brouwer
Douglas Brouwer is a Presbyterian pastor and the author of several books, including his most recent,The Traveler’s Path(March 2025), a spiritual reflection on various forms of travel. He is a frequent contributor toThe Reformed Journaland other publications. More of his writing may be found at dougsblog.substack.com.
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