Francis Spufford Unapologetic Why Summary

In Unapologetic Why. Despite Everything Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense, Francis Spufford unpacks the ways in which Christian emotions reinforce the reasons to believe the Christian faith, yet emotions are not always reliable. He’s more interested in the human experience rather than abstract philosophical ideas. He’s not attempting to defend the Christian faith through historical or scientific proofs, hence the use of “unapologetic” in the title. In the first chapter of Unapologetic, Spufford admits that he cannot prove the existence of God, and he is personally incapable of being certain of God’s existence as a Christian. However, there is “emotional assurance that there was mercy, and [he] felt it” (20). His feelings

In contemporary times we are encouraged by media, peers, and society to believe that evil is irrelevant to our nature unless it’s extreme. Since nobody’s perfect we should embrace our mistakes and our HPtFtU. This further suppresses our natural tendency to feel guilt, and can lead us to continue our evil actions. Spufford emphasizes that guilt is an essential emotion by sharing a story of John Newton, an ex-slave trade worker and the writer of “Amazing Grace.” John Newton wrote the song while he was still a slave trader, and he felt guilty for committing “trivial” sins like drunkenness and “licentiousness”. It wasn’t till after he wrote the song and confronted his inner evil when he realized the horrors of his occupation. There’s something insightful about John Newton’s late discovery. Unless John Newton decided to confront his small initial feelings of guilt, he would have never discovered his blatantly evil fault in being a slave trader. Guilt is a necessary emotion which propels us to confront our character problems and guides us to the truth that we are creatures that have a HPtFtU. Atheist may say that guilt is an important emotion to help address character flaws and our natural moral compass. However, it is crucial that we are in touch with our emotions, especially guilt, because God has instilled these in us to point towards our need for Him. Spufford’s