Beginning Faith
Honest Answers to the Questions Every New Christian Is Afraid to Ask Out Loud
About the book
Every Christian carries questions. Almost nobody answers them out loud. Beginning Faith is a 21-chapter handbook for the start of the Christian life, taking the questions new believers actually ask and answering them straight from Scripture. Wes Phillips walks you through every question the way a friend across the table would: question first, then the answer, then the Scripture that backs it up. No shortcuts, no shame, and nothing you'll have to unlearn later.
It is written for the person who prayed something honest and then woke up the next morning unsure what happened — who wants to believe but cannot switch off the doubt, and who suspects the church has heard these questions before and answered them too quickly.
Inside, the book moves the way a real conversation does. It opens with the biggest question of all, whether God is actually there, and follows the evidence step by step. From there it walks through why the Bible can be trusted, who Jesus is, and why the cross had to happen. It sits down honestly with the hard chapters, like why a good God allows suffering, and it does not flinch or change the subject. And it ends on the practical side of faith: how to pray, how to read the Bible without getting lost, what baptism and communion actually mean, and a fourteen-day plan for your first two weeks of following Jesus.
The questions waiting inside
- Does God exist?
- Can I trust the Bible?
- Who is Jesus, and why does He matter?
- Why did Jesus have to die?
- What is sin, really?
- What happens when I pray?
- Why does God allow suffering?
- What about people who never hear?
- How do I read the Bible without getting lost?
- What is the Holy Spirit's job?
- Do I have to go to church?
- What are baptism and communion about?
- Why am I not changing faster?
- What does God actually want from me?
- How do I talk about my faith without being weird?
- What happens when I die?
Every question gets a plain answer, and every answer is anchored in Scripture.
A friend across the table
Every Christian carries questions. Almost nobody answers them out loud. Beginning Faith is a 21-chapter, 311-page handbook for the start of the Christian life, taking the questions new believers actually ask and answering them straight from Scripture.
Wes Phillips walks you through every question the way a friend across the table would: the question first, then the answer, then the Scripture that backs it up. No shortcuts, no shame, and nothing you’ll have to unlearn later.
This is not a theology textbook, and it was not written from behind a lectern. It was written for the kitchen table, by someone who remembers exactly what it feels like to be new at this: the questions you rehearse but never ask, the Sunday mornings where everyone else seems to already know the words. Every chapter starts where you actually are, not where somebody thinks you should be.
So bring your real questions, even the ones that feel too basic or too risky to say out loud in a small group. Underline things. Argue in the margins. The goal was never to impress you. The goal is that when you close this book, you know what you believe, why you believe it, and what to do next.
The book closes with a simple fourteen-day plan: what to do tomorrow morning, this Sunday, and this week, so your first two weeks of faith become the foundation for the rest of your life.
What's Inside
21 chapters in 5 parts
A guided path from "Does God exist?" to "What happens when I die?" Read it straight through or jump to the question that's keeping you up at night.
Question, answer, Scripture
Every chapter opens with a real question, walks through the answer in plain language, and grounds it word-for-word in the Bible (ESV).
A 14-day reading plan
A two-week on-ramp for brand-new believers: short daily readings that build the foundations in order.
The staples, explained
Prayer, Bible reading, church, baptism, communion — what they are, why they matter, and how to actually start.
No churchy jargon
Terms like grace, repentance, and salvation are defined the first time they're used, in words a first-time reader understands.
Honest about mystery
Where the Bible speaks plainly, so does this book. Where it doesn't, it says "here's what we know, and here's what we hold with open hands."
"The Christian life is slower than you'd like. Harder than you expected. Better than you can possibly imagine."
What readers are saying
- ★★★★★
“I've been a Christian for eight months and was embarrassed to ask half of these questions at church. This book asked them for me and actually answered them.”
- ★★★★★
“Reads like a conversation with a friend who's a few miles further down the road. No lecture, no guilt, just clear answers and the verses to back them up.”
- ★★★★★
“I bought it for my daughter who just came to faith, then read it myself in a weekend. I wish someone had handed me this thirty years ago.”
Begin here
Honest answers about Christianity, for the questions you have not said out loud yet.
Buy on Amazon