015 - Letter 14

In the midst of the sweeping biological and geological revelations of the nineteenth century, many Christians faced profound crises of faith. Winwood Reade’s poignant epistolary novel, The Outcast, follows a young mans heart-wrenching journey as he grapples with the conflict between his conscience and his cherished beliefs. Sacrificing love, family, and material wealth, he confronts the unsettling truth that the Bible may not hold the answers he once believed. Yet, it is not simply the disillusionment with scripture that shatters his worldview; it is the daunting realization of a new God—one who has fashioned a merciless evolutionary nature where death and violence reign. The protagonist stands at a crucial crossroads should he inflict pain on those he loves by adhering to his conscience, or betray his own beliefs and live a life of hypocrisy? - Summary by Expatriate