Mary Jo Sharp: Belief in the Age of Skepticism

In a cultural moment where doubt is often praised and belief treated with suspicion, many people quietly wonder whether faith can still be held with intellectual honesty. In this episode of The Underground Sessions Podcast, we explore that tension with Mary Jo Sharp—a former atheist, philosopher, and Christian apologist who understands skepticism from the inside.Mary Jo shares her personal journey from disbelief to faith, reflecting on the questions that eventually made atheism feel insufficient and the surprises she encountered after becoming a Christian. Drawing from years of teaching, writing, and ministry, she helps us think carefully about evidence, trust, suffering, beauty, and the problem of evil—while also addressing the emotional and relational barriers that often shape belief just as much as intellectual ones. With insight shaped by ministry in both the Pacific Northwest and the Bible Belt, she offers a nuanced picture of how skepticism differs across cultural contexts.The conversation closes by turning toward practice: how Christians can engage skeptics without defensiveness or pressure, how churches can create space for honest doubt, and what thoughtful seekers might do if they want to explore faith without pretending certainty. This episode isn’t about winning arguments—it’s about whether belief is still possible, reasonable, and worth pursuing when certainty feels out of reach.More from Mary Jo SharpWebsite https://maryjosharp.com/Why I Still Believe: A Former Atheist’s Reckoning with the Bad Reputation Christians Give a Good Godhttps://a.co/d/czWgpSrWhy Do You Believe That?: A Faith Conversation - Bible Study Bookhttps://a.co/d/f4u13ipSearch Ministries https://searchnational.org/aboutReach Podcasthttps://reachothers.org/the-reach-podcast