The Doubting Believer

by Obadiah Sedgwick

Publisher:

Digital Puritan Press

, 2017

Overview

“Am I really a Christian?” At one time or another, all believers encounter periods of doubt regarding the genuineness of their faith. In this book, Puritan pastor Obadiah Sedgwick explores the kinds of doubt that commonly arise in the context of true saving faith, gently guiding the reader through fourteen circumstances likely to produce uncertainty. Using the Bible as a roadmap, the author helps us navigate away from the rocky shoals of doubt into the safe harbor of assurance.

Obadiah Sedgwick (c.1600–1658) was a Presbyterian pastor and member of the Westminster Assembly. Originally published in 1641, this classic treatise has been carefully prepared to benefit a new generation of Christian readers. Archaic language has been gently modernized, and helpful footnotes have been added to aid the reader. This edition includes a foreword by Dr. Don Kistler, a biographical preface, Scripture index, and review questions designed to facilitate group discussion or personal reflection.

Key Features

• Explores common doubts regarding the genuineness of faith
• Guides readers through fourteen circumstances that produce uncertainty
• Helps readers navigate away from doubt into the safe harbor of assurance using the Bible as a roadmap

Contents

• Foreword
• Biographical Preface
• Dedicatory Epistle
• Author’s Preface
• 1. The nature of doubting
• 2. Four kinds of doubts
• 3. May doubts coexist with true faith?
• 4. The springs, causes, and occasions of doubting
• 5. The remedies and cures of doubting
• 6. Four special causes of doubting, and how they may be resolved
• Discussion Questions
• Scripture Index
• Glossary

Product Details

• Title: The Doubting Believer
• Author: Obadiah Sedgwick
• Publisher: Digital Puritan Press
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Belief and doubt › Early works to 1800; Faith › Early works to 1800
• Resource ID: LLS:DOUBTINGBELIEVERDPP
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-09-09T18:15:54Z

About Obadiah Sedgwick

Obadiah Sedgwick (1600–1658) was a Puritan preacher and theologian, and a member of the Westminster assembly. He was the son of Joseph Sedgwick, vicar of St. Peter’s, and then of Ogbourne St. Andrew. Sedgwick matriculated at Queen’s College, Oxford, in June 1619 and then moved to Magdalen Hall, where he graduated with a BA, and earned his MA in 1623.

Sedgwick was vicar of Coggeshell, Essex before John Owen succeeded him upon Sedgwick’s appointment to St. Paul’s, Covent Garden. In his last years he was a member of the 11th London classis in the parliamentary presbyterian system and a trier under Oliver Cromwell, helping direct the reform of parish worship during the brief reign of the Lord Protector.