
Why I Still Believe
A Former Atheist’s Reckoning with the Bad Reputation Christians Give a Good God
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jill Blackwood
-
By:
-
Mary Jo Sharp
About this listen
For anyone who feels caught in the tension between the beauty of God's story and the ugliness of human hypocrisy, Why I Still Believe offers a stirring story of hope.
Why would anyone be a Christian when there is so much hypocrisy in the church? Mary Jo Sharp shares her journey as a skeptical believer who still holds to a beautiful faith despite wounding experiences in the Christian community.
At a time when de-conversion stories have become all too common, this is an earnest response - the compelling conversion of an unlikely believer whose questions ultimately led her to irresistible hope. Sharp addresses her own struggle with the reality that God's people repeatedly give God's story a bad name and takes a careful look at how the current church often inadvertently produces atheists despite its life-giving message.
For those who feel the ever-present tension between the beauty of salvation and the dark side of human nature, Why I Still Believe is a candid and approachable case for believing in God when you really want to walk away. With fresh and thoughtful insights, this spiritual narrative presents relevant answers to haunting questions like:
- Isn't there too much pain and suffering to believe?
- Is it okay to have doubt?
- What if Jesus' story is a copy of another story?
- Is there any evidence for Jesus' resurrection?
- Does atheism explain the human experience better than Christianity can?
- How can the truth of Christianity matter when the behaviors of Christians are reprehensible?
At once logical and loving, Sharp reframes the gospel as it truly is: the good news of redemption. With firmly grounded truths, Why I Still Believe is an affirming reminder that the hypocrisy of Christians can never negate the transforming grace and truth of Christ.
Further resources and discussion questions are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Mary Jo Sharp (P)2019 ZondervanListeners also enjoyed...
-
Live Your Truth and Other Lies
- Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed
- By: Alisa Childers
- Narrated by: Alisa Childers
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We’ve all seen the memes that populate the internet: live your truth, follow your heart, you only have one life to live. They sound nice and positive. But what if these slogans are actually lies that unhinge us from reality and leave us anxious and exhausted? Another Gospel? author Alisa Childers invites you to examine modern lies that are disguised as truths in today’s culture. Everyday messages of peace, fulfillment, and empowerment swirl around social media. On the surface, they seem like sentiments of freedom and hope, but in reality, they are deeply deceptive.
-
-
Meh
- By E. Yecke on 02-20-23
By: Alisa Childers
-
Street Smarts
- Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges
- By: Gregory Koukl
- Narrated by: Gregory Koukl, Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gregory Koukl's best-selling book of practical apologetics, Tactics, wrote the game plan for discussing your Christian convictions with skeptics. In this follow-up, Koukl—a leader of clear-thinking Christianity—reveals the fundamental flaws in common, current challenges to Christian beliefs and values and provides step-by-step strategies to question and reveal those shortcomings.
-
-
Mind blowing
- By Amazon Customer on 12-10-23
By: Gregory Koukl
-
Person of Interest
- Why Jesus Still Matters in a World That Rejects the Bible
- By: J. Warner Wallace
- Narrated by: J. Warner Wallace
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can the truth about Jesus be uncovered - even without a body or a crime scene? Join cold-case detective and best-selling author J. Warner Wallace as he investigates Jesus using an innovative and unique approach he employs to solve real missing person murder cases. In Person of Interest, Wallace carefully sifts through the evidence from history alone, without relying on the New Testament. You'll understand like never before how Jesus, the most significant person in history, changed the world.
-
-
If you ignore this book, you'll regret it!
- By Esmar Martin Hansen on 09-21-21
-
I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
- By: Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek, David Limbaugh - foreword
- Narrated by: Marcus Jackman
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To some, the concept of having faith in a higher power or a set of religious beliefs is nonsensical. Indeed, many view religion in general, and Christianity in particular, as unfounded and unreasonable. 6Norman Geisler and Frank Turek argue, however, that Christianity is not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, but is indeed more rational than unbelief itself. With conviction and clear thinking, Geisler and Turek guide listeners through some of the traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God.
-
-
Devastating
- By Joe Royal on 03-24-23
By: Norman L. Geisler, and others
-
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
- Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections
- By: Nabeel Qureshi, Lee Strobel - foreword
- Narrated by: Nabeel Qureshi, Michelle Qureshi, Lee Strobel, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, now expanded with new bonus content, Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way. Providing an intimate window into a loving Muslim home, Qureshi shares how he developed a passion for Islam before discovering, almost against his will, evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and claimed to be God.
-
-
INCREDIBLE!!! This book affected me greatly!!!
- By Maria on 08-24-18
By: Nabeel Qureshi, and others
-
Faithfully Different
- Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture
- By: Natasha Crain
- Narrated by: Natasha Crain
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an increasingly secular society, those who have a biblical worldview are now a shrinking minority. As mainstream culture grows more hostile toward the Bible’s truths and those who embrace them, you’ll face mounting pressures — from family, friends, media, academia, and government — to change and even abandon your beliefs. But these challenges also create abundant opportunities to stand strong for Christ and shine light to those hurt by the darkness of our day.
-
-
We’ll narrated surprise!
- By AppleJack Honey on 03-09-22
By: Natasha Crain
-
Live Your Truth and Other Lies
- Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed
- By: Alisa Childers
- Narrated by: Alisa Childers
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We’ve all seen the memes that populate the internet: live your truth, follow your heart, you only have one life to live. They sound nice and positive. But what if these slogans are actually lies that unhinge us from reality and leave us anxious and exhausted? Another Gospel? author Alisa Childers invites you to examine modern lies that are disguised as truths in today’s culture. Everyday messages of peace, fulfillment, and empowerment swirl around social media. On the surface, they seem like sentiments of freedom and hope, but in reality, they are deeply deceptive.
-
-
Meh
- By E. Yecke on 02-20-23
By: Alisa Childers
-
Street Smarts
- Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges
- By: Gregory Koukl
- Narrated by: Gregory Koukl, Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gregory Koukl's best-selling book of practical apologetics, Tactics, wrote the game plan for discussing your Christian convictions with skeptics. In this follow-up, Koukl—a leader of clear-thinking Christianity—reveals the fundamental flaws in common, current challenges to Christian beliefs and values and provides step-by-step strategies to question and reveal those shortcomings.
-
-
Mind blowing
- By Amazon Customer on 12-10-23
By: Gregory Koukl
-
Person of Interest
- Why Jesus Still Matters in a World That Rejects the Bible
- By: J. Warner Wallace
- Narrated by: J. Warner Wallace
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can the truth about Jesus be uncovered - even without a body or a crime scene? Join cold-case detective and best-selling author J. Warner Wallace as he investigates Jesus using an innovative and unique approach he employs to solve real missing person murder cases. In Person of Interest, Wallace carefully sifts through the evidence from history alone, without relying on the New Testament. You'll understand like never before how Jesus, the most significant person in history, changed the world.
-
-
If you ignore this book, you'll regret it!
- By Esmar Martin Hansen on 09-21-21
-
I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
- By: Norman L. Geisler, Frank Turek, David Limbaugh - foreword
- Narrated by: Marcus Jackman
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To some, the concept of having faith in a higher power or a set of religious beliefs is nonsensical. Indeed, many view religion in general, and Christianity in particular, as unfounded and unreasonable. 6Norman Geisler and Frank Turek argue, however, that Christianity is not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, but is indeed more rational than unbelief itself. With conviction and clear thinking, Geisler and Turek guide listeners through some of the traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God.
-
-
Devastating
- By Joe Royal on 03-24-23
By: Norman L. Geisler, and others
-
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
- Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections
- By: Nabeel Qureshi, Lee Strobel - foreword
- Narrated by: Nabeel Qureshi, Michelle Qureshi, Lee Strobel, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, now expanded with new bonus content, Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way. Providing an intimate window into a loving Muslim home, Qureshi shares how he developed a passion for Islam before discovering, almost against his will, evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and claimed to be God.
-
-
INCREDIBLE!!! This book affected me greatly!!!
- By Maria on 08-24-18
By: Nabeel Qureshi, and others
-
Faithfully Different
- Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture
- By: Natasha Crain
- Narrated by: Natasha Crain
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an increasingly secular society, those who have a biblical worldview are now a shrinking minority. As mainstream culture grows more hostile toward the Bible’s truths and those who embrace them, you’ll face mounting pressures — from family, friends, media, academia, and government — to change and even abandon your beliefs. But these challenges also create abundant opportunities to stand strong for Christ and shine light to those hurt by the darkness of our day.
-
-
We’ll narrated surprise!
- By AppleJack Honey on 03-09-22
By: Natasha Crain
-
Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition
- A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
- By: Gregory Koukl, Lee Strobel - foreword
- Narrated by: Gregory Koukl
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a culture increasingly indifferent or even hostile to Christian truth, followers of Christ need to be equipped to communicate with those who do not speak their language or accept their source of authority. In Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition, Gregory Koukl demonstrates how to artfully regain control of conversations, keeping them moving forward in constructive ways through thoughtful diplomacy. Step-by-step, you'll learn the tactics of good persuasion and defense, how to identify the tactics of your opponent, and how to build your case, patiently and practically.
-
-
Awesome Book
- By Dee Venable on 12-06-19
By: Gregory Koukl, and others
-
Cold-Case Christianity (10th Anniversary Edition)
- A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels
- By: J. Warner Wallace
- Narrated by: J. Warner Wallace
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide detective J. Warner Wallace applies ten common rules of evidence to make the case for Christianity in this completely updated and expanded edition of the apologetic classic. A devout atheist, J. Warner Wallace couldn’t imagine believing in the Christian faith—until he applied the same step-by-step investigative process he utilized in his work as a homicide detective to the case for Christianity. In light of the ten common rules of evidence that he’d used to solve crimes throughout his career, Wallace realized he could no longer deny the truth of Jesus Christ.
-
-
An Amazing Approach to the Bible
- By Chris on 04-22-24
-
Stealing From God
- Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case
- By: Frank Turek
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if your best reasons to doubt God prove that He exists? In an engaging and memorable way, Stealing From God shows how many atheistic arguments, instead of disproving God, reveal that He actually exists.
-
-
TERRIBLE NARRATOR
- By Joshua Donahue on 10-22-16
By: Frank Turek
-
All My Knotted-Up Life
- A Memoir
- By: Beth Moore
- Narrated by: Beth Moore
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All My Knotted-Up Life is a beautifully crafted portrait of resilience and survival, a poignant reminder of God’s enduring faithfulness, and proof positive that if we ever truly took the time to hear people’s full stories . . . we’d all walk around slack-jawed.
-
-
Finished in one day
- By nedmac mama on 02-22-23
By: Beth Moore
-
No God but One: Allah or Jesus?
- A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity
- By: Nabeel Qureshi
- Narrated by: Nabeel Qureshi
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On account of the superficial points of agreement between Islam and Christianity, many don't see how tremendously deep the divides between them really are, and fewer still have considered the evidence for each faith. How is jihad different from the Crusades? Can we know the life of Jesus as well as the life of Muhammad? What reason is there to believe in one faith over the other, and what difference can the Gospel really make?
-
-
WOW!!
- By Theresa on 08-17-16
By: Nabeel Qureshi
-
The Case for a Creator
- By: Lee Strobel
- Narrated by: Lee Strobel
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lee Strobel became convinced that God was outmoded. Today science is supports the conclusion that the universe was intelligently designed. Darwinism has faltered in the face of facts and hard reason. Science definitely gives faith a boost as new findings emerge about the complexity of our universe. Strobel re-examines the theories that once led him away from God. You'll encounter discoveries from cosmology, DNA research, and human consciousness that present evidence in The Case for a Creator.
-
-
Case closed...or opened?
- By KML on 10-25-04
By: Lee Strobel
-
The Prodigal God
- Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
- By: Timothy Keller
- Narrated by: Timothy Keller
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity, Timothy Keller uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.
-
-
didn't attend church, now want to
- By Dalem on 12-19-09
By: Timothy Keller
-
Evidence That Demands a Verdict
- Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World
- By: Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell PhD
- Narrated by: Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell PhD, Bob Souer
- Length: 42 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern apologetics classic that started it all is now completely revised and updated - because the truth of the Bible doesn't change, but its critics do. With the original Evidence That Demands a Verdict, best-selling author Josh McDowell gave Christian audiences the answers they needed to defend their faith against the harshest critics and skeptics. Now, with his son Sean McDowell, Josh McDowell has updated and expanded this classic resource for a new generation. This is a book that invites listeners to bring their doubts.
-
-
Lexicons aren't best suited for Audible
- By Leifen on 10-24-17
By: Josh McDowell, and others
-
The Hidden Prince
- By: Tessa Afshar
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The beloved daughter of Jewish captives in Babylon, Keren is sold into Daniel’s household to help her family survive. She becomes Daniel’s most trusted scribe, while taking lessons and swordsmanship training alongside Daniel’s sons and their best friend, Jared. But after a tragic accident changes the course of her life, Keren finds herself in a foreign country, charged with a mysterious task: teaching a shepherd boy how to become a lord. When she overhears whispers that hint at his true identity, she realizes she must protect him from the schemes of a bloodthirsty king.
-
-
Wow! This is the author's best book yet!
- By Carrie on 12-05-22
By: Tessa Afshar
-
The Harbinger
- By: Jonathan Cahn
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cahn
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before its end as a nation, there appeared in ancient Israel nine specific warnings and omens of national destruction. These same nine harbingers are now manifesting in America with profound ramifications for America’s future and end-time prophecy. Hidden in an ancient biblical prophecy from Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretell recent American events down to the exact days.
-
-
Shocking & scary- all should read
- By Skye on 01-13-21
By: Jonathan Cahn
-
Misled
- 7 Lies That Distort the Gospel (and How You Can Discern the Truth)
- By: Allen Parr
- Narrated by: Allen Parr, Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gospel is under attack today—not only from outside cultural forces but also from within the church. In Misled, popular YouTuber and Bible teacher Allen Parr equips listeners to identify and withstand seven of the most common false teachings that undermine the gospel and lead many well-meaning Christians astray.
-
-
MisLed
- By Donnie Thomas on 06-20-23
By: Allen Parr
-
Mama Bear Apologetics
- Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies
- By: Hillary Morgan Ferrer
- Narrated by: Hillary Morgan Ferrer
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mama Bear Apologetics is the audiobook you've been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications - including prayer strategies - this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids.
-
-
Great book
- By Nathalie H. on 07-03-20
Critic reviews
"By discussing her own struggles and ways to address them, Sharp hopes to connect with others who deal with these barriers as well. She emphasizes that when people share their own faith stories, they can supplement the logical arguments with authentic life experiences. Her goal is to address both unbelievers who are exploring religious faith as well as believers whose faith commitment have happened somewhat recently.... Recommended for those interested in apologetics, both from theistic as well as a nontheistic perspectives." (Library Journal)
What listeners say about Why I Still Believe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abby and Luis Salazar
- 05-11-23
Thought provoking
Deep and resonating a TRUTH well grounded and revealing. I’m so grateful to have such a great apologetic resource to turn to in response to atheistic views and discussions. Well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kent Huff
- 03-06-21
Why I Still Believe, an atheist's journey to God
This is the book I've thought of writing for so many years but have been too busy or lazy to do so. Mary Jo captured so eloquently the struggles I've gone through. Maybe some day, hopefully soon, I will share my own story like she suggests. While I found it a bit too academic and cerebral at times, overall it was very mind-opening. I highly recommend the book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy
- 11-19-24
interesting & informative
I learned a lot from this book. It was very interesting & informative. I never thought about including beauty in church & why that's important. I have never thought about having deeper answers for why I believe.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jessica
- 11-15-19
A fantastic read for anyone....
This is a fantastic read for anyone who has had questions or isn't sure they have questions. It is a book that will make you think and then make you question why you believe that. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Melanie A
- 11-07-19
a tree beard story
A good story with a bite. It is a well thought out reply to Christians and to Atheists. The author hits hard with experiences and thoughtful arguments.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason A. Wimpee
- 07-20-23
A waste of time
Why I still believe I wasted a credit. I thought this was going to be Intellectual
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!