Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopal priest with a gift for writing meaningful sermons with staying power. Help My Unbelief is a collection of her messages from the late 1900s, roughly organized by questions people ask about the faith.

Rutledge speaks in an easy-to-understand voice that belies the depth of her theological vision. She regularly drops a line that cuts to the core of the human condition. Consider her message on “Love and Power”:

Power to the powerless is an infinitely threatening idea because it might mean that you and I have to give up some of it. (100)

If you’re anything like me, you were ready to “amen” Rutledge through the first half of that sentence—then the ending hit.

Another strength of Rutledge is her ability to creatively marry scripture, theology and current events. Of course, the current events in this volume are pre-9/11, but that doesn’t make them any less meaningful. That this volume is a 20th anniversary reprint testifies to the enduring strength of her homilies.

Rutledge, Fleming. Help My Unbelief. 20th Anniversary ed., Eerdmans, 2020.