doubt

Yesterday Scot McKnight posted a letter from a Christian who is doubting his faith. Many left good comments, and I left a comment as well. Today Scot replies in a letter to this brother. At least reading the brother’s letter (who requested input from Jesus Creed readers as well as from Scot) and Scot’s reply would be well worth a little of your time, so if you’re short on time I’d suggest that you skip the rest of this post and go to the above two links.

I see doubt as the companion of faith. Faith by nature is about relationship. Sometimes relationship to data either accepted or rejected. To some extent this is true in the Christian faith, but above and beyond that,  faith is inherently about relationship to a person, the Christian faith grounded in the person of God as revealed from Scripture, preeminently in Jesus.

Faith by nature involves a commitment of trust. Some trust science and the peer review of scientists and accept what is the latest in developing theories which are actually shown to be evident through ongoing hypotheses and testings of such. And there is good in that kind of knowledge, not contrary to the Christian faith. But faith in the Triune God is with reference to another body of knowledge which while testable to some extent with reference to its historicity, and I refer here to Jesus’ resurrection which is at the heart of the Christian faith, it is a knowledge gained in another sphere which we might call spiritual.

God the Creator created humankind to relate to him on a personal level. Of course the creator is not part of what is created which is why we call relating to that creator as spiritual as opposed to embodied relating which we humans do, though that too is inclusive of an inner sense, or what we can call spiritual. God did breech this divide in the person of Jesus through the incarnation when the Word became flesh/human.

Faith on an ongoing every day level is accompanied by doubt, as the faith God calls us to involves risk and change. It is not just about some sweet by and by day but has everything to do with our existence today. Involving all kinds of issues related to our personal lives, our interaction with others, our daily responsibilities- in the context of God’s will in Jesus found from Scripture and testified to by the community of faith.

So in my experience I feel like I’m in over my head. My own doubts are not so much with reference to the truthfulness of the Christian faith, but more in the outworking of that faith in my life and in the lives of those I know. Doubt is a companion of faith in that faith is an expression of commitment to God in obedience and trust in spite of what appears contrary to it. The world by nature is contrary to the kingdom of God so that we can expect to live in a tension in this life in a faith that is contrary to what the world holds as true, and values.

Let me add that I most certainly include intellectual doubts about the faith. Thomas doubted, and this is neither to be feared nor despised but worked through, and I would add in community with others who can help us by their faith. In fact if we don’t have intellectual doubts that we work through, I doubt that we have a very well thought out, robust faith. Though humans are “cut out” differently, so that this won’t apply to all.

Much more to say on this, and I’ve said more than enough for here. I’d encourage any reader to look at the posts on Jesus Creed cited above. Some helpful thoughts there, particularly from Scot’s letter.

Any thoughts you’d like to share on doubt?