Peter Enns has posted an abridged version of a lecture he presented at Asuza Pacific University in November of 2010. I think he shares some important insights that will be very helpful to anyone wrestling with belief and reason.What follows is an excerpt from that lecture. Click Here to read the whole thing.
The Benefit of Doubt
Doubting one’s faith in God is a very tough place to be. Faith in God is what keeps it all together when you are facing one of life’s many challenges.
Sometimes things happen in our lives—it may be one big catastrophe or a line of smaller things that pile up—and you start having a lot of doubts. At first, when you have those disruptive thoughts, you try to push them to the side, hoping they’ll just go away, before God notices.
They don’t and he doesn’t.
So you feel your faith in God slipping away—and it is unsettling, disorienting, and frightening to watch that happen. You doubt that God cares, that he is listening; you doubt that he is even aware of who you are—that he even exists.
In such a state of doubt about God, you feel like there is clearly something very wrong with you.
Allow me to interject how I've come to understand doubt, and propose a slightly different angle. (For the short answer, skip to the conclusion).
ReplyDeleteHe is correct in saying doubt is not the enemy of faith. I believe Os Guiness "In Two Minds" has correctly pointed out that unbelief is the opposite of faith, not doubt. Therefore, doubt does not mean that we have lost our faith. Doubt is being double-minded, as James states in Ja. 1.5-8. Tim Keller "The Reason For God" has also added that doubt comes from an alternate belief ie. God is good---God is not good.
There seem to be two schools of thought. 1) doubt is bad, suppress it 2) doubt is a virtue, embrace it. Enns seems to linger on option #2, when he says to "embrace doubt."
I would offer a third option. We all doubt. Welcome to the human experience. God knows it whether you express it or not. It is good to acknowledge our doubt. (Here is where I differ from Enns) Do not grow comfortable in your doubt. Uproot it with the purpose of dealing with it. It is a dangerous place to linger.
Yes, the Psalms are riddled with doubt. Enns mentions Psa. 73, an often quoted Psalm to lift up the "virtue of doubt." But look at it again. Asaph does not see his doubt as a virtue. After his expression of doubt, he says that to express this publicly would betray his people (v15). Why did this become a Psalm then? I believe it is because of his "sanctuary experience" from v.16-28 where his faith is renewed. Now his struggle is a testimony of faith. To share this would not betray his people, but encourage them in their doubts. Thus, the focus is the ending. The focus is on faith.
Habakkuk also deals with doubt properly. He finds himself between two minds. His circumstances say, "God is not doing anything" and God says "I am doing something." God's command is "live by faith"(2.4). Habakkuk's choice in 3.17-19 is faith. In your doubt, choose to live by faith.
Conclusion:
My concern is that we either 1) believe doubt is evil and we do not acknowledge it, or 2) we embrace it and treat it as a virtue.
The danger of option 1: Doubt will rule your heart. The most dangerous thing is to not deal with your doubt.
The danger of option 2: Doubt will rule your heart. If faith does not resolve your doubt, doubt will dissolve your faith.
I propose option 3: We all doubt. We should be aware and acknowledge that doubt, and then deal with it properly and solemnly. In the meantime, choose to live by faith.
Our discussion about doubt is not really about doubt. The true focus, purpose, and goal is faith - one that passes the test, endures the struggle, and survives the fire.
"find out how seriously a believer takes his doubt, and you will have an index of how seriously he takes his faith." - Os Guiness
Thanks, Seth. Good thoughts!
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