Overcoming Doubt

             In my last post, I argued that doubt is normal and not something to fear or be ashamed of. Instead, doubt ought to be embraced as an opportunity to research and further increase our confidence that the claims of Christianity are true. In this post, I would like to continue this topic and discuss the best ways to deal with doubt when we experience it.

            Again, the first thing we must do is embrace doubt and not fear it. When we have doubts, we need to bring them out in the open and talk about them rather than ignore them. During periods of doubt we should talk to others who have struggled with similar questions to benefit from their experience and the answers they found to their own questions. There will never be a point in our lives when we will be sure to never again experience periods of doubt, so it should not surprise us. Even C.S. Lewis, probably one of the greatest defenders of Christianity who ever lived, once said “There are times when my Christian faith seems very improbable.” But Lewis recognized that it is human nature to have doubts occasionally, no matter what our beliefs are, and he follows the above quote by saying “... there were many times when I was an atheist that atheism seemed improbable as well.”

            We can separate doubt into two general categories, each of which will require a different approach. In a broad sense, doubt will be either intellectual or emotional. Intellectual doubt occurs when we encounter new information that raises questions to which we do not yet have answers. It is good for this to happen occasionally because it means we are learning new things and exploring new territory. We may hear of a new scientific theory that seems to explain the origin of the universe by purely naturalistic processes, or some historical evidence that seems to cast doubt on the resurrection of Jesus or the trustworthiness of the Bible. This type of doubt can be overcome by looking further into the matter and finding answers. As a result, once a particular question has been answered, it may not be a source of further doubt in the future.

            The other type of doubt, likely far more common, is emotional doubt. This kind of doubt often (but not always) is triggered by a personal event, perhaps a tragedy. Emotional doubt often has something to do with the abundance of suffering and evil in the world, which causes us to wonder how a good God could exist and tolerate such things. But it may be as simple as a feeling that our belief in God is silly and similar, for example, to belief in Santa Claus. This doubt is very much like the inevitable fluctuation of feelings in a long-term marriage. And unlike intellectual doubt, it can have the same cause repeatedly.

 It is very important for us to be able to distinguish between these two types of doubt. Have we stumbled upon a new question that we should look into further? Or is it simply a temporary feeling that makes Christianity seem unlikely to be true?

            Next, we need to be familiar with the most common arguments for and against Christianity. It is tempting to focus entirely on arguments for Christianity and assume this is sufficient, but this may leave us defenseless if we encounter an argument in conversation that we’ve never heard before. Some of us will dig more deeply into this than others, but we all should have a general knowledge of both sides. There are an abundance of books, Youtube videos, and other resources that many of us never take advantage of. If we know the basic arguments in favor of Christianity, we will be prepared when we encounter objections. And if we are familiar with the basic objections, we will be prepared and not be caught off guard when we hear them.

One mistake that often leads to people walking away from God is that as soon as they encounter a challenge to their beliefs, they assume that because they haven’t yet found an adequate answer, there must not be one. If we stumble upon an unresolved issue or question, we should continue to search for an answer! Undoubtedly it’s a question that many people have struggled with before us, and at least some of them have found an answer.

Debates over the truth of Christianity tend to focus on science, history, or philosophy. Scientific arguments deal with the origin of the universe and life, whether there are sufficient naturalistic explanations for what we observe, and whether there are signs of an intelligent designer. Historical arguments deal with the reliability of the Bible and whether Jesus was a real historical figure, and whether He literally rose from the dead. And philosophical arguments deal with problems such as the abundance of suffering the world, God’s sovereignty vs. human free will, or issues having to do with morality. Familiarity with each of these categories is essential to building up a solid defense against doubt.

Additionally, we should also always remember that the case for Christianity is cumulative. No single piece of information is enough to prove that God is real and the claims of Christianity are true. Often, when we doubt, it is because our minds have fixated on a single weak point in the evidence for Christianity. Maintaining a sense of the big picture will help keep things in the proper perspective.

Most of these ideas must be implemented on an ongoing basis. They may be useful preparation, but what do we do when we are afflicted with sudden doubt? It’s not as though we can always drop what we’re doing and conduct research. I have found that the most effective method for dealing with this has to do with the idea that doubt is either intellectual or emotional. The key is to choose two things to remember that we will keep ready for moments of doubt. The first should be the single most convincing intellectual support for Christianity that we know of. My personal favorite is the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection, because it is so central to Christianity and also one of the most well-attested historical events having to do with Christianity. Alternatively, we should choose one event in our own lives, a time when God clearly intervened in our lives that is difficult to explain otherwise (if we can’t think of one, we ought to ask God to provide one!). The idea is that we will have both of these readily available to call to mind whenever we have moments of doubt, whether the doubt is intellectual or emotional, without requiring the lengthy process of conducting further research. And each may be most effective for the opposite type of doubt. For example, if the intellectual case for Christianity begins to appear insufficient, we can remind ourselves of our personal experience of God’s intervention in our lives. And if we begin to doubt our own feelings and experience, we can remind ourselves of the objective intellectual facts that also points toward the truth of Christianity.

Finally, we must eventually make a commitment regarding what we believe. Periods of doubt should be transitional and temporary. There will still be times when we will wonder if we really know what we think we know, no matter how certain we are of it. But we cannot remain in a position of uncertainty forever, since we can never have 100% certainty about anything (unless we are omniscient!). Eventually, we have to make a choice, or else we will forever waver between one option and another. This is similar to getting married. It is impossible to know with 100% certainty that we have chosen the right spouse, but if we insisted on this level of certainty, we simply would never get married! And once we are married, we should not allow rising and falling emotions cause us to go back on our commitment. Similarly, once we’ve determined that belief in the truth of Christianity is justified, we need to make a commitment and determine not to allow temporary periods of doubt to sway us. Otherwise we will never move forward in our relationship with God. This doesn’t mean we won’t experience times when we wonder whether we made the correct choice. But if we have put in the necessary time and effort to look into the evidence for Christianity for ourselves, when our emotions waver, we will be able to remind ourselves that we have done so and that there is no need for our temporary doubt to undermine our beliefs. 

Is it Wrong to Doubt?

James 1:6 says that a person who doubts is like “a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” And in John 20:29, after Thomas doubts that Jesus has risen from the dead, Jesus says to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Verses such as these certainly don’t cast doubt in a positive light. On the surface, they seem to be implying that God will be more pleased with us if we believe without questioning and never have doubts. Many authors and speakers warn against the dangers of doubt and encourage us to take every thought captive, not allowing ourselves to entertain any thoughts that are contrary to the truth. But is doubt a sin? Is it dangerous? Should it be avoided?  

The answer is complicated, but in a simple sense I would answer “no” to all three of these questions. However, I would like to explore this issue a little more deeply, because I feel that there are some misconceptions we may have about doubt that could be a greater threat to our beliefs than doubt itself.

Often we fear that if we experience doubt, fellow Christians, or God Himself, will be disappointed with us. We may think it is a sign of weak faith, or perhaps even that we are not true Christians. And even if we admit to ourselves that there are times we experience doubt, we may be reluctant to admit it to others. It is imperative that we understand doubt and not be afraid of it, as doubt actually is a necessary and powerful tool for acquiring knowledge, determining truth, and setting our beliefs on a solid foundation.

The first thing we must understand is that doubt is normal. In fact, we will all have doubts at some point about nearly everything, so it isn’t unusual that sometimes we may doubt the truth of Christianity. At various times I have doubted whether I was marrying the right person, whether I had chosen the right career, whether I could trust a friend of mine, my ability to perform a particular task, and all kinds of other things. Sometimes our doubts are reasonable, and sometimes they’re completely crazy. As we mature, we (hopefully) become better at distinguishing between reasonable and unreasonable doubts, and are better able to tune out the unreasonable ones. But there will always be times when we pause for a moment and ask ourselves whether we’re really sure about a particular thing. As George W. Bush wrote in his book Decision Points, “If you haven’t doubted, you haven’t thought very hard about what you believe.”

Doubt is not only normal, it occurs involuntarily, which is key to understanding whether it is inherently wrong. We don’t choose to doubt something; it is simply a natural result of certain thoughts and emotions. Therefore, doubt cannot be a sin, since sin is a voluntary rebellious choice. Our only choice is how to respond to it.

The second important point is that doubt is not only normal, it is essential for critical thinking. Beliefs that have not been doubted are on a very shaky foundation, whereas those that have been doubted at some point and have stood the test are much stronger. The default position whenever we hear new information should be to doubt it, and it is this doubt that motivates us to check it out for ourselves and find out whether it is true. The alternative would be to accept automatically any new information we hear, which would be extreme gullibility. It is this process of doubting and checking things out that weeds out unfounded assertions and helps us become more confident in the things that are reasonable to believe.

Thirdly, doubt is not a position, it’s a method. Many who hear the word “doubt” may think of it as the opposite of belief or faith. We may imagine that it means a permanent resistance to acceptance of the claims of Christianity, but this is not what the word implies. Like I said before, the opposite of doubt is gullibility. It is the starting position we ought to have regarding any new information, but the goal will always be to investigate further until we can accept or reject a proposition. In either case, we don’t remain in a position of doubt. Doubt is merely the middle ground between accepting and rejecting a truth claim.

How, then, do we interpret verses such as the ones mentioned above? To answer this question we must differentiate between two different types of doubt a Christian may have. The first type is doubt that God is real, the Bible is accurate, or that Christianity is true. The second type is doubt that God can be trusted or that He really loves us or has our best interests in mind. Notice that the latter already accepts those things that are doubted by the former. I believe it is to this second type of doubt that the verses above are referring. The verse in James is referring to asking God for wisdom, but then doubting that He will answer that prayer. And Thomas was not doubting anything basic such as the existence of God. He had been around Jesus for quite a while and seen plenty of evidence that Jesus was who He said He was. Jesus was chastising him for not trusting that He would do what He said He would (rise from the dead). Therefore, these verses are not condemning the former type of doubt. In fact, elsewhere the Bible encourages a healthy skepticism, such as in 1 Thes. 5:21, where it says to “..test all things” and “hold fast to the good.”

To return to the point I made earlier, it is particularly important that we create an environment in which we are all encouraged to bring up our questions and doubts, to admit when we’re struggling with certain beliefs and talk to those who may be able to help us work through it. If we fail to do this, Christians who struggle with doubt will be far more likely to walk away from God not only because they haven’t found adequate answers to their questions, but also because of the perceived necessity to put on a facade and pretend they are not feeling and thinking what they are.

The logical follow-up issue is how to deal with and overcome doubt. However, this is a topic for another time. For now, my main goal has been to argue that doubt is normal, not something to be afraid or ashamed of, and something which we need to be more willing to discuss openly without judgment. Ultimately, doubt can be a powerful tool for making more solid our conviction that Christianity is true, by putting it to the test and revealing that it does hold up to scrutiny.