Posted on 01/17/2023 4:24:37 AM PST by metmom
Does doubt make us stronger? Is it ‘Christian’ to have doubts? There is very little I don’t doubt. Throughout my life and its many twists and turns, I have often been filled with doubts. The good news is that doubt isn’t going to rob you of the goodness of God. He won’t withhold himself from you just because your faith is mixed in with questions and uncertainties. Jesus still healed the child of the father who cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (see Mark 9:17-27).
God is a holy God, and we should always approach him with reverence; but doubt is not irreverence, and God understands our questions. He doesn’t diminish his relationship with us or his miracle-working power in us if our faith is sometimes mixed with doubt.
Believe it or not, doubt can promote a greater revelation of God within us. We can see more of God’s glory when we are willing to wrestle with our conflicts and get to the other side of our questions with a more solid faith and deeper knowledge of him.
There are three steps to working through doubt. First, approach your doubt with an honest heart. If we say, “I want truth and life,” we will find truth and life. If we’re trying to simply prove a point or avoid obedience to God, we aren’t being honest.
Next, take time to meditate and study the scriptures. We live such busy lives that many of us are holding on to doubts that we have simply ignored for years. We don’t take the time to quietly contemplate and enter those doubts. I use a notepad and write down things that I’m wrestling with. I reach for my Bible and seek out the harmony of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
Finally, find a good Christian friend to talk to. If you’re in a church environment where you can’t express your doubts, you need to find a person of faith who will listen with an open heart. Even pastors face doubts, and they especially need a trustworthy friend or counselor.
The Return ping
[and its many twists and turns, I have often been filled with doubts]
Boy does that hit home. Especially when I’ve dealt with bizarre encounters with friends I’ve known for over 20 years. They are heavily invested in THIS world.
Just had another one a few days ago. Totally bizarre - from left field.
Thank you, Metmom!
Have personally found that the intellect will, when ultimately appropriate, bow to the power of the will, allowing faith to blossom and swell to amazing proportions.
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T Aquinas on Intellect, Will, and Faith
By J. West
Philosophy
The acquisition of faith in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas is a process best understood in terms of the relationship between the human intellect and the will. Recent work in Aquinas’s religious epistemology has led some scholars to categorize Aquinas as a sort of volitionalist, i.e., one who holds that our personal beliefs can be changed through acts of the will or that “ willing “ beliefs is possible. Others have argued against this interpretation by claiming that any volitional theory of belief leads to both logical and phenomenological problems and that such a method of acquiring beliefs is epistemically irresponsible. In this paper I will seek to answer the following questions: What role, according to Aquinas, does the will play in the acquisition of faith? and Is Aquinas correct in believing that agents can will to believe certain propositions? In answering these questions, I shall argue that there is indeed a place for the will in our assent to certain propositions or beliefs, and that the will plays a crucial role in acquiring Christian faith. Finally, I will defend Aquinas’s volitionalism against objections.
It is awesome to engage and employ the intellect, logically and decisively, in these conundrums.
Ultimately, though, for the Christian, doubt is resolved the same way the apostles must have resolved their doubts: 1) their encounters with Christ, and 2) Pentecost. Same for us. These physical and metaphysical junctures are undeniable and last a lifetime.
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