A friend of mine, the Dok, recently became engaged and sent me some of his thoughts on getting married in a church setting. This led to a good discussion of Christian belief which we will begin to carry out online. With respect to the teaching of the 'Christian church' the Dok made the following statement.
If the people at the core of the church hold many negative qualities such as greed, dishonesty, pride, then it is quite easy to say that the church itself is somehow corrupt because of it. It is hard to receive teachings from a corrupt entity. All of my life I’ve been taught by others and have had it proven through experience that ideas, theories, thoughts, and hypothesis must be proven to be logically correct in order to be true. (bold-faced emphasis is my own)
First of all I agree with the Dok that anytime a debased person (someone who is consumed by greed or pride or dishonesty) speaks it will be difficult to believe even if what they say happens to be true. Since one of the fundamental tasks of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, a message of truth, this serves as incentive for the church to live it's corporate life in such a way as to make belief in it's message as easy to swallow as possible for those who now stand outside of faith.
The important thing to note, however, is that the church is not the source of truth (regardless of what the Catholic church may teach) but is an institution that simply recognizes the authoritative teaching of the Bible as the source of truth. The Bible is itself the source of truth and the church merely recognizes this to be true. Hence, when debating Christian thought it is my task to always refer back to the teachings of Scripture, not to the teachings of a particular church or denomination or any other such group. While the church might make belief in the teaching of scripture more or less easy to believe by it's more or less pure life, the church does not make the teachings of scripture to be more or less true by it's more or less pure life.
One final note is also in order. In the Dok's initial post he indicates the premise by which he lives his life. His premise is that "ideas, theories, thoughts, and hypothesis must be proven to be logically correct in order to be true." He completely undermines this premise, however, since the premise itself is based not on precise logical reasoning but was established via the teaching of others and his own (imperfect) subjective experience. In addition, it should be clarified that things are true because we can prove them but they are believed upon proof. His initial statement is fundamentally self-refuting. As a christian my premise is similar but different in an important way. I would phrase my premise as "ideas, theories, thoughts, and hypothesis must be either proven logically correct or revealed in scripture in order to be believed.".
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Doubting Doubt
The question of "doubt" in the mind and experience of the Christian has recently arisen since I've been asked to participate on a panel discussion centering on the topic of "doubt". The discussion is sponsored by our local Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and while I'm not certain of the composition or size of the panel I expect that they will all be speaking from within a Christian mindset.
In considering this issue the I quickly realized a need to define terms so as to bring clarity to the table. Doubt, when used as a verb, is "to be uncertain about; to consider questionable or unlikely; to hesitate to believe; or to distrust". Synonyms include mistrust, disbelief, question and antonyms include belief, faith, and trust.
It should be immediately apparent that it is foolish to be certain about something that is, by nature, uncertain. It is foolish to be absolutely certain about tomorrows weather or tomorrows stock market performance or even to place your complete trust in the the word of an unreliable man. It is equally foolish, however, to be uncertain about things which are intrinsically reliable. It is foolish to doubt the historicity of the holocaust or the law of gravity or, more to the point, to be uncertain, mistrusting and disbelieving of God and his Word.
Doubt is, of course, a universal human experience but we must carefully distinguish the source and object of our mistrust. Scripturally speaking, doubt in God and his Word is never tolerated or encouraged but is to be cast off. James 1:5-7 says it well when it says that "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.." If God is the object of our mistrust then we are in error, indulging our sin and must actively seek to believe. In doubting God and his Word we implicitly treat Him as unreliable and not worthy of our trust - we do not give him the glory that is due to his name.
Jesus never said that it was OK to doubt the things of God. When Peter saw Jesus walking on water and asks to come to him Jesus replies "Come". The text then relates that "Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" When Jesus speaks, in this case "Come", the only proper response is belief and complete faith without doubt or mistrust.
Perhaps one reason the so many believers entertain doubts is that they are simply not sure what God has actually said and so are unsure of what to believe. Belief must have an object; there must be external cognitive content; and hence the elimination of doubt must begin with the study of scripture and a corresponding submission to it's teaching. Apart from true knowledge doubt is inevitable and, according to both scripture and logic, a severe weakening of faith.
In considering this issue the I quickly realized a need to define terms so as to bring clarity to the table. Doubt, when used as a verb, is "to be uncertain about; to consider questionable or unlikely; to hesitate to believe; or to distrust". Synonyms include mistrust, disbelief, question and antonyms include belief, faith, and trust.
It should be immediately apparent that it is foolish to be certain about something that is, by nature, uncertain. It is foolish to be absolutely certain about tomorrows weather or tomorrows stock market performance or even to place your complete trust in the the word of an unreliable man. It is equally foolish, however, to be uncertain about things which are intrinsically reliable. It is foolish to doubt the historicity of the holocaust or the law of gravity or, more to the point, to be uncertain, mistrusting and disbelieving of God and his Word.
Doubt is, of course, a universal human experience but we must carefully distinguish the source and object of our mistrust. Scripturally speaking, doubt in God and his Word is never tolerated or encouraged but is to be cast off. James 1:5-7 says it well when it says that "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.." If God is the object of our mistrust then we are in error, indulging our sin and must actively seek to believe. In doubting God and his Word we implicitly treat Him as unreliable and not worthy of our trust - we do not give him the glory that is due to his name.
Jesus never said that it was OK to doubt the things of God. When Peter saw Jesus walking on water and asks to come to him Jesus replies "Come". The text then relates that "Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" When Jesus speaks, in this case "Come", the only proper response is belief and complete faith without doubt or mistrust.
Perhaps one reason the so many believers entertain doubts is that they are simply not sure what God has actually said and so are unsure of what to believe. Belief must have an object; there must be external cognitive content; and hence the elimination of doubt must begin with the study of scripture and a corresponding submission to it's teaching. Apart from true knowledge doubt is inevitable and, according to both scripture and logic, a severe weakening of faith.
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