Is it okay to doubt?

[sevenatenine]

In the New Testament a something that often bugs me is the whole 'having faith and not doubting'.

Here are two examples:

James 1:6

"ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

Matt 21: 21
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."


I don't really understand this, I think faith is required, I think that it is okay not to know everything, and to decide to follow Christ. But I think it's fine to doubt and search to have intellectual ground.

 

[Dark_Lite]

If you don't know why you believe in something, why believe in it at all?

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

In the New Testament a something that often bugs me is the whole 'having faith and not doubting'.

Here are two examples:
James 1:6
"ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

Matt 21: 21
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I don't really understand this, I think faith is required, I think that it is okay not to know everything, and to decide to follow Christ. But I think it's fine to doubt and search to have intellectual ground.

Hi. Remember, Jesus was talking to the OC Judeans/Israelites still under the bondage of the Law Of Moses.

I don't think we will be able to lift a "mountain", however I did find Matt 21:21 interesting in relationg to Revelation 8:8


Matthew 21:21 Answering the Jesus said to them "verily I am saying to ye, if ever ye may be having Faith and no ye may be doubting, not only the of the fig-tree ye shall be doing, but even-ever to the Mountain, this ye may saying 'be being lifted up! and be being cast! into the Sea' it shall be becoming"
[Galatian 4:24,25/Revelation 8:8]

Reve 8:8 And the second Messenger trumpets and as-like a Mountain, great to fire burning, was cast into the Sea and became the third of the Sea blood [Matthew 21:21/Galatian 4:24, 25/Hebrew 12:18]

The Mountain in Matt 21 question - Christian Forums
The Mountain in Matt 21 question

 

[Jazmyn]

"Be merciful to those who doubt;" (Jude 1:22)

 

[Standing Up]

And there's the 'doubting Thomas' at the first Sunday appearance of Christ.

And on the next Sunday, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed.

And like LLOJ said, there was sign/wonders as a witness to who Christ was (owner of creation, for example).

 

[Hedgehog]

Act 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

These people searched the scriptures to see if the things they were hearing were so. So I think that, yes, it is okay to not know and to search. The scriptures say they were noble for doing that.

 

[Sphinx777]

Doubt, a status between belief and disbelief, involves uncertainty or distrust or lack of sureness of an alleged fact, an action, a motive, or a decision. Doubt brings into question some notion of a perceived "reality", and may involve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concerns for mistakes or faults or appropriateness. Some definitions of doubt emphasize the state in which the mind remains suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them.

The concept of doubt covers a range of phenomena: one can characterise both deliberate questioning of uncertainties and an emotional state of indecision as "doubt".

The term "to doubt" can also mean "to question one's circumstances and life-experience".

Doubt that god(s) exist may form the basis of agnosticism — the belief that one cannot determine the existence of god(s). It may also form or affect the basis of atheism, which can entail either not believing in god(s) or believing that no god(s) exist(s). Alternatively, doubt over the existence of god(s) may lead to acceptance of a particular religion: compare Pascal's Pensées. Doubt of a specific religion, scripturally or deistically, may bring into question the truth of that religion's set of beliefs. On the other hand, doubt as to some religious doctrines but the acceptance of others may lead to the growth of heresy and/or the splitting off of sects. Thus proto-Protestants doubted papal authority, and substituted alternative methods of governance in their new (but still recognizably similar) churches.

Christianity often debates doubt in the contexts of salvation and eventual redemption in an afterlife. This issue has become particularly important in the Protestant version of the Christian faith, which requires only acceptance of Jesus as saviour and intermediary with God for a positive outcome. The debate appears less important in most other religions and ethical traditions.

Doubt as a path towards (deeper) religious faith lies at the heart of the story of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Note in this respect the theological views of Georg Hermes:

... the starting-point and chief principle of every science, and hence of theology also, is not only methodical doubt, but positive doubt. One can believe only what one has perceived to be true from reasonable grounds, and consequently one must have the courage to continue doubting until one has found reliable grounds to satisfy the reason.

Christian existentialists such as Søren Kierkegaard suggest that for one to truly have faith in God, one would also have to doubt one's beliefs about God; the doubt is the rational part of a person's thought involved in weighing evidence, without which the faith would have no real substance. Faith is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to pragmatically justify the kind of total commitment involved in true religious faith or romantic love. Faith involves making that commitment anyway. Kierkegaard thought that to have faith is at the same time to have doubt.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio.

​

 

[Yarddog]

In the New Testament a something that often bugs me is the whole 'having faith and not doubting'.


I don't really understand this, I think faith is required, I think that it is okay not to know everything, and to decide to follow Christ. But I think it's fine to doubt and search to have intellectual ground.

Doubting is part of our nature as human beings. When bad things occur to us, we can all wonder about how the outcome will effect us and have doubts. That is why we pray for God's guidance.

A person who has been told that they have cancer may have many doubts but through prayer God can build us up so that, whatever the outcome, we can be strong in faith.

For me the difference is between the time we pray and when God reveals his plan for us. Seek to always trust what God reveals to you and do not doubt that.

Sometimes there is a fine line between being humble and being prideful and doubting our own spiritual wishes can be good. For me, doubting can be good and it can be bad, depending on each individual.

Use your time of weaknesses to seek a greater relationship with God and make sure that you praise him for the good times.

God Bless
Yarddog

 

[tulc]

Wait...there's someone who doesn't have doubts?
tulc(thought only the dead had no doubt)

 

[Standing Up]

Act 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

These people searched the scriptures to see if the things they were hearing were so. So I think that, yes, it is okay to not know and to search. The scriptures say they were noble for doing that.

Yes indeed. They also tested apostles and found some false (Rev).

Build faith, dispel doubt, by learning, searching the scripture, asking God for wisdom.

 

[christianmomof3]

Mark 9:24 Immediately, crying out, the father of the child said, I believe; help my unbelief!

 

[djconklin]

But I think it's fine to doubt and search to have intellectual ground.

By "doubt" it seems to me that you mean to have questions. The trick is to ask good questions. Not like "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" or "how do we know that Jesus really died on the Cross"? The first, to me, is nonsense. The second, to me, is based on a desire to not believe.

An example of good question would be the first scientists who as Christians sought to understand the reality that God had created. There's nothing wrong with that approach.

 

[CalmRon]

I don't know if it implied doubt of the part of Jesus but in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus most certain didn't want to go through what was coming. so I am reminded that He knows our hearts and is touched with our infirmities because he felt the same way himself without sin. To the OP if you are doubting your faith but want to cling to it, pray to God to help you; I think its fine to search for answers if you feel you must, but I would say go to God in prayer.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Yes indeed. They also tested apostles and found some false (Rev).

Build faith, dispel doubt, by learning, searching the scripture, asking God for wisdom.

If I remember correctly, isn't that what Solomon asked YHWH for in the OT/OC?

Matt 12:42 "A Queen of the south shall be being aroused/egerqhsetai <1453> (5701) in the judging with the generation/geneaV <1074>, this, and shall be condemning it/her.
That she came out of the ends of the land to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold! more of Solomon here!"