Can Faith and Doubt Co-Exist?

Can Faith and Doubt Co-Exist?

The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
Objection #6 – Can Faith and Doubt Co-Exist?

“Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe in the idea of God, and not in God himself.”  Madeleine L’Engle

In this final article from Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Faith, the once atheist now pastor and evangelist takes us to a major stumbling block for not only the lost but also for many of us who believe. Can Faith and Doubt Co-Exist? To help him explore the question Strobel interviewed Lynn Anderson, a former senior pastor with 30 years of experience, an adjunct professor for more than two decades at Abilene Christian University, the author a several books on the subject of faith and a Christian leader “whose faith journey has repeatedly taken him on torturous detours through the valley of the shadow of doubt.”

“I know, Lee, That you’re a former atheist,” Anderson said. “You could probably come up with a hundred questions about God that I wouldn’t know how to answer. But do you know what? It doesn’t matter, because I’ve discovered that this is true. Every time I discover a new insight, every time Jesus speaks to me personally in ways I can’t even articulate, every time I practice his teachings and experience the results – well, after a while I don’t care how many intellectual questions you have about why this can’t be true. I know it’s true.”

“It’s like you say, ‘Prove to me that a rainbow is beautiful.’ I say, ‘Well, it’s red and green.’ But you say, ‘I don’t like green and red together.’ I’d say, ‘But the way they are in the rainbow, it’s beautiful!’ I’ve never heard of anyone who thought a rainbow was ugly. When you are able to actually look at it for yourself, then I don’t need to say any more. You’ve seen it, you’ve experienced it, and you know it’s beautiful.”

“I think faith is like that. Eventually, you have to move out and do it. By the way, in the Gospel of John, faith is never a noun, it’s always a verb. Faith is action; it’s never just mental assent. It’s a direction of life. So when we begin to do faith, God begins to validate it. And the further we follow the journey, the more we know it’s true.”

“But remember that experience is just one avenue of evidence,” he cautioned. “You also have to clarify the object of your faith, to determine if there are valid reasons for believing it’s true. But the ultimate test of the pudding is in the eating. Buddhism does work for some things; atheism works for some things. But if you pursue the whole Jesus journey, you find that his teachings work consistently because they’re true. But Christianity isn’t true because it works; it works because it’s true.”

“And ironically, I feel less equipped to answer all the objections that come from brilliant skeptics. But do you know what? That doesn’t matter to me like it used to. Because I know this is true. I see it. I see it in my life, I see it in my marriage, I see it in my children, I see it in my relationships, I see it in other people’s lives when they’re changed by the power of God, when they’re renewed by him, when they’re freed by his truth.”

Anderson’s voice had an undercurrent of confident authority. Then with a ring of finality, he declared, “Lee, I’ve tasted, I’m telling you – I’ve tasted! And I have seen that the Lord is good.”

So can faith and doubt co-exist? Well, I’ve come to treasure the story of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, hoping that he would be healed. “(Jesus speaking) ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” Mark 9:23-24

Faith was declared, doubt was acknowledged and Jesus responded, the boy was healed. This father’s prayer has become mine.

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