Here are the rather extensive notes I shared with the Adult Class this morning on “Doubt”.

Trinity Church

Newport, Rhode Island

Doubt

Sunday April 3rd 2016

“When they saw Him, they worshiped but some were doubtful” Matthew 28:17
“They” – the community
“Worshiped” – the value of worship
“Some were doubtful” – the interplay/commingling of faith and doubt. The accepting containment of the Christian community

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:27 “Be not unbelieving (apistos) but believing (pistos)” – faith leading to action not only knowledge!

In the New Testament doubt is about equally used to translate diaporeo, and diakrino, and their cognates. The first means “to be without resource,” “utterly at a loss,” “nonplussed”; and the second, “to judge diversely.” For the first, see John 13:22; Acts 2:12 the King James Version; Acts 5:24 the King James Version; Acts 10:17 the King James Version; Acts 25:20 the King James Version; and Galatians 4:20 the King James Version. For the second see Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23; Acts 10:20; Romans 14:23. The last-named is deserving of particular attention. “He that doubteth is condemned (the King James Version “damned”) if he eat,” means that in a case of uncertainty as to one’s Christian liberty, it were better to err on the side of restraint. In Luke 12:29 “to be of doubtful mind” (meteorizo, literally, “to suspend”; see Thayer, under the word), means “to be driven by gusts,” or “to fluctuate in mid-air.”

Respect for the Question

St. Anselm “Ours is a faith that seeks understanding”.

The call to childlike faith is not a call to simple unquestioned faith; children seem to be born with question marks.

The Value of Doubt
“Doubt has also led humanity to challenge the old beliefs that taught the forces of nature were manifestations of the gods and goddesses. Doubt has allowed us to discover that lightning is not a divine weapon, it is a natural force that can be harnessed to power the lifestyle that we now take for granted. Doubt has allowed us to discover that sickness and disease are not supernatural curses or demon possessions, they are natural phenomena that can be treated with medicine and therapy. Doubt has allowed us to peer beyond the clouds and find not Heaven, but an ever-expanding celestial frontier that beckons for exploration and expansion of the human experiment” – Dr. William Craig

The Human Condition and Doubt
In the Gospels 153 times people approached Jesus with a question and 147 times Jesus responded with a question.
And yet…
“As a child I attended a church that had little room for inquisitiveness.  If you doubted or questioned, you sinned.  I learned to conform, as you must in a church like that.  Meanwhile those deep doubts, those deep questions, didn’t get answered in a satisfactory way.  The danger of such a church like that—and there are many—is that by saying, “Don’t doubt, just believe,” you don’t really resolve the doubts.  They tend to resurface in a more toxic form. Inquisitiveness and questioning are inevitable parts of the life of faith.  Where there is certainty there is no room for faith.  I encourage people not to doubt alone, rather to find some people who are safe “doubt companions,” and also to doubt their doubts as much as their faith.  But it doesn’t help simply to deny doubts or to feel guilty about them.  Many people, after all, have been down that path before and have emerged with a strong faith. .  The church has sometimes chastised people who admit their weakness and failure, and our society has an aversion to suffering.  So Christians naturally tend to hide behind a thin veneer of cheerfulness and health, while they secretly hurt and doubt.  Perhaps my books provide a relief for them to see someone actually voice those hurts and doubts in print.” – Dr. Philip Yancy.

The Psalms and Faith/Doubt Vacillation (and “Grumpy Job”)
“You need only read the Book of Psalms to recognize the same pattern in a relationship with God.  The psalms used to baffle me because they seemed so contradictory; read Psalm 22 (“My God, why have you forsaken me?”) and Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”) back to back.  Now I see that collection of poetry as an accurate expression of the vacillating feelings in a faith relationship; That’s normal, I believe, in any long-term relationship ” – ibid.

Remember, grumpy Job emerges as the hero of that book, not his theologically defensive friends.

Thomas In Situ
“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews… A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them… the doors were shut…”

• Evening and darkness
• Exhaustion and collapse
• Escape and fear
• Enablement and process

A Proposed Cure?

• Remembrance and Rehearsal of God’s Mighty Deeds (not words)
• Realistic acceptance of physical and psychosomatic fragility
• Rejoin the community of faith (remember the “we” of our creedal statement; the man brought by his friends)
• Resolve to worship in community

Appendix A – Three Heroes Who Doubted

• Thomas Doubts the Resurrection

One of Jesus’ own disciples—someone who had perhaps spent years witnessing miracles, traveling with Christ, and learning at Jesus’ feet—famously doubted that his master had been raised from the dead. Note that an entire week went by before he saw Jesus—plenty of time for questions and doubt to gnaw at his mind. But when Thomas finally saw the risen Christ, his doubt fled:
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” — John 20:24-29

• Gideon Shies Away From God’s Call

Could God use one man to turn the tide against Israel’s oppressors? Perhaps, but Gideon doubted that God could use him to do it. He tested God twice (challenging God to provide proof of his reliability through a series of miracles) before he would believe. God humored him—and through Gideon, God lead the Israelites to victory.
Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. — Judges 6:36ff (NIV)

• Sarah and Abraham Laugh at God’s Promise

Abraham and his wife Sarah are two of the most important figures in the Old Testament. Both followed God faithfully through a lifetime of challenges and trials. But they couldn’t quite bring themselves to believe one promise God made to them: that they would give birth to a son in their old age. In fact, they both laughed at the prospect. Once their son Isaac was born, however, Abraham’s trust in God had grown so great that he was willing even to sacrifice that promised son if God asked. Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. […]
Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” — Genesis 17:17-22, 18:10-15

Far from bringing about apostasy and despair, those experiences of doubt usually lead to a deeper faith. And in each case, God’s response is not wrath but patience; far from punishing His doubting followers, God honors those who seek after Him with earnest questions and doubt. Let us proclaim along with Mark 9:15: “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Appendix B – The Cure for Doubt based on an Exposition of Psalm 77
http://www.raystedman.org/old-testament/psalms/the-cure-for-doubt