Faith and Doubt: How to Navigate Seasons of Spiritual Uncertainty
Our culture has perpetuated a dangerous logical fallacy: the belief that faith and doubt are binary distinctions. According to this misconception, a person with doubts cannot possibly be a person of faith. Tragically, this misunderstanding has caused many to walk away from whatever faith they had. On the flip side, it has also led others to avoid wrestling with their doubts, thereby missing out on opportunities for profound spiritual growth.
The Relationship Between Faith and Doubt
Doubts are not the antithesis of faith. Rather, faith and doubt are like dance partners, moving and flowing together to strengthen us. Consider the Apostle Thomas, famously nicknamed "Doubting Thomas" because he struggled to believe the resurrection when he first heard of it. Like many people, Thomas found the idea too good to be true. However, upon encountering the resurrected Jesus, his doubts transformed into unshakable conviction. Thomas went on to become one of the most effective missionaries in Christian history, ultimately traveling as far as southern India, where he was martyred while sharing the Gospel with a culture completely unfamiliar to his own.
“Doubts are not the antithesis of faith. Rather, faith and doubt are like dance partners, moving and flowing together to strengthen us.”
Similarly, King David—one of the most revered figures in both Jewish and Christian faiths—wrestled constantly with doubt throughout his life. Out of this struggle came some of the most beautiful and comforting poetry in human history: the Psalms. These writings simultaneously express joyful faith and profound despair, revealing that doubt and faith are deeply intertwined. David’s example reminds us that the struggle with doubt can lead to a deeper, richer faith—one that blesses not only us but also those around us.
Wrestling with Doubt in Modern Contexts
It’s hard to find anyone of sincere faith who hasn’t struggled with belief—whether in God’s existence or His personal love and provision. Tragedy and hardship almost always provoke questions about our understanding of God. Cultural pressures can have a similar effect. For example, growing up in the shadow of New York City as a child of liberal northeastern academic elites, I absorbed the subtle message that faith was a crutch for weak-minded people. Public school reinforced this notion, and I’ve seen many others shaken by the dismissive musings of college professors or public intellectuals antagonistic toward religious belief.
However, the tension between faith and doubt shouldn’t lead us to dismiss either side out of hand. Instead, it should drive us to think more deeply about faith and the claims of Scripture. As the late Dr. Timothy Keller put it, doubts can act as "antibodies" for our faith. Just as antibodies strengthen the body against disease, wrestling with doubt—when done honestly—can make our faith more resilient.
Personal Reflections on Doubt and Faith
As a young man, I dismissed religious faith because of pseudo-scientific arguments I encountered in high school biology class. It wasn’t until I revisited those ideas as an adult that I realized how thin and unconvincing they were. Along my spiritual journey, I read works by theologians and apologists like John Stott, Lee Strobel, and Ravi Zacharias, who showed me that belief in God was logically plausible. Philosophers like Alvin Plantinga opened my mind to the possibility that faith in God and Jesus Christ wasn’t just wishful thinking. Scientists like Paul Davies and Francis Collins demonstrated that the existence of a Creator is not only possible but probable, given the nature of the universe and the intricacies of life encoded in DNA.
Through this journey, I discovered something surprising: many people share the same doubts I once had. Wrestling with my own uncertainties not only deepened my faith but also equipped me to help others navigate their own questions. To extend Keller’s metaphor, just as antibodies protect against future infections, the process of struggling through doubt has made me less susceptible to being unsettled by new challenges to my faith. I had already thought deeply about the evidence for an intelligent Creator and the proofs of Jesus’s divinity, so I wasn’t easily shaken by new ideas or information.
Practical Steps for Embracing Faith and Doubt
Ask Questions Honestly: Don’t shy away from tough questions about your faith. Bring them to God, trusted mentors, or through studying Scripture.
Engage with Apologetics: Read works by theologians and scholars who address common doubts with reasoned arguments.
Seek Community: Share your doubts with a supportive faith community that can walk with you through your spiritual journey.
Reflect on Scripture: Spend time meditating on the Bible and how it addresses the interplay of faith and doubt.
A Final Reflection
Faith and doubt, when embraced together, can lead us into a richer, more resilient relationship with God. As C.S. Lewis famously articulated in Mere Christianity, Jesus’s trilemma forces us to confront the heart of our faith: Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or Lord? Wrestling with this question—and the doubts that arise along the way—can deepen not only our understanding but also our trust in God. As Jesus promises in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
So don’t fear your doubts. Instead, see them as an invitation to grow, to think deeply, and to build a faith that withstands the storms of life and blesses others in the process.