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THE QUESTION
Mother Teresa and Doubt
In her letters, Mother Teresa expressed doubts about the existence of God and lamented the absence of a personal sense of Jesus' love in her life. Does this make you think more or less of her? To what extent is doubt a part of religious faith?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on August 29, 2007 4:59 AM
FROM THE PANEL
Doubt Goes Hand in Hand with Faith
The apparent abandonment by God of the poor and the helpless would be enough to shake the faith of anyone.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on September 10, 2007 10:07 AM
No Faith Without a Doubt
Faith and doubt are the two sides of the same religious experience.
Posted by Gardner Calvin Taylor, on September 4, 2007 12:54 PM
But She Did Help the Poor, Right?
A few days back I read somewhere that Thomas Jefferson was a lousy public speaker. Interesting, but kind of beside the point, I thought. I've had something of the same reaction to the news that Mother Teresa often felt cut...
Posted by Gustav Niebuhr, on September 4, 2007 11:03 AM
Trust Christ, Not Feelings
The recent revelations of Mother Teresa's spiritual struggle should remind all believing Christians that our faith is in Christ -- not in our feelings.
Posted by R. Albert Mohler Jr., on September 4, 2007 9:31 AM
Belief is Harder than Disbelief
Teresa continued to work within religion despite her doubts of God’s presence. That makes her a saint.
Posted by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, on September 4, 2007 8:35 AM
Sacred Doubt
These letters remind us that any faith that is certain is no faith at all just as any love never doubted is very shallow love.
Posted by Irwin Kula, on September 4, 2007 7:34 AM
Mother Teresa and the Experience of Faith
I think less of those who use her experience of the absence of God as proof for the non-existence of God.
Posted by Martin Marty, on September 4, 2007 6:34 AM
God With Us?
She struggled with a different question: does God exist right here with me at this time?
Posted by William J. Byron, on September 3, 2007 10:41 AM
Mother Teresa's Via Dolorosa
If Job can question the plan of Providence and if Jesus can cry out “Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me”, then Mother Teresa can, without tarnish or shame, be admired in the midst of her doubts and fears. In...
Posted by Samuel Rodriguez, on September 3, 2007 9:13 AM
Faithful to Christ Despite Doubts
That Mother Teresa continued to long for God as she labored in the soul-alienating slums of Calcutta signifies the genuineness of her faith.
Posted by Kathleen Flake, on September 3, 2007 8:22 AM
Without Doubt, We Don't Grow
Doubt is the fertilizer of faith. We don’t grow without it. I would never presume that Mother Teresa’s faith was sealed with certainty. These thoughts of hers make her in my mind all the more human, and all the more...
Posted by Jim Cooper, on September 3, 2007 7:49 AM
Doubts Are Inevitable, But Hope Prevails
Despite the 50-plus years of spiritual struggle, she kept going. A person of lesser faith would have quit.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on September 2, 2007 2:11 PM
I Believe in Doubt
I favor doubt. I believe in doubt. I even believe that doubt itself must be doubted....
Posted by Elie Wiesel, on September 2, 2007 12:11 PM
Faith and Doubt Fellow Travelers
Faith and doubt are twin brothers or sisters in the human condition. The Qur'an recognizes the capacity of the human being to believe or not to believe. Believing in the visible and the tangible is more widely acknowledged by most...
Posted by Sulayman Nyang, on September 2, 2007 10:50 AM
Not Even Saints are Perfect
The problem with putting people like Mother Teresa on a pedestal is that it lets us off the hook.
Posted by Thomas J. Reese, S.J., on September 1, 2007 7:32 AM
The Sacrifice of Reason
Teresa’s response to her own bewilderment and hypocrisy (her term) reveals just how like quicksand religious faith can be.
Posted by Sam Harris, on August 31, 2007 9:03 AM
Faith + Doubt = Progress
Faith and doubt are the legs on which the collective human mind walks.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on August 31, 2007 8:59 AM
A Distinguished List of Doubters
Being faithful does not mean being uncritical, or mindless, or unwilling to question even our most deeply held convictions of faith.
Posted by Chester Gillis, on August 31, 2007 7:44 AM
Doubt is Not Disbelief
In her actions as well as her words, she exhibited more faith than any doubter -- or non doubter -- I have known.
Posted by Cal Thomas, on August 30, 2007 10:03 AM
Looking for God in Calcutta
What is truly tragic is that Mother Teresa never expressed these doubts in public while she was alive.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on August 30, 2007 9:05 AM
The Agony of Misplaced Ecstasy
How many millions of priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, nuns and monks around the world are living lives of similar duplicity?
Posted by Daniel C. Dennett, on August 30, 2007 8:56 AM
No Pain, No Gain
Sometimes doubt is absolutely essential. I think of doubt as analogous to pain.
Posted by Brian D. McLaren, on August 30, 2007 7:02 AM
Road to Sainthood Paved with Good Publicity
What is striking about Teresa's doubt is that it is all about her. She is concerned about the destiny of Teresa.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on August 29, 2007 8:11 AM
We Live By Faith, Not Certainty
Mother Teresa has helped to affirm many who are passing through this period of desolation and dryness when God seems so remote.
Posted by Desmond Tutu, on August 29, 2007 7:09 AM
Old News, Ancient Experiences
There is no contradiction between faith and questioning, or between faith and a sense of spiritual aridness.
Posted by George Weigel, on August 29, 2007 6:57 AM
Wrestling with God
This is why Mother Teresa is a SAINT! She lives in my SOUL! Doubt is essential to an authentic life of faith. Several of those we call saints talk of the same kind of things we read in Mother Teresa's...
Posted by Bob Edgar, on August 29, 2007 5:02 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
Henry James: Faith in An Evil God?
Yes, we realize that usually faith and doubt co-exist in our human hearts.
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