On the "place of questioning in faith."
The place is clear: it is central.
Begin scripturally:
- Abraham and Sarah questioned when told of potential good news
- The Psalmist questioned, on more pages than not
- Prophets like Habakkuk, asking what one book called 'The Eternal Why'
- The disciple Thomas questioned so much he gets nicknamed 'doubting Thomas'
- A questioning man in a Jesus-story said, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief"
- The disciples of Jesus did
- The apostle Paul dealt with the questions of faith and unfaith
- Oh, by the way, Jesus questioned: in a garden the night before he died and in a shout when he was dying, according to gospel stories. "My God, my God, WHY have you forsaken me?" is pretty strong.
- You could not get far in writing stories of saints and scholars in the Christian tradition--and, not likely, very far in other religions--without question marks
- My specialty in Christian history is Martin Luther, who regularly wrote and showed how the underside of faith is doubt, and that doubt never goes away permanently and completely.
Given that score for "Bible believers" and and believers through the ages, my question would be:
"Why and how could anyone question whether there is a place for doubt alongside, with, and in faith?"
Why? For one thing, believers would like to think that faith takes care of everything. It takes care of much, as we can hear when believers are grieving but not giving up. Faith would come easier, they think, we think, if doubt would go away.
For most thinkers in the tradition to which i referred, if faith went away, so would doubt wither and die.
Not to ask questions could be a sign of self-assurance, or of not having thought deeply about things, or an impulse to brag about how strong one is. . . .
Nothing I have written here suggests that asking questions has to lead to bad answers; believers are people who get enough positive responses to encourage them in faith.
Now should the recognition of the role of questioning means that one should cultivate doubt, wallow in it, brag about how ones has "overcome" doubt with faith.
Still, "faith" provides its own kinds of answers, enough to keep the questioners alert and to
help them see refinement of faith.
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