COMPELLING TRUTH

The Best Christians Are Thinking Christians, Not Doubting Christians

One page/printer friendly
Continued from Page 1

As an example, it's one thing to think long and hard about why God allows evil to exist, but another thing entirely to doubt His goodness. While wrestling intellectually with theological matters such as theodicy sharpens our logical acumen and builds us up as we uncover answers, doubting God's omnibenevolence rots our faith.

Moreover, as Christians we need to steer clear of the postmodern concept of truth, which says no one can really no anything for certain (except, of course, that you can't know anything for certain…) Dr. de Vries quotes Paul who says we now see in a glass dimly (1 Cor. 13:12) and thus reaches the conclusion, "Consequently, we must doubt." But even he admits this doesn't mean we doubt all things. I'll add nor should we doubt things when it comes to God's truth.

I'm sure you'd agree the spirit that sows doubts with questions like "Has God said…?" is not something we ought to embrace.

On the contrary, Paul tells the Thessalonians that he brought the gospel to them with "full conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5), which literally means a "state of complete certainty." [3] In other words, there was no doubt in Paul's spirit as he delivered the gospel message.

Thinking Faith

When it comes to matters of the mind, although atheists and hardened agnostics make the exclusive claim that they alone are the ones who think logically and rationally, they couldn't be more wrong. The best Christians I know are powerful in the areas of logic and epistemology.

Further, skeptics overlook two important facts when it comes to faith and thinking. First, "faith" is never defined in the Bible as being blind, but rather a trust and confidence in something that has been evidentially proven to be trustworthy. [4]

Second, the Bible commands its readers to pursue responsible thinking and discards any notion of easy believe-ism or childish beliefs. As the Apostle Paul says, "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Corinthians 14:20).

One of the top Christian thinkers and apologists of the 20th century — Francis Schaeffer — put it like this, "It is unbiblical for anyone to say, 'just believe.'" [5]

So, without a doubt (pun intended), while a doubting Christian isn't the best Christian in my opinion, a thinking Christian is the best Christian, and I would argue, is the type of believer the Scripture commands us to be.

3. Danker and Bauer.
4. "Pistis" is the Greek term used in the New Testament for faith, and it means having trust in that which has been shown to be reliable and that which provides a sense of confidence. See "pistis" in Danker and Bauer. Also see Hebrews 11:1.
5. Francis Schaeffer, "The God Who is There" in Trilogy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 189.

Image credit: "Doubting Thomas" by Rembrandt, 1634; Public Domain

Tags: Biblical-Truth | Christian-Life | Theological-Beliefs

comments powered by Disqus

Published 2-11-14