For a Christian with Doubts

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Dear Brother or Sister in Christ,

     Below you'll find some advice and recommendations. But first, a couple of points that may be reassuring.

     For a genuine Christian to experience times of doubt about one or more of the things we believe is not uncommon, and it's not something to feel guilty or be sheepish about. In fact, some genuine Christians have always had one or more unanswered questions that they're on the lookout for a resolution of -- without feeling anxious about it. They realize that a person's core trust in Christ does not depend on their being certain about every Christian belief.

     No belief system or worldview has a conclusive answer to every question that can be raised about it. Recalling that fact is helpful to me when I myself experience doubt. More specifically, I remember how, when my atheism and naturalism were challenged by the evidence for God and Christianity, I started seeing all kinds of reasons to doubt the truth of my worldview -- reasons stronger than any doubts I've experienced as a Christian believer.

     Please always feel free to drop me a line at lee.in.ws@gmail.com!

                                                            Lee

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Advice/Recommendations

• Don't keep your doubts to yourself. Talk about them with a pastor and/or other believers whose knowledge and judgment you respect. Then touch base with them regularly as your thoughts develop.

• Don't let your prayer life, Bible reading, or participation in worship dwindle. Those are channels of connection between you and Christ. If you impair them because of feeling unmotivated and pessimistic, that pessimism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: even if Christ is real, your decreased opportunities for connection with him can lead to it seeming like he's not there.

• Pray specifically for help with the uncertainty in your mind or heart -- like the possessed boy's father who said to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief!"

• Don't start trying to find a different foundation for your life, like someone "on the rebound" after a romantic relationship ends. That father I just spoke of: though he needed help with his "unbelief," he pursued Jesus as his best hope for the healing of his son. (And Jesus healed him.)

• Keep in mind that central Christian realities such as Christ's divinity, his atonement for your sinfulness, and his resurrection do not depend on secondary beliefs such as the virgin birth or the Bible's being free of any kind of error on any subject whatsoever. For more on this, see the very last bullet on this page. 

• Mine the rich resources of Christian apologetics on video, in podcasts, and in print. See the "Resources" list below.

• Keep in mind that scholars defending Christianity are just as "credentialed" as skeptical ones. And they've been more than holding their own against skeptics for the last 2,000 years. It's "not your job" to be able personally to answer any and every question that can be raised regarding Christianity. 

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Resources

• The videos on the home page of Exatheist Friend.

• "Needless Obstacles to Belief."

• The websites, podcasts, and books recommended here, especially BibleThinker.org, TalkAboutDoubts.com, and ColdCaseChristianity.com.

• The nutshell summations below of some key points about common concerns.

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Key Points re Common Concerns & Questions

Note: Videos on each of the following concerns and others may be found on the home page in the ongoing compilation from YouTube.

• LGBTQ folk  Two terrible misconceptions are widespread in America regarding the Christian perspective on same-sex attraction (SSA):

  • Misconception #1:  In Christianity it's considered sinful to experience SSA.

  • Misconception #2:  A person who experiences SSA is less welcome at churches (genuinely Christian churches) or is considered less able to be a good Christian than other people.​

To learn about the true Christian perspective, go to the "LGBTQ & Other Diversity" section of the videos to be found on the Home page.

• Hell  There are three schools of thought within biblical Christianity on how to understand the scriptural passages about hell. 
       The adherents of all them agree that Jesus taught that deliberately rejecting him in this life has truly woeful consequences after death (encapsulated in the word "hell"), and that he yearns for us to avoid them by putting our trust in him. 
       Where the three views disagree is primarily on the duration of those dire consequences.
       The most widely held view is that those who keep rejecting Christ to the end of their earthly life are destined to live in that woeful condition forever.
       The second-most favored interpretation takes at face value verses like John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." In other words, those who do not believe will perish. Immortality is a gift God grants to those who are united to Christ, while for those who keep separate from him, life ends forever soon after the time of their earthly death. This view is sometimes called conditional immortality.
       Coming in a distant third is the understanding that those who do not put their trust in Christ in this life will have continuing opportunities to do so after death, and everyone will do so eventually. In the meantime, those who haven't will be in a painful state of separation from God. This is called Christian universalism.
       The conditional-immortality view has a growing following. The universalist view is seen as much the most questionable by most Christians, whether scholars or laypeople. However, holding it is not incompatible with  being a saved follower of Jesus.
       I myself have become convinced of conditional immortality. This is on the basis of my examining relevant biblical passages with an attempt at objectivity, but I must say I hoped CI would appear to be true. To me (from my admittedly very limited human standpoint), for the unsaved to perish seems more in accord with God's nature than for them to suffer eternally.

• The Bible  Believing that the Bible contains no errors whatsoever is not required in order to be a saved follower of Jesus Christ. If God allowed one of the authors to make an error regarding something minor, that's no reason to think he allowed errors in important matters such as who Jesus is and how to be saved through him.

• Why does God allow great evil and suffering?  God hasn't revealed to us a clear or comprehensive answer to that question. However, we know that the answer is not that he doesn't love us. We know that because, for our sakes, he chose to become one of us and suffer and die on the cross.

• The only beliefs necessary for becoming a Christian are, essentially, that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, you need salvation, and Christ alone can provide it. Then you need to accept that free gift from him and become his follower, in spirit and how you live (there's more on this here).
       Important: While following Jesus needs to include showing respect for all his teachings and striving to act in accordance with them, it does not need to include being able to understand the reasons for every teaching of his or feeling “comfortable” with every one of them.

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