78 Answers Pt 4: No Doubt

 A common concept I find repeated by atheists is the idea that "faith" means that one forces themselves to think a certain way, despite their true hidden thoughts. Most would often say that Christians believe without or despite evidence. Because of that I find a lot of questions posed by atheists that aim to either jostle believers out of their security with "gotcha" moments, or that try to make Christians aware of their own doubt. This video had it's own share of these questions, but only two of them will be addressed in this blog post. Oh, yeah, and there is this really dumb one. 17  Is there anything in your life that makes you doubt God's existence? 18 How would your life change if you had serious doubts about God's existence?19 Was Jesus white? Let's start with the dumb one. Was Jesus white? No. Don't ask stupid questions anymore. Ok?      The Bible beautifully addresses doubt with the story of the disciple Thomas, often called Thomas the Doubter. You can find this story in John 20:24-29.   This story takes place after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thomas is one of Jesus's twelve disciples that was not present for Christ's first post-resurrection appearance to his followers.  Thomas's words on the subject are very reminiscent of modern sentiment. "Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails. And place my hand in his side, I will never believe"    Eight days after this Jesus appears again to the disciples and the embarrassed Thomas is given exactly what he asked for.  The point of this is not that Jesus gave in to Thomas's requests. He was under no obligation to do so, and Thomas's doubt was not only arrogant in the face of so much evidence, but also poorly founded, as Jesus had blatantly told the disciples exactly what was going to happen to him.  The amazing thing about this story is how kind and gentle Jesus was with his errant follower. He did not accuse him, call him an idiot, or even attempt to discipline him. Jesus patiently gave Thomas all he needed to believe and taught him.    Now, many people might argue that God is failing somehow by not giving us this direct proof in the same way as He did for Thomas. What they fail to understand however was that Thomas was not an unbeliever, but a Christian already: a disciple of which Jesus said "I have not lost one of those that you have given me." (John 18:9) For unbelievers Jesus has words as well. "If they won't listen to Moses or the Prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone is raised from the dead" (Luke 16:31).   When I ,as a Christian, deal with doubt it is very different from how most Atheists would believe I deal with it. And I do doubt. I doubt very often. My life is by no means easy or safe, though no person makes it through life without a good deal of bruises and scars. Not only that, there are some real hard questions out there, and many convincing arguments.  When I face questions in my life, whether they be theological, emotional or historical and scientific, I take it on like a bull. That might not always be a good thing. Some obstacles you can easy barrel through, some are much more difficult. I remember some doubts as a child leaving me in a state of fear so strong that I couldn't sleep and was constantly throwing up and unable to eat for nearly three months. I discuss this more in my book "He walks the Earth, A Biblical Conversation on Spiritual Warfare". My bookshelf doesn't just contain amazing books on apologetics and theology, but a fair amount of Atheistic counterparts. This is because I often seek out the strongest opposing arguments.  When I approach this however, I do it very differently than an unbeliever would. I do not challenge God or demand He give me proof. I approach the subject with the full belief that God is Truth, and that it will be reflected in every aspect of life. I seek out those questions that are the hardest and lay them before God, inviting Him to show me the truth. I weigh each argument with as much wisdom and intelligence as I can and carefully    I have gotten to the point in my Christian life that I no longer doubt that there is a God who hears me when I pray. I have no doubts when faced with scientific or historical questions because I understand the overwhelming weight of evidence that falls on the side of the Christian world view. I see the holes in philosophies and have enough understanding to hold my own in most arguments. This isn't because I'm shockingly intelligent, but because I am determined.   My doubts have been plentiful, and the greater the doubt, the more convinced I find myself emerging from it. While not all Christians take this approach I find that doubt and trials are some of the greatest trainers in the Christian faith. You can sit and listen to a wonderful sermon, or be comforted by the wisest of friends and pastors, but faith takes on an entirely new meaning when you have wrestled with God in the stillness of many sleepless nights. This is what it means to come to questions from a mindset of faith. It is a willingness to find truth, and trust that if God is real, that means finding Him.   How would my life change if this didn't happen. Firstly, I've come to a place in my faith now that I can't imagine anything shaking me out of my faith. I believe I will face doubt again, but doubt is different from losing faith.   I couldn't leave Christianity without defying truth, the evidence is too overwhelming.  But if something were strong enough to shake me out of my faith my life would change in almost every way. For starters, I would feel no obligations to any earthy expectations. Freedom, you say, good. NO! When morality rests on Christianity (and make no doubt, it does) and meaning depends on God and life has gone from a worthwhile endeavor to an empty wasteland there is no reason for anything but the worst of human nature to persist. I'm not a hedonist, in fact, I quite hate myself, so there wouldn't be a lot of deterrence to me fulfilling all the worst desires of my heart. I cannot foresee the world benefiting greatly from my fall from faith.   " If God doesn't exist, everything is permitted" from "Brothers Karamazov"  Thank God that in Christ those great evils of my heart that would rot me to the core are slain on the Cross and all that lives in me is Christ.   Now, what if we asked the reverse of these questions to a believer. If there was evidence that God existed, would you give your life over to him?