What an absolutely dynamite article! It’s a keeper! I’m one for whom religion has always raised far more questions than it answers. It’s gotten me into a lot of trouble in my 50+ years (doubly so, because I’m a preacher’s kid and we’re supposed to “set a good example” for everyone else) and even driven me out of the church proper (but not out of my Christian faith, thank God) for years at a time.
I’ve never been afraid of doubt; rather than being a threat, it’s necessary to faith. It’s the part of faith that doesn’t let it get lazy but keeps it fresh, moving and growing to meet life’s changes. That faith in turn is the thing has kept me going when “belief” and “beliefs” have gone straight down the dumper (sometimes for years) and carried me through the many times (and right now is one of them) when I’ve considered myself “not a believer in the conventional sense of the word.” A faith fueled by doubt and the resulting questions has kept me from giving up on the whole “Christianity thing” even in the worst of times.
The Bible says that faith without works is dead; life has taught me that faith without doubt, without questions, is every bit as dead.God bless the questions, and God bless you and your truly prophetic words. — CCW Sparks
