Doubting Is Not the Opposite of Faith
A RELEVANT Magazine author says he came out of a crisis of faith during his doctoral studies with more humility and fewer answers.
Maybe you believe in God and couldn't explain why. A RELEVANT Magazine article argues that doubting is not the opposite of faith, and that repeating truths without examining them doesn't build conviction.
"God said it, end of story" falls short
The article opens with a familiar scene: someone who grew up in church, went to a Christian school or even served in ministry, and today doesn't know what they believe. Instead of sounding the alarm, the author lowers expectations: you won't answer all your questions, and your doubts won't just evaporate.
His target is inherited faith that was never thought through. He criticizes the old bumper sticker that treated the matter as closed because God had said it, arguing that this stance weakened faith instead of shielding it. And he brings in Dostoevsky, who described his own faith as a hosanna that had passed through a furnace of doubt.
«Mature faith is not the one that doesn't ask, but the one that asks and keeps trusting.»
One piece of data stopped me. The World Health Organization reported that anxiety and depression rose 25% worldwide during the pandemic.
According to the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, in the first months prayer searches grew 30% relative to total searches, the highest level on record.
People were doubting and praying at the same time. That isn't a contradiction: it's what faith looks like up close.
Certainty is not the enemy
I'm with the author this far; what bothers me is the framing. The text leans on Paul Tillich, for whom doubt is an element of faith, and on Peter Abelard, who saw constant questioning as the first step toward wisdom. But I wonder whether that approach ends up putting certainty on the wrong side of the courtroom.
I think it helps to separate three things we toss into the same bag. Doubt is an honest question looking for an answer. Unbelief is refusing to trust Someone who has already spoken. Skepticism as a lifestyle is never wanting an answer. Only the second is the opposite of faith.
Scripture doesn't reward the confidence of knowing everything. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (ESV). Assurance in a person and a promise, not in a complete blueprint.
The father of the boy in Mark 9:24 said what many keep quiet: "I believe; help my unbelief!" (ESV). Jesus didn't turn him away; he healed his son.
Deconstruct in public, believe in community
There's a difference between asking questions and turning the questions into a personal brand. Deconstruction sells: videos that dismantle other people's faith and leave an empty stage. Doubt shared with a pastor or a friend who doesn't panic moves forward. Doubt performed for an audience stalls, because its goal is no longer finding God.
The article gets something right that the church needs to hear: dismissing someone else's question helps no one. Jude wrote: "And have mercy on those who doubt" (Jude 1:22, ESV). Mercy with patience, not a three-point sermon or a quick diagnosis.
For a young person who grew up between two cultures and two languages, the topic weighs differently: you already live translating yourself. Asking questions doesn't make you less of a Christian. What does do harm is asking in the wrong place, or giving up on asking and holding on to a borrowed faith that can't survive an ordinary Tuesday.
Mature faith is not the one that doesn't ask, but the one that asks and keeps trusting.
This week, write down in a notebook the question you don't dare say out loud. Take it to prayer and to a trusted person who walks with you. What's yours?
