Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Summit Lecture Series 18: Dealing with Doubts, part 2 with Brett Kunkle

Summit Lecture Series 18: Dealing with Doubts, part 2 with Brett Kunkle

Last updated on: April 11, 2014 at 2:16 pm by Christian Podcast Central

Summit Lecture Series 18: Dealing with Doubts, part 2 with Brett Kunkle 2014-04-11T14:16:38-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One key to dealing with intellectual doubt is to make sure that you plug into – and keep yourself plugged into – Christian community. When you’re going through periods of doubt, one of the worst things you can do is to unplug and remove yourself from the church and other believers.

As C.S. Lewis said, “…daily prayers and religious reading and church-going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed.”

And the primary vehicle that we are “fed” today is God’s Church.

But, what if it’s not you, but a friend who is struggling with intellectual doubt?

You need to patiently answer their questions.

1 Peter 3:15

15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

But how do we practically do this?

Start with questions. What do they believe? Why do they believe that? What are their specific doubts? Avoid the pressure of immediately diving into your answers, but instead become a safe person for them to express their questions and doubts to.

Secondly, listen patiently. Be careful not to respond in such a way to appear hypocritical or judgmental, but give them space to unpack their thoughts.

Then thirdly, use apologetics as they raise their questions in regards to the knowledge that you have learned.

Now, there’s a second type of doubt that many Christians wrestle with known as Emotional or Psychological Doubt. This is when we actually question God’s goodness. It may be cause by pain, depression, feelings of anxiety, broken relationships or any host of other negative experiences that rattle our understanding of God’s character.

Os Guinness puts it this way:

“The problem is not that reason attacks faith, but that emotions overwhelm reason as well as faith, and it’s impossible for reasons to dissuade them… [This kind of] doubt comes just at the point where the believer’s emotions rise up and overpower the understanding of faith. Out-voted, out-gunned, faith is pressed back and hemmed in by the unruly mob of raging emotions that only a while earlier were quiet, orderly citizens of the personality. Reason is cut down, obedience is thrown out, and for a while the rule of emotions is as sovereign as it is violent.”

Now, when we look at psychology, we see Sigmund Freud saying that belief in God is untrustworthy because of what he claimed as its psychological origin: that a Christian’s belief in God is nothing more than a psychological projection, or wish fulfillment.

However, fundamentally, this perspective commits what is known in logic and debate circles as the Genetic Fallacy. You see, simply because you can attack the genesis, or origin –of someone’s belief does not mean that their belief is untrue.

On the other side of Freud’s coin, Paul Vitz states in his book, Faith of the Fatherless: the Psychology of Atheism, that almost all of history’s most renown atheists suffered some sort of breakdown in their relationships with their fathers.

Vitz discovers that belief in God is not a psychological projection rooted in a need for a loving father figure as Freud expressed; but rather it’s actually the rejection of God that is rooted in psychological repression stemming from a painful experience in the atheists’ life having to do with their earthy father figure.

christian bible study podcast

christian culture podcast

is the bible reliable

Previous Post

April 11, 2014

Blending Your StepFamily 31: Helping Your Child Cope, Part 1: You Must Take Care of You

Next Post

April 16, 2014 The Daren Streblow Comedy Show Mini-Cast 49: Horsemeat, Tim Hawkins & Zan

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz