Why Are Christians Afraid To Doubt?

I used to work at a hockey arena.When a group of school kids came in to skate, you could tell right away which of the boys played hockey - they were by far the best skaters. You could also tell that some of the girls had done figure skating. But most of the girls and some of the boys were fairly clumsy skaters.There was one big kid, probably about twelve years old, who would never venture away from the edge. He skated all the way around the rink with at least one hand holding on to the boards, taking very short steps.The littler, clumsier kids fell down a lot more - but they had a lot more fun too.

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How do you choose a "final arbiter"? Aren't you the final arbiter of who the final arbiter is?

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I don't think being skeptical of our own worldview is really the issue. Our own worldview is really all there is.We need to be skeptical/cautious about what we incorporate into our own worldview.Our first worldview is usually Mommy. When something else comes into view we wonder, "What the @#$% is that?" We don't like it. We want Mommy back.As more and more things encroach on our worldview, some of them are accepted and some of them are rejected. Eventually, initial rejection often turns to initial curiosity and the selection process becomes more complex.That selection process should never stop. We should be as curious as a little child about new things, but we should be more intelligent and more critical about accepting them.We should also be willing to throw out the junk that got in there somehow and is no longer useful.

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From your description, it seems like your "learning experience" was learning how to rationalize away the doubts. I'm not sure that addresses the topic of why you might be afraid to doubt. Is it that you're afraid the rationalizations might become as unsatisfying to you as they are to me?

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Suppose you find a box of old calendars in the basement. Is it "true" that Christmas fell on a Friday in 1998? Or is it true that that calendar has little usefulness in 2007?"Reality" is what is useful and "irrelevance" is what is not.So why be afraid to throw out that old box of calendars? And instead of using that C. S. Lewis quote-a-day calendar as a crutch, why not think for yourself?

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I'm going to risk the Purple Wrath and answer this question: I'm not suggesting "what" you should think. That's my whole point: I'm suggesting that you should think.Why are Christians afraid to doubt? Maybe because doubting The Truth™ would make them responsible for their own thoughts?Trust is a wonderful thing. But how can you trust somebody else's thoughts if you can't trust your own?

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The question really really is, "Why not take a lot of chances?"Why cling to that one life-preserver? Why not swim for that lush green island? Keep the life preserver with you by all means, as a backup - but don't be afraid to move forward. Of course we would. Ask yourself why.

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I don't care what answers you have arrived at or how you got there. This thread isn't about the answers - it's about the questions. It isn't about the destination - it's about the journey.Why do you think you have "arrived"? Why are you afraid to walk out the door again?It doesn't matter how nice the destination is that you've arrived at. How do you know there isn't a better one down the road? Maybe "objective, systematized and thorough" criticism is the problem rather than the solution. Why not think outside the system, outside the box?

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I'm not talking about "irrational doubts". I'm talking about doubting the rationality of your pet beliefs. Doubt used properly removes irrational beliefs. As I have suggested, the major hazard seems to be the loss of irrationality. So what is a "vaild reason" to doubt?

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Knowing you have arrived and fear of going out again are completely different things. Columbus, Magellan, Hudson, Cook all died while exploring. They arrived and arrived and arrived but they kept on going out again. They understood that there is no final destination, only the journey. Who says I haven't tried it? Objective means that others will get the same results I do. That ain't gonna happen. As long as the subject is me, subjective is all there is.Systematic means inside the box. You can't test anything effectively without pushing the envelope.And no analysis is ever complete. You won't know until you get there.

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You lost me. Are you talking about your religion? Of course not. I've been where you are and it ain't "there". There's plenty more road.Edited by Ringo, : Capitalism.

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I'm not sure what you mean. I think I've been pretty consistent. (By the way, by "rationalize" I mean "make up plausible answers that appear to be rational". Is that the sticking point?) I never said anything of the sort. I said don't use Lewis as a crutch. By all means, read Lewis, undestand Lewis, incorporate Lewis' thoughts into your own and express your thoughts in your own words. This thread isn't about "typical Christian doubts". It's about the atypical doubts that Christians are afraid of. There is every reason. How can you know you have the "right" answer? Don't you doubt your own infallibility?Once more, the topic isn't about why you "shouldn't" doubt - it's why you're afraid to doubt. All you're doing is demonstrating that you are.

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No. We're not.We're talking about why (some) Christians would rather huddle in the dark with their Right Answers™ instead of having the courage to explore the questions. Forward. Why do I have to be looking "for" something?

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I don't know exactly what Phat had in mind. Maybe I've been using that general idea as a catch-all for generic doubt.But I can think of lots of things to doubt: Jesus' existence, Jesus' divinity, Paul's veracity, the Trinity, the Fall, the Flood, Satan, God's motives.... These are a few of my favouite doubts.

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Silly, silly, silly. The toes are in the front. Just keep following the toes. I thought you were the one who claimed to have found the Perfect Wave™.I doubt that you have.

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