Christian Doubt» Doubt

Blog Posts on Doubt

Mark Lefers — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:36:47 +0000

The Credo House has a nice series on doubt. C. Michael Patton asked several Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute one paragraph each on the issue of Christians and doubt. Below is the current list:

They also have a three part series on dealing with doubt (part 1, part 2, part 3). And other posts regarding doubt:

I know that some of the things mentioned above may not be applicable to everyone struggling with doubt; as each person’s struggle is unique. However, maybe there is something useful that you can pull out of the above blog posts.

On My Own – BarlowGirl

Mark Lefers — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:30:59 +0000

The first part of this song really hits home. However, the second part seemed like the writer was just wanting to hold onto an invisible (in my view possibly non-existent) God in order to not feel alone. I sometimes feel this draw. The emptiness of a universe without a Creator or personal God seems lonely and depressing sometimes. The desire to have a protector and savior is strong. But I still can’t believe when my whole mind thinks that type of belief is just wishful thinking, and maybe I am just on my own.

Click here to view the embedded video.

American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting

Mark Lefers — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:48:11 +0000

I signed up recently for the 2011 ASA Annual Meeting. The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a society of Christians in science that within the past year I have become a “member” of. I can’t really be a member because I no longer believe their statement of faith. However, I can be a “Friend of the ASA” and receive almost all the benefits (no voting). I signed up for the ASA because I wanted to get in contact with other Christian scientist and get help with my unbelief and see how they deal with the cognitive dissidence. The local ASA meetings have been very interesting. One interesting aspect is meeting attendees. The main group are retired older men that had a science background. The other main group are college students and professors (the meetings are held at Wheaton College). So I’m in the minority in both age and beliefs. I have also got the sense that members have varying views of how to deal with both science and religion. Some appear to be old earth creationist and some theistic evolutionist. But I have yet to talk to anyone about the deep issues of doubt and unbelief.

In going through the tentative program of the annual meeting, I’m getting more excited to go. Here are some of the interesting topics that are going to be talked about:

Science and Scripture: Interpreting the Information –Terry Morrison
Dinosaurs under the Microscope: A New Look at Old Dinosaurs – Mary Schweitzer
Stem Cells, Embryos and Ethics: A Continuing Controversy – William Hurlbut
The Study of Paleontology and the Creation Mandate – Keith B Miller
Physical Geography of the Eastern Nile Delta during the Bronze Age: Implications for the Location of the Red/Reed Sea – Stephen O Moshier
Reorientation’ Therapies and Same-Sex Desire: Are they Effective and Ethical? – Heather Looy
Does the Success of Science by Itself Provide Strong Support for Naturalism? – Peter Payne
Myth and Mystery: Fostering New Avenues of Dialogue for Faith and Science – Matthew M Huddleston
Climate Change: Why Are Science and Faith in Conflict? – Katharine Hayhoe
Prayers for Healing: Does God Change His Mind? – Paul H Lange

I’ll also be curious if there will be discussion of the Christianity Today cover story about evolution that came out last month. The Christianity Today article discusses the search for the historical Adam and the implications if there was no historical Adam and Eve. They quote people from both sides of the camp, the BioLogos group and “all the other real Christians”. One of the statistics that I found interesting was from a mail survey of ASA scientist. 66% of them accept that humans share ancestors with everything else, and 90% accept an old earth. This was kind of disheartening. First, this means that 34% of the ASA (an association of scientists!) rejects or doubts a basic tenet of evolution. Second is that there is still 10% who are young-earthers.

Another disheartening part of the Christianity Today article are some of the quotes by evangelical church leaders.

“If Adam doesn’t exist, Paul’s whole argument – that both sin and grace work ‘covenantally’-falls apart . . . If you don’t believe what he believes about Adam, you are denying the core of Paul’s teaching.” Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

“Can the Bible’s theology be true if the historical events on which the theology is based are false?. . . The hermeneutics behind theistic evolution are a Trojan horse that, once inside our gates, must cause the entire fortress of Christian belief to fall” Richard Phillips, South Carolina pastor.

Tough words to chew on. . .
Check out the American Scientific Affiliation podcasts

To Know You by Nichole Nordeman

Mark Lefers — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:11:26 +0000

Another song to add to my song list dealing with doubt and uncertainty.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s well past midnight
And I’m awake with questions that won’t
Wait for daylight
Separating fact from my imaginary fiction
On this shelf of my conviction
I need to find a place
Where You and I come face to face

Thomas needed
Proof that You had really risen
Undefeated
When he placed his fingers
Where the nails once broke Your skin
Did his faith finally begin?
I’ve lied if I’ve denied
The common ground I’ve shared with him

And I, I really want to know You
I want to make each day
A different way that I can show You how
I really want to love You
Be patient with my doubt
I’m just tryin’ to figure out Your will
And I really want to know You still

Nicodemus
Could not understand how You could
Truly free us
He struggled with the image
Of a grown man born again
We might have been good friends
Cuz sometimes I still question, too
How easily we come to You

No more campin’ on the porch of indecision
No more sleepin’ under stars of apathy
And it might be easier to dream
But dreamin’s not for me

My blogroll . . .

Mark Lefers — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:30:08 +0000

With my new format I removed the blogroll in order to better categorize and describe the various blogs I read in my search for faith.

[post_in_post]

I Will Not Be Moved by Natalie Grant

Mark Lefers — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 18:10:58 +0000

I have been moved.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have been the wayward child
I have acted out
I have questioned Sovereignty
And had my share of doubt
And though sometimes my prayers feel like
They’re bouncing off the sky
The hand I hold won’t let me go
And is the reason why…

[Chorus:]
I will stumble
I will fall down
But I will not be moved
I will make mistakes
I will face heartache
But I will not be moved
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
I will not be moved

Bitterness has plagued my heart
Many times before
My life has been like broken glass
And I have kept the score
Of all my shattered dreams and though it seemed
That I was far too gone
My brokenness helped me to see
It’s grace I’m standing on

[Chorus]

And the chaos in my life
Has been a badge I’ve worn
Though I have been torn
I will not be moved

[Chorus]

Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek

Mark Lefers — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:01:23 +0000

When doubt has me down, songs can be a great soothing balm. Some songs give comfort, some hope, some come alongside me in my hurt and pain. Here’s one that has been all of the above.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What will be left when I’ve drawn my last breath,
Besides the folks I’ve met and the folks who know me,
Will I discover a soul saving love,
Or just the dirt above and below me,

I’m a doubting thomas,
I took a promise,
But I do not feel safe,
Oh me of little faith,

Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face,
Then I beg to be spared ’cause I’m a coward,
If there’s a master of death I’ll bet he’s holding his breath,
As I show the blind and tell the deaf about his power,
I’m a doubting thomas,
I can’t keep my promises,
‘Cause i don’t know what’s safe,
oh me of little faith

Can I be used to help others find truth,
When I’m scared I’ll find proof that its a lie,
Can I be lead down a trail dropping bread crumbs,
That prove I’m not ready to die,

Please give me time to decipher the signs,
Please forgive me for time that I’ve wasted,

I’m a doubting thomas,
I’ll take your promise,
Though I know nothin’s safe,
Oh me of little faith

Pascal’s Pensées Audiobook Podcast Feed

Mark Lefers — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 02:03:32 +0000

While searching for something to listen to on my commute, I found this free audiobook podcast feed of Blaise Pascal’s Pensées. It is available for free download via Librivox.org. Total running time is over 11 hours. The Librivox page has links to all the texts and audio files, but the quickest way is to click on the links below:

RSS feed · Subscribe in iTunes

Update: Recommend just listening to Sections 3 & 4. If you have time, maybe Section 7. I didn’t find much usefulness in the rest. Below are some good quotes:

There is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t. — Blaise Pascal

There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy; the second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy. — Blaise Pascal

Reason’s final step is to realize that there are an infinite number of things which lie beyond it. It is simply feeble if it does not get as far as realizing that. — Blaise Pascal

There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable; those who serve God with all their heart because they know Him, and those who seek Him with all their heart because they do not know Him. — Blaise Pascal, SECTION III: OF THE NECESSITY OF THE WAGER

For it is indubitable that this life is but an instant of time, that the state of death is eternal, whatever its nature may be, and thus that all our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths according to the state of this eternity, that the only possible way of acting with sense and judgement is to decide our course in the light of this point, which ought to be our ultimate objective. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (427)

Men despise religion; they hate it and fear it is true. To remedy this, we must begin by showing that religion is not contrary to reason; that it is venerable, to inspire respect for it; then we must make it lovable, to make good men hope it is true; finally, we must prove it is true. Venerable, because it has perfect knowledge of man; lovable because it promises the true good. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (187)

What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence, nor the manifest presence of divinity, but the presence of a hidden God. Everything bears this stamp. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (449) / 142

We know truth not only through our reason but also through our heart. It is through the latter that we know first principles, and reason, which has nothing to do with it, tries in vain to refute them. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (110) / 28

I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being mistaken in believing it to be true. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées (386 /241)

Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies [are] so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it. — Blaise Pascal

Prophecies. If a single man had written a book foretelling the time and manner of Jesus’ coming and Jesus had come in conformity with these prophecies, this would carry infinite weight. But there is much more here. There is a succession of men over a period of 4,000 years, coming consistently and invariably one after the other, to foretell the same coming; there is an entire people proclaiming it, existing for 4,000 years to testify in a body to the certainty they feel about it, from which they cannot be deflected by whatever threats and persecutions they may suffer. This is of a quite different order of importance. — Blaise Pascal, Pensees, 332

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. — Blaise Pascal

The Resurrection of Jesus, A New Historiographical Approach by Michael Licona

Mark Lefers — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:59:52 +0000

I am going to start another large book, “The Resurrection of Jesus, A New Historiographical Approach” by Michael Licona. Licona says that this book seeks to produce a historical description of whether Jesus rose from the dead. Even though I know that Licona believes that Jesus rose from the dead, and that his book may slant the interpretation of the data to that belief, I feel like this book with it’s focus on the historical method will be helpful. The book looks daunting with 718 pages, but it should provide some good insight. I will try to provide reviews of different chapter as I go through this book. Wish me luck.

Check out the Google Preview below:

Desperate by Fireflight

Mark Lefers — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 03:40:28 +0000

Some may find this song by Fireflight helpful. There are some gems in the lyrics (see below). I also like the music as it encompasses some of the anger and desperation I feel inside.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seek and you will find, they say
but I’ve been looking everyday
for a way past this wall that’s in front of my face I’m on hands and knees searching for my faith

I know there’s so much at stake
but I don’t know if I can take one more pat on the back saying I’ll be okay Can’t you see my whole life is in disarray

You’ve got me desperate

I know You hear me,
Would You give me a sign
Reel me in before I’ve fallen in line
You’ve put me on a path I don’t understand I’m standing on a ledge waving my hands

You’ve got me desperate (do You see me?) Desperate (do You hear me?) Desperate (will You help me?) You’ve got me desperate

I know You’re my only hope
The only One who truly knows how it feels, what it’s like when it all starts to fall You’re the One I can trust who hears when I call

Some things I’ll never figure out
Until I let hope erase my doubt

You’ve got me desperate

I know You hear me,
Would You give me a sign
Reel me in before I’ve fallen in line
You’ve put me on a path I don’t understand, I’m standing on a ledge waving my hands

You’ve got me desperate (do You see me?) Desperate (do You hear me?) Desperate (will You help me?) You’ve got me desperate