Doubting your doubts

This post is for the skeptical person that does not believe in Christianity. It will also be helpful to give Christians some insight on what some form of skepticism may look like. The majority of this post will be taken from the book titled “Reason for God, belief in an age of Skepticism by Tim Keller.

Keller is so well versed in this arena that I am going to quote a significant amount of his text while adding only a few brief comments.

Some people say, “I don’t believe in Christianity because I can’t accept the existence of moral absolutes. Everyone should determine moral truth for him- herself” Is that a statement that they can prove to someone who doesn’t hold that same point of view? No, it is a leap of faith, a deep belief that individual rights operate not only in the political sphere, but also in the moral sphere as well. However, there is no empirical proof for such a position. Therefore, the doubt of moral absolutes is a leap.

Some will respond to all this, “my doubts are not based on a leap of faith. I have no beliefs about God one way or another. I simply have no need for God and I am not interested in thinking about it.” But hidden beneath this feeling is the very modern American belief that the existence of God is a matter of indifference unless it intersects with my emotional needs. The speaker is betting his or her life that no God exists who would hold you accountable for your beliefs and behavior if you didn’t feel the need for him. That may be true or it may not be true, (most likely) but again, it is quite a leap of faith to hold this view.

The only way to doubt Christianity rightly and fairly is to discern the alternate belief under each of your doubts and then to ask yourself what reasons you have for believing it to be true. How do you know your belief is true? It would be inconsistent to require more justification for Christian belief than you do for your own worldview. But that is frequently what happens. In fairness, you must begin to doubt your own doubts. My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians theirs- you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared to be.

I commend two processes for the readers here. I urge skeptics to wrestle with the unexamined “blind faith” on which your viewpoint is based, and to see just how hard it is to justify those beliefs to those who do not share them. I also urge believers to wrestle with their cultures objections to faith. It will help you to have greater clarity and greater humility as well. In the marketplace of ideology, you have a significant voice that needs to be heard. Some people may say keep your religion to yourself, to them I would say that you have no supreme right to not allow public discourse on such an important topic. Maybe, you should start to consider doubting your doubts.