The Nature of Doubt

A man whom I regarded as truly converted said to me: “I am riddled with so many doubts that I sometimes feel I am not a Christian at all.” When I pointed out to him the nature of doubt—that it is not the same as unbelief—I saw a new expression appear on his face. He grasped me by the hands and said: “How can I ever sufficiently thank you? You have released a pressure that has been building up inside me for years.”

I met him years later, and he told me that the simple insight I had given him concerning the nature of doubt was all he needed to face his doubts and deal with them in a spiritual way. I say again, no misunderstanding causes more anxiety to the heart of a Christian than that which concerns the nature of doubt.

Let’s put unbelief under the microscope for a moment, for by doing so we will see the nature of doubt still more clearly. Unbelief is a willful refusal to believe, resulting in a deliberate decision to disobey. It is a state of mind which is closed against God, an attitude of heart which disobeys God as much as it disbelieves the truth. It is the consequence of a settled choice.

Doubt is not a willful decision to disbelieve but a suspension between faith and unbelief. To believe is to be in one mind; to disbelieve is also to be in one mind, but to doubt is to be caught in the halfway stage between the two—suspended between the desire to affirm and the desire to negate.

Further Study

Jn 11:16; 14:5; 20:24-29; 21:2; Mt 10:3

How did Thomas display his total commitment?

Why then did he doubt?