“Faith in Two Minds”

If we are to have feet like “hinds’ feet,” we must learn how to face and handle any doubts that may arise in our hearts.

Most of us have to face the problem of doubt at some time or another, and unless we have a clear understanding of what is involved when we doubt and how to deal with it, our pursuit of God can be greatly hindered. The English word doubt comes from the Latin dubitare, which is rooted in an Aryan word meaning “two.” To doubt means to take two positions on something or to have a divided heart.

A major misconception concerning doubt—and one that has brought great anxiety to many a Christian’s heart—is to view doubt as the opposite of faith, which clearly it is not. Unbelief is the opposite of faith.

Os Guinness puts it like this: “To believe is to be ‘in one mind’ about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be ‘in one mind’ about rejecting it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve all at once, and so to be ‘in two minds.'”

Donald Bridge, in his book When Christians Doubt, refers to doubt as “faith asking questions.” Some might think this definition elevates doubt to a position it does not deserve and masks its true nature—but not so. It is only when we understand what doubt really is that we can deal with it in the way we should. Doubt is, as Guinness puts it, “faith in two minds.”

Further Study

Mt 14:22-33; Lk 24:13-35

How does Peter illustrate being “in two minds”?

What did Jesus mean by slow to believe in your hearts?