Tim Keller on Doubt

"A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection."

– Tim Keller
The Reason for God, (p. xvii) [HT: Hope's Reason]

How to Get Apologetics in Your Church 2: How Churches Can Respond to Doubt

How Churches Can Respond to Doubt

By Carson Weitnauer, director Telos Ministries

For many churches, it can seem rather counter-productive, if not outright foolish, to be deliberately setting up environments where people openly and boldly share their doubts about God and church. After all, what if the local atheists come more prepared - and are more persuasive - than the already busy and overworked church staff? Rather than growing the church, an ‘apologetics ministry’ could easily destabilize and threaten the very existence of the community. There are a variety of powerful motivations to not deal with doubt at your church. This article is written to directly address those concerns and recommend a wise course forward.

In particular, I want to convince you of two primary points:

1. The church faces a very real problem in dealing with doubt – but it is a problem that must be boldly resolved for both pragmatic and Biblical reasons. 
2. The Bible offers every church a solid guide for responding to doubt with love and wisdom – a strategy that leads people to faith, strengthens disciples, creates an enduring passion for evangelism, and honors God.

[MP3 | RSS | iTunes | Index]

Thinker Profile: René Descartes

René Descartes (1596-1650): French philosopher and mathematician, generally regarded as the father of modern philosophy. Descartes was a rationalist who is well known for his attempt to gain certainty through a process of universal, methodical doubt in which he posed the possibility that his waking experience was indistinguishable from a dream world as well as the possibility that he was being deceived by an all-powerful evil genius. After establishing clear and distinct ideas as his standard for truth, Descartes defended soul-body (or mind-body) dualism and gave a number of proofs for the existence of God.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 33.

Doubt: RZIM Conference Audio

Last year, RZIM held a day-conference in Oxford, entitled Doubt. They tackled a number of important topics surrounding how to answer tough issues. (You may want to register for RZIM's Training Day, coming up on the 28th of January here.) If you want all the audios downloaded into a podcast feed, plug this RSS feed into your iTunes or feed reader. Or you can download each talk individually by clicking or right-clicking the links below.
Here's the audio from the conference:

Alister McGrath
• What is Doubt?
John Lennox
• Doubt and Confidence – A Biblical and Scientific Perspective
• Doubt and Confidence – Question and Answer Session
Michael Ramsden and Amy Orr-Ewing
• Contemporary challenges faced by those of faith
Tanya Walker
• Cultural Doubt
Question & Answer Session

Enjoy.

5 Characteristics of Willful Unbelief MP3 Audio by John MacArthur

John MacArthur explores 5 characteristics of willful unbelief in this sermon entitled: Unbelief Investigates a Miracle. This is well worth the listen. Get the Grace to You podcast feed here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (20 min)

Enjoy.

Last year's post was about doubt. See here.

What Should I Do With My Doubt? MP3 Audio by Tim Keller

Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church presents this talk: What Should I Do With My Doubt? Keller shares some helpful insights into the nature of doubt and how to deal with it. Check out his Reason for God book also.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Enjoy.

What was last year's post? See here.

Sunday Quote: Os Guinness on Doubt

"If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt....There is no believing without some doubting, and believing is all the stronger for understanding and resolving doubt."

- Os Guinness

Sunday Quote: On Thinking

"There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking."

- Alfred Korzybski

Gary Habermas's Journey of Skepticism & Doubt MP3 Audio

In this radio interview, historian Gary Habermas discusses his personal journey through skepticism and doubt, as well as his study of the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus.

Full MP3 Audio here.
Original media in two parts found here.

Enjoy.

Using Your Doubts to Draw Closer to God by Gary Habermas

Gary Habermas' book "The Thomas Factor: Using Your Doubts to Draw Closer to God" is online in (almost) its entirety. Habermas wrote this book for 'Christians who doubt' as well as those who are just a little unsure about their faith.

Chapter listing and contents can be found on this page at bethinking.org.