Doubt is built into faith because religion is so hard to believe

[Anonymous]

I’ve frequently heard that “doubt is a part of faith.” Often it’s said in a very matter of fact way, as if it’s a given.

I just realized that it’s because having faith that God exists is so hard to believe. Can you think of any other beings that you can’t see (e.g., fairies) that you think are real? Or any beings that live in uninhabitable places (e.g., Santa Claus at the North Pole) that you think are real? Of course not. That’s why religion requires faith: Religion allows people to believe in an invisible being who lives in an uninhabitable place.

Belief that being religious is good, also explains why people say things like “his faith is strong” as a positive comment. Still, what it means is that despite people’s better judgement and their adult thinking skills, they manage to hold on to magical thinking in the realm of religion.

If you believe in God, do you have doubts?

If you don’t believe in God, how did you stop? (if you ever believed)

[Anonymous]

It's an attempt to reassure people that doubt is okay as anyone who starts to use reason will undoubtedly lose faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's an attempt to reassure people that doubt is okay as anyone who starts to use reason will undoubtedly lose faith.

I think you might be right. But I don't think that it's an evil thing, in that I suspect the people saying that doubt is OK, are believers themselves.

[Anonymous]

Another troll post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another troll post.

I am a DP, but if OP is a troll, he is far more thoughtful and articulate one than you are.

[Anonymous]

Faith enters where we have questions that are not (yet) answered by limits of human knowledge, questions which we are called up on to continue to explore. There is no parallel between fairies and God; people who think that have only scratched the surface of theology or philosophy and are reading ancient theological texts in an often extremely literal way, through a modern linguistic lens.

A good starting point if you want to explore the intersection of faith and reason is to read up on modern theologians of various faith traditions (modern spiritual masters) on the questions of why do we exist and how can we know God/does God exist?

https://orbisbooks.com/collections/series-modern-spiritual-masters?page=2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Faith enters where we have questions that are not (yet) answered by limits of human knowledge, questions which we are called up on to continue to explore. There is no parallel between fairies and God; people who think that have only scratched the surface of theology or philosophy and are reading ancient theological texts in an often extremely literal way, through a modern linguistic lens.

A good starting point if you want to explore the intersection of faith and reason is to read up on modern theologians of various faith traditions (modern spiritual masters) on the questions of why do we exist and how can we know God/does God exist?

https://orbisbooks.com/collections/series-modern-spiritual-masters?page=2

The correct statement is, "skepticism and curiosity are what enter when we have questions that are not yet answered by the limits of human knowledge", not faith.

And yes, there are parallels between fairies and god. If you don't see that, then you are blind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve frequently heard that “doubt is a part of faith.” Often it’s said in a very matter of fact way, as if it’s a given.

I just realized that it’s because having faith that God exists is so hard to believe. Can you think of any other beings that you can’t see (e.g., fairies) that you think are real? Or any beings that live in uninhabitable places (e.g., Santa Claus at the North Pole) that you think are real? Of course not. That’s why religion requires faith: Religion allows people to believe in an invisible being who lives in an uninhabitable place.

Belief that being religious is good, also explains why people say things like “his faith is strong” as a positive comment. Still, what it means is that despite people’s better judgement and their adult thinking skills, they manage to hold on to magical thinking in the realm of religion.

If you believe in God, do you have doubts?

If you don’t believe in God, how did you stop? (if you ever believed)

Um, sure. I can't see electrons. But I believe they are there. I've never seen a black hole. But I believe one exists.

Or as C. S. Lewis put it, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Understandably if you haven't had that conversion experience, you won't get it.

[Anonymous]

Do you believe in radio frequencies?

Do you believe in cell phone frequencies?

Do you believe in oxygen?

These are all things that day to day we can't see, smell, taste, or touch. But they are all around us, in our homes, schools, work. And we weren't always advanced enough to know it existed scientifically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve frequently heard that “doubt is a part of faith.” Often it’s said in a very matter of fact way, as if it’s a given.

I just realized that it’s because having faith that God exists is so hard to believe. Can you think of any other beings that you can’t see (e.g., fairies) that you think are real? Or any beings that live in uninhabitable places (e.g., Santa Claus at the North Pole) that you think are real? Of course not. That’s why religion requires faith: Religion allows people to believe in an invisible being who lives in an uninhabitable place.

Belief that being religious is good, also explains why people say things like “his faith is strong” as a positive comment. Still, what it means is that despite people’s better judgement and their adult thinking skills, they manage to hold on to magical thinking in the realm of religion.

If you believe in God, do you have doubts?

If you don’t believe in God, how did you stop? (if you ever believed)

Um, sure. I can't see electrons. But I believe they are there. I've never seen a black hole. But I believe one exists.

Or as C. S. Lewis put it, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Understandably if you haven't had that conversion experience, you won't get it.

+1. For that matter, I've never seen China or the North Pole, either, and I believe they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you believe in radio frequencies?

Do you believe in cell phone frequencies?

Do you believe in oxygen?

These are all things that day to day we can't see, smell, taste, or touch. But they are all around us, in our homes, schools, work. And we weren't always advanced enough to know it existed scientifically.

But we can measure all of those things. Easily.

And we did NOT believe in them until there was evidence they existed.

Bad example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you believe in radio frequencies?

Do you believe in cell phone frequencies?

Do you believe in oxygen?

These are all things that day to day we can't see, smell, taste, or touch. But they are all around us, in our homes, schools, work. And we weren't always advanced enough to know it existed scientifically.

But we can measure all of those things. Easily.

And we did NOT believe in them until there was evidence they existed.

Bad example.

It's actually an excellent example.

The resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by thousands of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you believe in radio frequencies?

Do you believe in cell phone frequencies?

Do you believe in oxygen?

These are all things that day to day we can't see, smell, taste, or touch. But they are all around us, in our homes, schools, work. And we weren't always advanced enough to know it existed scientifically.

But we can measure all of those things. Easily.

And we did NOT believe in them until there was evidence they existed.

Bad example.

It's actually an excellent example.

The resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by thousands of people.

No evidence that is true. None. It is a claim in a book. No contemporaneous evidence corroborating documentation for this extraordinary, once in history event.

Bad example, and bad refutation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you believe in radio frequencies?

Do you believe in cell phone frequencies?

Do you believe in oxygen?

These are all things that day to day we can't see, smell, taste, or touch. But they are all around us, in our homes, schools, work. And we weren't always advanced enough to know it existed scientifically.

But we can measure all of those things. Easily.

And we did NOT believe in them until there was evidence they existed.

Bad example.

It's actually an excellent example.

The resurrection of Jesus was witnessed by thousands of people.

No evidence that is true. None. It is a claim in a book. No contemporaneous evidence corroborating documentation for this extraordinary, once in history event.

Bad example, and bad refutation.

That is simply not true. Others outside of the Bible were writing about Jesus, His miracles, resurrection, and followers within 20 years of His death.

[Anonymous]

There's a REALLY good sociology book about this called "When God Talks Back" by TM Luhrmann. It deals with how evangelical Christians deal with the cognitive dissonance of belief on a daily basis in an objective way (by which I mean she describes how they relate their experiences without taking a position on whether they or their religion are right or wrong). They're not idiots and you can't understand if that's your first assumption.