Missed part one? Read it here. 

Over the years, I have talked with a number of people who have been told in response to their questioning about God, “You just don’t have enough faith,” or “You just need to read your Bible.” Some were given such a response in their childhood years; others, in their teenage to young adult years. In every situation described, the result was damaging to the person’s belief in God. I don’t know the mind of the responder, nor the reason why such a response would be given. However, I can say that Christians should thoughtfully engage with questions about doubt.

In Paul Copan’s book, “A Little Book for New Philosophers,” he cites several reasons as to why we should engage. Let’s look at a couple more reasons to add to the previous post.

3. The Christian faith offers ample resources and evidence to assist us.

The Christian faith has a two-fold approach in assisting us with answering our doubts. As Copan states, “When God enters our lives, we have the Spirit’s internal confirmation that we are children of God, that we have been accepted before him through Christ and that we can thus approach him with confidence (Rom 8: 14-16; Gal 4: 5-6; Heb 4: 16; 1 Jn 5: 13).”[1]

The internal confirmation relates to the personal and individual salvific experience of God. There is truth we learn through the experience of forgiveness of guilt and relief from shame, as well as from understanding that we have ultimate significance—that not only did God create us, but that he valued his creation as “good” and then gave himself as a sacrifice to reaffirm and redeem the goodness of his creation. However, internal confirmation is not the whole story. There are also external supports for the existence of God such as the historical reliability of the Scriptures, the evidence of the resurrection, the existence of objective moral values, presence of design in the universe, and many more. These two types of support work in concert to assist us in answering our doubt.

While we will not get exhaustive answers, we can begin to get answers. The doubts don’t just go away on their own. It’s been troubling me that many of the people who talk with me about doubt haven’t tried answering any of their doubts, though these folks have had the same questions or wonderings for years. The doubts don’t just go away on their own, we have to be responsible to use the gift of learning with which God has endowed his creation to seek answers. One of my favorite quotes from Dallas Willard is, “If you’re going to be a doubter, you need to believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts as well as to doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts.”[2] We need to be responsible with our doubts and our beliefs.

4. Fourth, we should reject the false and pernicious idea that knowledge requires 100 percent certainty.

This reason for engaging with doubts has been an idea on which I have been chewing for some years. The belief that one must have 100 percent certainty to have knowledge about a thing seems to be problematic for both those who believe in God and those who do not believe. I’ve heard Christians say things like, “I have no doubt in God. I will not be shaken. I cannot be moved.” While I believe the intention of such statements is from a desire to be obedient to God and trust Him, I think it may send an unrealistic message to others (and to ourselves) about faith. Faith in God doesn’t mean you will never have that trust shaken. I’ve had mine rocked to the core. Faith in God doesn’t mean that there are no more questions to ask. Rather, faith should mean that the questions have begun. After all, God is an infinite being and we are finite beings; this fact alone means there are things about God and the universe He created that we will never know. Yet, there are so many things that we can learn about our reality. When we first place our trust in God, we are beginning the life-long journey of learning the deep things of God.

I also mentioned that this desire for certainty was a problem for those who don’t believe in God. Atheism does not imbue the human being with any more intellectual power to gain certainty of knowledge than does any other worldview. While some people may argue to the contrary, this idea seems to be a misunderstanding of human nature; specifically with regard to our individual abilities in learning. The ability to gain knowledge through different modes of reasoning is not specific to any worldview. Rather, the ability is a human trait. Ultimately, the same problem arises for the atheist as for the Christian in that the universe is vast and we know so little about it, even with all of our current knowledge. The more knowledge we gain, the less ground we understand we have covered in our endeavors (Socrates was famous for stating this understanding of the world). One gain against nature unlocks several more mysteries.

As Copan states, to say that we need 100 percent certainty in order to say we have acquired knowledge is a statement that cannot live up to its own standard. How did we gain the knowledge with 100 percent certainty that we need this level of certainty in order to have acquired knowledge? It is an unattainable goal. Knowledge does not require 100 percent human certainty…not in atheism, and not in Christianity.

What should we do instead?

5. Those engaging in doubt should doubt fairly.

While we will not get exhaustive answers, we can begin to get answers. The doubts don’t just go away on their own.

For further reading, pick up a copy of Copan’s short book, “A Little Book for New Philosophers,” here.

[1] Copan, Paul (2016-11-19). A Little Book for New Philosophers: Why and How to Study Philosophy (Little Books) (Kindle Locations 1143-1144). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] From Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness, as quoted by Copan, Paul (2016-11-19). A Little Book for New Philosophers: Why and How to Study Philosophy (Little Books) (Kindle Locations 1086-1087). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Original publication date June 12, 2017. Updated September 21, 2021.

Over the years, I have talked with a number of people who have been told in response to their questioning about God, “You just don’t have enough faith,” or “You just need to read your Bible.” Some were given such a response in their childhood years; others, in their teenage to young adult years. In every situation described, the result was damaging to the person’s belief in God. I don’t know the mind of the responder, nor the reason why such a response would be given. However, I can say that Christians should thoughtfully engage with questions about doubt. 

In Paul Copan’s book, “A Little Book for New Philosophers,” he cites several reasons as to why we should engage. Let’s look at a couple reasons.

1. Doubting is common to the human experience. 

God knows his creation. He is not caught off guard by our questioning, even of his own actions. Copan explains that there are instances of humans questioning God’s seeming silence on the issue of evil in the world (Psalm 13, 73). We even see humans questioning his harsh actions; for example, King David’s anger with God when God struck Uzzah dead for steadying the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:1-10). The Scriptures do not gloss over human doubt, nor treat it with contempt. In the Scriptures there is much “comfort, guidance and direction for doubting saints.”[1] As Jude 22 expresses, “Have mercy on those who doubt.”

2. Doubts need to be processed, not suppressed.

“Insofar as we are able, doubts should be expressed, sorted out and addressed—and this should be done in Christian community.” Copan describes that we need “godly, thoughtful, and seasoned Christians—philosophers included—to assist us and help strengthen our trust in God along the way.”[2]

Ignoring our doubts, or just getting on with life—in hopes the doubts will work themselves out—can be damaging to our knowledge of God, and therefore to our trust of him. When we doubt God’s existence, we cannot reasonably trust him (Hebrews 11:6). I have found that doubts typically do not just go away. Rather, doubts tend to linger mysteriously in the human mind, affecting many aspects of our life in ways we may not overtly comprehend. So we need to bring our thoughts about God out into the open with those who can aptly and graciously engage those thoughts. 

Therefore, “yes,” it is okay to question beliefs. In reading through the Scriptures, in context, we see that God allows us to wrestle with him in our questioning and even invites us to reason with him. He wants us to use the gift of rationality that he has given to human beings. He is aware that gift will produce difficult questions.

You can pick up a copy of Copan’s short book, “A Little Book for New Philosophers,” here.

[1] Paul Copan. A Little Book for New Philosophers (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 105.

[2] Ibid., 106.

Original publication date June 12, 2017. Updated September 14, 2021.

Mary Jo had an awesome conversation with Michael Jahosky of the Mythic Mission Podcast. You can watch their discussion on YouTube below or download the podcast audio over on anchor here!

Mary Jo spoke with Mikel Del Rosario of Table Podcast about why she still believes in God despite the hypocrisy she experienced in the church, focusing on how faith deconstruction does not have to end in deconversion. Watch their interview here or download the audio here! 

Mary Jo was a guest on the SAFT Podcast. You can watch on YouTube below or Listen via BuzzSprout here!

Are Christians the personal objection to non-believers embracing the faith? What damage is brought about by superficial assessments passed by Christians? In our churches do we have a trend of passive Christians who pass the ball of evangelism to pastors and leaders? How do we overcome and offset the bad taste people have towards Christianity because of poor interactions with Christians? Tune in as Mary Jo Sharp sheds light on these and much more!

Mary Jo is one of the speakers at the DE[LIVE]RED Live Free From Religious Abuse Digital Conference May 22, 2021. Early bird ticket sales have opened and you are invited to take advantage of the reduced price.

Naomi Wright Conference Link

Naomi Wright Ministries exists for those whose lives have been, presently are, and have the potential to be impacted by an unhealthy religious experience. You can learn more about Naomi and her ministry below.

In this episode, Mary Jo and Pastor Chris of Kamloops Alliance Church discuss the question: How do I Reconcile the Bad Reputation of Christians? Mary Jo is a clear communicator with a heart for people, and finds great joy in sharing the deep truths of her Lord and Saviour, and she will help you along with this question.

Check out Mary Jo’s podcast interview here.

Too many people run from Christianity due to the hypocrisy they see in the Church.  While this is a reality, we can be prepared to address their hurts and offer them the hope of the Gospel.  Atheist-turned-Christ-follower, Mary Jo Sharp joins Chris Brooks to share her journey of facing hypocrisy among Christians but finding solid answers in the One we serve.

If you have been disappointed in God’s people and are questioning your faith, don’t miss this edition of Equipped!

Do Christians give God a bad name? Mary Jo Sharp, assistant professor of apologetics at Houston Baptist University, joins Janet Mefferd to talk about it and her book, “Why I Still Believe: A Former Atheist’s Reckoning with the Bad Reputation Christians Give a Good God.” Plus: Why is gospel music star Kirk Franklin boycotting any future involvement with the Dove Awards? We’ll talk about it. That and more on the next JANET MEFFERD TODAY.

Listen to Mary Jo’s interview with Janet here.

In this week’s Everyday Conversations Podcast, staff speaker Amy Beange, interviews apologist Mary Jo Sharp on her latest book “Why I still Believe: A former Atheist’s Reckoning with the Bad Reputation Christians Give a Good God”. Mary Jo was initially drawn to God through the beauty of the created world and of music, yet after converting to Christ was dismayed but the devaluing of beauty in the Christian community – Amy and Mary Jo discuss the nature of beauty as an aspect of God’s character and its importance alongside truth and goodness in our knowing of God and making him known.

Listen to Everyday Conversations Podcast here!