A Blog by
the Faculty of
Talbot School of Theology
This is the season for giving thanks. This year, I have turned to a few guides as I have attempted to think theologically about the importance of thanksgiving. Both have given me tremendous insight in how I should think about gratitude in response to God and his good gifts. Here are two very quick blessings I have received from these guides that I would like to share with you.
We introduce worldviews in one of the undergraduate classes that I teach here at Biola. Sometimes students ask for book recommendations beyond those that we read for the class. Here are a few recommend books divided into three different categories. This list is by no means exhaustive.
I recently prepped a new elective on Francis Schaeffer for undergraduate students at Biola. Rather than restricting our time to his apologetics only, we focused on his life and thought as a whole. I have admired Schaeffer since I took a similar class when I was in seminary, but God used this class to teach me four lessons that I want to share.
1. Humility in Ministry
2. Dependency upon God
3. Racial Injustice
4. Marriage
“Stop doubting! Just have faith!” I wish I knew how many times I have heard that advice. Every time I hear it, my reaction is the same: complete frustration. I want to shriek, “I CAN’T! THAT’S THE PROBLEM!”
Yet, we know that doubt must be battled. Os Guinness, in his book God in the Dark, argues that doubt is the state of being caught between belief and unbelief. I like to add that doubt is not stationary. Doubt, if not battled, moves us toward unbelief. It is like trying to run up an escalator going down. If you stop climbing, you automatically find yourself descending.
John Calvin states that doubt is a part of the Christian faith: “Surely, while we teach that faith ought to be certain and assured, we cannot imagine any certainty that is not tinged with doubt, or any assurance that is not assailed by some anxiety.”
I agree with Calvin that Christians can experience bouts of theological doubt. In my last post I introduced different kinds of doubt. In my next post, I hope to offer tips for battling doubt. Here, my goal is to show that believers sometimes doubt.
I intend to write a series of posts about doubt. To quell any unwarranted excitement, I must say at the outset that I will not be discussing the Broadway play or the Philip Seymour Hoffman film. Instead, I will be discussing theological doubt.
