Help! I'm struggling with my faith

Randy · July 23, 2020, 2:39am

I agree. I love George Macdonald’s quote, “You doubt because you love truth.”
“Benefit of the Doubt,” by Greg Boyd, demonstrates his repeated loss of his “house of cards” of faith. He reconstructed a new one over and over, till he realized that God wasn’t that interested in the details. Like a father, he’s delighted with our exercising the intelligence He gave us. Have you read it? It really helped me, though I struggle every day. I am sure you can teach me more, based on your experience.

Austin Fischer wrote, “People don’t abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they’re not allowed to have doubts.” To a certain extent, I think this is true. People may abandon faith in the good intent of their religion if they are not allowed to doubt–and then, why even believe? However, I still think that doubt can lead to deconstruction. However, Macdonald’s point is that even if we lose faith, atheism may be the best place to be–because it’s honest with God. God doesn’t treat us unfairly because of what we can or can’t believe.

Christy · July 23, 2020, 2:42am

Have you heard of Rebecca McLaughlin’s book Confronting Christianity? She is a “friend of the show” here. I’ve only read the excerpt published on BioLogos, but it is supposed to be a good book. It won CT’s 2020 best apologetic book award. It might be helpful to you in that she tried to address what she thought were the hardest allegations thrown at Christianity. But she isn’t coming from the typical Christian apologist perspective.

Jeremy_Lee · July 23, 2020, 2:48am

I haven’t read it. I’m going to pick it up, based on your recommendation, though. I’m reading “The Value of Doubt… why unanswered questions, not unquestioned answers build faith” by Bill Tammeus right now. It’s good. I disagree with his conclusion in some aspects, but the content and humility is outstanding.

Jeremy_Lee · July 23, 2020, 2:48am

I haven’t. That sounds like a good read. I’ll pick it up.

Christy · July 23, 2020, 2:49am

I’ll second the recommendation of Greg Boyd too.

Cody_G · July 23, 2020, 3:04am

I just read other posts that were posted while I was writing this one. But this post is still applicable for it is the good news of the cross of Christ which is the power of God unto salvation. This message is something we all need to hear consistently.

I was brought up in a church that was called “THE CHURCH OF CHRIST”. It was not, “the church” but “THE CHURCH”. We had twelve apostles, visitations and messages from an angel; we had the true authority, ect. In a since it doesn’t matter where we have come from. The fact is we have a sin issue that needs to be dealt with, God foretold the coming of a savior and Jesus fulfilled those prophecies. Jesus is the promised salvation.

What has produced faith in me is the prophecies that God gave in reference to Jesus. Hundreds of years before Jesus came, God foretold of His coming so that we would have a bases to believe in Him. He told us where He would be born, what He would do and that through Him we would be saved from our slavery to sin. This is just one of the prophecies. Read it carefully. I highlighted some of it but it all points to Jesus.

Isa 53 Who has believed our messageand to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,and like a root out of dry ground.He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men,a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering .Like one from whom men hide their faceshe was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmitiesand carried our sorrows,yet we considered him stricken by God,smitten by him, and afflicted . 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,he was crushed for our iniquities;the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to his own way;and the Lord has laid on himthe iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted,yet he did not open his mouth;he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.And who can speak of his descendants?For he was cut off from the land of the living;for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,and with the rich in his death,though he had done no violence,nor was any deceit in his mouth . 10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,he will see his offspring and prolong his days,and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11; After the suffering of his soul,he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death,and was numbered with the transgressors.For he bore the sin of many,and made intercession for the transgressors.

If you do a Google search on the prophecies about Jesus you will find many and when you see how He fulfilled them it will build faith in the God of the scriptures. As I have said before, if you read and obey the teachings of Jesus with a heart to know the Creator of all things and call out to Jesus to reveal Himself to you, He will. I will drop in hear a quote from a previous post.

“But we will only truly believe in His coming when we understand how valuable it is and what it accomplished for us. It is all just an interesting discussion, until we allow ourselves to be convicted of all the wicked things we have thought, said and done, and that because of our wickedness; we deserve God’s wrath and judgment. At that point we will look for a way of escape and the good news of Jesus death and resurrection will not be a point of discussion, it will be our salvation.”

Our trust is not in ourselves to know God, it must be in the fact that the true and living God wants to reveal Himself to us. Read and give yourself over to the words of Jesus and you will see that they are the Words of Eternal Life.

Jesus said, Matt 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

A good place to start for any of us is to be honest with ourselves and look at our sinfulness. Recall the evil things that we have thought, said or done. Let that conviction of our guilt flood our hearts until we are so overwhelmed with it that we know we must be delivered from the guilt and the wickedness. Then with that overwhelming knowledge we need to look for someone to save us from it. Then with the knowledge that the one true and living God gives us through the scriptures about a savior He is sending who can not only bring forgiveness from past sins but deliver us from the power of sin, we will see Jesus executed in our place. It was us who were nailed to the cross, our wicked nature. It was us who were buried, and us who were raised up from death. He took us into Himself and went through God’s judgment for sin and since He did not sin, He was raised up and ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. The fact is, I was crucified with Christ but never the less I live, yet not I but Christ that lives in me, and the life I now live I live by trust in the Son of God.

What we all need is someone to save us from the power of sin. There is no other name that we can be saved by but Jesus. Hear and trust in the good news. Jesus crucified, buried, raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father according to the scriptures. He has proven Himself to be LORD. We will come to know Him if we trust the work of Jesus, love and obey Him.

ronedee · July 23, 2020, 3:05am

Hay Mark, I guess we all have our peculiarities! What’s your’s?

Randy · July 23, 2020, 3:06am

Cody, I am sure that you meant this for an encouragement.
I wonder, however, how you would respond to a Muslim who quoted the Qur’an to prove that the Bible was wrong?
Do you see the difficulty?
Josh McDowell points out the same difficulty in the beginning of his old version of “Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” He agrees that we have to look for another source than simply quotes from the Bible to prove itself.
Thanks! Blessings! I appreciate your discourse.

Cody_G · July 23, 2020, 3:13am

When did the preaching of the cross of Christ become so offensive? It is the power of God to salvation for the Jew, Greek, Muslim, German, Catholic, Protestant, aborigine, Hindu, atheist and every human that lives. I preach Christ, the Lord of Heaven and earth, the Judge of all mankind, the Eternal Life, the Word of God. What do you preach to bring salvation from sin and wrath?

Cody_G · July 23, 2020, 3:57am

Randy,
The cross of Christ is the message to all, even if they stumble over it or it is foolishness to them.

1 Cor 1:17-25 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

We always need to remember, it is the Word of God that convicts people of sin, righteousness and judgement to come.

MarkD · July 23, 2020, 4:01am

I have faith in what I believe gives rise to God belief and consider it sacred. The problem is what I have faith in doesn’t look like anyone’s idea of God. So point taken. I’ll keep my rocks clear of yourwindows.

But seriously I’m glad you’re here. I hope you’ll see it is possible to be a perfectly good Christian without insisting you know more about origins than scientists do without all the bother of the course work.

Randy · July 23, 2020, 4:12am

I don’t think that is what the original text and setting mean. However, God is not unjust. He would not demand that we believe against the evidence of the mind that He gave us. Beating one on the head with a creed over and over again isn’t going to change his mind; rather, it’s going to convince him that this point of view has no credibility. Does that make sense?
Paul also noted, “To the Greeks I am a Greek, and to the Jews, a Jew.” He reasoned according to their backgrounds.

I believe that the passages allude more to those who, like Simon Magus, liked to use the gospel to appear powerful, or to put themselves ahead of God’s sovereignty (like Moses did when he struck the rock with his staff). That’s not kosher. Rather, discussing with understanding and with a reason for the hope in us (Peter) makes more sense, doesn’t it? Thanks.

Blessings.

Jeremy_Lee · July 23, 2020, 4:17am

Which God? Yours? Mine? A Buddhist? A Sikh? Don’t you see the issue here? When someone doesn’t have confidence in your idea of who God is, you are just spinning your wheels when you quote scripture to them. Not even Jesus himself did that with unbelievers. He sat down and ministered to their needs, then he opened their eyes (so to speak). The only people he quoted scripture to already had previous acceptance of scripture.

Klax · July 23, 2020, 7:30am

Then we are in good company: ‘Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?’.

Klax · July 23, 2020, 7:31am

I have strong reservations on Boyd.

He’s an extreme dualist - a demiurgist - from an extremely limited view of eternity.

Klax · July 23, 2020, 7:39am

I sit corrected, I had always limited TE to de Chardin’s orthogenesis which is God directed, whereas EC allows for Him immanently - [but] not remotely[, distantly] - passively grounding being. Convergent Christian evolution eh?

Mervin_Bitikofer · July 23, 2020, 10:35am

Well - it’s not that EC people can’t be all over the map on some things just like any other group. But the many who have expressed preference for that label aren’t doing so to distinguish themselves from TEs. It’s just to help popularize a more accurate label.

Dominic_Roy_Accampo · July 24, 2020, 1:34am

I can hardly believe that anyone was stupid enough to deny dinosaurs fifty years ago!

In my last year of public High School I sought out my science teacher back in 1975. I did not plan on asking him anything about the Bible. I assumed he would not believe the Bible. I assumed that the Bible and science were so at odds that I might have to cut my brain in half to believe both. But, as we talked I suddenly realized he was a Christian so I asked him something like this- “How can you believe, both, do you have to compartmentalize your brain?”

His reply awakened me to truth. First he told me that the two were not at all diametrically opposed to each other. You see there is a vast amount of scientific data. But to assume that rates have remained unchanged, when no one observed the past rates is a claim, not the proof of the claim.

You see everything measured as it is measured today and compiled as it is compiled is done with the foregone conclusions of:

There is no God.
Current natural processes are all that has ever occurred.

In fact I have even seen Science text books for schools that warn that things may look designed but that this does not mean they were designed.
Yo see there are quite a few scientists who recognize that the Earth is only about 6,000 to 10,000 years old. For there are a lot of factors that must be explained away to make the universe much older.

TRUE - you have endless theories, explaining away young Earth clocks, but do to so, you must often place your faith in conjectures that are no more provable than God is.

One more thing, the evolutionary theories on how the Universe was formed are the most flawed theories in all of human history as noted by this astrophysicist:

While here is a noted evolutionary scholar citing why it is necessary to use even the absurd to deny God with:

I have actually had atheists defend this logic as being necessary to disprove what cannot be proven nor disproven, namely God!

But the real truth is this, if God is real and He is as big and powerful and wise as claimed then there was no reason for him to use natural processes to create our fully formed and usable universe in a form that clearly displays his power and wisdom. Nor would such a God be obliged to stoop down and use our wisdom nor ask for our advice on how this world should be run.

Cody_G · July 24, 2020, 1:43am

Can you show me the situations you are thinking about.
Thanks

Mervin_Bitikofer · July 24, 2020, 2:15am

Just about every interaction recorded about Christ supports Jeremy’s point, Cody. In fact, I’m having trouble thinking of any of Jesus’ actions that would match yours! In most (all?) instances of Jesus meeting with anybody suffering or marginalized, his response was compassion. One notable exception was the Syrophonicean woman - there Jesus had to be convinced to help her, and I suppose you could say Jesus might have been quoting the Bible at her when he noted that ‘the Children’s bread shouldn’t be thrown to the dogs’ - but one could hardly confuse that with Him giving her any scripture lesson for life. [In fact it was really more Jesus making an aside to his disciples - it sounds like he might not even have been talking to her at first so much as talking about her while she was right there!] That example is more known for its exceptionality because it was rare for Jesus to treat any “down-and-outer” that rudely. So I would say that is more of “an exception that proves the rule” case rather than one that works in your favor. It seems we mostly search the scriptures in vain for any example of Jesus (or Paul) doing what you do: piling scripture passages on somebody for whom scriptures are not any kind of effective connection.