Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Faith, Doubt, and Determination
"We need all three. Great faith, great doubt, and great determination are the legs of the tripod on which our Zen practice stands. Our practice will topple if we're missing one of those legs. The dynamic tension between faith and doubt - between the "already" and the 'not yet' - gives us a reason to practice. Then we just need the determination to practice." Kim Boykin - "Zen for Christians"I guess most of our problems with religion come from this embalance. Fundamentalists have great faith and great determination but they lack a healthy sense of doubt to foster humility and openness to other possibilities. If you have faith and doubt but lack determination then your faith can become empty intellectualism. If you have doubt and determination but lack faith then you easily fall into Nihilism. I've probably fallen into all three categories at one time or another as I swing from one extreme to another. Balance is something that I'm looking to develop from my journey of faith.
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2 comments:
mike-
thanks for posting your thoughts and processing on this book. As one waiting to get it, i am excited to experience your processing here.
thanks again...
joshua
The dictionary provides synonyms for “doubt:” “mistrust, suspect, question, indecision, irresolution.” I don't like the word "doubt" because it has a connotation of distrust. Faith has a strong component of trust. I prefer the phrase "faith seeking understanding," which is what I try to practice.
It's a shame for people to not dig deeper for better understanding of their own faith and even the faith of others. We've all seen the fundamentalist Christian on television who bashes other religions and philosophies, yet has never read any of the texts or spent time with people of that faith. Likewise, I get annoyed with those who speak against Biblical theology and yet have never spent time reading the text seeking to truly understand the meaning. In both of these cases, the people are viewing through a skewed cultural bias. In the same way, "doubt" is already biased to the side of skepticism.
In the Gospel of John 1:43-51, Jesus calls the disciple Philip to follow Him. Philip then finds Nathanael and says, “come and see.” This is similar to the phrase Jesus uses in 1:39, “Come and you will see.” This was a phrase commonly used by Rabbis of the day inviting people into a relationship of journeying together to seek out Truth. It literally implies “come, let us explore this together.” This requires a great deal of trust, determination, and faith seeking understanding.
As a Bible Geek and devout follower of Jesus, do I see “Great Faith” as being important? Absolutely. Do I understand “Great Determination” as being Biblical. Yes. “Great Doubt.” Not so much. It doesn’t fit with my “Great faith and Great determination.” How about “Great commitment to seeking understanding?”
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