Doubt
PREFACE: I had a recent conversation with a friend after I made a smart-ass comment that everyone has one form of religious belief or another. Although the initial response was denial, it was followed by, “I believe in science” and later by an attempt to describe his belief in more detail to “prove” his irreligious point of view. I have no doubt his belief was sincere. I was reading CS Lewis’ treatise on pain at the time, and I was feeling in an argumentative mood and therefore needed to write about the common misunderstanding by people who say they are not at all religious. After all, hasn’t science proven that God does not exist? That which I have written is not a polemic and I hope it does not sound that way. Having been a Scientist for all of my career, however, I have had to confront in my own mind deep questions concerning the implications of a Creator, First Cause, Sovereign God and I have swung from deep belief, to rebellion and unbelief, to deeper belief not only in God, but also in the free gift, the deliverance, the salvation that God offers to all through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. With Luther, I cry, “Here I stand, God help me.” But we humans are frail and often we/I are/am perplexed by doubt and in this essay I seek to pull some thoughts together. If you can stand to read all the way through, check the Epilogue especially for a surprising and encouraging revelation. And so...
I have a confession to make. I have deep doubts, I am profoundly skeptical, about most ideas and beliefs. Whenever I have found that I have been taken in, I am disgusted with my naiveté. Chucklehead is the least pejorative of the names I have for myself when I discover I have been duped. I wish I could say it doesn’t happen often.
In the Stars His Handiwork I See
For a Christian, doubt is often considered a sign of weak faith. Perhaps. But in Acts 17, starting with verse 10, we find the Bereans receiving the teaching of Paul with eagerness and diligently examining the scriptures, the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), to determine if what they were being taught was so. Skeptical? Perhaps. But their behavior is not held in contempt; their examination of Paul’s teaching, doubt if you will, is held in high esteem. Aware of our doubt and skepticism, warranted by much false teaching, God invites us to examine His word to see if the things we see and hear are true, even that which I write here.
As a scientist, doubt is essential. Indeed, the best science is not done to prove anything, but rather to disprove. The best scientists design experiments aimed at refuting that which is generally accepted to be so. This is a very difficult thing to do for many reasons, not the least of which is evidence leading to belief in the veracity of a particular conclusion. Even Einstein’s great theory of relativity is today subjected to testing, to attempts at falsification, particularly in relation to quantum theory because both theories seem to imply different things about the way the universe works. When theories disagree, scientists get all excited because they know they are about to learn something new.
The success of science is impressive, due largely to its methodology: Experimentation and if/then reasoning. I have discussed elements of this previously in my essay on Death. For example, in olden times, we thought the sun rose and set, rising in the heavens only to retreat before the chasing moon. Great myths (perhaps not recognized at the time) and schemes (e.g., the Ptolemaic solar system) have described this natural phenomenon, observed every day by all of us. It even became incorporated into church doctrine; until 1500 years later when Copernicus, and Galileo at great personal cost, figured out the earth orbits the sun. Thus, the burgeoning scientific method began to push the idea, the necessity, of God out of the picture. There are numerous examples of this process.
But even scientists are creatures of faith 😳🧐😇 They believe in the scientific method. They accept the doctrine that ultimately good science is mathematical in essence. They believe through observation and experimentation we will be able to understand everything, even who we are and where we came from. They have faith that soon, perhaps, we will have a TOE (Theory of Everything). They proudly state, there is no need for God because “Man is the measure of all things.” They are wrong. They have an agenda. It is religion.
Science, rather Naturalism (Materialism) in the minds of many, has destroyed the notion of God, the need for God as an explanation of why we exist. But Man is at heart a spiritual being, the evidence being a plethora of alternative religions and airy-fairy notions about our reality, that man is good at heart, wise in his understanding, and of course the measure of all things. There are even serious scientists, though Naturalists, who believe the universe is conscious! This is Animism for sure and a desperate attempt to quiet the voice of God that continually reminds us, prompts us, to ask why we are here and what is our purpose. This is religion is it not?
In its boldfaced attempt to destroy the notion of God, Naturalism appears to fulfill the role of villain in the classic and universal drama concerning the battle between good and evil. An accident? I think not. Paul the Apostle wrote, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse.” They being all who hold to a religious belief other than the reason we exist is because God created us.
Let me be clear. I am not talking about how God created us. I am talking about why He created us. I am not talking about whether we can investigate and understand the glorious universe in which we find ourselves. I am talking about why we find ourselves here at all and why the answer to the question seems to matter to us. At all. And so, I will put the two conundrums scientifically: If not God, then why? This is juxtaposed with, If God, then what? Two different faiths, both equally mysterious, but equally religious nonetheless.
If not God
Choosing Naturalism requires a certain orthodoxy. That doctrine, simply stated, is that all things can be explained, understood, and investigated with the expectation they will be found to arise from processes consistent with the laws of physics ultimately. In this view, there is no room for the supernatural. To be consistent and not hypocritical therefore, the internal musings of the Naturalist mind arise as byproducts of natural processes. Take consciousness for example: The brain secretes thought like the liver secretes bile. Now this is not known (proven) to be so, but it is a fair description of the orthodox Naturalistic belief.
It follows then that thought, consciousness, arises in a way akin to farting or belching. It just happens. And the doctrine teaches that over millennia, such brain farting and brain belching became significant through the mechanism of Natural Selection. Now adaptation through Natural Selection is an observable and bona fide process by which things adapt and develop. How consciousness develops is unknown, but as a consequence of a priori natural phenomena is it significant? As a tool to make more and more sophisticated tools, the answer is yes, obviously. But for an answer as to why consciousness leads to questions of why we exist, what our significance is, and how our future will play out, Naturalism says keep quiet, we are random accidents of no significance and our future is merely the cessation of being, death. So gather ye toys while ye may for he who dies with the most, wins.
There is within Naturalism, however, an internally inconsistent conundrum rarely faced openly by its believers and which CS Lewis discusses in his book, Miracles. If consciousness has arisen through trivial processes over eons, are not the products of that conscious effort themselves also ultimately trivial? Key word, ultimately. As the founders of Quantum Theory began to be troubled by its philosophical implications their solution became, don’t question, calculate! We’ll figure it out later. This is faith. Work to eat, eat to work and screw, screw, screw to make more despairing offspring, and do this (calculation) until you wear out. What a grand existence! No wonder some existentialist philosophers advocate suicide as the only rational decision. But even that, under Naturalism, would be a meaningless act. A trivial and tragic paradox.
There is no escaping that fact that we are religious (spiritual) creatures. The only significant question is who shall we serve.
If God
Isn’t it interesting how easy it is to come to God, yet so many are in fact repulsed by the very idea. Paul the Apostle writes in Romans 10:9ff, “Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Faith and commitment. If you believe, then God will prove himself true.
The atheist spends a lot of time convincing himself and anyone who will listen that he does not believe in something he does not believe in. Interesting. Why? The simple, but I think right answer is because we are made to believe, it is our nature to believe, we cannot help believing in something. This is not the same as believing in nothing, which I think is impossible. With Joshua I say, “Choose this day whom you shall serve.” You have free will. God is not going to force you to come to Him. If you want to spend eternity outside the walls of His kingdom, you can! Likewise, if you want to be saved from that hellish existence, you can! It is so simple, it seems ridiculously silly. Paul again, “But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23).” Dare I say the foolishness of God, is wisdom? The Bible says the wisdom of Man is foolishness to God.
If God, then what? Obedience. Confess and believe. But what if I’m wrong? But what if I’m wrong, the question echoes in our minds during the wee hours of the night. The crass and simplistic answer is, so what? You’re no worse off than the atheist or Naturalist. You won’t even know you were wrong! But… But what if you’re right to believe in God’s “foolish” plan through the cross of Christ? Aye, there’s the rub! Paul in his letter to the Philippians (2:12-13), “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” And here is the mystery: That we are to work out our own salvation, but it is God at work in us. Is this not grace? Aye, this is grace!
Don’t be deceived. There is much that seeks to hinder our believing in the Cross of Christ; where God took the repugnance of Sin out of our hands and placed it in His own. Whether it is the idolatry of our own selves (Man the Measure of All Things), the cares of this world, fear, the enemies of God, or ignorance of the Gospel, my contention is that God, the almighty creator of the universe, all that is and was and is to come, will draw you to Himself and prove Himself to you. And nothing stands in the way of, hinders, the God I worship. What do you lose by proving Him? You can never begin the Fantastic Journey unless you take the first step.
Doubt
If nothing matters, ultimately, why do we spend so much time whistling in the dark? Great champions have arisen arguing this or that cause “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Indeed, if you think Science has disproved the reality of God, you have misunderstood the question. Ironically, Science has demonstrated beyond six decimal places of significance the astounding fact that the Universe can be understood rationally, mathematically, biologically, historically, philosophically, and metaphysically. That in itself is a miracle! Let me write that again: That in itself is a miracle! But God said it first in His Word: “What can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.” And thus, there should be no doubt Naturalism suppresses the truth of God because of the a priori assumption that God does not exist. In other words, we assume the answer before we even know it! If that’s not religion, I don’t know what is! Science has proven that which it set out to disprove! And that is grace my friend.
EPILOGUE: After finishing this essay yesterday, I was unsure I was ready to publish it. As I often do, I put it away and resumed my normal routine. As I was exercising on my treadmill this morning, I was listening to a YouTube sermon by Alistair Begg (Pastor of Parkside Church, Cleveland) called The Search for Satisfaction. If you listen to it, you will be astonished, especially if you’ve got through my essay. If you think about it, I’m sure you will be blessed. And please consider this: The only reason I have released this essay today is because of that which I heard this morning. The sermon seemed to me, to provide a confirmation, a stamp of approval if you will. Coincidence? I doubt it 😉; God meets us where we’re at. May the God of Truth make Himself known to you.