What Kind of Religious Doubt am I Experiencing?

*The following information is from our mentor's book, The Thomas Factor (by Gary Habermas). I will have you engage this book via his website. He has a digital copy provided for anyone to access.

Emotional Doubt

Defined: religious uncertainty that brings about pain because the individual judges the credibility of the doubt concept by how he/she feels about the subject and not the actual particulars of the subject itself. This is, by far, the most common type of religious doubt!

This is identified, most of the time, by the person asking “what if” kind of questions:

• What if I really didn’t believe enough to be saved?
• What if Christianity really isn’t true?
• I believe the factual evidence shows that Jesus rose again, but what if it just isn’t true?
• What if we are just living in a simulation?
• What if we really don’t exist at all?
• I have these thoughts in my mind all of the time that God isn’t real — what if that means I am really not saved?
• The emotional doubter is more concerned with unlikely possibilities than they are the specific facts of the issue.
• This kind of doubt should not surprise us. It is how we interact with the world. We all want to be doubly sure that our most prized treasures are real: family, dating relationships, education, health, and (of course) the way in which we view the world (what we have put our faith in as being real and true).

Factors that can lead to or exacerbate emotional doubt:

• Psychological states - anxiety, depression, etc.
• Judging by feelings - “I don’t feel saved” or “I don’t feel like I used to”
• Medical states - manic depression, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, etc.
• Childhood problems - child abuse, abandonment, etc.
• More recent wounds - any kind of painful relationship issue
• Need for attention - true love and companionship are desired
• Lack of sleep and adequate diet - Elijah in 1 Kings 19
• Peer pressure
• Imagination versus reality
• Christian hypocrisy - personal and corporate
• Forgiven sin - guilt that comes from it
• Anxiety about the future - “what is going to happen?”
• Faulty view of God
• Judgment and Hell

Factual/Intellectual Doubt

Defined: being concerned with the foundational claims of Christianity and whether or not they are well-grounded.

Sources of factual doubt:

• biblical topics (concerns about truth claims of Scripture, conflicting positions of Christians, etc.)
• logical items (the nature of God, existence, creation)
• philosophy (problem of evil, existence of God, objective morality)
• historical areas (the resurrection of Christ, biblical reliability)
• Factors/Conditions that lead to or exacerbate factual/emotional doubt:
• Factual questions - challenging questions that you don’t know the answer to
• Questioning intellect - an inquiring mind that wants to research everything (this can lead to problems as the person may not be able to spend the necessary time to get a solid answer.
• Sidetracked by pseudo problems - this is a seeming problem that are not central to the truthfulness of Christianity (age of the earth, sign gifts, eternal security, eschatological issues, expressions of Christian living)
• Worldview commitments - answering intellectual objections from a worldview that can only meaningfully exists as apart of a larger ideology.

Volition Doubt

Defined: this is an unwillingness to believe, to grow in faith, to forsake sin, live the Christian life, or even apply certain healing techniques to a spiritual and/or emotional problem.

Volitional doubt is usually traced by to unanswered factual questions and the emotional quandaries that come as a result of it. The individual can easily be put into a place where the issue is no longer crucial, and it affects the will. “I don’t care if I get answers” or “I don’t want to do anything to find peace” or “I refuse to read Scripture for comfort or direction."

Factors/Conditions that lead to or exacerbate factual/emotional doubt:

• Weak faith - concluding that growing in grace is too difficult
• Immature faith - lack of development of his/her faith that causes uncertainty and the subsequent willful choice to not remedy the problem, e.g. “Was I pressured into my decision?” or “Was I totally committed to Christ?”
• Lack of growth - the choice to not get serious enough with the Lord to grow
• Self-sufficiency - arrogance toward God that you don’t need him
• Lack of repentance - unconfessed sin contributes to a sense of separation from God
• Difficulty in application - a reluctance to apply biblical steps for healing

Diagnosing Your Doubt

Based upon what you have read, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my doubt center around "what if" kind of questions? For example, "What if I really don't believe enough?" or "What if God really doesn't exist?" or "What if this Christianity thing isn't really real or right" or "What if we are living in the Matrix kind of situation?"
2. Does my doubt cause anxiety and even depression? (I have the feeling of being overwhelmed and/or of not ever being able to find the answers, etc.)
3. Am I dealing with major life change or a significant loss or difficulty? (Are the circumstances in your life, outside of your religious doubt, causing anxiety or depression or nervousness?)
4. Does engaging factual data (Scripture, science, history) actually help my doubt or cause it to get worse? (The more you research the more anxious you get.)
5. Does it help my doubt if I hear a solid answer from Scripture, science or history? (The doubt seems to subside or go away.)
6. Am I angry at God? Do I experience the following: do not want to read Scripture; do not want to repent of known sin; do not care if I get help from God; it seems to hard to grow in my faith, etc.
7. Am I avoiding church, or biblical teaching, because I do not want to hear solutions to my doubt? (This may be subtle and not overt)

Analyzing Questions 1-3: If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, you are an emotional doubter (this is the vast majority of religious doubt). If you answer is "no," you are either a factual or volitional doubter.

Analyzing Question 4: If your answer is "helps my doubt," you are a factual doubter. If your answer is "causes it to get worse," you are more than likely an emotional doubter. It is possible for you to be a hybrid of the two, as well. This is fairly easy to diagnose: if you easily get pulled into side issues that cause anxiety, you are a hybrid doubter probably. You may only be an emotional doubter. I know it sounds confusing, but don't worry, I will help you navigate this soon!

Analyzing Question 5: If your answer is "yes," you are a factual doubter. If the answer is "no," you are an emotional doubter (or possible hybrid).

Analyzing Questions 6-7: If your answer is "yes" to either of these questions, you are a volitional doubter. If your answer is "no," you will fit into the either the emotional or factual doubter category (maybe hybrid).

*I know this is a ton of information, but is is so important for you to really work through it. Once you understand enough to properly answer the seven questions to diagnose your doubt, continue on to Step Two: The 7-Day Journey to Dealing With Doubt.