becoming

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12)

Being Evangelical, can we doubt? Or to put it in another way: Can we seek truth without certainty?

Not to confuse with that idea that there is no absolute truth out there, I am simply asking if we can admit that we don’t necessary have all the answers all the time, and that our seemingly bullet-proof system of faith, no matter what we call it, can still be wrong.

Not because God is wrong, but because as fallen human, we can be wrong.

In fact, doubt has always been our drive for truth. I believe a person can be evangelical through and through and continues to have intellectual struggles and real doubts in life. For a real Evangelical is committed to truth, as well as the search for it.

On the other hand, I do see a lot more Christians who think they have all the answers, and yet they have no real passion to seek for truth. Not only in matters of faith, but in ordinary life. Truckloads of easy answers readily available to every circumstances. Doubts are suppressed — “Oh don’t you worry! When in doubt, rest assured that someone else must have the answer already, and they are still believing, aren’t they?”

Musing on Olson’s How to be Evangelical without being Conservative, ch 4.