How to Overcome Doubt in Faith

How Apologetics Gives Us Confidence

The Oxford dictionary defines doubting as ‘expressing or feeling uncertainty or lack of conviction; skeptical.’  It is a natural human instinct given to us by God, and without it, mankind would never have advanced in the way that we have.

Galileo Galilei wasn’t convinced that the earth was the center of the universe.  His research and writing led to the discovery of the solar system as we know it today.

Aristotle believed earth to be spherical in shape rather than flat, but few believed his theory until Ferdinand Magellan travelled the circumference of the globe.

Doubting leads to a search for truth. But what happens when doubting prevents you from fully putting your trust in God, or even believing that he exists?

This blog post is all about how to overcome doubt in faith.

Some people view faith, particular faith in God, as requiring ‘blind faith’ or taking a ‘leap of faith’.  That we should just trust the Bible no matter what. In fact, that is a common view of Christians – that they are gullible and weak-minded and that they need to believe in God to get through the day, or life.

But this is not the Bible’s version of faith.

Romans 4:21 says of Abraham,

‘He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.’

NLT

Ephesians 4:14 says,

‘Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.’

NLT

1 Peter 3:15 says,

‘But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,’

NIV

As you can see from these three passages: we are to seek the truth, be fully convinced, mature in our knowledge and understanding, and be prepared to give an answer for our faith in Jesus.

Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here, receiving God’s free gift of salvation only requires simple faith – even the faith of a child – but we shouldn’t stop there. Stopping there can lead to the eventual doubting that can prevent us from fully experiencing the richness God has in store for us. Complete and unfettered trust in God requires a little work on our part in order to get to know the God we trust in and his Word.

How to Remain Strong in Your Faith

All Christians experience doubts about God and their faith at some point in their lives. Often this happens during hard times and suffering.

The best way to prevent doubt from taking over during these times is to admit your doubts to God, pray and ask him to help you overcome them, read God’s Word, and meditate on his promises.

I don’t want to minimize this very wise and sound advice: staying close to God – even more so during these hard times – is crucial, but this isn’t the focus of this blog post.

Always Be Prepared to Give an Answer

Have you ever been asked tough questions about God and the Bible and failed to come up with a worthy answer? I have. And this can do two things: 1) it can cause you to doubt, and 2) it can undermine the Christian faith.

1. There are a lot of opinions, ‘facts’, and ‘evidence’, out there that seem to prove Christianity is false. Particularly now in the age of the internet and the power of social media. When we can’t answer questions raised by skeptics, it can cause us to doubt our own faith.
2. We are often our biggest hurdles to reaching others for Christ.  Our evidence is most often subjective, not to mention that we tend to base our faith on how it makes us feel, rather than what we know.  Our lack of Biblical knowledge and understanding causes us to ruin our testimony to others. 

Now you might say, “Stop right there! We don’t need hard evidence to be saved. Faith is all that is required.”

And you are right. But having hard evidence means that, even in hard times, you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what the Bible tells us is true and that we can rely on God.

When you know that something is absolutely true, you won’t ever have any doubts and you can live your Christian walk in complete certainty and trust in God.

Christian Apologetics: Evidence that Overcomes Doubt in Faith

I personally became interested in Christian apologetics a few years ago when, after being asked tough questions about Christianity and God, I found myself unable to give very good answers.

For those of you who may have heard of apologetics, it’s not as complex or scary as it seems. Though it can go quite deep, it doesn’t require you to be a scholar or have a degree in philosophy to understand the resulting truths from apologetic inquiry.

In a nutshell, Christian apologetics is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. There are many sub-branches, or lines of ‘argument’,  which can be used to provide evidence that God exists, and that the Bible is true.

Man is Fallible, but God is Not

Now let me just give you a disclaimer: man and his arguments are fallible but God is not. Christian apologetics is not foolproof, however it does provide you with strong evidence and arguments that support the Christian faith. Far more evidence exists for Christianity than against it.

This evidence, plus the Christian experience of having the Holy Spirit indwelling within us and having the ability to have a close relationship with God,  provides us with complete satisfaction and confidence in our hope in Christ.

Apologetics: An Overview of the Different Types

Biblical Prophecy

What would be the most clear, permanent and unchanging way that God could speak to mankind?  Through written word.

As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the very words of God. But how can we be certain that the words in the Bible are the very words of God, and did not come from the minds of men?

The answer: fulfilled prophesy. Not all prophesy is useful as evidence. Some prophesies were short term and fulfilled within the prophet’s lifetime (some of Isaiah’s prophesies), some are yet to be fulfilled (Revelations), and some are vague, poetic and lack detail.

But the Bible is full of specific, detailed, and fulfilled prophesy.  God gave us these prophecies as evidence that the Bible is his word and guarantees that the rest of God’s promises stand true.

The Bible is set apart from all other religious books because no other religion or religious book can truly claim fulfilled prophecy.

Examples of Fulfilled Prophecy

An example of fulfilled prophesy can be found in Ezekiel 26:1-21.  In this passage, the destruction of Tyre, the capital of the Phoenician Empire – considered impregnable for over 2000 years – is prophesied about in great detail.

This prophesy was fulfilled 300 years later by Alexander the Great.

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,’ (NIV)

Ezekiel 26:12 (NIV)

The city of Tyre existed in two sections: a coastal city and an impregnable fortress on an island. When under attack, the people of Tyre would retreat to the island. This passage describes how Alexander the Great built a causeway to get to the island by throwing the rubble of the demolished city into the sea.

Daniel 7&8 describe the 4 succeeding empires after King Belshazzar and how they come into power with great accuracy.

And there are so many passages which prophesy about Jesus birth, death, and resurrection.  A few examples can be found in Psalm 22, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5, and Isaiah 53.

Pastor Mike Winger from Biblethinker.org is an excellent resource for prophetic apologetics. He has an entire series covering several prophesies in a verse-by-verse study called Evidence for the Bible.

Historical Apologetics

In this type of apologetics, Bible scholars, historians and archaeologists find evidence that proves that the events of the Bible truly happened.

It was once argued that Jesus was merely a fictitious character, but now no serious atheist will deny that Jesus truly existed.

There is so much historical evidence supporting the events of the Bible and its timeline, that even non-Christian historians and experts accept the Bible as a historical document.

There is also a mountain of evidence that Jesus is who he said he was: that he truly was raised from the dead, proving that he is God.  Jesus proclaimed that the Bible is the Word of God.  Therefore, if Jesus proved he is God, the Bible truly is the Word of God.

I recommend reading books and research by Dr. Gary Habermas, Dr. Mike Licona, and J. Warner Wallace, if this area of apologetics interests you.

Scientific Apologetics

Romans 1:20 says,

‘For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.’

NLT

Two major lines of argument in scientific apologetics:

• Teleological Arguments
• Cosmological Arguments

Sometimes this form of apologetics is also combined with philosophy, since much about science is still undiscovered and unknown.  Logic and reason are the methods used in this kind of apologetics.

The Teleological Argument looks at the complexity in the design of the universe and life.  By observing the complexity of the universe and the precision necessary for our existence, it can only be concluded that an Intelligent Designer was behind it all.

The common view that chance and spontaneity led to our existence falls short against all the evidence.

The Cosmological Argument is the argument for the beginning of the universe. 

Albert Einstein, to his own dismay and irritation, discovered the theory of General Relativity which revealed that the universe was not eternal, but rather had a beginning. His theory also revealed that anything that has a beginning has a cause.

The Cosmological Argument focuses on evidence for the beginning of the universe, and therefore a cause for the universe, i.e. The Creator.

If you are interested in this field of apologetics, check out books by John Lennox, who has publicly debated Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, two well-known supporters of Atheism.

William Lane Craig is also an excellent source for classical apologetics and  has successfully debated many atheists in his field.

Moral Apologetics

The moral argument for God is based on the reasoning that a standard moral law, or code, is undeniable (for example, murder is wrong by everyone’s standard), and every moral law must have a moral Law Maker.

We might disagree over some issues of right and wrong, but we can’t deny that a moral code exists.

Romans 2:15 tells us that God’s moral code is written into our consciences:

‘They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.’

NLT

This line of apologetics also relies heavily on philosophy, reason, and logic.

Professor David Baggett is well recognized for specializing  in the area of apologetics and morality.

This was meant to be a general overview of Christian apologetics.  Many of these fields overlap and use different terminology to describe their scope and focus, but in simplistic terms, these are the areas of focus.

Though it may not be necessary to study each area deeply, I truly believe that digging further for the evidence to support our faith truly helps us to overcome our doubts, as well as help others overcome theirs.  

Do you want to know how to overcome doubt in faith?

Like Abraham, become fully convinced.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve all had doubts at some point.  Like the disciple Thomas, allow your doubts to lead you to the truth.

Studying apologetics is also important and helpful in sharing our faith. As Peter said, ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’.

Book Recommendations

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek – this book gives an excellent overview into each area of apologetics in an easily understandable way and provides you with the strongest arguments for why Christianity is true.