We should not be afraid to doubt, if we see it as a means of learning and growing in our faith. And we should not be afraid to engage with other people who express their doubts, for Jesus yearns to meet them and show that he accepts them, and say to them, 'Peace be with you'.
We live in an interesting time and place when it comes to issues of faith and unbelief. On the one hand there is what the previous Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey describes as ‘the marginalization of public faith’ where Christian practice is being called into question and challenged by secular voices, as witnessed for instance in the ongoing debate about the suitability of opening council meetings with prayers. On the other hand there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that those outside of religion increasingly see it positively. In his Easter sermon last week the current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams noted the way in which some secular commentators ‘no longer see [faith] as a brainless and oppressive enemy, it is recognized as a potential ally in challenging a model of human activity and social existence that increasingly feels insane, a model [of] unlimited material growth and individual acquisition.’ The Archbishop said that ‘We may groan in spirit at the reports of how few young people in our country know the Lord's Prayer, but there is plenty to suggest that younger people, while still statistically deeply unlikely to be churchgoers, don't have the hostility to faith that one might expect.’
We live in a time and place where no-one can take Christianity for granted any more. Believers and churchgoers can’t assume that their friends and neighbours outside the faith know and understand what it is about. And there are many outside the faith who have genuine interest, genuine questions, sincere doubts. In the spirit of Thomas, this situation should be seen as a good thing, to be embraced; those who have faith should be encouraging others to raise their questions, to air their doubts, we should be thrilled to try to help them in their understanding, we should seek out and encourage such conversations as they will stretch us and challenge us and help us to grow in our faith too.
From my talk today, Thomas – faith in two minds.
