Author: David Ellis

Don: Last week we determined that forgiveness may be one of the core pillars of community. We discussed the relationship between forgiveness and the “unpardonable sin,” the “blaspheming against the holy spirit” that Jesus talked about in Matthew 12. That question arises because after giving the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, and again at the…

At risk of being sued for copyright infringement, I have to share this extraordinary article from The Atlantic, because it seems to me to support the contention I have made in this forum and in my book Deus ex Machina Sapiens that science and religion can blend, and that science will increasingly reveal the physics…

Don: This is our tenth year of studying the Book of Matthew. We have reached chapter 18, which reflects what we are calling the “pillars of community.” These are key concepts expounded by Jesus that define what constitutes an effective community of strong faith. It is almost a handbook of the community called “the kingdom…

Don: As we discussed last week, it seems that in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, there was neither faith nor doubt. Adam and Eve “walked by sight and not by faith.” There was no ambiguity in Genesis about who owned and ran the Garden: It was god. The two important trees in the…

Here is one of a series of “Big Questions Videos” made by this year’s Templeton Prize winner, Msgr. Prof. Tomáš Halík. It asks the question: How can atheists be embraced by those with faith? It seems very relevant to much of what we have been discussing, and it seems to reach very similar conclusions.

Jay: To get us started, here are some random quotes about doubt from the Internet: Doubt is too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. Seeking to know is, only too often, learning to doubt. Faith that does not doubt is dead faith. Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an…

Don: Doubt can lead to growth in faith or to disillusionment. What factors—inherent or external to the thing doubted—influence the direction of our doubt? The stages of faith model we have been discussing allows for the fact that some people may never move from one stage to another; but the model nevertheless does describe the…

Don: As we have discussed, doubt that leads to spiritual growth is instructive, a tonic, medicinal. I call this “intellectual doubt,” because it stems from an incomplete dataset, from questions to which there is no apparent answer. It is a spur to action, to inquiry, to investigation—to a search for answer or at least some…

Robin: Henry Drummond (1851-1897), a scientist, evangelist, and lecturer at the Free Church College of Scotland wrote in a sermon entitled “Dealing with Doubt”: Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is “can’t believe”; unbelief is “won’t believe.” Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content…