What Does Not Exist (2)
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it shall happen.” Matthew 21:21 NASB
Doubt – “The attitude which the NT expresses by diakrinesthai in the sense ‘to doubt’ is seen in prayer and action, not in reflective thought. . . . In Mk.11:23; Mt. 21:21 man has the promise of God and he clings to it when he speaks the word of faith to God, or to the mountain. But he still thinks it impossible, or at least not certain, that what he says should be done.”[1]
When the New Testament speaks about doubt or about the double-minded man, it is not speaking about cognition. Doubt is not an issue in my mind. Notice that Büchsel writes, “But he still thinks it impossible.” What I think about God’s promise is irrelevant. Cognitive doubt plays no role in the biblical texts. What matters is what I do with what God promises! As long as I act on the basis of God’s word, it doesn’t matter if I still think such actions are nonsense, impossible, contradictory, or useless. I can have all the cognitive doubts in the world and still have faith because I did what God said to do.
It is extremely unfortunate that we have confused the Greek idea of cognitive doubt with the Hebrew idea of failure to act. It’s not surprising, however. In our Western world, doubt has become a matter of mental disassociation. Since the Greek paradigm places primary emphasis on rational consistency, doubt is viewed as a breakdown in the thought process, particularly with regard to the objective of logical certainty. In other words, in our culture, doubt is the expression of a lack of absolute confidence, of resolute conviction. In the Greek paradigm, faith is the equivalent of “confident assurance,”[2] a mental state that admits no lingering questions. Therefore, doubt is, by definition, the opposite of faith. With this definition, if I have doubts, I cannot have faith. The process of believing becomes an entirely inner struggle of the mind.
But this is not true in Hebraic thought. In the Hebraic worldview, the sure sign of doubt is not my mental struggle with the impossibility of the assertion. The sure sign of doubt is my refusal to act. “I believe; help my unbelief” makes perfect sense in Hebrew but is incomprehensible in Greek. Logical certainty is not necessary in order to believe in the Hebraic world. In the Hebraic world, evidence does not demand a verdict. In the Hebraic world, the process of believing is much more like learning to swim. Hold your breath and jump in the water – and see how you like it. Your mind might be screaming that floating is impossible. You weigh more than water. Your mind tells you that you won’t be able to breathe. Your mind is shouting, “Danger!” But you can’t learn to swim by thinking about it. You have to get in the water. You must do before you decide.
Topical Index: doubt, diakrino, Matthew 21:21, faith
Thanks for this great word Skip. “The sure sign of doubt is my refusal to act”. This is very true. However, it’s very easy (with a Greek mindset) to disassociate my actions from God’s instruction and try and demonstrate or generate a certain level of faith BY acting without first receiving (or recognising) instruction. This needs no communication with Him and is devoid of any relationship requirement.
So many times have I tried to negotiate with the Lord, acting in ways to get Him to make my agenda happen. How futile those attempts turned out to be exposing my real motivation. Never once did I stop to consider that His agenda would be far more magnificent the mine and that He can accomplish infinitely more than I dare ask or even imagine.
I’ve just realised by writing that His plans are bigger than our imagination that faith CANNOT EVER be dependant on anything cognitive because our imagination is limited.
I can’t remember whether it was a recent TW or one from the archive that I recently read but that was in respect of waiting (like a coiled spring in eager anticipation) before acting. Sometimes the refusal to act (not refusal in the sense of rebellion but in the sense of a willingness to acknowledge God in control) is just the action that is needed – until the fullness of time.
Actively waiting will ensure that our actions are those that will bear fruit, not forgetting of course Skip’s somewhat difficult comment from yesterday “to doubt is to delay obedience”. (Don’t know about you but I like to have a think about things first – getting out of the boat is madness but I want desperately to do it. I wan’t to jump in but I’m never quite sure it’s His voice I’m hearing).
I believe; Help my unbelief!
What a great commentary! Thanks, Andy. THe “coiled spring” remark was about the Hebrew word for “wait” (as in “wait upon the Lord”). Waiting is active doing. And believe me when I say that the words “to doubt is to delay obedience” are painful to the author too.
Skip,
Great commentary on the influence of neoplatonism in the West, and how it has misdirected many who say they “believe” the Bible. In many debates on Facebook, I see Christians say words along these lines: “Well, if we could explain Christianity, there would be no room for faith.” Without knowing it, they have the Greek view of faith that you outline here, which is the wrong view. For them, rational thinking takes us part of the journey in understanding God, and when that comes to an end, then faith steps in. So faith and rationality are effectively separated by a faith that becomes a mystical leap into the unknowable.
Along the way, people have missed Sha’ul’s admonition, repeated from Habakkuk, “the righteous man shall live by his faith” (Rom 1:17). In other words, he is to live by his trust in God, not by his mystical leap into the unknown. This is the false spirituality that your mentor, Francis Schaeffer, identified so well. It has killed Christendom, and ushered in a genuine new dark ages of secularism and atheism from which genuine belief has yet to recover. Sometimes you just have to pause and ask, “Are we in this because of God or because of ourselves?” The neoplatonic answer will blame God; the genuine believer will get to work to put his life on the straight path of righteousness and begin to make a difference, however small. A light in an age of darkness.
This is why I appreciate your remarks so much! RIGHT ON THE NAIL HEAD! BANG! Yes, our separation from obedience, and Christianity’s replacement of obedience with rational certainty and mystical leaps, has “killed” us. We will not recover until we stop trying to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s and DO WHAT HE SAYS.
Jump out of the boat. Walk awhile. See how it feels. Then think about it.
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This is my first time replying on here. I have been reading TW for sometime now. Thank you so much Skip and the members of this community. I’m learning so much. My thinking has become challenged in ways I never thought possible. So refreshing! Todays message is so beautiful to me. I can feel the weights lifting already! Life changing…
This certainly goes with the following Torah portion for this week! Vayeira(Genesis 18-22)
http://www.aish.com/tp/i/gl/VAYEIRA–REACTING-TO-SUCCESS-AND-FAILURE.html
This TW reminded me of Naaman’s reluctant and skeptical obedience. It seems like the history always helps define the vocabulary.
Yes, and woe to those who no longer know the history.
Andy’s last line in parentheses was so telling for me!
How often have I been prompted to do something – give
something away, visit someone, whatever – and I have not
done it because I second-guessed myself, not believing
the prompting was from God. A wise friend told me that it would
do no harm to act on a benevolent, seemingly crazy idea,
but it would certainly be tragic to miss a command from
God because I was questioning my motivations.
Thanks so much, Skip and everyone else, for including
me in this journey!
Hi Skip,
Just a test