Marbaniang, Domenic

Doubt has single-handedly destroyed many families, friendships, and futures of people in the world. But, what is doubt? Doubt is a thought. It is a hypothetical thought that uses expressive forms such as “May be”, “Perhaps”, “Suppose”, “Seems like”. Doubt casts a dark cloud of suspicion on the mind of a person against truth. Slowly things begin to look darker by the influence of this cloud. Everything begins to look different and supportive of the doubtful thought. Supportive evidences seem to flock around the suspicious idea in the same way that birds of the same feather flock together. The problem becomes vicious when one actually nurtures a deep grudge, fear, or anger. Then, thoughts turn villainous. Doubt is the enemy of trust. Where doubt enters, trust quivers. But, where trust takes a willful stand, doubt can find no entry point. Therefore, the believer confesses again and again: ‘I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”’ (Psa 91:2) ...

As Christians How Do We Handle Doubt? The Bible tells us that the “just shall live by faith” (Rom.1:17). However, oftentimes, doubt invades our hearts trying to expel faith and control our life. Christians must learn what doubt is and how we can handle doubt. We must understand that doubt is not rational questioning of false beliefs, hasty conclusions or theories. Doubt is a choice to disbelieve in face of sufficient reasons to believe. Doubt is an attempt to find reasons, unreal as they may be, to believe in anything else than what has been made clearly evident by God; in that, it is idolatrous since it finds a false alternative to God’s truth. Doubt is an action inconsistent with belief in God. There are chiefly seven Greek expressions that have been translated as “doubt” in the New Testament (KJV): aporeo (Jn. 13:22; Gal.4:20) meaning “to be perplexed”; diaporeo (Ac. 2:12; 10:17) meaning “to be thoroughly perplexed”; meteorizo (Lk...

© Domenic M,  Explorations of Faith , 2009 ( Read Full Book Online ) THERE are chiefly seven Greek expressions that have been translated as “doubt” in the New Testament (KJV): aporeo (Jn. 13:22) meaning “to be perplexed”; diaporeo (Ac. 2:12; 10:17) meaning “to be thoroughly perplexed”; meteorizo (Lk. 12:29) meaning “to suspend as in mid-air”; airo psuche (Jn. 10:24) meaning “to keep the soul in suspension as in air”; dialogismos (Rom. 14:1; 1 Tim. 2:8) meaning “to reason” or “to argue”; diakrino (Mt. 21:21; Rom. 14:23) meaning “to judge differently” or “to discriminate”; and distazo (Mt. 14:31; 28:17) meaning “to waver”. We can learn of the different ways in which doubt finds intrusion in one’s life by looking at the usage of these words. PERPLEXITY OR LOSS OF ANSWER First, doubt appears in the form of perplexity or a loss of answer . This is indicated by the word aporeo . For instance, when Festus introduces Paul the prisoner to Agrippa the King, he says that the Jews were acc...