No doubt about it?

Sometimes when I hear a person use the phrase, "No doubt about it," I immediately begin to doubt the statement! The removal of all doubt, it often seems to me, is beyond human capacity. Yes, there is such a thing as empirical scientific proof, and yes, I'm one who believes in moral truth. But there's room for skepticism, or at least the Missourian's "show me" attitude in many aspects of our experience.

I personally can well understand the attitude of the disciple popularly known as "Doubting Thomas." Because he was not presence when Jesus Christ appeared alive to the other disciples on the first Easter evening, he was justifiably skeptical of their reports about seeing the Risen Lord. Maybe he thought the group suffered from something like an hallucination brought on by their grief. He would not believe that Jesus was alive until he himself saw him. The story goes on that Jesus did in fact appear again when Thomas was present, inviting him to touch him to make sure he was real and not a vision. Thomas, then, cried out, "My Lord and my God!"

Then Jesus said something interesting. He noted that Thomas now believed because he had seen with his own eyes, but there would be others who believed, without seeing, based on the testimony of those who had. That has proved true throughout the centuries since.

Doubt has its place. Its purpose is to keep us from being taken advantage of, to keep us focused on reality. Belief has its place, too. They are not mutually exclusive. One need not give up all doubt in order to be a Christian. One simply needs to meet Christ, and in light of that encounter, deal with the doubts and puzzles and concerns differently.