true believers have not always had faith, many have grown into it slowly. I, myself have finally arrived at a place in my life where i am certain that God is in control. And being able to let go of the mundane has added so much to my life. I believe that God loves me and that is all i really need to know. So when you are ready to take that leap you will be one of those people who do not need religion but will soak in its pleasure.

Who are these "true believers"? Doesn't every single human being have doubt? Maybe the so-called "true believers" have found a way to repress their doubt with denial? It is amazing what the human brain is capable of doing. After all, without doubt... how can we ever question our existence and grow? Isn't keeping an open mind at all times the only way to lead oneself out of self delusions and towards a greater sense of reality and truth...?

Remove this comment if you'd like... but at least give me an honest reply first.

Hey there
Religion has taken on the form of rules and regulations today and has lost a lot of its meaning in faith. That being said, I go to church every week. Why? Fellowship. A good church provides fellowship and support in a community setting. We need to work on filling those pews, not wiping off the dust from another week of the abscent attenders. People who think they don't need this, I find, don't have as strong a faith as they could. This isn't to say everyone is this way, I certainly don pressume to judge other peoples level of faith, but I urge every Christian to go to church and build friendships through Christ! Help each other grow in the Spirit!

I'm thrilled to be able to have this conversation here. I wouldn't delete your comment ahotlosz, it's great in fact. My original post was a bit tongue in cheek. I agree there are few if any "true believers." I imagine everyone entertains doubt, or suffers it... whatever. That being the case, our churches should be full.

Let me add too, that I attend church in no small part because of the sense of community I find there, acceptance too into a group of people I very much respect.

You're missing the true nature of Christianity. It is to be 'in relationship' with Christ. It is about becomming empowered by God. If you go to church and do not get this, your church is failing (and there are many). It is also very sad because this relationship will change your life. It is the breath of life. One way to find out more is to check out this website:
http://www.alphacanada.com/
God bless you

ha ha I love that Alpha thing, the answer to the meaning of life in 10 days. Nice website though. That ad is kinda offensive though, guys climb mountains and score goals and girls look pretty on the runway. Wow, like, how revelatory is that?!?

You need not feel sorry for me Kathy. In fact, please don't, it's patronizing.

What I'm trying to say is that we (most of us anyway) live with doubt. Doubt is actually a healthy thing. It's the foundation of knowledge. The need to test a theory drives the sciences. Scepticism makes people work for better solutions. And sometimes it even keeps politicians honest. I don't see why it shouldn't play an equally important role in religion. Look at the apostles, they were plagued by doubt but that didn't make them any less faithful.

I have always felt one of the strengths of the UC was the fact it encouraged doubts and questions. Some of the strongest faith comes first from dooubt. If you resolve your doubt your faith is stronger for it.

I did not grow up inany church but joined when my wife and I were married. She had grown up in this particular church and I was a dooubter looking for a path. Twenty plus years later my journey continues but I have a path to follow. The UC pointed me down the path, gave me some tools and said go check things out.

I think anyone out there who feels that they cannot benefit from organize religion should give us a chance. No dogma, few hard and fast rules, and lots of encouragement to ask questions. What more could a seeker desire?

Well, I've been away a while and now my blog is pretty much buried, oh well...

I've been thinking about that doubt thing, and faith. I'm not saying that faith doesn't exist, only that it is a slippery slope from having Christian (or Muslim, or Jewish, etc.) commitment to blindly following institutional dogma.

It is perhaps a sad thing after all that I am so rebellious, and completely without discipline. On the other hand, I think a church that is tryly welcoming is going to have to find new terms to describe what's going on there. Doubt is something we all know and can share... and the way to faith has to go through it.

I agree - the blogs are a low priority eh? - there are so many other postings to read - this is the first chance I have had to sift to the end of the blogs - don't feel neglected...
but reading through - I don't think other people should try to tell anyone what to think - that Alpha course (we tried it at our group) is really cut and dried and not really for people who like to question - like me - we did a study called Beginnings - which really just gave us background information and left us with lots of questions that we struggled to answer ourselves (with no back of the book :). Now our group just picks a book a goes where the Spirit takes us - this may not be acceptable to a lot of folk, but we are happy with what answers meet our needs today - we leave tomorrow on hold - Blessings on your search, Howboy.
ps Calgary likes Cowboys, so send me a wondermail if you come our way :)

whoa, Disillusioned, great post! thanks! sorry I wasn't back here sooner.

right on, right on, right on... if you don't question, you can end up on the koolaid end of the stick... poor Koolaid TM eh, bad advertising or what?

k, coupl'a new thoughts, jotted down during services last week (missed this week, uh oh :)

Every Sunday, and I mean, EVERY Sunday, before going to church, I wonder (wondercafe, never thought of the name before.. ha ha too funny), whether or not to go. I mean, I'm a 20th C guy. I know from science. I have ethical commitments. I have faith in people. So what for church?

And, if I go... I always, ALWAYS (sorry for shouting) feel better afterwards, I mean better than already feeling good, like feeling great, like you did the right thing.

What the heck is that about?!?

Anyway, my point is still, that doubt is good, not only good, but essential to faith. The idea that "faith is blind," I don't know... I would like to have had that kind of faith behind me personally in the past, never materialized at the critical moment and that was devastating. So, yeah, I really don't know.

other thought, will be a new "blog"... Christ without religion

- bye for now, shake the foundations!

One of the most effective bible studies I have been involved with simply asked for our own "experience" of God in our lives. No rules or regulations. Just a genuine desire to explore our own sense of the spiritual.

After a few weeks and people were comfortable with being open with one another, we had some fantastic revelations from those who attended. Isn't this what Christianity is all about? Sharing our witness of who Jesus is for us?

It was interesting in that we invited a person who was of a different denomination and she was absolutely amazed that she could have doubts, express those doubts and not be given pat answers as she was used to getting in her own church. If you think of the "doubting Thomas" story, wasn't it the witness of the other disciples who helped Thomas to be convinced that something important was happening in the midst of the apostles? This is why we need church. Not because we can't live without it but because in church we get to share our own personal experience of who God is for us, who Christ is and what it means to minister to one another.

I think doubts are just one more of God's little "nudges" that means we need to learn something very important right now!

Thought I'd just check in on Doubter's Corner, see whose doubting what, or not;)

I had an interesting chat last night with a friend's mother, who, very much to my surprise, thinks just as I have been myself: that faith is a kind of natural impulse and religion a complex allegory for life as we experience it. Which pretty much leaves miracles, divine being(s), and afterlife trembling on the cusp of faith and doubt.

Now that perhaps seems sad to many of you, and I have to admit that it's sounding kind of pathetic to me too (Oh no! what will happen if Doubter stops doubting???). I don't imagine really that Nature has to have some over-riding purpose or governance but I've been reading this book "Jesus" by Marcus J. Borg, and he's making the point that it is nothing short of miraculous that one person should be so remembered, so venerated over 2000 years.

Not without interest too, are his careful arguments about the WWJD idea. The question "What would Jesus do?" he offers, should not be answered dogmatically, but with maximum compassion and understanding. For Borg, moral action cannot be separated from political action... Jesus was a revolutionary. Now that's something I can surely believe in!

Paul, the apostle responsible for most of the New Testament said "belssed are the Bereans, for they hear the word and then go home and study the scriptures to see if what we told them is right" My loose translation.
Paul thought they should question what he taught. Question what Paul taught, seems like doubt to me and Paul taught us to do just that.
Faith is the hope of things not seen, not the blind acceptance of everything heard.
Take your bible to church, follow along, read after.
Anyone here old enough to remember Jim Jones, question or koolaid.
Your choice
always question, is that the same as doubt, only if you continue to doubt after reasearch prayer and fasting has shown you the truth