The History of Doubt and the Challenge it Posses to Faith.

By Greg Powell

In the interview between Krista Tippett and Jennifer Hecht, the author of the book, A History of Doubt, Ms. Hecht briefly takes us through the history of Doubt and doubters, and their impact on the world. Hecht first started with the ancient Greeks, the first major and influential Philosophers and questioners in History.

Ms. Hecht spoke of three types of Greek doubters, Cynics, skeptics, and Epicureans. Cynic literally meant dog. The cynic believed in living as life comes and going with the flow so to speak. They rejected everything and lived rather simply, like dogs. The Skeptics claimed that they didn't know anything. The human mind was not designed fro knowledge. The Epicureans believed in "redefining our hungers." They questioned, but in addition suggested how to live in a world without God. Epicureans focused on three fears, the Fear of pain, God, and death. They also believed that this fear ruined lives.

After the Greeks and the Romans came Jesus. Jesus was not a great doubter but his impact on the history of doubt is unmistakable. Jesus redefined faith. The faith of the Christian religion came after great trials and doubting of the church and especially the apostles. This belief could be seen as a leap. Faith intrinsically contained doubt. Job, one of the Great characters of Faith in the Bible, expresses doubt and at the end of the book accepts that he does not have all of the answers. As St. Augustine said, "If I doubt, I live." The Greeks and even the Jews focused on ritual, and while ritual is important to Christians, Faith accompanied ritual more so than it did with the Greeks and the Jews.

The next step in the history of Doubt is the Medieval ages or as our book calls them the Dark Ages. The Dark ages gave way to the Renaissance, the great return to Greek and Roman thought processes. This era, spurred people to seek answers in reason and logic, as well as doubt in establishments like the church. The Renaissance was soon followed by the Enlightenment another great time of doubt especially in the church. Scientific findings like those of Descartes and Galileo rose questions among the people of their time.

Ms. Hecht clarified many misconceptions of doubt that I and, in my opinion, much of the world holds. One of the four components of Faith according to Zanzig is Times of doubt. In the History of Doubt Ms. Hecht emphasized that Faith and doubt do not necessarily contradict each other. Faith requires doubt especially when our intellect is needed to find God. Hecht said that most doubters do not hate religion, but they also accept the possibility of other answers.

As I tracked the progress of doubt through history, I noticed that one of the early Greek doubters, Epicurus, spoke of battling fear. In faith we too must battle a specific type of fear, the fear of the cost. In a more broad view the transition from the Dark ages to the Renaissance, a great time of inquiry and doubt, resembles the transition from unreflective unity to reflective disunity. In our Faith lives we will undergo a similar transition, but how we deal with this reflection will effect our faith. In this historical transition we can see another challenge to faith. At that time science challenged the churches teaching and drove many people away from Faith. Our own lives can be a microcosm for this same view of science if sciences value in faith is not considered.

To me, Ms. Hecht's greatest point was that faith and doubt can not only coexist, but are intrinsic to one another. Some of the greatest doubters hold enormous faith. St. Augustine had faith and recognized the value of doubt and its necessity to understanding one's faith. Even and especially those who have questions can still have faith and should allow those questions to drive their faith.