Many people don't realize that the infamous first principle of philosophy, the saying, cogito, ergo sum, "I think therefore I am," was actually heavily rooted in intellectual humility, doubt, seeking answers, as in dubito, ergo sum. "I doubt, therefore I am."
Since I doubt, there must be a doubter. Since I think, there must be a thinker. This might seem rather trite, but there aren't many certainties in life, so if you can find one it is best to look at it with a bit of wonder and awe and cling to it fiercely, no matter how small.
The Western world makes me absolutely crazy sometimes, a rather comical state of affairs since I've never really known any other world. But it does make me crazy because we've built such a temple to our own vain imaginings, our certainties. We have seated human reason on the throne, built an idol to alleged human intellectual prowess, and now we just think we know everything.
We do this, all while appearing to just get dumber and crazier by the minute! People have taken to calling this "clown world" on account of the fact that an appalling number of people are now acting like complete clowns, and not the entertaining kind of clown either. That is because we now believe everything we think and so if we think it, it must be true. There couldn't possibly ever be anything wrong with our own thinkering.
I kid you not, some religious lunkhead on the internet once got all uppity and hostile because I was supposedly teaching men and the Apostle Paul said women can't have authority over men, so now I'm a heretic or something. What made it so comical was that I had no idea what he was even talking about and so I answered with no guile at all, no snark intended and said, "that's ridiculous, I can't teach men, they're totally unteachable!"
I don't mind the Apostle Paul's words at all, because I've always thought of it more as a rebuke of men rather than women. You are all grown men, you have a responsibility to teach your own selves! It also goes nicely with Matthew 23 where Jesus says, "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ."
I think therefore I am...totally awesome and so everything I think must be just as true as I am. We have gone and developed egos five stories higher than our IQ and promptly slammed the door shut to any potential new information.
Dubito, ergo sum. "I doubt, therefore I am." It is the very act of doubting, of acknowledging that there is the tiniest possibility that we might not be "all that," that leads to great revelations in philosophy......and in faith. Descartes understood this truth and so if one actually reads him one might glean some of this wisdom.
(Alas, hardly anyone actually "reads" anymore. The very act of reading indicates a desire to acquire new information, a symptom of doubt, but I digress.)
To doubt is to question, query, challenge, dispute, or mistrust. It's actually a really good thing! Those are some of my favorite words. We need a lot more of that in the world. Without doubt there can be no humility, no critical thinking skills, and no eventual certainty born of wisdom and experience, rather than superficial tribal allegiance, brand affiliation, or propaganda.
I could even make a sound argument that God wants us to be doubting, because it is our doubt that leads us to do some research, to go check it out, to find out for ourselves. Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" In John 20:25 Doubting Thomas says, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Jesus does not mock or ridicule him, He comes to him and basically says, reach out your hands and feel my wounds.
I would even suggest that it is doubt, not faith that first leads Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water. When the disciples saw Jesus out on the ocean in the storm they thought he was a ghost and they were afraid. Peter had to first doubt He was a ghost, to doubt what his brain was telling him, in order to take that leap of faith.
The reason why Jesus comes out of the tomb and appears to the women first, is because the rest of the disciples did not doubt that He was dead. They were certain He would stay there. Had they doubted what their brains were telling them, or at least been open to another possibility, they would have been there waiting. Much of the time it is actually our willingness to doubt our own preconceived notions, not our faith, that leads us to the truth.
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