What to Do about Those Nagging Doubts

Tom: Thanks, Gary.  You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a program in which we encourage everyone who desires to know God’s truth to look to God’s Word for all that is essential for salvation and living one’s life in a way that is pleasing to him.  

We’re at the front end of progressing through Dave Hunt’s book, In Defense of the Faith.  For those of you who are new to the program, we use Dave’s writings for topics because what he deals with, in my opinion, is extremely interesting and most importantly it directs the listener to the Bible for the ultimate answers. The format of In Defense of the Faith is primarily questions and answers, and we’re picking up where we left off last week when we were considering faith and reason, evidence, proofs, a leap of faith, etc. 

Dave, the first question: “I have struggled with this thing called ‘faith’ all my life. I want to believe in God and the Bible but can’t make myself do it. I’m having these nagging doubts. What am I supposed to do?”

Now, Dave, before you answer that, to me, having a person like this is like an answer to prayer. He’s seeking, he wants to know, he’s desirous of it. This isn’t somebody just looking for an argument; this is somebody who really wants to know. What do you say to somebody like that?

Dave: Well, you don’t make yourself have faith. Faith is based upon facts, upon evidence, as we’ve said probably a hundred times. Faith is not a leap in the dark. [With] that kind of faith, you could be a Buddhist, or a Hindu, or a Muslim, or anything. There must be some reason why you believe what you believe. So, I would say to this person, “Examine the evidence, check it out first.”

Too many people come to Christ on an emotional basis or at least without sufficient evidence. I was sitting next to a man a few weeks ago, a top executive for a national airline. His words were, “When I was in university I became a born-again Christian. Now I don’t know what I believe.”

And I said, “Well, I can prove the Bible is God’s Word. I can prove God exists. I can prove Jesus Christ is the true and only Savior of sinners.”

He said, “Could you do that?  Could you help me? ”

Now, it is good to admit doubts. Some people go on, and they don’t want to admit it. They put on a good front. But I can’t understand why a person would continue in that condition. If there are some doubts, let’s settle them. Let’s go to the evidence.

Tom: But sometimes people don’t know where to turn. For example, Dave, let’s say I am that person, and I come to you, and I say . . . where do I begin?  How do I start?

Dave: You begin where the Bible begins.

Tom: Well, wait a minute, the Bible?  You mean that I’m supposed to have faith or trust in the Bible?

Dave: Well, let me finish here.

Tom: Okay, but I’m interested here.

Dave: That’s right. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That’s how the Bible begins. We’ve talked about it before. You cannot be a rational person, look at the universe around you, without knowing it had a beginning. The sun would have burned out—second law of thermodynamics. It’s all running down like a clock. And we know it had to have a beginning. But what did it begin with?  It couldn’t have begun with any thing, because things wear out. It couldn’t have begun with energy, because you couldn’t have energy hanging around ready to make a big bang. Before it could bang, it would have entropied! We know there was a time when no thing, no material, no energy—nothing like that existed. These are temporal, so they couldn’t have been here forever.

Tom: And they couldn’t have begun by themselves.

Dave: No, so you have one alternative. There had to be a time when nothing existed. We know that, but that’s ridiculous. You don’t get everything out of nothing. So there had to be someone who always is. Now that blows your mind! I often talk to God about this. I say, “Lord, how did you get to be God? ” Well, I mean I know that’s ridiculous. You don’t “get to be God,” like the Mormon gods.

Tom: Now, Dave let me stop you here, because you did this last week, and I’m sure somebody’s . . . you mean, you talk to God? What happens?  Does God talk back to you?  How does that work?

Dave: (laughing softly): Well, He talks back to me in His Word, and He speaks to me in my conscience. But . . .

Tom: Is this just for you?  Are you the only one who . . . ?

Dave: Oh, anybody! But, you know . . .

Tom: Anyone seeking after God, coming His way, with a heart to do seek His face . . .

Dave:  That’s right. “You will seek for me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart.” But you know that God didn’t get to be God. He must have always been—not been—He is! And that is beyond . . . I mean, I could go mad thinking about that! Forever, forever, forever—and no beginning! It’s not so difficult, I guess . . . well it is, but to think of forever in the future. It’s just going to continue forever. But to think of forever in the past . . . ?

Tom: Yeah, with no beginning.

Dave: No beginning! I mean that just blows your mind. But on the other hand, we know it must be. It’s the only rational conclusion you can come to. It’s the only scientific conclusion you can come to.

Tom: So you’re still talking about reason, you’re still talking about logic, but you’re also talking about you, as a finite being, not being able to comprehend eternity—no beginning. But it still must be.

Dave: Oh, absolutely! The Bible says, “If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.” Now, you say, “Well, but I don’t believe the Bible yet.” All right, your own conscience would tell you; your own rational thinking would tell you. If there is a God, He must have made me for a purpose. It wouldn’t be rational for Him not to tell me what that purpose is, the capacities that I have as a human being, to know that there is such a thing as love, truth, justice, holiness. They must have been put in me by God. You don’t get them through an evolutionary process. The animals don’t have them, the trees, and so forth.

So it would make sense to go to God. But when you go to God, well, the Bible says, “He that comes to God must believe that He is.” Now I know people who say, “Well, God, if you really are . . .” I think you should be beyond that, when you come to God. We just said there’s no alternative. The universe couldn’t start by nothing, but it had to have a beginning. And it couldn’t come out of thin air. There wouldn’t have even been any thin air for it to come out of. If a person will not accept that, if he will reject what all the evidence and his own rational thinking tells him—God IS—I don’t think he’s going to get anywhere.

Tom: Well, it says, “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’”

Dave: “He that comes to God must believe that he is, . . . ” okay?  That’s the starting point.  “. . . and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” I think you would know that without the Bible. “God, I want to know you.”

Now it’s not just intellectual curiosity. “Oh, God, speak with a voice from heaven, so I know you’re there. Satisfy my curiosity.” No! Do I want to know God so that I can really know what His will is for me? “Why did you make me, Lord?” And do I want to know God as God? Do I want to acknowledge that He is the Creator? He’s greater than I am—I’m nothing—and that if I would be anything, it must be what He wants me to be. Or, do I want to come up with some kind of a god of my own making? A god who will bless my plans that I can mold into my way of thinking?

So a person who . . . God says, “You will seek for me and find me when you seek for ME . . .” Not some higher power. Again, this is a . . . I’m sorry—it is a ludicrous idea! Higher power? Higher than what? Power? What is a power going to do? A force! The Star Wars force can’t think! That’s an idea that is thought up by a human being who wants to play god. Because the force . . .

Tom: You just tap into it to do whatever it might . . .

Dave: Oh, but play the light side of the force, not the dark side. But the force? We’re playing the force? Come on!

So, do you want to know the true God so that you can submit to His will? You will know Him. It’s that simple.

Tom: Let me back you up just a little bit. Going back to this question, the person says, “I have these nagging doubts. What am I supposed to do?”

Now, what you’ve laid out, you began by laying out very good reasons, using logic,

 why there must be a God. Now . . .

Dave: Yes, the one-and-only true God. Can’t have more than one.

Tom: Yes, what’s the alternative to that? The alternative is believing that there is no God. So now, either way you’re faced with evidences. Does the evidence indicate that all this came about by chance? Whether it be the human brain, the makeup of the solar system—that it all came about by chance? Doesn’t someone who denies that there is a God—that’s their faith?

Dave: Tom, the evidence is so overwhelming scientifically. I don’t know how much we’ve talked about it, but the DNA—it has a language! This is information. Even Einstein said, “Matter cannot produce information.” It requires an intelligence. It’s in there in words, syntax, rules. In fact, it’s even coded, and the protein molecules decode it! But they don’t know what this means. Your brain has some thoughts, but your brain, the physical matter of your brain, the electrical current, the chemical reactions in your brain, understands what love, truth, logic, ethics, morals are? No! So we know that this language in the DNA—the instructions to build a body imprinted on every molecule—so a liver molecule knows it’s a liver molecule and so forth. Tom, we’ve talked about it in the past. . . .

Tom: Yes, but I think it’s important, Dave. Again, we’re just going on the basis of this question, and there are people out there just like [this person] that have the same question. That is: “Give me some . . . point me in the direction. Give me something to hang onto,” and we’re telling them that there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that there must be a Creator, a Designer, of the universe, because if you took a simple human cell, the complexity there is far beyond any capacity man has in his own design. Therefore, it must be a Designer with incredible intelligence, omniscience.

Dave: The odds! Tom, I guess we don’t . . . Do we ever try to sell anything on here? I don’t know. Maybe there are some commercials that I don’t know about, that Gary puts in.

Tom: We’ll check with Gary (laughing).

Dave: But would recommend—not one of my books, now—In Six Days.

Tom:  Right.

Dave: This is a compilation of essays from 50 top scientists. These are not dummies. These are top people in their field, and every one of them tells you why he believes in God and in the creation of this earth out of nothing in six literal days, as the Bible says. And they will give you scientific reasons for it. In Six Days, and we do offer that book in our ministry. Okay, so the scientific evidence, the rational, logical evidence is overwhelming. But then, Tom, the fact that we have a sense of . . . well, we know what truth is. We know what justice is. Well, what does it smell like? What does it weigh? What does it taste like?

Tom: Yes, can you put it under a microscope?

Dave: You cannot put justice under any of the five senses. It’s nonphysical. We have thoughts that are not physical. In fact, every thought must come from a nonphysical source. Even the very words imprinted in the DNA must come from a nonphysical source, okay?

Tom: Dave, we’ve said this before—just like the printing on a piece of paper. There are thoughts there. Somebody put those together in an order, and they convey intelligent thoughts.

Dave: It wasn’t the paper and ink that put it together. Okay, now that we have a sense of truth, of justice, of morals, of right and wrong, love. . . .  You read the “Love Chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, you are faced with a love you’ve never seen on this earth, but we know this is true love as it ought to be. It’s like a memory from a paradise from which we’ve been expelled.

Okay, that points again to God. God, who is love; God who is truth, who is just, who is perfect, and we know we fall short of this standard. Now, there’s one book in the world, the Bible, that makes all of this make sense. It’s unlike the writings of any of the religious books in this world. It was written by about 40 different men over 1,600 years. Again, we’ve talked about that before. But we’re reviewing these things now. Most of them didn’t know one another. They came from different cultures, different times in history. One thing about this book—it never reflects the culture and the thought of its day.

Tom: To give an example: We’ve talked about Moses.

Dave: Right.

Tom: Moses, raised in the court of Pharaoh. Try and find, in the first five books of the Bible, which Moses penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—try and find something about the religious gods of Egypt, or the . . . 

Dave: Hygienic . . .

Tom: . . . or the culture . . . Exactly! You don’t find it. Because this is God’s Word coming through God’s people.

Dave: Right, the only thing they claim to have in common, Tom, was they were all inspired by the one true God. Now, you can look at it this way—I try to write books. I don’t do a very good job, but I work hard at it.

Tom: Well, I like some of them.

Dave: Well, thanks, Tom . . .

Tom:  Ok.

Dave: But, I work hard at it, but I may be dealing with one subject. The Bible deals with dozens of subjects. It deals with history. It’s got history. It’s got different periods of time. Now, let’s say that you and I . . . we’ve coauthored a couple of books, okay? Here we are, Tom, we come along, and we’re going to be, well not number 40—let’s say we’re going to be number 30 even, and we are going to claim to be inspired of God, and we’re going to write on a variety of topics. We’re going to deal with Moses, and Joseph, and salvation, and who God is, and what His desires are, what He made—we’ve got to deal with a variety of stuff here.

Tom: Sure, and I’m going to do a chapter, and then you’re going to do a chapter, how about that?

Dave: Yeah, all right! Now wait a minute, Tom . . .

Tom: (Laughing) I know where this is going, Dave.

Dave: Do you know how . . . no, I mean, look—our writing wouldn’t even measure up. Obviously [it’s] not inspired of God, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.  The point is, do you know how easy it would be to contradict number two, or number seven, some guy back there?  I mean, Tom—you couldn’t do it with a computer!

Tom: Dave, we’d have trouble in chapter after chapter, you know, not contradicting each other!

Dave: Right. You couldn’t put this thing together. And the Bible just . . . it’s just so interwoven. One thing relates to another. The thoughts hang together and build upon one another, and so forth. No way!

Okay, so we have the scientific reasons, we’ve got the rational reasons, we’ve got the moral and ethical reasons. Then let’s go to this book and examine it more carefully. You have prophecy—we’ve talked about that. There are no prophecies in the Qur’an. There are no prophecies in the Hindu Vedas, or the Bhagavad Gita, the sayings of Buddha, Confucius, and so forth. The Bible is 28 percent prophecy. These are not cheap psychic predictions. These are history-making, world-shaking events, foretold centuries ahead and witnessed—the fulfillment witnessed.

Tom: Yeah, plus you have God making this claim! Let me read you a couple of verses:  Isaiah:46:9-10 [9] Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, [10] Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
See All...: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. ” That’s only one!

Dave: That’s right. God says He’s the God of history. He will tell us what will happen before it happens. A couple of chapters later, in Isaiah:48:5I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
See All..., He says, “I’m going to tell you what happens before it happens so you can’t give credit to your idol, saying that your idol did it. You can’t say your idol did it. Okay, so now, Tom . . .

Tom: Hey, can I back you up just a second?

Dave: All right.

Tom: I don’t want to leave . . . you know, we’re on to prophecy and talking about [how] there must be a God—this must be His book, and so on—but back to design, let me read Romans:1:20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
See All... . . .

Dave:  All right.

Tom:  . . . and the reason I want to read it is there are a lot of other so-called sacred books out there claiming to be oracles from God, right? Now, Romans:1:20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
See All... says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: . . . ” I want to deal with the first part there: “the invisible things of him from the creation”?

Dave: Well, Tom, I believe it’s talking about God’s character, His power. Now, maybe I went too far to say “character,” because you can’t get too much of character from the Creation. So, it’s talking here about His power, His wisdom, His infinite capabilities—you surely get that. But we need a further revelation from Him to understand His love, His truth, His justice. And, Tom, I don’t want to be insensitive to a person’s feelings, but I cannot understand someone who says, “I just have these doubts, and I don’t know what to do.”

What do you do? Well, you get on your knees and you talk to God. First of all, you’re driven to the conclusion that He exists. “Now, God, help me!” But then you begin to examine the evidence. You know, we’ve said in the past: you can save a lot of time; go to the Bible first. You couldn’t live long enough to read all the other books. The Bible claims that it is the Word of God and that all the others are wrong. Now, if we can prove that it’s true, then we have saved a lot of time.

Then we get to the New Testament. . . . I mean the Bible rings so true! We know that we’re sinners. We know that we have come short of the glory of God. Man was created in the image of God to reflect the love, the truth, the character, the goodness, the mercy, the compassion of God. We know that in our hearts. Any human being knows that. You don’t get that from evolution. You don’t find it among the animals. You don’t find it anywhere except in man, but man does not live up to what his own standards are! We all know we’ve come . . . the Bible defines sin as “coming short of the glory of God.”

Tom: Right.

Dave: And the wonderful thing about the Bible, it rings so true. “The God of all grace,” Peter says, “has called us unto His eternal glory.” If sin is coming short of the glory of God—if man sinned, and the image of God in which he was made was warped and defiled and marred—there’s still something there. But it’s not what it ought to be, and man knows that it’s not what it ought to be. And the Bible offers that God wants to restore you to His glory, but in a better way than Adam and Eve knew it and in a way that it can never be lost again, and it just rings true to the Scriptures, it rings true to logic, and it rings true to our sense of morals and justice and truth.

 And it is so wonderful! And then when we find that God himself—not like the Hindu gods of whatever, that fight wars with one another, that are capricious . . . Allah—you don’t know whether he’s going to forgive you or not. He has no rational basis for forgiving you. But the God of the Bible—He’s so concerned [that] He became a man. Didn’t cease to be God; He’ll never cease to be man—the one-and-only God/Man. Because of who He is, He was able to pay the debt that is the penalty that His own infinite justice required.

Tom: For sin.

Dave: For sin! And on that basis He offers pardon. You can’t . . . God doesn’t make a bookkeeping entry.  You don’t pacify him with human sacrifices or any kind of sacrifice—with gifts, with charity—you don’t buy God off. You don’t influence Him. But He deals justly, and the penalty had to be paid. Tom, from beginning to end, it all rings true, and we can prove that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be. All the prophecies are fulfilled in Him. I don’t know where a person would turn, and why they would reject this offer from God: “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ”