I think some people are afraid of questions related to their beliefs. They fear that they may not have all the answers. More importantly, they fear that their beliefs may be found to be deficient. However I don’t think we should dissuade people from asking questions. After all, if they are seeking the truth and what we believe is true, shouldn’t that be the conclusion they eventually come to? And even if we’re worried they won’t, can we effectively keep them from wondering by preventing them from asking the question?
Unanswered questions don’t mean that a belief is false. Many people consider science to be among the most reliable knowledge that we have. However there’s hardly a limit to the amount of questions science hasn’t answered. This doesn’t mean that science is false. It simply means that we don’t fully understand nor have all possible answers yet. And it’s similar with other types of beliefs. Just because a Christian doesn’t have all the answers doesn’t necessarily mean what he or she believes in untrue. So this another reason we need not fear questions.
We hold many foundational beliefs about our world which we base our lives on. Some of these we are aware of, many we are not. We need these beliefs in order to function. If we questioned all of our beliefs all at once, we would be paralyzed with confusion and uncertainty. Having these beliefs isn’t bad. However, some of these beliefs are inaccurate. And making choices based on a inaccurate belief can obviously create problems.
Sometimes we need to question and rethink one of our beliefs. But the process of questioning beliefs can be scary, painful, and a lot of hard work. I get that. I understand why we may be fearful when certain questions arise. Doubting a core belief is scary. The consequences if we decide a belief is incorrect can be significant. It can certainly shake up our lives. We may subsequently regret parts of our past affected by the inaccurate belief. This isn’t a process we enter into lightly. Yet it is necessary do to at times in order to grow.
I think we need to allow for people to have questions and space for them to work through those questions. I also believe it’s okay to not be ready to question certain beliefs ourselves.
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