The role of doubt
I just finished listening to a Speaking of Faith episode in which Krista Tippett interviewed Jennifer Michael Hecht about the material in her book on the history of doubt. Doubt, particularly in the context of religious orthodoxy, is frequently seen as dangerous or as evidence of moral failure. The picture that Hecht paints, however, is quite different. She says that doubt has always existed alongside faith, and that it is in periods where doubt has been the prevailing attitude that the greatest ideological progress has been made. She looks at some of the great figures of doubt throughout history, from Diogenes and Epicurus to Job, Jesus, Hobbes, Paine, and others. One of the overarching themes that I heard her talk about was that doubt can actually be a good and productive thing, and has frequently taken a positive form rather than one of negation. So her book is now high on my list of things to read!
This topic is particularly relevant to me right now as I am in a period of what could probably be called doubt. And for me it is definitely not doubt in a negative sense of wanting to tear down, but in the positive sense of wanting to cut away that which is only dogma so as to find a firm foundation on which to stand.
