The lecture was recorded under the auspices of the St Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society, Wellington on 1 September 2014.
Some quotations worth recording:
- At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening – no doubt, no awakening!
- Doubt in any area of life is healthy, but for many people in religion doubt is not OK.
- Silencing the doubter is a form of abuse – “it’s all her fault”.
- Martin Luther endured years of agony before he challenged the Church.
- Being freed to doubt “my chains fell off, my heart was free..”
- Doubt is not the opposite of faith.
- The opposite of faith is to be without faith, and the opposite of belief is unbelief
- Unfortunately, many church communities are not hospitable spaces for doubters.
- The sturdiest faith comes out of a struggle with doubt.
…and many more!
She also gave an interesting summary of the Gospel of Thomas, and her explanation as to why Thomas was given such a bad press because of his requests for evidence.
Val Webb has a pleasant conversational style of presentation, and all our group were certainly given encouragement in our faith journeys.