Doubt

In Luke 24, Jesus rises from the dead and appears to his followers.  When he shows himself to the eleven remaining disciples and those gathered with them, they are understandably afraid and think they are seeing a ghost.  In verse 38, Jesus asks them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?”  The word translated “doubt” is διαλογισμός.  This noun means, essentially, a “balancing of accounts, calculation, consideration”.  It also carries a few legal connotations with it (e.g. judicial inquiry).  Elsewhere in the New Testament, διαλογισμός is often translated “thoughts” or “reasonings”.  Indeed, even in this verse, “thoughts” and “reasonings” are frequently used, while “questionings” and “imaginations” are each used in a few translations.  This noun implies mental power.*

What Jesus is saying is, essentially, “Don’t try to logic yourself out of believing”.**  This verse is a hard one for me to take.  It is sometimes hard for me to relate to the faith of many mainstream Christians today.  Many, on the one hand, accept Christianity as a part of their culture – like the food the eat or the political party they vote for – without putting much thought into what they actually believe.  Others, on the other hand, put more emphasis on their feelings than I feel comfortable doing.

I have realized, however, that it is very easy to use logic as a means of justifying what I want to believe, or, to take it further, to logic myself out of any faith at all, which is precisely what Jesus is talking about in Luke 24:38.  Part of the reason I read authors like C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton is because they, too, were intellectual (and a lot smarter than me, to boot), and I can relate to the struggles they had reconciling their faith with their education.  I have to admit, though, that there are times I envy people who don’t live inside their heads as much as I do.  Life in general is simpler that way, which I don’t believe is a bad thing.  Perhaps, then, it is not such a bad thing when it comes to my faith, and I should try to stem the διαλογισμοί that rise in my head and heart, trying to get me to stop believing.

 

*Moreover, this noun is formed from the noun λόγος, which has a whole host of meanings.  I really wanted to look into uses of Greek words in the New Testament that come from the root λόγος, but it had already been too long since I’d posted, so I had to restrain myself.  You’re welcome.

**See what I did there?  λόγος is the root of the word logic. 😉