Doubt vs Unbelief

From Alistair McGrath (quoted in Kent & Barbara Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Family):

Unbelieving Thomas

Doubt is natural within faith. It comes because of our human weakness and fraility. […] Unbelief is the deciion to live your life as if there is no God. It is a deliberate decision to reject Jesus Christ and all that he stands for. But doubt is something quite different. Doubt arises within the context of faith. It is a wistful longing to be sure of the things in which we trust. But it is not and need not be a problem.

In John 20:27, Jesus says to Thomas to “Stop doubting and believe” (NIV). The word behind ‘doubting’ is the word ‘unbelieving’. Therefore  ‘doubting’ is probably not the most helpful translation. So I think that McGraith is right in not having ‘doubt’ as the opposite of ‘belief’. (NASB, HCSB, ESV all go for ‘unbelief’ words.)

Break it Down #11

Breaking news. Newtown. Sydney. Australia. Dave Miers gets a credit in his Greek exam! That’s not a typo. If you happened to be walking down King St on Friday afternoon, you’d already know this… thanks for the high five! Giddy up.

Row Trine Marty Dave

We had dinner with our good friends Marty and Trine on Friday night (pic above). Marty is also uber-smart and helps me with Greek each week. Shout out.

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