Commentary on the Gospel of
Honest Doubts & Convenient Creeds
Alfred Lord Tennyson famously wrote: “There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.” The catch is in the honesty of one’s doubt. Like the doubt of Nathanael who told Philip: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1: 46). The honesty of that doubt impelled him to go and see. He went and saw, and believed. A doubt with an openness to seek. Unlike the doubt of the many Jews who came to Jesus, who were too lazy to seek and simply wanted Jesus to tell them comfortable truths that would not upset their applecart. The irony is, Jesus had already told them many times; but they did not want to believe it, because his truth wasn’t a convenient one for them. Let’s ask ourselves: How convenient is my creed? How honest is my doubt?
