Subject

Doubt

Honest questions asked out loud, which Scripture answers rather than silences.

Also called: unbelief, questions, wavering, uncertainty, hard questions, half-belief

This subject covers the questions Scripture's own people ask out loud, and the answers they are given. The trust that acts before it sees belongs to Faith. The suffering that raises many of these questions belongs to Suffering.

What Doubt covers, and where it stops

On this page, 7 sections

Across the canon
Where Scripture speaks
The whole account
The voices
The words underneath
The complete list
Subjects beside it

12 passages

Where Scripture speaks

The passages this subject stands on, in canon order.

And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Genesis 18:13KJVSarah laughs within herself at the promise of a son in her old age

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Numbers 20:12KJVMoses and Aaron told plainly: "because ye believed me not" at Meribah

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

Judges 6:36KJVGideon lays out a fleece, still needing proof God would use him

But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

Psalms 73:2KJV"My feet were almost gone" — the psalmist's near-stumble into doubt

And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

Matthew 11:3KJVJohn the Baptist, from prison, asks: "Art thou he that should come?"

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Matthew 14:31KJVPeter sinking on the water: "why didst thou doubt?"

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Mark 9:24KJVA father's honest cry: "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief"

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Luke 1:18KJVZechariah doubts the angel's word and is struck silent

And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

Luke 24:11KJVThe apostles dismiss the women's resurrection report as idle tales

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

John 20:25KJVThomas: "except I shall see... I will not believe"

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

John 20:27KJVJesus meets the doubt directly: "reach hither thy hand"

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 1:6KJVJames: ask in faith, "nothing wavering," unlike a wind-driven wave

Doubt in Scripture, in full

Doubt in Scripture is the struggle to believe when the evidence feels absent, silent, or contradictory. The Bible does not rebuke honest questions but meets the named doubters (Thomas, Gideon, John the Baptist) with evidence, presence, and patience. Doubt is addressed by remembering what God has already said and done — not by pretending certainty is easy.

4 voices

What teachers have said

But unbelief is a sin that easily besets even good men. When without are fightings, within are fears, and it is a hard matter to get over them. Lord, increase our faith!

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710

It is His way of gently chiding the spirit of unbelief, so natural even to the best, who are surrounded by a world of sense, and of kindling a generous desire to shake it off.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871

Above all things indeed, he says, "let there not be an evil heart of unbelief." But even suppose there should be, let no man despair, but let him recover himself; for as long as we are in this world, the "To-day" is in season.

John Chrysostom· Homily on Hebrews 6

Written before 407.

Unbelief is a horrible and wicked thing, but faith is the highest good, for it is the harbinger of our entire salvation.

Cyril of Alexandria· Catena

Written before 444.

The words underneath

Each card is one Hebrew or Greek word behind doubt. It gives the sense, the count across the canon, and the number in Strong's 1890 concordance.

mot: yoke

Hebrew · H4132

מוֹט

Strong's entry: a wavering, i.e. fall; by implication, a pole (as shaking); hence, a yoke (as essentially a bent pole)

the shaking Psalm 73 nearly suffered

6 times in the Old Testament · mot, in full →

oligopistos: of little faith

Greek · G3640

ὀλιγόπιστος

Strong's entry: incredulous, i.e. lacking confidence (in Christ)

oligópistos — "of little faith" — Jesus's own word for the disciples' doubt

5 times in the New Testament · oligopistos, in full →

diakrino: to judge/doubt

Greek · G1252

διακρίνω

Strong's entry: to separate thoroughly, i.e. (literally and reflexively) to withdraw from, or (by implication) oppose; figuratively, to discriminate (by implication, decide), or (reflexively) hesitate

James's picture of the unstable mind

19 times in the New Testament · diakrino, in full →

apistia: unbelief

Greek · G570

ἀπιστία

Strong's entry: faithlessness, i.e. (negatively) disbelief (lack of Christian faith), or (positively) unfaithfulness (disobedience)

the noun behind every NT rebuke of a faithless heart

10 times in the New Testament · apistia, in full →

48 verses

The complete list

The King James text uses the language of doubt in 51 verses. 3 of them are quoted above and the other 48 stand here, book by book. 9 more verses above show doubt without using one of its words, so they are outside that count. Open a book to read the references with a clause of each verse.

Genesis1