Deep Doubts, Deeper Faith: Talk to tackle some hard questions

Published 5:07 pm Saturday, March 25, 2023

If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world? If God loves us and wants what’s best for us, why would He send us to hell; why would He even create Hell?

Dr. Jamie Dew will discuss some of life’s toughest questions when he presents Deep Doubts, Deeper Faith at First Baptist, Sulphur, April 1 and 2.

Christians have not only been asked these questions by nonbelievers. Many have also asked themselves these questions, and that’s not a bad thing,  according to Rev. Michael Linton, pastor of First Baptist, Sulphur. After he heard Dew deliver this message at a conference he attended, he knew how important it was for others to hear it. When doubts are used as a springboard to deepen, rather than abandon faith, the process can lead to ways to better articulate the gospel — and spreading the gospel is paramount.

Jamie Dew is from a blue collar background and is the president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “When I reached high school, drugs and alcohol were a pretty regular part of my life,” he writes in his online “Called” story. He was arrested in high school and graduated after failing two grades, with a 1.6 GPA. After high school, his life changed. He felt called to the ministry, but in his mind, he was as far from an academic as one could be. He just wanted to share the gospel.

As he witnessed and shared his faith, he was hit with hard questions and criticisms. That led him to  the discipline of apologetics, which means defending the faith. Now he has two PhDs.

That’s not to say that a degree is a prerequisite for walking out the Christian faith. Doubt is not inherently wrong. “Unbelieving doubt asks questions in order to challenge. Believing doubt asks questions in order to learn,” wrote Barnabas Piper in an online Lifeway Voices article. This service has something for both the learner and the challenger and anyone else who has ever prayed, “Lord I believe; help my unbelief (Mark 9:24).

“I can’t reason my way to God,” Linten said. However, “faith is not afraid of intellectualism,” With deep thought comes a deeper faith.”

Paul Tillich put it like this. “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is one element of faith.”

The Saturday service is 6 p.m. A reception will follow. Sunday services are 10:30 and 6 p.m. A 5 p.m. supper will be served before the evening service. First Baptist Sulphur is located at 401 Huntington St.