Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the handmaiden of truth.
Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge; it is the servant of discovery.
A belief which may not be questioned binds us to error,
for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every belief.
Doubt is the touchstone of truth; it is an acid which eats away the false.
Let no man fear for the truth, that doubt may consume it;
for doubt is a testing of belief.
The truth stands boldly and unafraid; it is not shaken by the testing;
For truth, if it be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure.
He that would silence doubt is filled with fear;
the house of his spirit is built on shifting sands.
But he that fears no doubt, and knows its use, is founded on a rock.
He shall walk in the light of growing knowledge;
the work of his hands shall endure.
Therefore let us not fear doubt, but let us rejoice in its help:
It is to the wise as a staff to the blind; doubt is the handmaiden of truth.
-Robert T. Weston, from Hymns for the Celebration of Life
This is a beautiful way to say what I always say to my adult Sunday school students. I’m copying it and putting it in my Bible to share with the next shaken believer who crosses my path.
This street preacher articulates the liberal message of the Bible well. It resonates with me but I’m more into bridging the gap with others that see the Bible in other ways.
PCUSA has a problem with schism. We’re going to fix it here in the Steady Habits of New England and become a Beacon on the Hill for others that call themselves Presbyterian.