Doubt

Verb: feel uncertain about, question the truth or fact of (something), disbelieve (a person or their word), feel uncertain, esp. about one's religious beliefs.

As the definition implies, the word “doubt” carries a substantial negative connotation, especially in reference to religious beliefs.  From a Christian perspective doubt is seen as especially dangerous territory.  One of the twelve disciples has even been labeled as “Doubting Thomas” due to his disbelief in Jesus’ rising from the dead.  Doubt brings questions about a topic or theory to the surface; when the item in question is something as central and important as one’s faith, there is resistance to those questions because there is fear that it could shake one’s faith.  However, in her talk on 3/20, Dr. Francl presented doubt in a far more positive setting.  She proposed doubt as an opportunity to ask questions that enable one to dig deeper and learn more about a topic.  With this approach, we need not see doubt as something that is going to completely change our minds or force us to turn our backs on our faith.  Instead, doubt can be seen as an invitation to investigate a question in order to learn more about an aspect of Christian faith.