DIFFICULTIES IN COMPREHENDING NEED NOT CAST DOUBT
"I have never been
able to see a connection between apprehending the difficulties...and doubting
the doctrines to which they are attached. Ten thousand difficulties do not make
one doubt as I understand the subject, difficult and doubt are
incommensurate. A man be annoyed that he
cannot work out a mathematical problem without doubting that it admits of an
answer or that a particular answer is a true one."
There is a difference between
doubt and difficulty. The person with
difficulty says “How can that be so?” Where’s a person who doubts says, “That
can’t be so!”
Contrast Mary's
difficulty in understand with Sarah's doubt:
- Luke 1:34 "Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
- Genesis 18:12-14 “So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure? Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Mary’s statement
expresses difficulty but willingness to believe. She is saying, “I believe, Lord, help my
unbelief!” Sarah's response expresses cynicism and unwillingness to
submit to the church’s teachings. She is
saying “I dont believe Lord, and don’t bother to help me believe!”
