By Thom Hennen
Question Box
Q. Is it OK to ask difficult questions about the faith?
A. As this is my 100th Question Box column, I thought I should do something special with it. What better way than to respond to a question about questions?
Before I do that, I would be remiss if I did not mention one of my predecessors in this ministry. Father Ed Dunn recently passed away at the age of 89. He wrote the weekly Question Box column from 1984-2001, which included many of the years he served as a theology professor at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. I don’t know how many columns he wrote but after 17 years, it must have been close to a thousand. I will admit, I did not always agree with Father Dunn but I think he approached the faith honestly. He was extremely bright, thoughtful and kind. Thank you, Father Dunn. I trust that whatever questions you may still have had are now answered.
Now to the question. Not only would I say it is “okay” to ask difficult questions about the faith, but necessary. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary doubt. It states: “Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity.” (para. 2088).
When I say it is necessary to question, I am not talking here about voluntary doubt, a willful or obstinate unwillingness to believe. Rather, I am talking about that natural questioning that occurs because we are thinking human beings. We are curious. We want to know stuff and figures things out. We have an innate thirst for knowledge, which is not in itself disordered. God gave us this thirst precisely that we might seek and know him.
Our line of questioning is not so much about if something revealed by God or proposed for our belief by the Church is true, but more about how and what it means for us going forward.
St. Anselm’s classic definition of theology is: “Faith seeking understanding.” Notice the order of things here. It is not “understanding seeking faith.” Rather, it starts from a place of faith, even if like the man in the Gospel we have to say, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). From a perspective of faith, we can start to dig at things a bit, without fear of our faith collapsing. We may even find we understand things better because we believe, because we are willing to give God and the Church the benefit of the doubt.
I am very fond of the saying of St. John Henry Newman: “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.” Not everything has to pass under my personal microscope before I “deign” to give my assent to God or the Church. I can believe and still wonder. Frankly, I would be more worried if I didn’t wonder. I don’t want a God or a faith that I can solve like a math problem or put in a little box. That, to me, would not be faith. I want, without doubting a thing, to still be in awe of God. We should not rob others of that, nor should we fear from the perspective of faith to ask good questions. Believe me, God can take it and our faith will hold up.
I can honestly say that it has been more of a joy than a burden to write these columns each week (mostly) since I started in January 2023, so keep the questions coming!
(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and vicar general for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@diocese.org)
