What if I have doubts about what the Bible says?

In 2019, a number of prominent Christian voices began to popularize the phrase “deconstructing the faith.” What was presented as an honest and courageous pursuit of truth often framed doubt not as a struggle to be endured but as a virtue to be celebrated. Deconstruction was described as the careful dismantling of one’s faith—point by point, doctrine by doctrine—placing each belief under suspicion and asking not simply what Christians confess but whether any of it could truly be trusted.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Examining what your church teaches and what you yourself believe is a good thing. The Bereans in the book of Acts did exactly this. They listened carefully to the apostle Paul and then searched the Scriptures to see whether what he said was in harmony with the whole counsel of God’s Word (Acts 17:11). That kind of testing is not a threat to faith; it is an exercise of faith. Keep doing this!

But doubting God and being suspicious of his Word—that is the issue.

An age-old problem

Let me take you back to the Garden of Eden, where Eve, along with Adam, happened upon that crafty, talking serpent. That serpent came to Eve with a temptation: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). The heart of this temptation was to call God’s Word into question.

Notice that Eve, still with trust in God, went back to God’s Word with her answer. She referenced the command that God had given to Adam. But, of course, Satan’s attacks were not complete. He came back, not questioning God’s Word but speaking an outright lie: “You will not surely die. . . . For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).

This is when Eve saw the fruit and noticed that it looked good and was desirable for gaining wisdom. Then she ate it. This was no longer about what God said but about why he said it. You see, the devil had led Eve to believe that God was holding out on her. He led her to believe that the reason God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree was to limit them, to keep something good from them, rather than to give something good to them. God was no longer seen as a gracious Father, but as a rival—someone whose word could not be trusted. And once God’s goodness was called into question, his command was easy to dismiss.

Eve did not simply break a rule; she believed a lie about God’s heart. Trust turned to suspicion, and suspicion turned to disobedience—disobedience that all stemmed from doubt in a God who had given Adam and Eve everything.

A continued reality

Doubt in Eden was something inflicted on Adam and Eve from outside of them, by the devil. However, we now live in a world plagued by the sin of its first parents. That has changed things. It means that the temptations to doubt can come not only from the devil but also from the world and the weak sinful nature.

This means that doubt is no longer just something whispered into our ears from the outside; it can arise from within us as well. The Christian who experiences doubt today is not strange or uniquely weak. This is just the reality of a fallen world and a fallen self. The question, then, is not whether Christians will experience doubt, but what they will do with it when it comes.

When doubt comes, cling to your God, even while struggling to understand him. This is the attitude that the psalmist had when he cried out, “Why, LORD, do you stand far off?” (Psalm 10:1) and yet he continued to pray. This is the attitude of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus and pleaded, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). With this kind of heart, we aren’t fleeing from God’s Word; we are running to it. We are placing ourselves not above Scripture as judges but beneath Scripture as hearers, asking to be taught, corrected, and comforted.

Eve doubted God’s goodness and thought that God might be holding out on her, but the gospel destroys this doubt. In the gospel, we don’t hear of a stingy God, but a God who gives his love and grace abundantly and recklessly (see Luke 15:11-32). In the gospel, we don’t hear of a God who remained far away, but a God who came near to save (see Luke 2:1-20). In the gospel, we don’t hear of a God who sacrificed to a limited degree, but a God who sacrificed himself for the sins of the whole world (see Romans 5:12-21).

If doubt works to pull us away from these truths, the Word, the gospel, the message brings us close. Paul writes, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). This message is the power of God that brings salvation. Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The same God who created everything from nothing with his words now works powerfully through his Word to bring us salvation, comfort, and faith.

If that weren’t enough, add this: God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, works powerfully through the Word. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), the offensive weapon against doubts no matter what source they come from—the devil, the world, or our own sinful nature.

A useful strategy

So, as Christians, what can we do when doubts arise?

First, name the doubt honestly, without glorifying it. Doubt is not a badge of honor or something to be hidden in shame. It is a symptom of life in a fallen world. Pretending doubt does not exist only drives it underground where it does more damage. Your church and your pastor are the safest places in the world to say, “I am struggling with something right now.”

The question is not whether Christians will experience doubt, but what they will do with it when it comes.

Second, learn to distinguish between questions and accusations. Questions say, “Lord, teach me.” Accusations say, “Lord, defend yourself.” One posture receives; the other resists. One seeks understanding; the other looks for autonomy from God.

Third—and most important—focus on Christ. Christianity and our faith do not ultimately rest on our ability to resolve every doubt, answer every objection, or understand every mystery. They rest on Jesus.

Jesus does not mock the doubter. He does not cast out the struggling believer. Thomas doubted the resurrection, and Jesus came to him—not with condemnation, but with scars. “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27). Thomas’ faith was restored not through abstraction but through the crucified and risen Lord standing before him.

In the end, the Christian faith is not something we deconstruct to rebuild on our own terms. It is something we receive as a gift. It’s a gift grounded not in our certainty but in God’s faithfulness.

So when doubts come, bring them to God. Listen again to his promises. And trust that God who spoke light into darkness and life into death is not holding out on you but giving you everything in his Son.

Author: Craig Wilke
Volume 113, Number 04
Issue: April 2026