Questions

I've just started a Bible study last night looking at the Old Testament and whenever I begin a group like this, it's almost always the case that someone will bring up the issue of dumb questions.

We've all heard time and again that there's no such thing as a dumb question, but when it comes to God/faith/religion, it seems like people are really nervous about asking questions. Will God strike me down? Will my faith seem illegitimate? People who have grown up in the church seem particularly nervous about this. And yet all of the questions that were asked last night (like, does God change? It seems like God's character changes throughout the Bible. How can this be?) were provocative and have been fodder for wonderful discussion throughout our faith's history.

As well, a cursory look through the Bible shows that not only is questioning God acceptable, it's a given! Most of the figures of the Old Testament, many psalmists, all the prophets and even Jesus (Why have you forsaken me? is one of the most memorable questions of the Scriptures) all questioned God. And they weren't stricken down (though you could probably point out a few--like Zechariah in Luke 1--where their questioning leads to a less-than-positive outcome).

Questioning deepens faith and that includes questioning God and questioning religious leaders. Certainly it's a good thing to come out the other end at some point with an "I believe" statement or two, but I find that good questions usually gets you to stronger belief statements.