Who Can Have Faith in This Age of Doubt?

OURS is an age of doubt. Skepticism has become fashionable. We are urged to question everything​—customs, ideas, morals, long-standing values, even the existence of God and the truthfulness of his Word, the Bible.

Many people who know very little about the Bible doubt it anyway. Their doubts are based, not on what the Bible really says, but on what some have said that it says. But how can anyone form a valid opinion of a book that he has never read and really does not know? Besides that, who can have faith in this age of doubt?

One of Jehovah’s Witnesses told a man whose wife was interested in studying the Bible: “I certainly don’t expect you to believe something that is this important simply because we have discussed it for the past hour. But once you know what the Bible really says, I believe you will be as convinced of its truthfulness as I am.” The husband agreed to look into the matter, a home Bible study was started and before long he, too, was teaching others. Yes, he acquired true faith in this age of doubt.

A French housewife who had begun studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses said: “I doubt, I doubt, I have very grave doubts!” Yet she continued to study. As her knowledge grew, her doubts disappeared and for more than 20 years she has now been teaching others the things that strengthened her faith.

Faith comes through accurate knowledge that gives you the facts on which to base right decisions. For example, when Jesus Christ was on earth, knowledge of his amazing works and teaching enabled many sincere people to “put their faith in his name.”​—John 2:23; 8:30.

The same is true today. The Bible’s truth is clear, provided you put aside incorrect things you may have heard about it and learn for yourself what this amazing book actually teaches.

For example, the Bible’s prophecies were far beyond the ability of any man or group of men to devise. Yet these prophecies, sometimes written hundreds or even thousands of years in advance, have been fulfilled in such amazing detail that they provide convincing evidence that the Bible is from God and that the things it promises will occur.

Long ago, after many years of experience with God’s ways, aged Joshua told the Israelites: “You well know with all your hearts and with all your souls that not one word out of all the good words that Jehovah your God has spoken to you has failed. They have all come true for you. Not one word of them has failed.”​—Joshua 23:14.

Furthermore, the Bible’s value is proved in practice. When the Bible’s counsel is applied, it improves people’s lives and changes personalities. It helps violent, contentious people to develop mildness and self-control. If any doubt that fact, they should study the Bible. The effect its truth can have on their life may amaze them.​—Galatians 5:19-23; Ephesians 4:20-32.

Rather than falling victim to skepticism in this age of doubt, you can acquire true faith. Indeed, the Bible can help you to develop a solid, life-giving faith. But how can it do this?

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The Family in a Doubting World

The Bible has much to say about families. It says that they should be based on love and that the permanent commitment of two persons to each other and to their children is involved. (Matthew 19:4-6) Even among societies that neither knew the Bible nor followed its principles, 6,000 years of human experience have proved the family’s value.

Yet many young people, noting what appears in the press, in books and on television, have grown to doubt the value of marriage today. Some consider marriage to be restrictive and think that being morally faithful to another person limits their “liberty.” Doubting the old, they endorse a “new” morality​—actually nothing more than the old immorality under a new name. They live with someone without really committing themselves to building a lifetime of love, trust and unity.

Time passes. They grow older. Then, when they really need the loyalty and support that should have been developed, they often find themselves cast aside, alone and heartbroken. Only then do they realize that the other person made no commitment either and had no intention of returning time, love and devotion when these are really needed.

God knows how we are made. He knows what is best for us. His moral principles cannot be ignored or cast aside without serious consequences. This is a fact, no matter what may be said by a doubting world.