#-988 Intellectual Insecurity
March 25, 2018Dear Dr. Craig,
With the 20th anniversary of Reasonable Faith, I just want to express my thanks for you as a great admirer of your work. You are one of the first Christians I’ve encountered to defend our shared faith with such intellectual rigour. Before I ask my question, I would like to explain how I first discovered your content, as it would provide great context my inquiry.
I remember the first video of you that I’ve watched was that of your discussion with Dr. Michael Ruse (I’ve only watched about 1 to 2 videos of your debates; I’ve mostly focused on your lectures and written materials, I am aware of the fact that I’m in the minority here!). Back then I wasn’t aware of any robust arguments for God’s existence as a new believer. I remember when I first watched your discussion with the late Dr. Ruse, I initially thought that you were the Atheist! No disrespect to Dr. Ruse, but you were so well-dressed (with a suit and tie) and confident, while Dr. Ruse looked more casual. I thought “the more formal and well-spoken person must be the Atheist!”, for at the time I was under the false impression that Christians were intellectually inferior. As I went on to listen to your points, I figured that you were on the Christian side. I remember when you mentioned the phrase “causal closure of the physical” and Dr. Ruse didn’t know what those words meant, I was caught off guard by the fact that a Theist actually knew more about what he is doing than the Atheist! This leads to my question:
Do you think average Christians suffer from a sense of insecurity in the intellectual basis of their faith? And what has led to this result? Thank you for your work and ministry!
Sincerely,
Jacky
Canada
Dr. craig’s response
A
Thank you for your kind words, Jacky! Michael Ruse certainly was a very casual interlocutor! I recall with some amazement that during our last dialogue online, he actually appeared lying in bed without any shirt on, exposing his chicken-breasted chest and bony arms for all to see! I suspect that many today actually find this more casual approach attractive and endearing.
I think that I can confidently say that many average Christians do suffer from a sense of intellectual insecurity. We often get testimonials to that effect. Why that is, is more difficult to say.
It’s tempting to think that such Christians are simply ignorant of the arguments and evidence in support of their Christian faith. But that’s not the whole story. For psychologists have actually shown that the more ignorant a person is, the higher his confidence in his beliefs, and that with increasing education, his confidence steadily declines until he becomes truly expert in a certain area, and then his confidence begins to climb once again. This is called the Dunning Kruger effect. I have seen this phenomenon illustrated many times among atheists and agnostics who seem to exhibit enormous confidence in their views, even though they have no good reasons for those views and no good objections to theism. In the same way many Christians who are ignorant of the grounds of their faith may be very confident in their faith. This is especially so if they enjoy a vital Christian experience.
I suspect that those who suffer from a sense of intellectual insecurity are frequently persons who are both ignorant and at the same time intellectually inquisitive. Largely unaware of the rational grounds for Christian faith, their inquiring minds make them restless. They have questions but no good answers. I find that these people suffer from what I call intellectual loneliness. They often feel alone in their churches, where no one else seems interested in the questions that trouble them.
Study of Apologetics can be a tremendous help to such people, but will not inevitably resolve all their doubts. I remember one fellow in my Defenders Class who commented to me after a couple of years, “Bill, I came to this class to get answers to my questions. But now I have more questions than ever!” I think that’s a common experience that I myself have had. As one becomes more aware of the arguments for faith, one naturally also becomes aware of intellectual challenges to faith. But being aware of these challenges or having still unanswered questions does not, I think, result in intellectual insecurity. Instead, what happens is that one comes to realize that every position will confront challenges, and not having a ready answer to them is no indication that there are no good answers. Being aware of the fact that every view faces challenges can make one doubt one’s doubts; they no longer seem so threatening or insuperable. That seems to me to be part of intellectual maturity.
- William Lane Craig