Quotes about Certainty

I worry about "true believers" who cannot carry any doubt or anxiety at all, as Thomas the Apostle and Mother Teresa learned to do. People who are so certain always seem like Hamlet's

I worry about "true believers" who cannot carry any doubt or anxiety at all, as Thomas the Apostle and Mother Teresa learned to do.

Great spiritual teachers learn to balance knowing with not knowing, as illustrated in this oft-quoted aphorism: It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. The true biblical notion of faith, which balances knowing with not knowing, is rather rare today, especially among many religious folks who think faith is being certain all the time--when the truth is the exact opposite. But we have little theology of darkness today.

Faith is simply to trust the real, and to trust that God is found within it—even before we change it.

Most get little reassurance from others, or even have full confidence that they are totally right. Setting out is always a leap of faith, a risk in the deepest sense of the term, and yet an adventure too.

Nothing is so certain as that which is certain after doubts. Shaking settles and roots.

I have felt the impact of your prayer in these past weeks. I am certain now that nothing has had a more powerful influence on this life of mine than your prayers.

God answers prayer with certainty. Wish fulfillment is something else.

Anything under God's control is never out of control.

Turbulence means nothing if God is the pilot.

Those who believe in nothing are very, very jealous and angry at those who believe in something.

Met de uiterste voorzichtigheid, maandenlang mogelijkheden tegen elkaar afwegend, bijna tot in het overdrevene toe langzaam, zo streng mogelijke maatstaven aanleggend, vatte hij zijn oordeel over een letter, een woord of een hele zin pas dan samen, wanneer hij van de onaantastbaarheid ervan zeker was.