Doubts and Questions

"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."

(Shakespeare, Measure for Measure)

A subject that requires our expertise

As we teach Sunday School, we are in an incredibly unique position to influence our students by building faith, encouraging inquiry and dispelling doubt.

Doubts arise for many reasons: A prayer doesn't seem to be answered; a doctrine is unclear or doesn't make sense to us; a church member is hypocritical, etc. etc. There are no shortage of the causes behind doubts.

But with doubts come questions. If those questions aren't addressed or if the answer is not satisfactory, the doubts can turn to disbelief, cynicism, and sometimes anger.

The good news is that we, as teachers, can provide answers. We can share our own perspective and bring the Spirit into an environment that is designed for that purpose. In fact, sometimes students (if convinced of your love and interest in them) can be more receptive to you than to their own parents. This is a sobering thought.

It's a current event

The Church has recognized that, with the advent of the internet and the instant availability of material from all sources, more members - especially youth - are questioning Church doctrine and history than ever before. It's been a subject addressed in General Conference, Church Magazines, and even a Pew Poll. See below for a quick overview and (I would recommend) a reading list for Sunday School teachers:

• Elder Holland: Lord, I believe (Gen Conf 04/13)
• President Uchtdorf: Come, Join with Us (Gen Conf 10/13)
• Deseret Books: The Crucible of Doubt (Terryl and Fiona Givens)
• Ensign: When Doubts and Questions Arise (Mar 2016)
• New Era: Is it OK to have doubts about the Gospel? (Aug 2013)
• Pew Poll: One fifth of Mormons Express Doubt (Oct 2013)

The First Presidency even issued a statement referencing the subject recently.

Doubts are natural and OK, but they don't stay that way

From the sources above , it's clear that the Church isn't shying away from this topic. In fact, I think we, as teachers, should be on the forefront of addressing our student's doubts. But a dose of reality -- after reading the above, it was confirmed in my mind that we have the unfortunate culture of stigmatizing doubt and lack of testimony. Not usually in the open, but more covertly, more subtly. This culture, intended to be supportive, can actually be damaging in helping those in our classes get their questions resolved.

He that never doubted scarce ever well believed - William Austen

You will find that most of the time, students won't bother to express their doubts or questions. Why is this? Two reasons mainly: First, the culture of looking down with pity on those who don't have a 'strong testimony' (Shouldn't everybody have a testimony? ... I'm praying for you!). And Secondly, if your student doesn't feel safe and trust that you care about them, you will never even hear the question in the first place.

Many of us know from experience that if doubts aren't addressed, they grow. Unopposed by correct doctrine and without having the tools to test them against the Truth, doubts develop into disbelief, often with negative and lasting consequences.

What to do?

After a couple months of teaching my 13/14 year olds and really getting to know them, I started something in my class I called "Stump Brother Nahas". It was simply 10-15 minutes of them asking me gospel questions. At first, it was pretty sparse, but then, as I began to encourage them to tell me what was in their heads, what they heard from others, what they saw online, etc. etc. a flood gate opened, and a litany of questions, some quite serious, came forth that demanded further attention.

It was marvelous, but also gave me pause to think: I opened a kind of Sunday School Pandora's Box, but a necessary one. I found myself taking the time to answer when an answer was needed. But other times, I focused on the spiritual and family tools necessary to find their own answers. In the end, I often used President Uchtdorf's now famous words from the talk he gave (referenced above):

Some might ask, “But what about my doubts?” It’s natural to have questions — the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith — even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true. Therefore, ... first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.

That weekly segment of my class happened to be the most rewarding. After a while, my kids knew that my response would always start with some variation of: 

You know what you know, and I have already taught you how to find out what you don't know ... so the only question is, Are you willing to search and find the answer?

My students knew they were responsible for doing the work and exerting the effort to arrive at the answer. I told them that those who criticize the Church or don't believe our doctrines almost always do so because of either (1) they want to feel comfortable not living the gospel and/or (2) they are simply unable or unwilling to do the work needed to satisfy their inquiry. Very few answers are 'quick and easy'. Most of the time, I found myself providing scriptures, LDS.org links and usually the larger context for the question (whether historical or doctrinal). These were tools for them to discover the answer themselves.

Here's another way of expressing it:

Doubt is the vestibule which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom; therefore, when we are in doubt and puzzle out the truth by our own exertions, we have gained a something that will stay by us, and which will serve us again. But, if to avoid the trouble of the search we avail ourselves of the superior information of a friend, such knowledge will not remain with us; we have not bought but borrowed it. Charles Caleb Colton.

This was just one way to solicit honest questions and address my student's doubts. I'm sure there are many other equally good ways of doing it.

Your Turn

If there is one topic that deserves our banding together and sharing knowledge and experiences, it's this one.

• Are our classrooms conducive to students expressing questions and doubts?
• What specific doubts have you heard?
• What are the right "tools" to give our students?
• What have you tried in your classes before?
• Have you used the Come Follow Me principles to deal with this?