How important is certainty where theological belief is concerned? Can doubt and faith exist side by side? Is uncertainty a weakness that needs to be taught away or is it a healthy sign that faith is developing and maturing? I ask the question after reading the Evangelical Alliance’s report 21^st Century Evangelicals – a survey of over 17,000 people who consider themselves to be evangelical. It is a fascinating document – not just in the results that are presented but in the authors’ responses to those results.

And it would appear that the uncertainty expressed about some subjects is causing a degree of consternation in EA headquarters. Take the issue of hell. 37% ‘agree a lot’ that the ‘condemned will suffer eternal conscious pain’; 13% agree a little (that’s 50% of evangelicals); 31% are unsure; 8% said they disagreed a little; and 11% said they disagreed a lot – that’s a third who are uncertain on this issue. It’s the highest instance of uncertainty in the survey but other categories have a level of it too: 11% are unsure whether homosexual acts are always wrong; 14% are unsure whether evolution and Christianity are incompatible; 24% are unsure whether assisted suicide is always wrong; and 18% are unsure that abortion could never be justified.

In commenting positively on the survey about how evangelicals are making a valuable contribution to British life, one leader added this note of caution, ‘We must strengthen and encourage the under 25s and give evangelicals clarity and confidence in areas of uncertainty, if we are to continue making progress.’ (My emphasis.) Uncertainty, therefore, is defined as lacking ‘clarity and confidence’; it is something that needs addressing – indeed if it is not addressed then it will hinder the development of the evangelical cause. The impression I get from this is that uncertainty is not seen as a good thing at all.

I’m not sure I agree with this view (ha! See what I did there?). What about you?