Editing Doubt (section)

==Theology==
[[File:Caravaggio - The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.jpg|thumb|left|180px|''[[Doubting Thomas|The Incredulity of Saint Thomas]]'' by [[Caravaggio]].]]
[[File:Rae, Henrietta - Doubts - 1886.jpg|thumb|180px|''Doubts'', by [[Henrietta Rae]], 1886]]

Doubt as a path towards (deeper) [[belief]] lies at the heart of the story of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]]. Note in this respect the theological views of [[Georg Hermes]]:

<blockquote>
... the starting-point and chief principle of every science, and hence of theology also, is not only methodical doubt, but positive doubt. One can believe only what one has perceived to be true from reasonable grounds, and consequently one must have the courage to continue doubting until one has found reliable grounds to satisfy the reason.<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
 | last = Schulte
 | first = Karl Joseph
 | encyclopedia =The Catholic Encyclopedia
 | title = George Hermes
 | url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07276c.htm
 | access-date = 2008-10-21
 | year = 1910
 | publisher = Robert Appleton
 | volume = 7
 | location = New York
}}
</ref>
</blockquote>
 	
Doubt that god(s) exist may form the basis of [[agnosticism]] — the belief that one cannot determine the existence or non-existence of god(s). It may also form other brands of [[skepticism]], such as [[Pyrrhonism]], which do not take a positive stance in regard to the existence of god(s), but remain negative. Alternatively, doubt over the existence of god(s) may lead to acceptance of a particular religion: compare [[Pascal's Wager]]. Doubt of a specific theology, scriptural or deistic, may bring into question the truth of that theology's set of beliefs. On the other hand, doubt as to some doctrines but acceptance of others may lead to the growth of [[heresy]] and/or the splitting off of [[sect]]s or groups of thought. Thus [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestants]]  doubted [[papal authority]], and substituted alternative methods of governance in their new (but still recognizably similar) churches.

[[Christian existentialism|Christian existentialists]] such as [[Søren Kierkegaard]] suggest that for one to truly have belief in God, one would also have to doubt one's beliefs about God; the doubt is the rational part of a person's thought involved in weighing evidence, without which the belief would have no real substance. Belief is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to pragmatically justify the kind of total commitment involved in true theological belief or romantic love. Belief involves making that commitment anyway. Kierkegaard thought that to have belief is at the same time to have doubt.<ref>''Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments'', ed. by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, v. 1, Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 21–57</ref><ref>''Soren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers'', trans. Hong and Malantschuk, p. 399.</ref>