The Essence and Paradox of Doubt.

By Ogiri John Ogiri. 

Let me shock you with a controvesy: the hour you first believe something is not as crucial as the hour you spend doubting such a belief. The reason is, to become a refined believer in a phenomenon, one must first go through the challenging furnace of doubt. I am of the belief that true convictions happen after you have doubted. It is only when a claim is subjected to a scientific interrogation in our minds' abstract laboratory that it can be situated in a broader context for better understanding towards eventual acceptance or rejection of the claim.

Note this; when the socio-cultural environment you live in forces you to accept a belief without conviction, you have not been truly converted; you have been coerced, and a coerced person never makes a convinced convert. 

Personally, I do not trust people who accept a line of belief without scrutiny for in the end, they easily fall into unbelief so that they become diametrically opposed to the perspective they first accepted and shared when they first believed. Unfortunately, Nigeria is a social harbour for people who believe everything hook, line and sinker provided what they are told can temporarily serve and suit their warped, usually myopic perspectives about an issue of grave concern to their social, political, economic and theological existence. 

But I do appreciate and idolise people who approach an idea or a line of belief with a thomastic fervour. I know that, once they have exercised their natural freedom to doubt and to question, they are likely to become convinced enough to either accept the belief or to reject such a belief. Either way, they leave the table more enlightened than they were before experiencing the intellectual intercourse that shaped their intellectual personalities. 

Take a cue from the controversial example demonstrated by the encounter between apostle Thomas and the other disciples. Jesus Christ, after his resurrection from the dead, had appeared to the disciples who had gathered in a room, unable to go out for fear of the Jews. Unfortunately, Thomas was not around. So by time he came in, he was informed that the master came. In his characteristic self, he told his colleagues that he would not believe unless he was given a proof. A few days later, Jesus Christ appeared again and gave him (Thomas) the proof he (Thomas) sought. That further strengthened his belief in the resurrection of the Lord. 

It is interesting to note that, despite his doubt, Thomas was never condemned by Jesus Christ. The reason is, Jesus Christ himself knew that, if Thomas became convinced, his likelihood to become one of the surest men in christendom would be an unavoidable certainty. That was exactly what happened because, Thomas later suffered martydom in India for the same belief he doubted.

The scenario illustrated in the foregoing further invalidates the point that, accepting or rejecting a belief in a social, philosophical or a theological phenomenon is a function of one's conviction in the said phenomenon. In other word, whether one accepts or rejects a belief depends on his or conviction about such a belief. 

Let me, by way of conclusion, therefore, affirm a position that, before we embark on an enterprise, take a position about something, accept a belief or an idea, welcome a piece of advice, we should never shy away from asking intelligent questions about the feasibility or otherwise of the enterprise as well as the utility and the authenticity of the position, idea or advice we are faced with. This is important for our progress as humans, for knowledge is first discovered in doubt. Yes, the whole essence of doubt is to help us demystify what a sheepish, unintelligent mind, would have considered an irrefutable position and an infallible mystery. Interestingly, that is equally its paradox. So, in all things, doubt anyway. 

 So in all things, doubt anyway. 

- Ogiri John Ogiri.