Welby doubts, I doubt Welby!
I was shocked and more than a bit disappointed to hear about Justin Welby's admission to BBC's Songs of Praise that the Paris attacks made him doubt the presence of God ( see here ), whatever that means. I must be naive to think that 'belief in God' might be a bare minimum for anyone thinking of applying for the job of leader of the C of E? This sort of reaction presses all the wrong buttons for me. I don't think it is a good thing for a religious leader to express that he has doubts, even in a misguided attempt to show solidarity with an increasingly secular population. Asking "where was God in all this" is one of the oldest questions in theology and the answer is always "with the people who are suffering". If he has doubts, how can he lead others away from doubt? Surely the job he is in is to encourage and give confidence, confidence built on his personal relationship with God in prayer, his intellectual understanding of the realit...