--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We too often forget that faith is a…" description: "\"We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace. You have to doubt and reject every..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/thomas-merton-231_battle_we-too-often-forget-that-faith-is-a-matt_563089.jpg" --- # We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning… ![“We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace. You have to doubt and reject everything else in order to believe firmly in Christ, and after you have begun to believe, your faith itself must be tested and purified. Christianity…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/thomas-merton-231_battle_we-too-often-forget-that-faith-is-a-matt_563089.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/thomas-merton-231_battle_we-too-often-forget-that-faith-is-a-matt_563089.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b3/thomas-merton-231_battle_we-too-often-forget-that-faith-is-a-matt_563089.jpg) > “We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace. You have to doubt and reject everything else in order to believe firmly in Christ, and after you have begun to believe, your faith itself must be tested and purified. Christianity is not merely a set of forgone conclusions. Faith tends to be defeated by the burning presence of God in mystery, and seeks refuge from him, flying to comfortable social forms and safe convictions in which purification is no longer an inner battle but a matter of outward gesture.” [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith is forged through doubt, struggle, and testing, leading to deeper certainty and peace. **In simple terms:** Faith grows by questioning and being tested. Key Takeaway Embrace doubt to strengthen belief. Themes faith spirituality growth testing peace Mood contemplative hopeful Type theological inspirational When to use this quote - personal prayer - spiritual retreats - theological study - life crises Key Concepts theology existentialism purification Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront doubt in your spiritual life? - What practices keep your faith dynamic? A Different Perspective Faith can become complacent if not continually examined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-faith/) [Burning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning/) [Certitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certitude/) [Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Conclusions Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusions-faith-4664320/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Defeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeated/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Forget Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-faith-1454585/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Presence of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presence-of-god/) [Purification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purification/) [Purified Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purified-christianity-1389103/) [Questioning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questioning/) [Refuge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuge/) [Rejects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejects/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Tested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tested/) ## Related quotes > [Lenin, Stalin, and Rakosi recognized that a renewed and purified Christianity was the only force that could move the masses as powerfully as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/lenin-stalin-and-rakosi-recognized-that-a-renewed-and-purified/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [Whatever lessons we take from this dreadful attack (on the World Trade Center and Pentagon), we should never forget that it was, after all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-kaminer/whatever-lessons-we-take-from-this-dreadful-attack-on-the-world-trade/) [Wendy Kaminer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-kaminer/) > [Once born into childlike faith, brimming with belief, typical people begin to lose their faith. Society mocks them. Their friends smirk. They come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/once-born-into-childlike-faith-brimming-with-belief-typical-people/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“Once born into child like faith, brimming with belief, typical people began to lose their faith. Society mocks them. Their friends smirk. They come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/once-born-into-child-like-faith-brimming-with-belief-typical-people/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from-2/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [For every gain in deep certitude there is a corresponding growth of superficial "doubt." This doubt is by no means opposed to genuine faith,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/for-every-gain-in-deep-certitude-there-is-a-corresponding-growth-of/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Ah, love, let us be true To one another! for the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/ah-love-let-us-be-true-to-one-another-for-the-world-which-seems-to/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-born/i-believe-that-ideas-such-as-absolute-certitude-absolute-exactness/) [Max Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-born/) > [A mystic doesn’t say “I believe.” They say “I know.” A true mystic will ironically speak with that self-confidence but at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/a-mystic-doesn-t-say-i-believe-they-say-i-know-a-true-mystic-will/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I don't like quintessential certitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/i-don-t-like-quintessential-certitude/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [We have more faith in what we imitate than in what we create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/we-have-more-faith-in-what-we-imitate-than-in-what-we-create/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“Accept and express your underlying certitude, and it shall be worldwide sagacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/accept-and-express-your-underlying-certitude-and-it-shall-be/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) > [I can say with unwavering certitude that I have never started a pint of Ben 'n Jerry's ice cream that I didn't finish in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregor-collins/i-can-say-with-unwavering-certitude-that-i-have-never-started-a-pint/) [Gregor Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregor-collins/) > [What makes friendship indissolute and what doubles its charms is a feeling we find lacking in love: I mean certitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/what-makes-friendship-indissolute-and-what-doubles-its-charms-is-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [From men motivated by moral certitude, history teaches, no lasting good ever comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/from-men-motivated-by-moral-certitude-history-teaches-no-lasting-good/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) ## More by Thomas Merton > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If nothing that can be seen can either be God or represent Him to us as He is, then to find God we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-nothing-that-can-be-seen-can-either-be-god-or-represent-him-to-us/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [We are not perfectly free until we live in pure hope. 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The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. 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