{"id":62255,"date":"2026-08-19T11:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/?p=62255"},"modified":"2026-08-19T12:03:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:03:39","slug":"overcoming-crises-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/en\/overcoming-crises-of-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Crises of Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text text_lead=”yes” uncode_shortcode_id=”214265″]Time and again, people have told me about crises of faith. My own faith has, of course, changed over the years. Yet I never felt myself to be in a state of crisis. What do people mean when they speak of a crisis of faith? That’s not as clear as it seems at first glance, because what exactly do you mean by faith, and what characterizes a crisis? [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”659522″]The most likely explanation is that someone is describing a sense of unease and linking that unease to whatever they define as faith. A crisis situation only really seems to exist when an almost existential crisis occurs, one that threatens life and limb. If it’s less acute than that, can we still call it a crisis? Or is it simply that the notions of faith someone holds collide with reality? Has reality then triggered a crisis for those notions of faith? And how sound is that faith, in that case? [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_custom_heading heading_semantic=”h3″ text_size=”h3″ uncode_shortcode_id=”575474″]Faith Assumptions [\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”105481″]What faith actually is for someone is usually determined by the assumptions they hold about the subject. One person sees faith as belonging to a church; another is convinced that faith is primarily one’s own decision to turn to God and thereby \u201csecure\u201d one’s own salvation. Yet another sees faith as a life orientation, carried by Christ and directed toward God’s purposes. The important question here isn’t what is absolutely true, but what faith means for you, so that a crisis of faith can actually be described. Where, exactly, does the crisis take place, and why?<\/p>\n

To express what one means, there’s no getting around being more precise. It doesn’t help if the word is treated merely as a screen onto which any arbitrary challenge can be projected\u2014for instance, not knowing whether you passed a school exam and therefore being in a \u201ccrisis of faith.\u201d Or not seeing how you’ll pay next month’s rent, and calling that a crisis of faith because the money isn’t in the account.<\/p>\n

Both examples tell me something about the expectations someone holds. What’s really at stake are notions of faith that go unfulfilled. In that case, what we may have is merely a crisis of expectation, not a crisis of faith.<\/p>\n

If someone pictures God as a kindly uncle who grants wishes, a supposed crisis of faith arises whenever wishes go unfulfilled. That’s not a sober view. But when people say, in all earnestness, that faith \u201chas to deliver something\u201d\u2014that it should bring about \u201cthis or that\u201d\u2014then they’ve fallen prey to a prosperity gospel, a belief in miracles, or magical thinking. Such ideas have nothing to do with faith itself. The God the Bible describes is not a wish-granter, not a \u201cgenie in a bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s precisely these kinds of faith assumptions and notions that can actually lead to deep crises, once people discover that their notions don’t hold up in reality. That’s the point at which one would need to question the theology that leads to the crisis, along with the notions derived from it. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_custom_heading heading_semantic=”h3″ text_size=”h3″ uncode_shortcode_id=”263434″]God Is Always the Same [\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”995363″]There’s a widespread notion that \u201cGod is always the same\u201d and therefore \u201cmust always act the same way.\u201d That notion is a projection. The Bible never speaks in these terms. Read the Bible with curiosity, and while God is indeed spoken of throughout, he doesn’t appear the same way at every point in time. That’s also held against him whenever people say things like: \u201cthe God of the Old Testament is vengeful\u201d or \u201cthe God of the New Testament is pure love.\u201d Neither is true.<\/p>\n

Someone else concludes that the Bible is contradictory precisely for this reason. But that, too, is a misreading, because it misinterprets what the Bible’s validity actually consists of. The assumption being made (a presupposition) is that everything must be true at the same time. The Bible itself never says that. So this isn’t a claim the Bible makes \u2014 it’s an interpretation.
\nOne could equally recognize that the Bible describes a development, and that God conveys different impressions within it. Those impressions depend on their respective context. That’s not relativizing \u2014 it’s an honest observation. The idea that God is always the same is no blanket excuse for failing to develop a sound theology.<\/p>\n

What does the Bible itself call this?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are my witnesses, declares Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.\u201d<\/em>
\nIsa 43:10<\/p>\n

The description \u201cGod\u201d is defined here as \u201cthat I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.\u201d That doesn’t mean God is \u201ctherefore\u201d now fulfilling your wishes or mine, healing everyone, or performing other wonderful acts. Not a word of that appears here. Whoever draws such conclusions won’t find them in this text. He is the same because he is unique. In this sense, no god existed before him or will exist after him. Pay attention to what the text actually says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. \u2026 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.\u201d<\/em>
\n1 Cor 12:1-6<\/p>\n

This passage, too, isn’t about God being a wish-fulfiller because he’s supposedly always the same. Paul is writing here about spiritual gifts as they manifested in the chaotic community in Corinth. Paul makes clear that although the gifts vary, the same God stands behind all of them.<\/p>\n

There’s a further point: the development sketched out in the Bible is itself always also an interpretation. One assumption is that everything speaks of the same thing, and that this is therefore the truth. But one could equally recognize that there are differences within the text\u2014differences one can paper over, but not always explain. Take the differences between the Bible’s first two chapters, for instance. Are there two creation accounts? They emphasize entirely different themes. Is that a supplement (an interpretation!), or are they two separate accounts (and every indication of difference is likewise an assumption!)? Such things call for caution in interpretation because no one was there. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_custom_heading heading_semantic=”h3″ text_size=”h3″ uncode_shortcode_id=”137509″]Reality Check [\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”219267″]Anyone who feels they’re in a crisis should take that feeling seriously. There’s a further task here, one that can be pursued alone or with the help of others. It concerns two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What triggered the feeling of a crisis?<\/li>\n
  2. What assumptions made that feeling possible?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Assumptions matter enormously. They often determine whether and how a discrepancy with reality arises. If faith is expected to provide endless security, and something unexpected happens, that can throw a person off balance. That’s not a crisis\u2014it’s the reality of this world, against which a notion of faith shatters. We don’t have things under control; we don’t govern this world, and we may simply be offloading that wish onto God. Is it his job to keep everyone safe and secure?<\/p>\n

    Whether someone falls into a crisis or instead remains resilient depends on their own understanding and their own attitude. Of course, extreme situations can have real consequences. Illness, the loss of a loved one, bullying at work, and many other things can lead to a genuine crisis. There are existential challenges, both financial and personal. That belongs to our reality. Whether we describe them as a \u201ccrisis of faith\u201d depends on our own notions.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Whether someone falls into a crisis or instead remains resilient depends on their own understanding and their own attitude.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Of course, there are also genuine crises of faith, in which someone asks what, in their faith, actually holds up. That’s a legitimate question\u2014but it can equally be seen as a reaction within a series of notions. In that case, the crisis is a symptom of a discrepancy, not in God, but in one’s own expectations. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_custom_heading heading_semantic=”h3″ text_size=”h3″ uncode_shortcode_id=”677494″]Striving for Congruence [\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”610126″]What I wish for now is that my notions of faith be harmonizing with reality. What I strive for, as a human being and as a believer, is this: congruence in thinking, believing, and acting. That’s a wish, an orientation. Whenever one of these three comes under pressure from the other two, I need to reconsider the relationship and the function involved. If, for instance, my notions of faith can only flourish outside of reality, I don’t necessarily need to discard them\u2014but I should recognize that they stand outside reality. That doesn’t make them untrue, but it means they serve a different purpose. What purpose is that?<\/p>\n

    Human beings are complex creatures. We can imagine things that lie outside visible reality. We speak of spirit, of love, of God\u2014none of which we can see. Not even in the visible world is everything visible. This isn’t about pitting the visible against the invisible or setting faith against a materialistic world. Both belong to our world and to our experience. Striving for congruence is what we can attempt. Faith belongs to that effort\u2014meaning the function faith serves, more than any particular set of conclusions and notions.<\/p>\n

    If we want to work through crises, it’s certainly about the feeling of uncertainty. But it’s also about reality and the internalized notions we hold about this world, faith among them. When things simply don’t fit together, that can be perceived as a crisis. But what if this feeling only marks a discrepancy in expectations?<\/p>\n

    More often, though, I’ve also heard people who are deeply unsettled speak of a crisis of faith when their notions collide with reality. Notions and reality don’t line up. That’s an entirely different challenge\u2014one concerning those internalized notions. Reality is the ultimate test for the faith one holds.
    \nReality is the ultimate test for the faith one holds.<\/p>\n

    There are two possible ways of handling a challenge like this:<\/p>\n