Agnostics Welcome

Encountering the God who has plenty of space for doubters

Photo by Jessi Pena on Unsplash

Uncertainty and doubt within belief are some of the most uncomfortable, and yet most common, issues of faith that Christians face. In his essay “The Agnostic,” the late author and preacher F.W. Boreham touches on this topic when he describes two conversations he had with fellow train passengers. During each stop the train would make, Boreham found enjoyment looking out onto the platform. He was intrigued to see who was departing from the train and who was entering.

At one of the stops he was rudely interrupted by another passenger entering his compartment. The intruding passenger entered in “heavily laden with suitcase, rugs, books, papers, umbrella, overcoat, and other odds and ends.” Boreham had been taken by surprise by this as he did not see this man entering from the train platform. The man explained that the reason he was not seen on the platform was because he was already on the train and was simply now moving to another compartment.

As they rode, Boreham slowly began to recognize the man. He belonged to a church where Boreham had spoken. The man expressed to him why he wanted to move: he had been sitting next to an agnostic in another area of the train before the last stop. To make matters even more difficult for the Christian man, the agnostic had been reading The Life of Huxley, a book about the English biologist and revered agnostic of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley. Huxley actually coined the word “agnostic” to describe his own beliefs. After listening to the agnostic and noticing what he was reading, the Christian man decided to move seats during the next train stop.