Contemplating Doubts: From Medieval Monks to Descartes’ Meditations and Beyond

Throughout history, the pursuit of truth has been an essential thread running through the fabric of human consciousness. Whether it’s the deepest existential inquiries or the pursuit of spiritual certainty, the need to reconcile faith, doubt, and evidence has always been at the core of philosophy and theology. The art of contemplation and philosophical skepticism—long championed by thinkers from both the East and the West—provides a pathway to more profound understanding. However, this contemplation of doubt has evolved, particularly with the rise of scientific inquiry and the increasing awareness of the complexities of existence. By looking at figures such as Medieval Catholic monks, Buddhist practitioners, and René Descartes, we can explore the ways in which different traditions grapple with doubt, the search for God, and the nature of reality.

The image of the medieval Catholic monk is often associated with quiet contemplation and devotion. Monks spent much of their lives in prayer, studying religious texts, and attempting to purify their minds. However, beneath this veneer of faith, they also wrestled with deep philosophical and theological questions. One such question that preoccupied many was the existence of God. Despite unwavering devotion, even the monks were not immune to moments of doubt about the reality of God’s presence.

In the Middle Ages, many Catholic scholars, particularly those who followed the monastic lifestyle, turned to theological skepticism as a way to solidify their beliefs. They were not simply content with weak assertions about God’s existence but sought a rational, intellectual understanding of God’s nature. These monks were often influenced by Augustine and Aquinas, who attempted to reconcile faith with reason. They wanted to replace weak assertions—those based on superstition or blind belief—with solid evidence, using logical and philosophical arguments.

For instance, many monks studied the ontological argument, which sought to prove God’s existence through logic alone. The thought process behind this contemplation was to observe the world through philosophical scrutiny rather than relying on dogma or mystical experience. In this way, they hoped to find a rational basis for their faith, which could withstand doubt and the challenges of an increasingly skeptical world. However, their questions were never resolved through empirical evidence as we might seek today; their methods focused more on conceptual clarity, logical coherence, and theological consistency.

The desert—often seen as a place of profound solitude, testing, and spiritual struggle—has played a pivotal role in many religious traditions. For Christ, the time spent in the desert was not merely an act of prayer or fasting, but a search for truth—a search for his Father, and through this, an understanding of his purpose in the world.

In this context, Christ’s experience in the desert can be viewed as an allegory of existential doubt. While many see Christ as divine and infallible, his actions reveal a more human side of him—questioning, doubting, and seeking answers from his Father. This notion of doubt in the midst of faith resonates with the medieval Catholic monks, for it underscores the importance of self-examination, and a search for deeper meaning in the midst of struggle.

When Christ questioned his Father in the desert, he sought more than divine intervention; he searched for understanding. Similarly, the monks, in their deep meditative contemplation, sought to go beyond blind devotion and understand the nature of the divine in a rational and experiential way. Christ’s journey in the desert exemplifies a search not just for certainty, but for authentic personal knowledge of the divine.

In contrast to the medieval Catholic monks, the practices of Buddhist monks offer a distinctive approach to dealing with doubt and existential questions. Instead of asserting religious truths or even engaging in rational debates about the nature of God, Buddhist monks engage in meditative observation. Their path is not one of searching for evidence in the traditional sense, but rather one of sitting in quiet observation, training their minds to understand the impermanent nature of existence.

Buddhism encourages monks to question everything, but not in the Western sense of intellectual skepticism. The meditative process is about awareness—attending to the impermanence of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, and through this, coming to a realization of the nature of reality. Rather than attempting to prove the existence of an ultimate reality or deity, Buddhist monks focus on the experience of existence itself, examining the impermanence of all things and seeking to understand the true nature of suffering.

The Buddhist method, in contrast to the medieval Catholic monks, does not rely on external proofs or arguments for the existence of God. Instead, it emphasizes personal observation and experiential learning. The focus is on dissolving attachments and realizing the empty nature of all phenomena, including the self. Doubt in the Buddhist tradition is not something to be overcome, but something to be embraced as part of the process of awakening to the world as it is.

In modern times, particularly with the rise of scientific inquiry, the act of doubting God’s existence has become more contentious. In the West, particularly after the Enlightenment and the rise of scientific evidence, doubting the existence of God was no longer seen as a healthy intellectual exercise but often as suspect. The age of scientific discovery, especially through thinkers like Darwin and Newton, provided a counter-evidence to many religious assertions, making the very act of doubting God’s existence seem incompatible with scientific truth.

However, this suspicion was not necessarily an inherent part of scientific progress—it was the misuse of science to bolster dogmatic positions that led to this reaction. In contrast, the Method of Doubt that arose in both religious traditions and philosophy encourages a much more nuanced form of skepticism. It involves questioning and meditating on the nature of existence, not to discard belief in God, but to understand its true nature—whether through scientific models, philosophical inquiry, or spiritual practice.

This shift in focus from questioning to rejecting God’s existence might be seen as a missed opportunity. Instead of dismissing the doubt raised by scientific progress, we could follow a more integrated path, allowing for meditation on the nature of God and existence in the context of a world that includes both scientific discovery and spiritual exploration. Instead of rejecting questions, both East and West should embrace the notion that truth is multi-dimensional, requiring both spiritual insight and rational inquiry.

Perhaps one of the most significant figures in the history of philosophical contemplation about God is René Descartes. In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes famously doubted everything—from the existence of the external world to the nature of his own existence. However, even as he engaged in this radical skepticism, Descartes turned to God as the anchor for certainty.

In his meditations, Descartes offers rational proof for the existence of God. He contends that the very idea of a perfect being (God) must have originated from a perfect being itself, because the concept of perfection could not arise from an imperfect human mind. This aligns with some of the early Catholic arguments for God’s existence. For Descartes, reason and faith were not at odds but rather complementary forces.

In many ways, Descartes' method of doubting everything mirrors the skeptical tradition of early Catholic monks who sought to rationally prove the existence of God and build their faith on firm foundations. Descartes, like the monks, recognized that doubt was not the enemy of faith but the path to greater certainty and clarity.

The contemplation of doubt in the search for truth—whether in relation to the existence of God, the nature of reality, or spiritual insight—has been a profound journey through history. From the medieval Catholic monks who sought intellectual clarity about God’s existence, to the Buddhist monks who embraced doubt through meditative observation, each tradition offers a unique perspective on the relationship between faith and reason.

The Method of Doubt, as exemplified by Descartes, shows us that doubt is not a force to be feared or rejected, but a tool to strengthen our understanding of the world. In both the East and the West, the contemplation of existential questions—whether through meditation, philosophy, or spiritual reflection—remains a powerful means of arriving at deeper truths, offering us a more holistic, multi-dimensional approach to understanding our place in the universe.

Thus, doubt, rather than leading to despair, can guide us to greater clarity, revealing both the mysteries of the divine and the complexities of existence with careful observation, reflection, and reason.