A period of doubt is always sad; but it would be an unmixed woe for an individual or a nation, if it were not made, in the order of a merciful Providence, the transition to a more deeply-seated faith. It is a means, not an end.
You tell me, doubt is devil-born.
I know not; one indeed I knew
In many a subtle question versed,
Who touch'd jarring lyre at first,
But ever strove to make it true:
Perplext in faith, but not in deeds,
At last he beat his music out.
There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.