History Main / CrisisOfFaith

* ''Series/{{House}}'': While House himself gets a pass for being a [[HollywoodAtheist misanthropic]] {{Jerkass}}, a wayward priest patient finds his faith again after seeing the [[RuleOfDrama fantastic series of coincidences]] that line up to save his life.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** The red priest Thoros of Myr admits that by the time he came to Westeros, he didn't believe in the Lord of Light anymore, but his faith returned after his last rites resurrected his friend Beric.
** Later in the series, another red priestess, Melisandre, has this in a big way after her advice to Stannis to [[spoiler:sacrifice his own daughter to the Lord of Light]] in order to win a battle does not succeed, and actually causes a large number of his men to ''defect to the other side''.
* In the ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My Own Personal Jesus", Turk loses his faith in a just God after a hopeless Christmas Eve in the emergency room but regains it after he finds a missing pregnant woman by intuition and helps her give birth. (Interestingly, Turk is the only character in the episode who professes strong religious beliefs in the first place, and the other major characters seem to look down on him for this.)
* In the ''Series/QuantumLeap'' episode "Leap of Faith", Sam leaps into a priest, and Al is uncomfortable with the whole thing. He reveals that he left the church as a child after prayer failed to save his father from dying of cancer, and [[NayTheist swore never to have anything to do with God again]]. However, he resorts to praying to God again when it looks like Sam's life is in danger.
* An episode of ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' included a drunken priest whose faith is restored by Daisy revealing herself to be a Reaper.
* This is an ongoing issue for Scully of ''Series/TheXFiles''. She was raised as a devout Catholic and already had a few issues reconciling her work as a scientist with her faith. When she joins the X-Files and paranormal events and aliens get thrown in, she struggles to strike a balance.
* ''Series/CombatHospital'' explores this one pretty thoroughly through an army chaplain who undergoes a crisis of faith as she serves in Afghanistan and sees the brutality of war up close and personal.

* A recurring problem for Adam Smallbone on ''Series/{{Rev}}''. According to his wife, it happens at least once a year. One particularly bad crisis sends him into a deep depression, lashing out at several people around him.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E11MortalCoil Mortal Coil]]", Neelix experiences a deep crisis of faith after dying and being revived 18 hours later, without having experienced the afterlife his faith promised. After trying to come to terms with it, he [[spoiler:tries teleporting himself into space to die, [[DespairEventHorizon convinced that there really is nothing after death]], but Chakotay manages to talk him out of it]]. The episode ends without giving a firm answer about his beliefs one way or another.
* ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'' has it both ways. In order to impress Japanese investors and Sir Royston, a debate between an atheist sociologist and a Catholic bishop is planned. Unfortunately, before it can go ahead, the TV news screens a piece of footage from the Middle East. The bishop is distressed by the inhumanity of it all, particularly when focusing on civilians caught up in the middle of violence, and loses his faith. However, the sociologist sees the same woman and same child and ''gains'' faith from seeing human survival against the odds and concludes the world must be in the hands of a divine being. The debate is, naturally enough, cancelled.
* ''Series/YouMeAndTheApocalypse'': Besides many people heading this way once news of the [[EarthShatteringKaboom comet]] is announced, Father Jude and Sister Celine must fight their growing feelings for each other. [[spoiler:Celine later has a proper crisis of faith after Jude dies]].

* ''Series/HandOfGod'': Pernell gets one after what he believes is God's promise to him [[spoiler: that PJ would come out of his coma]] doesn't happen.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S1E10CornerOfTheEye Corner of the Eye]]", Father Anton Jonascu has been ministering to the sick and homeless in his community for decades but suffers a crisis of faith as he cannot solve all of these people's problems, let alone all of the world's problems.
** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S6E16Revival Revival]]", Ezra Burnham lost his faith after the death of his wife as {{God}} did not answer his prayers for her to recover.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** In [[Recap/FireflyE01Serenity the pilot episode]], Mal is shown kissing a crucifix before going into battle, symbolic of his faith. The events cause him to lose that faith, so much so that later when Shepherd Book asks if anyone minded if he led the crew of ''Serenity'' in grace, Mal says, "Not so long as it's silent."
** This is later reexplored in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' when Mal and company find [[spoiler:a dying]] Book, who implores Mal to believe. Mal reiterates that he doesn't believe in God or the Almighty, and Book shuts him down, saying he's not asking that Mal believe in God, but that he believe in ''something''.
* Detective Frank Pembleton in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' starts off as a devout Catholic due to his Jesuit upbringing, but the brutality he sees every day as part of his job as a homicide detective results in his faith starting to waver. The investigation into the white gloves murder causes him to lose his faith entirely.
* ''Series/TheWilds'': Shelby is a very devoted Christian at first, but begins to question her faith when she meets Toni, a proud, open lesbian whose sexuality she finds threatening as she's repressed her attraction for girls as it conflicts with the conservative teachings she'd been instilled with. It all does a number on her mentally. She seems to get over it after a time, but is far more subdued than prior, no longer talking about it so often. However, after Rachel's lost Nora and seeks religious comfort Shelby shares a prayer she used as a mantra to deal with the suicide of her friend Becca.
* ''Series/Lucifer2016'': TokenReligiousTeammate Ella Lopez goes through this during the fourth season. The previous season ended with a friend of hers being murdered by someone she'd looked up to, events which shake her faith in God and his divine plans. She stops going to church every weekend, takes off her crucifix pendant, and eventually starts drinking more. By the end of the season she accepts that God can't prevent bad things from happening and starts to regain her faith.

* ''ComicBook/{{Nightshade}}'': Eve Eden is a Catholic who learns that her powers are due to her mother's partially demonic heritage. Even after she's reconciled her faith with this discovery she's seen discussing it with Father Craemer and she is never fully comfortable with that part of her lineage.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake 1755 Lisbon]] was possibly the [[ShiningCity most splendorous city in the world]], having spent centuries funneling their colonial wealth into majestic palaces, gold-laden churches, and gigantic art collections. On November 1st (All Saints Feast, one of the main Catholic holy days), the city was struck by one of the [[EarthquakesCauseFissures deadliest earthquakes in history]]. The [[HouseFire subsequent fires]] created massive firestorms, but the fires downtown were short-lived since a [[GiantWallOfWateryDoom tsunami]] put them out (the rest kept burning for five days). [[MonumentalDamage Palaces and churches alike fell along with 85% of the city]], the surviving 15% being basically [[TheCityNarrows the city narrows]] and the [[RedLightDistrict red-light districts]]... Not only Portugal but all of Europe went into a near-religious panic: for all they knew [[BoltOfDivineRetribution God had punished]] the [[HolierThanThou most pious people]] among one of the [[TheFundamentalist most religious nations in Europe]] while sparing the sinners, and the King himself only survived because he decided not to attend mass and went to the countryside instead.
* In the same vein [[ThePlague The Black Death]], it made no distinctions between young or old, rich or poor, sinners or virtuous. Prayer, penitence, or flagellation did nothing to stop it; the Church which once was a source of leadership, unity, and comfort was powerless, with many of its members also succumbing to the disease. The blow to the faith would have severe social repercussions that would be felt for centuries.
* The horrifying grotesque reproductive methods of parasitoid wasps (which implant their larvae into a living host, and then it slowly eats the living victim from the inside before killing it and tearing its way out) led numerous 19th-century thinkers, like UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin, to question the notion of a loving and benevolent God. Because how could God be all-caring if He created a being which has to inflict a CruelAndUnusualDeath on another just to be born?
-->''"I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae Ichneumonidae]] with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that [[CatsAreMean a cat should play with mice]]."'' [[note]]Cats are one of the few predators which will hunt and kill prey just for fun.[[/note]]
* The trope works even nowadays: read the "Spiegel" interview with German politics legend [[note]]if you don't know him - he was the one [[MoralGuardians responsible]] for taking WesternAnimation/PorkyPig down on German Television 1973 for "too much violence"...oh the irony! Later his own party introduced Private TV in Germany, making Porky Pig look like Gandhi in comparison...[[/note]] Heiner Geißler taken just before his death. He confesses to having lost faith in God bit by bit for the standard theodicy reasons.
* Secret letters found to belong to the late Mother Teresa, a renowned symbol of religious compassion, revealed that she had suffered a crisis of faith in the existence of God that lasted 50 years of her life, beginning the same year she began her work helping the poor in Kolkata which continued unabated until her death in 1997.
[[/folder]]

* Brutaka from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' performed a brief but notable FaceHeelTurn when he lost his faith in the Great Spirit Mata Nui. Little did he know that Mata Nui's actually a very PhysicalGod, who hasn't shown any sign of himself due to being in a coma. He later realizes that being a villain stands against all the other things he believed in, and the rest of the story portrays him as a mostly positive character.

Not to be confused with HaveYouSeenMyGod, where the divinity in question really ''is'' MIA. Compare ReligiousRussianRoulette, where the character lets their belief in God ride on their request for a miracle.

* On one episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', Neelix experiences a deep crisis of faith after dying and being revived 18 hours later, without having experienced the afterlife his faith promised. After trying to come to terms with it, he [[spoiler: tries teleporting himself into space to die, [[DespairEventHorizon convinced that there really is nothing after death]], but Chakotay manages to talk him out of it]]. The episode ends without giving a firm answer about his beliefs one way or another.

** In "Corner of the Eye", Father Anton Jonascu has been ministering to the sick and homeless in his community for decades but suffers a crisis of faith as he cannot solve all of these people's problems, let alone all of the world's problems.
** In "Revival", Ezra Burnham lost his faith after the death of his wife as Main/{{God}} did not answer his prayers for her to recover.
* In the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' pilot episode, Mal is shown kissing a crucifix before going into battle, symbolic of his faith. The events cause him to lose that faith, so much so that later when Shepherd Book asks if anyone minded if he led the crew of ''Serenity'' in grace, Mal says, "Not so long as it's silent."
** This is later reexplored in TheMovie when Mal and company find [[spoiler: a dying]] Book, who implores Mal to believe. Mal reiterates that he doesn't believe in God or the Almighty, and Book shuts him down, saying he's not asking that Mal believe in God, but that he believe in ''something''.

** ''Inquisition'' also reveals that Leliana, if in love with a Warden who died killing the Archdemon, has been dealing with a crisis of faith since the end of 'Origins'.
--->'''Leliana''': I was with the Hero of Ferelden when s/he killed the Archdemon. The Maker brought us together, and then... I watched her/him die. In that instant, I felt the Maker's presence grow cold. One moment, a cherished child. The next... abandoned.

* Victoria suffers from this following [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition the siege of Adamant Fortress]] in ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]''. Being a devout Andrastian who has up to this point fully embraced her role as the Herald of Andraste, she's deeply shaken to learn that [[spoiler:it was nothing more than a cosmic accident, and that the god she's always revered may really not exist at all]]. It takes a lot of effort by those to whom she's closest to help her get out of it.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/SkinGame'' involves two
** Waldo Butters own crisis of Faith not in the Almighty, but in the hero Harry Dresden. In the past few books Harry [[spoiler:died, his ghost came back to help them save the day, was resurrected but stayed on a creepy island]] all while things in Chicago were getting worse and worse. Waldo doubts Harry and his goodness now, even spying on him [[spoiler:and as Harry is in Chicago to work with some villains but also betray them and no one can be told, Waldo believes the act. This act leads to the destruction of the Sword of Faith because when chasing Waldo, a confrontation between Harry and his "allies" ensues and one bad choice causes the Power in the Sword to go dormant and allowed it to be shattered to the hilt. Later, realizing his mistake, Waldo stays with some friends to guard them if the "allies" come back, which they do. The minions capture the mother in this family and the bad guys intend to burn the house down, making her watch. With Harry down from a medical condition, Waldo has had his faith in Harry restored, and restoring it in the ideals he has devoted himself to, that good can overcome evil, that one person can make the difference, and if he needs to die to save some friends, just stalling them until help arrives, he will. He takes Harry's magical duster to guard himself from bullets and charges into battle]].

** The red priest Thoros of Myr admits that by the time he came to Westeros he didn't believe in the Lord of Light anymore, but his faith returned after his last rites resurrected his friend Beric.

* A possible character-specific event for [[BadassPreacher Yashiro Kawaji]] in VideoGame/WorldOfHorror invokes this by name; being Catholic in Japan is already an oddity he's had to deal with, but in the face of many an EldritchAbomination invading a sleepy town (alongside a mysterious letter from his dead sister bringing him there), it's easy to understand having such a crisis. This is also invoked by his Faith stat; a high FTH brings him additional experience points and dexterity, while a negative one brings him physical strength and harder hits. Fittingly, the mentioned event gives the options to either buckle down and increase his Faith, or linger in doubt and decrease it.

** Kyle loses his belief in God after [[VillainProtagonist Cartman]] gets a million-dollar inheritance and buys his own theme park, while Kyle gets diagnosed with hemorrhoids. His faith is restored when he sees Cartman lose all his money, which Stan interprets was ThePlan by God to punish Cartman the whole time.

** In "Homer The Heretic", Homer decides going to church is too much effort, and starts his own religion. Then [[{{Anvilicious}} his house catches fire]], and he's rescued by Ned Flanders and a multi-faith volunteer fire brigade.

* [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Job]] is probably the TropeMaker, being the origin of the "if your life sucks, God is testing your faith" [[AnAesop Aesop]].

* ''Literature/APrayerForOwenMeany'': Both Johnny and Rev. Merrill have this. The former cites the entire story as being his reason why he got over the crisis. Merrill does only because of a ruse Johnny stages with a dummy, tricking Merrill into thinking that Johnny's mother reached out to him from the grave.

** Concerns over this are a recurring theme throughout the series, as the entire cast save Merlin were raised and taught to believe in a church that is, in fact, a PathOfInspiration perpetrated through a GodGuise. While dedicated to the eventual revelation of this gigantic lie many characters, especially Archbishop Maikel Staynair, fear the large scale Crisis of Faith that many will suffer since it's hardly a leap to decide ''God'' is a lie after learning your entire Church is. Some members of the Inner Circle itself, such as Baron Wave Thunder, develop into genuine atheists while others find their way towards a deist mindset.

* ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'' has it both ways. In order to impress Japanese investors and Sir Royston, a debate between an atheist sociologist and a Catholic bishop is planned. Unfortunately, before it can go ahead, the TV news screens a piece of footage from the Middle East. The bishop is distressed in the inhumanity of it all, particularly when focusing on civilians caught up in the middle of violence, and loses his faith. However, the sociologist sees the same woman and same child and ''gains'' faith from seeing human survival against the odds and concludes the world must be in the hands of a divine being. The debate is, naturally enough, cancelled.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Lorgar always needed something to worship. For most of the Great Crusade, he chose his GodEmperor father, deifying him and building monuments of faith in his name. But the Emperor, striving for a secular Imperium and hating those who saw him as a God, put a stop to this in the most faith crushing way: by destroying his greatest cathedral, and forcing Lorgar and his Astartes to kneel in the ashes. His faith in the Emperor destroyed, Lorgar needed a new thing to worship, and Chaos would be that thing, kicking off the fall of the Imperium.

[[folder:Film]]

** In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', having to deal with finding out her best friend is a lesbian, the traumatic events of her time as a college student, and learning just how much nastiness is lurking under the surface of both her and her friends' families leave her faith deeply shaken. She even has a dream conversation with deceased Christian singer Rich Mullins in which she admits that she can't feel God anymore and is wondering if she ever could. [[spoiler:By the time the second semester begins she identifies as an atheist, which causes a new source of conflict with said lesbian best friend, because Becky ''didn't'' have a crisis of faith and still identifies as Christian.]]

** In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'', having to deal with finding out her best friend is a lesbian, the traumatic events of her time as a college student, and learning just how much nastiness is lurking under the surface of both her and her friends' families leave her faith deeply shaken. She even has a dream conversation with deceased Christian singer Rich Mullins in which she admits that she can't feel God anymore and is wondering if she ever could.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Lily, a former nun of the Church, loses faith in the [[CrystalDragonJesus Goddess Incarnate]] as a result of [[RapeAsDrama being captured and raped by the Black Dogs]] along with her fellow sisters. Notably, she does not regain her faith over the course of the story, after she is taken in as an [[TheApprentice apprentice]] by [[MentorInSourArmor Kyril]], together with fulfilling her duties as a hunter. If anything, she decides to only believe in her own strength, instead of believing in the power of the Goddess Incarnate.

SubTrope of BreakTheBeliever.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering': Happens to at least one cleric on Zendikar when the true nature of the plane's [[EldritchAbomination "gods"]] is [[http://magiccards.info/roe/en/5.html revealed]].

* In ''The Final Trumpet,'' an adventure for the TabletopGame/InNomine RPG, the Archangel of Faith himself actually reaches this point, risking Armageddon in the process. Depending on the actions of the player characters, he may come back stronger than ever, or Fall completely to become the Demon Prince of Fanaticism.
* Happens to at least one cleric on [[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering Zendikar]] when the true nature of the plane's [[EldritchAbomination "gods"]] is [[http://magiccards.info/roe/en/5.html revealed.]]
-->I believed in a beautiful god. But this is the true face of the divine.
* Lorgar of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' always needed something to worship. For most of the Great Crusade, he chose his GodEmperor father, deifying him and building monuments of faith in his name. But the Emperor, striving for a secular Imperium and hating those who saw him as a God, put a stop to this in the most faith crushing way: by destroying his greatest cathedral, and forcing Lorgar and his Astartes to kneel in the ashes. His faith in the Emperor destroyed, Lorgar needed a new thing to worship, and Chaos would be that thing, kicking off the fall of the Imperium.

A character with a religious belief, whether it be [[TheFundamentalist fervent]], [[RaisedCatholic cas]][[InformedJudaism ual]], or [[CompressedVice never mentioned before or since]], [[EvilStoleMyFaith loses it]] and spends a StoryArc as an unbeliever until [[AnAesop learning a valuable lesson]] about faith. More {{Anvilicious}}ly, a HollywoodAtheist LongLostUncleAesop may be introduced, just to be [[EasyEvangelism enlightened]] and then never heard from again.

* This is an ongoing issue for Scully of ''Series/TheXFiles''. She was [[RaisedCatholic raised as a devout Catholic]] and already had a few issues reconciling her work as a scientist with her faith. When she joins the X-Files and paranormal events and aliens get thrown in, she struggles to strike a balance.

* ''Series/MediciMastersOfFlorence'' may as well be called "Crisis of Faith: the Series." Cosimo struggles mightily with his guilt, morals, and his personal identity in conflict with his family's needs.

* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': Mary Cooper has one in the aptly titled episode "A Crisis of Faith and Octopus Aliens". She reacts to a neighbor's young daughter dying in a car crash first by keeping busy volunteering at church, then she starts doubting why the girl's death is somehow part of God's plan and gets so distraught that she stops going to church and saying grace. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness This change in character worries Sheldon]], and he manages to restore her faith by saying that, even though he doesn't believe in God, he's open to the possibility that there might be a creator.