Was Thomas Really a Doubter?

And what's wrong with a little healthy skepticism, anyway?

Lots of folks have heard the phrase, “O, don’t be a doubting Thomas!” Okay, so if you haven’t heard those words before, you might want to catch up a bit here on the world’s most popular website, Wikipedia: “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas was one of the “original” 12 apostles of Jesus, and he didn’t get to see Jesus eye-to-eye on the day of the resurrection, as the story goes. While he listened to the other ten guys who claimed that they did, he famously stated, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side” That being from the gospel of John, chapter 20.

Apparently, Thomas has been quite a popular subject in art down through the centuries. Such luminaries as Carvaggio, Rembrandt, and Rubens have taken a whack at the recalcitrant disciple of Jesus. Here’s a look at a scene known as “The Incredulity of St. Thomas,” in an Armenian Gospels collection dating from 1609, held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

(Don’t you just love the scalawag that penciled in the “18” in the upper right corner?")

Incredulous or not, I think that Thomas has gotten a bit of a bad rap down through the centuries. From the medieval to the modern, churches have often disparaged doubt amongst the faithful as leading to all sorts of trouble. “Don’t start down the pathway of doubt, or you’ll end up living for the devil!” or some other sort of warning, usually delivered with a scowl or a frown.

As a young person with a healthy imagination and a fondness for questions, I felt browbeaten on many an occasion in what we called the “training union,” a place where we as young people were supposed to explore and learn about the faith. I remember coming away with the distinct thought in my mind, “Just exactly what question should God be afraid of?”

Thomas wasn’t a “doubter,” to my way of thinking. He was a great model for an empiricist, a no-nonsense kind of guy who was not about to be swept up in the tide of emotion to make statements about things he didn’t experience first-hand. Even outvoted 10-1, he stood his ground. I think we could use a few more folks like Thomas these days!

So, the rest of the story goes like this:

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

— Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Thomas boldly stated what he needed to complete his own personal belief. “I wanna see it and touch it!”

Quite interesting, isn’t it, that when the opportunity presented itself eight days later, Thomas — confronted by a vision of Jesus that was somewhat recognizable, but not quite the same as he had known before — chooses NOT to go poking about or thrusting his hands into any bodily cavities. Instead, confession comes easily to his lips.

It is personal and emphatic: “My Lord and my God!”

Now, that could have been uttered in the way we might easily imagine it, sort of an OMG! moment. “Oh, my God; I never thought I’d see anything like this! Those nail holes are gross!” (They had been festering for 8 days, after all…)

But the implication is that this is a genuine expression of belief. For Thomas — the healthy skeptic — experience bore out what he was hearing from others. He just needed a little time to do things in his own way. Thomas was his own guy, and apparently, that was just fine with Jesus. No scolding here, no warnings about doubt or questions.

I’d like to see all of us able to explore and question ideas about God and Jesus and the Bible and all sorts of other spiritual topics without fear of reprisal or having shame spit all over our questions. That’s why I’m beginning this little project.

Please feel free to comment, offer your own ideas, ask other questions, etc. The only thing you can’t do is be mean or belittle anyone else’s ideas. Solid questions are good; heaving '“truth bombs” won’t cut it — and will be deleted expeditiously.

What do you think, friends?