http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Caravaggio_-_The_Incredulity_of_Saint_Thomas.jpg
Our theme is a central concern for our society: it is
the contrast between faith and doubt (or religious belief and
‘scientific-based’ scepticism). ‘Have you believed because you have seen me?’, Jesus asks Thomas. ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ (John 20:29). In the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews,
possibly written by Barnabas, we hear the words: ‘Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1). But this was not the view of the disciples in the immediate
aftermath of the Resurrection.
The artist Caravaggio in a great
painting dating from 1602-3 shows ‘Doubting’ Thomas placing his finger in the
wound of the risen Christ. This is a depiction of believing and touching:
because Thomas touched Jesus’ wounds he is depicted as coming to believe in the
risen Christ. But did Thomas actually touch Jesus? The gospel of John does not
tell us that this is what happened. Jesus invites Thomas to do so (John 20:27)
but the gospel account does not actually confirm that he did do so. Even St
Augustine admitted ‘it is not written “and Thomas touched”’, yet virtually all
the Christian fathers until the Reformation assumed that, because Jesus had
invited him to do so, Thomas actually did touch the Risen Christ.
Did
Thomas behave any differently than the
other disciples? If we turn to Luke’s account, we hear Jesus inviting them to
touch him in order to believe: ‘“Why are you frightened, and why do doubts
arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.
Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I
have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While
in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have
you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took
it and ate in their presence’ (Luke 24:38-43).
Neither Luke nor the other synoptic gospel
writers (Matthew and Mark) distinguish Thomas’s conduct as being any different
from that of the other disciples, which leads one to conclude that John does so
because of his overall Christological design: it is Thomas, who once convinced
that the apparition is indeed Jesus, pronounces ‘my Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28).
John intended this statement to form the climax of his gospel. Jesus can only
be understood as Messiah, as Son of God, and as the Word (logos). ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. But these
are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son
of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name’ (John
20:30-31).
At issue for us today is the centrality of the Christian belief in the Resurrection but also how we, as Christians, can live a life of faith in a world of doubt. Thomas is an emblematic figure for us today: his doubts are our doubts and his inconsistencies are our inconsistencies: ‘Thomas stands for us’ (Glenn W. Most, Doubting Thomas, 2005, repr. 2007).
At issue for us today is the centrality of the Christian belief in the Resurrection but also how we, as Christians, can live a life of faith in a world of doubt. Thomas is an emblematic figure for us today: his doubts are our doubts and his inconsistencies are our inconsistencies: ‘Thomas stands for us’ (Glenn W. Most, Doubting Thomas, 2005, repr. 2007).
Peter Paul Rubens on the same theme, just a few years later. The drama is conventional instead of extraordinary:
http://marques.silvaclan.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/rubens_thomas_kln.jpg
