Honest to Thomas: John 20:19-31 - Second Sunday of Easter
Is it a sin to doubt? Is despair evil? Does unbelief lead to hell? Your answer to these questions will influence how you think of Thomas and others, who do not believe. We have labeled him “Doubting Thomas,” as if to say he was a bad disciple. Touch by Albert on flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 If we go by the original Greek text, we should really be calling him “Faithless Thomas,” because he rejected the testimony of those who encountered the risen Christ. One could also call him “Conditional Thomas,” because he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” What bothers me about all these labels we’ve given to Thomas is that we are implying that Thomas SHOULD HAVE believed. That’s a moral judgment we can apply to anyone who doesn’t share our faith. We can even apply it to ourselves in those times when faith is difficult, if not impossible. The problem with treating faith as an obligation i...
