Religion
The brave doubter
Martin Sullivan
A post-Easter reflection cannot omit some reference to an early example of Christian agnosticism. It occurred on the first Easter day itself when the rather dour, plodding unimaginative Thomas, the 'Twin', established himself in history as the first brave doubter. The man himself, from what little we know of him, was not a seeker or an inquirer. Apart from the episide to which we are referring he gains only two other special mentions in the New Testament, and in both of them his perplexity is mixed with his faith and his despondency with his courage. When Jesus speaks of his impending death in Jerusalem it is Thomas who in a kind of loyal despair urges his fellow disciples to share their Master's fate. And when Christ told His friends that He was going to prepare a place for them and they knew where He was going and the way He would take, it was Thomas again who interjected: "We don't know where you are going and how can we know the way?" His eyes were fastened on things that are seen. This is the man who will not accept the Resurrection until he both sees the evidence and touches it with his fingers.
The story is told in the Fourth Gospel with the author's unerring skill. He shows in four different scenes and incidents how faith in the Risen Lord was engendered in the minds of different types of Christ's disciples. There was the dull uncertainty of Peter and John which sent them finally racing off to the tomb to see for themselves and believe. The heartbroken ' Mary had her sorrow turned into l joy when she heard her name called in such a way that she knew this man was not the gardener. And the fearful disciples
' huddled behind locked doors
I found Him suddenly in their midst and discovered the peace they had lost. And finally we come to the story of Thomas. He was not there t with the others. No reason is given, but we can imagine his feelings when his friends burst in upon him and excitedly told him what he had missed. The narrative is bare and restrained and we are given no details; but every one of
r us knows what it feels like to be tormented by others with ac
t counts of some experience we would love to have shared. There comes a moment when their joy appears to be almost sadistic, and
r we long to shut them up and to get rid of them. We can then say things we do not mean and later regret. I have a feeling that the stolid Thomas took this kind of r refuge. "Be quiet all of you. You ' sound like the hysterical women of our company. Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails and put my hand into His side I " will not believe."
A week later there was another meeting and this time Thomas was
t there. Once again Christ appeared in their midst and this time He seemed to have come only for one ' man, and to him alone He spoke. "Reach your finger here; see my hands. Reach your hand here and put it in my side. Be unbelieving no longer, but believe." The disciple did not accept the invitation. He now felt no call to do so.
Simply he replied, "My Lord and my God", an expression of faith so deep that no part of his doubt remained.
The Evangelist has brought us now to the point where we can hear his final message. Thomas believed because he enjoyed the advantage of facing his doubts and dispelling them by producing incontrovertible evidence. He would be one of the last to walk by sight. All who came after him would have to feel their way, at times every inch of it. What of them? "Happy are they who never saw Me and yet have found faith." The Evangelist offers this beatitude as the last recorded utterance of Christ, and ends his Gospel with it. This charter has sustained millions of Christians over the centuries and continuous to provide them with an hypothesis by which they can live and die.
Martin Sullivan is Dean of St Paul's.
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