It is by a strange kind of perversity that St Thomas, whose day we celebrate on Monday, has become the patron saint of doubters.
St John, in his Gospel, deliberately includes the encounter between Thomas and the risen Christ as a model for the kind of believing response he looks for from those who read his story of the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. In John's story, Thomas is the patron saint of those who read the apostolic message and believe it - yet they will not have seen Christ and handled him as Thomas did.
The Lord Jesus, bearing the marks of his recent crucifixion, bestows a unique beatitude on them: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29).
Given that his last chapter is a coda to explain the restoration of St Peter, John ends his Gospel with this brilliant statement of intent: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John: 20:30-31).
The point is clearly made: real favour with God does not rest on seeing, but on trusting the words of the apostles. Further signs or revelation are unnecessary, for these words alone are sufficient for this life and life eternal.
Today's secular world view and the struggle for faith was concisely summarised by the Spanish poet Miguel de Unamuno in 1907: "Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death."
As the 21st century begins, thoughtful people who question the Christian message have doubts which which seem to cluster in five particular areas. First, there is the ultimate question of God's existence. Once beyond that, the person of Jesus of Nazareth is sure to need scrutiny.
Who is this Jesus? Why do Christians regard him so highly, even to bowing down before him as their living Lord and seeing all life as meaningless without him? Thirdly, there is the question of miracle, with the focal point inevitably the empty tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, which on Friday night contained the dead, crucified body of Jesus, but on Sunday, though closely guarded and sealed with a massive stone, was found to be empty. This is the very heart of the Christian claim, and for many moderns, it is frankly incredible.
Fourthly, there is the problem of suffering and evil in this world that Christians claim derives its existence and order from a good and loving God.
Finally, and perhaps the one most likely to gain the ascendancy in the 21st century league of doubts, is the question of other faiths. We live in a highly pluralistic world so how can we - how dare we - make claims of ultimacy and finality for Jesus Christ?
Any local church worth its salt will be running regular enquirers' classes to deal sensitively and thoughtfully with these big issues, no holds and no questions barred. Not surprisingly, the uptake on the offer of such small groups often comes from believers who seek a more confident stance for their faith.
Where are the "Christianity Explained" groups, the "Agnostics Anonymous" welcome suppers, the "Just Looking" and "Just for Starters" classes? Where are the sermon series with titles like "How to Give Away Your Faith?" Do our seminaries and theological colleges take evangelism seriously and train clergy, the under-shepherds of Christ's flock, how to go out and seek the lost sheep as well as nurture the found? Or, to take up Jesus's other model, are the clergy of the future being equipped both as fishermen and shepherds, able to work both by hook and by crook?
That Irish saint of modern times, C.S. Lewis, unerrringly identified the greatest reason for the practical atheism which characterises so many moderns and post-moderns. It is the unparalleled material comfort and the lack of any compelling need, except in times of crisis, to consider the great questions of life and death. We are so caught up in the urgent and the trivial that we do not give time to the ultimate.
Not for us, then, the patronage of St Thomas, even in our unbelief! Rather, Monday may serve as a wake-up call that the sand of life is slipping quickly through the hour-glass.
A diversion to a bookshop, an investment in a Bible, and then a serious read through the Gospels, and the seeking out of a thoughtful, approachable Christian who knows the why of commitment, could bring us also within the orbit of that beatitude reserved for those who have not seen, but who have believed.