A Christian mind asks questions, probes problems, confesses ignorance, feels perplexity on a regular basis and that is all very normal and healthy. It does so, however, in the context of a profound and growing confidence of the reality of God and of his Christ. What is sub-Christian, yet considered cool even by some who occupy pulpits and teach in seminaries, is to acquiesce in a condition of basic and chronic doubt, as if that were a characteristic of Christian normality. It is not. Sadly, it is a symptom rather of spiritual sickness in a spiritually sick age.
The Sunday after Easter is the day when the Gospel of John 20:19-31 is read in church, yet St Thomas' day is not until July 3rd. Who, though, in these times will question the necessity to address the issue of doubt at least twice a year?
John's Gospel is coming to its close and a major theme has been the insistence that those who saw the miracles should accept Jesus's interpretation of them because the outcome of trusting his words is eternal life. Many saw the signs, or miracles, but rejected their significance as pointers to God's king being among them.
Thomas had not yet seen the risen Christ and made it a sine qua non of his faith commitment that he should see and indeed touch Jesus. He earlier refused the testimony of the other apostles who had seen the Lord. Taking this stance, Thomas is not a model believer because Jesus immediately corrects him by saying seeing is no longer necessary for belief and adds the beatitude, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (verse 29).
From here on, it is faith in the apostolic witness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ that will lead to friendship with God, which is the beginning of that quality of life that can only be properly described as eternal.
This is where belief finds its focus today, of course, since no one has seen Jesus and we depend entirely on the gospel accounts. Favour with God does not come through seeing, but in trusting the words of the apostles. No further signs or revelation are necessary, for these words alone are sufficient for eternal life. Thomas indeed becomes a model for us as he humbly confesses: "My Lord and my God!"
Then follows what has been called the shortest summary of John's theology. He has written his gospel "that you may believe", for he is at heart a passionate evangelist. Of today's doubter, John would ask if doubt is genuinely provisional and open to instruction. If doubt cannot bring itself to trust God's words unequivocally, John would want to encourage weak faith to become stronger. But if doubt has its origin in moral obstinacy or intellectual scepticism, then John would remind the doubter of Jesus's indictment of those who knew a great deal about him but in the end he had to say of them, "You refuse to come to me to have life" (5:40).
Between that condemnation of doubt and the beatitude pronounced on belief a great gulf is fixed and no "Doubting Thomas" this weekend should feel safe and secure in that mindset if it is becoming in any way at all a permanent attitude towards the Christian gospel.
G.F.