We don’t get to physically see and touch the wounds of the resurrected Christ, but we have the eyewitness testimony of those who did. 2 However, the vast majority of Christians who have ever lived have not seen and have come to believe-including Christians alive today.ĭoesn’t this mean that faith isn’t based on evidence? Absolutely not! We have a different kind of evidence. All of the disciples saw the risen Jesus and believed. He describes two groups of people: those who see and believe, and those who never see and believe. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:26–29). Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands and put out your hand, and place it in my side. He wants more.Įight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Unfortunately, Thomas is not content with this evidence. 20:25).Īt this point, Thomas has evidence for the resurrection: eyewitness testimony. Rather, he says, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (Jn. When Thomas finds out what happened, he does not believe the testimony of the disciples. However, we’re told that Thomas was not present. Properly interpreting any isolated verse of Scripture requires an adequate understanding of its context.īeginning at verse 19, John describes how Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room after His resurrection. Ironically, this text actually teaches the exact opposite of what Dawkins and others believe. So, it is argued, the kind of faith endorsed by the Bible is baseless and unwarranted. After all, Jesus said, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn. Moreover, we should denounce the reasonable faith of the former and imitate the blind faith of the latter. We’re told that Thomas demanded evidence and the other disciples didn’t. The other apostles, whose faith was so strong that they did not need evidence, are held to us as worthy of imitation. The story of Doubting Thomas is told, not so that we shall admire Thomas, but so that we can admire the other apostles in comparison. It means blind trust, in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of evidence. Outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins writes,Īnother member of the religious meme complex is called faith. The most common passage cited is the story of the risen Jesus appearing to Thomas. There are some people, however, who have attempted to use the Bible to defend this false understanding of faith. And there is plenty of biblical evidence to back this up. Biblical faith is trusting in what you have good evidence to believe is true.
Despite popular opinion, faith isn’t believing without evidence.
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