An Apology for "Doubting" Thomas (Part 1)
Why his doubt should either shock us more than it does or make us rethink what it is
This is the first post in a two-part series.
As an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, you don’t get much worse in terms of street cred than Thomas. It’s probably only Judas who surpasses him, and does he even count? Unlike Peter–who had far worse both in terms of quantity and quality–Thomas’ blunder wound up in his name for all of Christian history. Talk about bad PR (public relations)! In fact, one rarely brings up Thomas at all without mentioning his full title: Doubting Thomas.
But what if this title is a misnomer? What if Thomas’ refusal to believe the witness of the other disciples was not doubt (as we think of it), but obedience? What if Thomas should be commended, rather than criticized, for his “doubt”?
My aim is to raise at least the possibility (I think it’s a probability) that Thomas’ “doubt” is not the kind of doubt we think it is–the impermissible kind; but that it was a kind of doubt commanded by Jesus. In this two part series, I will aim to present three reasons why such a view of Thomas’ disbelief is warranted.
Thomas’ Character
By my count, there are eight instances where Thomas is mentioned. Four of these (Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13) are lists of the original 12 Apostles. The other four are found in John’s Gospel. In John 20:24-28 you have the doubting scene. Immediately following, Thomas is said to be with Peter, Nathanael, James and John, and two other disciples fishing. The remaining two are the most up close and personal look at Thomas that we get before his main cameo in chapter 20. Let's look at those.
John 11:16
Jesus has just been told that Lazarus is sick and that he is being requested by the sisters of Lazarus to come quickly. Jesus, famously, waits and Lazarus dies. Jesus tells the disciples this, and that this is all for their sake, “so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (v.15).
Thomas is the only one of the 12 to reply. But before we look at his response, we need to understand why he says what he says. Earlier in the passage Jesus tells his disciples they are headed to Judea to Lazarus. The 12 respond, alarmed, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, are you going there again?” (v.8). The disciples are concerned that Jesus will die if he goes back, they may also be concerned that they may be killed if they accompany him (which might be why they only mention his possible return).
When Jesus, as we have seen, says at the end of the passage, “Let us go to him,” he makes it clear that he is going back and the disciples will be coming with him. The disciples, if they were originally concerned about their own well-being, would have been scared speechless. Death was not what they had signed up for.
The disciples, that is, except Thomas. He, no doubt, would have been apprehensive about a return as well. But rather than walk silently with a potential death sentence looming over him, he speaks. And he speaks not to Jesus, but to the other 11. “Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him’” (v.16). Like a soldier whose captain just said to follow him and charge the hill against all odds, Thomas turns to his comrades and shouts, “Well you heard him, let’s go!”
In light of this scene, it is actually very surprising that Thomas should end up doubting. Out of the 11 remaining disciples, it shouldn’t be him. Thomas was not one to cut and run or be quick to abandon his Lord. In this passage, Thomas’ character is presented as bold and courageous. He’s willing to die. He is, as Eric Hoffer writes about, a True Believer. He’s decidedly dedicated and devoted unto death, even when the other disciples are not. The fact that this Thomas winds up doubting should either knock our socks off, or cause us to reconsider just what we should make of his “doubt.”
These pictures of Thomas are totally incongruent. Ready-to-die and Has Christ’s death so shook him? Perhaps. But is it not at least possible that this earlier account of Thomas should inform what we make of his infamous doubt? Maybe not in isolation, but when appended to what we will see in part 2, I think so.2
John 14:5
In this passage Jesus is teaching about heaven and how he is soon going there. After telling them he is going to prepare a place for them, Jesus says, “And you know the way to where I am going” (v.4).
To this Thomas replies, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” There are three ways to read this question. One that commends Thomas as an ardently loyal devotee, another that paints as a deeply troubled cynic, and finally, as a neutral question about something he is confused about. I believe the first or last option are far more likely.
Thomas could be asking because, more in line with how we typically read John 20, Thomas is a skeptic. Much like your philosophy major roommate, he questions everything and believes nothing. He will not be had, by anyone, even the Christ. And so, he asks, “Come on Jesus, we actually do not know where you are going. So where is it and how do we get there?” This reading would allow John 20 to interpret it with no attention paid to John 11. For that reason, I believe it should be rejected.
Or, at almost the opposite end of the spectrum, Thomas could be asking because he is desperate to know where Jesus is going. If he is going to die, Thomas wants to be right there beside him, taking the first bullet if possible. If he is going to a heavenly abode, same deal. He wants to be where Jesus is and can’t stand the thought of being anywhere else. And in the moment, he realizes he isn’t quite sure where Jesus is going or how he’s supposed to get there to be with him. And so, he genuinely asks, “Where are you going and how can we know they way?” This reading meshes well with the above reading of John 11. Though it is not (yet) clear how it relates to John 20.
At minimum, it is at least worth considering if the immediately previous scene we get of Thomas being willing to die with Christ should shade how we read his question here. I think it should. If we let it, then the cynical reading of it just isn’t convincing and is only a result of reading a kind of skeptic disposition in John 20 back into Thomas as a whole.
If we let John 11 color his questions, then what we have is Thomas wanting desperately to follow Christ wherever he goes but realizing he isn’t sure where Christ is going, and so he asks the way. This is the die-hard making sure he doesn’t miss out. But again, this does make it quite incredible that Thomas so quickly bows out at the end.
And if we say it is neither, and the questions is a neutrally charged one because he is just confused, that also would not lend itself to the picture of Thomas most of us have nowadays nor the picture I believe we should have. And so, this second scene probably tells us the least out of the three where Thomas speaks and will be painted by whatever view of Thomas we take.
Conclusion
So we have our biblical picture of Apostle Thomas. There is the incident that comes first to mind, of his “doubt.” But that is not the only time we see Thomas speak and act. I for one think his first speaking part in John should carry as much weight as his last, while the middle is the least revelatory.
The options we are left with is that Thomas is either a loyal, faithful Apostle, maybe the most so; or, he is of a far more troubled character than we even think. Either his refusal to believe is in line with his loyal, True Believer, willing-to-die with Christ character (as I will try to demonstrate in part 2); or it is in line with a deeply cynical one where he is sarcastic about following Jesus to death, potentially questions Jesus’ very teaching, and then truly lacks faith that Christ could be raised. I would like to at least hope and believe about our brother the former.
If nothing else, this full picture John gives of Thomas at least raises the question of how the (seemingly) only willing to die disciple became the (seemingly) only doubting one. If that is in fact what Thomas is doing in John 20. The next piece of evidence makes me strongly doubt (see what I did there?) that how we typically read John 20, is the case.
Part 2, forthcoming.
I wonder if we could interpret his "let us also go, that we may die with him" to be sarcastic?