Franciscan Media: The Guiding Light of Spiritual Doubt

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Doubting Thomas.” The phrase’s origins hearken back to John’s Gospel, where, after Christ’s resurrection, Jesus’s disciples say to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,” to which Thomas responds, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

It should be noted that when this scene occurs in Scripture, Thomas was in the middle of the grief process. Days before he had witnessed the horrific crucifixion of one of his best friends. Now he was most likely on the run or in hiding, perhaps wondering if the Romans would come after Jesus’s followers next. His life was in turmoil. He was probably trying to make sense of it all. Had he been duped by a guru? Were his buddies, the apostles (who had their fair share of flaws and blindspots, by the way) in silly denial of reality when they said they had seen the risen Lord?.

This blog was first published on Franciscan Media. You can read the rest of the blog entry HERE.