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Doubting Thomas - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia
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The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio
Doubting Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Doubting Thomas is someone who will
refuse to believe something without direct,
physical, personal evidence; in other words, a
skeptic.
Contents
1 Origin
2 Art
3 Opinion
4 See also
5 References
Origin
The term is based on the Biblical account of Thomas the Apostle, a disciple of Jesus who doubted Jesus'
resurrection and demanded to feel Jesus' wounds before being convinced (John 20:24-29). After seeing Jesus
alive and being offered the opportunity to touch his wounds, according to the author of the Gospel of John,
Thomas then professed his faith in Jesus. For this reason he is also called Thomas the Believer. The Biblical
account then reports that Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." This account
of Thomas does not appear in the three synoptic Gospels.
Art
In art the subject is technically known as The Incredulity of Saint
Thomas, and has been common since at least the 6th century, when it
appears on the Monza ampullae.
In those depictions,
as later in the Baroque, the image was used to emphasize the
importance of physical experiences, extended by theologians to
pilgrimages, veneration of relics and ritual, in reinforcing Christian
beliefs.
The subject enjoyed a revival in popularity in
Counter-Reformation art as an assertion of Catholic doctrine against
Protestant rejection of these practices.
Opinion
Recently the eminent biologist, Richard Dawkins tweeted that
Doubting Thomas is the Patron Saint of Scientists.
See also
