Why Only Thomas?

I'm continuing to respond to the excellent questions posed by AZ on his series: Tough Questions for Christians. Here's the next one:

Why Only Thomas?

AZ needs to get his facts straight. Thomas believed all the miracles, but, like all the rest of the disciples, didn’t hear or understand Jesus’ prophecy that he would be raised from the dead. Probably, they all thought Jesus was speaking of the general resurrection of the dead, not his own specific one. So when the other disciples saw Jesus, perhaps Thomas thought they were having a mass hallucination, or they were all pulling his leg. Whatever the case, he didn’t believe. Jesus then appeared to them and he told Thomas to touch him, but Thomas didn’t. Rather, Thomas immediately said, “My Lord and My God.” Seeing Jesus was enough.

However, that doesn’t pertain to the question. AZ wants to know why he doesn’t get the same level of proof Thomas got in order to believe in Jesus.

Well, a couple reasons. First of all, Thomas isn’t the most extreme skeptic. That place goes to the rich man brothers, in Luke 16. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers from the dead to tell them to help the poor. Abraham refuses, because he says, “If they don’t listen to Moses, they won’t pay attention to someone even if they are raised from the dead.” Thomas DID believe the One risen from the dead. These guys would not.

And most skeptics today are in the same place. If they saw and even touched a person risen from the dead, telling them to believe in Jesus, they would figure that it was a figment of their imagination, a result of something they ate. Perhaps they’d think it was a temporary psychosis. But an atheist has a faith. A faith that God cannot exist. Not that there is insufficient proof, but that there cannot be proof.

If AZ really wanted proof, it might not be a person rising from the dead, but something that he would accept. What is that proof? I don’t know and perhaps AZ doesn’t know. But God knows. If AZ is really looking for proof and not just trying to tear down other’s belief, then he should ask God. It can’t hurt. If God doesn’t exist, he might be slightly embarrassed, but no harm done. However, if God does exist, and AZ is sincere in seeking evidence, God will give it to him. So that’s the best answer. You don’t have because you don’t ask.