Have you ever been called a “doubting Thomas”

or called someone else a “doubting Thomas”? May 2023

Thomas’ doubt about Jesus’ resurrection has almost always been viewed as lack of faith, even though all the other disciples also needed to see the risen Christ in order to believe. They did not have faith when Mary Magdalene shared the good news that Jesus was resurrected but needed to see for themselves. Yet Thomas was the only one called “doubting” and doubt became viewed negatively. Few people want to be called a “doubting Thomas” for any reason.

Yet, Thomas’ story teaches us that having faith often includes having doubts, because doubting simply means we are confused or have questions. Thomas’ doubts, confusion, and questions about Jesus’ resurrection were likely the same ones that all the other disciples were afraid to speak out loud.

Sadly, I think that often we are more like the other disciples. We keep our confusion, our questions, and our doubts to ourselves lest we be seen as lacking faith, or as a “doubting Thomas.” Yet, asking questions, rather than answering them, was the most common means of learning during Jesus’ time (and still is in some circles). In fact, according to people who spent the time tabulating these things, in the Gospels, Jesus asked 307 questions, others asked him 183 questions, and of those he only answered 3 to 8, depending on what is considered an answer.

The questions asked by Jesus and others often came from doubt and confusion about the ways in which some people were living their faith and what it meant to believe in and follow God. Perhaps, the reason Jesus was hesitant to answer was because he knew that the answers are not as simple, straight forward, or as easy as he or we would like them to be or because he knew that people, including us, would not be able to live the answers.

Still asking questions is important as is sharing our doubts and confusion, even when we do not receive an answer. It is okay to have more questions than answers when it comes to faith and even when it comes to life. Questions, doubts, and confusion do not mean you lack faith. It is actually quite the opposite. They mean you have faith because questions, doubts, and confusion mean you realize that you do not and cannot know everything about God who is both knowable and unknown. Questions, doubts, and confusion indicate that you are willing to learn and to grow.

So, ask your questions and lean into your doubt and confusion. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, “love the questions themselves. . . and live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”