I can't imagine Doubting Thomas ever being duped by 'get rich schemes', Snake Oil, a promise that the 'cheque is in the post, or explanations for being 'late home from the office'.
What you may not know is that Carravgios painting has the sub-title "If you look closer you can see the film set they used for the Fantastic Voyage "
So it seems that Thomas had all of the right qualities to prevent him from being gullible.
One thing got me wondering though, and that is...if, with Easter in mind Doubt is something you shouldn't have, how come in lots of instances 'having doubt' can protect us from bad things?
In Thomas's case doubt is clearly regarded as something you shouldn't have, but why have one rule for the use of doubt in one case and a different rule in another?. If God created everything (prior assumption alert!) then he must have created Doubt too. So what was his point? Is it a case of demonstrating what something is by emphasising what it is not? I doubt there is an easy answer!...
...So here is a question - "What is Doubt"?
Doubt is a state in which the mind is suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them. Doubt is either positive or negative.
ReplyDeleteDoubting is what I wish more people would do instead of following the herd in a "group think" position. If everyone did that, there would be so such term as group think.
As always I remain< sincerrly yours,
Black Sheep
baaaaaa!
You win the Easter 'Fastest Ever Comment' competition 0.3 seconds after posting
ReplyDeleteThe Google gods must have found favor in you. Count your Easter blessings and hope that they'll continue finding favor. Generally it takes forever for the bots to pick up a post in their sights.
ReplyDeleteMom musta loved you the bestest, by golly, gee whiz. *Hugs!
I'll leave the definitions to Oxford, but I might be able to shed some light on the Doubting Thomas paradox since I grew up in a very religious Christian household. (No, don't feel sorry for me; it gave me a head start on interpreting mythology for thesis essays.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as we all know, God is the one entity about whom we're not supposed to entertain doubt. Because he is the great and powerful Almighty, we're supposed to consciously set our innate doubts aside. God, of course, knows this is NOT in our nature, hence the demonstration of faith is a test of our love. Jesus was displeased with Thomas not because Thomas was a skeptic in general but because he did not cast aside his skepticism for Christ.
IMO, this story parallels what I always found to be the major flaws of the Bible, the idea that God would a) give people curiosity and a tree to be curious about and then tell them not to satisfy their curiosity, and b) give people an ostensible choice to serve him but not offer any options other than death. Basically, you're damned to a life of servitude either way, whether it's to God or the devil, but we're supposed to enjoy it more if it's to God.
/end rant>
Sorry, didn't mean for this to turn into a theology lecture! Hah!
Thanks for adding me at BlogCatalog, btw.
Singletude
Thanks for such an interesting and clearly expressed comment Elsie. I think you have given an insight into the meta-meaning at work here. Placing 'faith' in something or someone without asking for 'proof' is probably one of the riskiest thing we can ever do (I don't mean swimming with sharks or base jumping here I mean intellectually speaking)...and like alot of these concepts the more you peel the onion the tricker it seems to get... I think an interesting starting point would be to explore a) the nature of Doubt, and b) what does Doubt 'do' for us.
ReplyDeleteI am puzzled though because getting rid of Doubt and placing faith in something (knowing there is no need for proof) can actually be the SOFT option, by which I mean...we could take the view 'OK so I can't explain or understand anything...tell you what I'll just have that it is so and get on with making the tea...hmmmm and then ..spookily maybe the post, and these are comments are the point! It is Doubt that is something we as human beings need to engage with as part of our 'development'..time for that cuppa I think :)