Doubting Thomas

Doubting Thomas
For the industrial band, see Doubting Thomas (band).
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio

A Doubting Thomas is someone who will refuse to believe something without direct, physical, personal evidence; a skeptic.

Contents

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.[1]

Art

Duccio

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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] The subject enjoyed a revival in popularity in Counter-Reformation art as an assertion of Catholic doctrine against Protestant rejection of these practices.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Glenn W. Most, Doubting Thomas, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ngxMxwv8_uoC 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • doubting thomas — A Doubting Thomas is someone who only believes what they see themselves, not what they are told …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • doubting Thomas — ► NOUN ▪ a person who refuses to believe something without proof. ORIGIN with biblical allusion to the apostle Thomas (Gospel of John, Chapter 20) …   English terms dictionary

  • doubting Thomas — [n] skeptic disbeliever, doubter, questioner, unbeliever; concepts 361,423 …   New thesaurus

  • doubting Thomas — n. [after the Apostle THOMAS1] a person who habitually doubts; chronic skeptic …   English World dictionary

  • doubting Thomas —    A Doubting Thomas is someone who only believes what they see themselves, not what they are told.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    A doubting Thomas is a person who will not believe something without proof, or without seeing it for… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • doubting Thomas — UK [ˌdaʊtɪŋ ˈtɒməs] / US [ˌdaʊtɪŋ ˈtɑməs] noun [countable] Word forms doubting Thomas : singular doubting Thomas plural doubting Thomases someone who will not believe something unless they see definite proof • Etymology: In the Bible, the apostle …   English dictionary

  • Doubting Thomas — [[t]da͟ʊtɪŋ tɒ̱məs[/t]] Doubting Thomases N COUNT If you describe someone as a Doubting Thomas, you mean they refuse to believe something until they see definite proof or evidence of it …   English dictionary

  • Doubting Thomas —    Normally used in third person reference of a sceptical person, but it occurs as a vocative in Like Any Other Man, by Patrick Boyle. A housekeeper says to a man who is in the room where she is working: ‘Doubting Thomas. Standing there surveying …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

  • Doubting Thomas (band) — For other uses, see Doubting Thomas (disambiguation). Doubting Thomas Origin Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Genres Industrial Years active 1987–1994 ? …   Wikipedia

  • Doubting Thomas (film) — Infobox Film name = Doubting Thomas caption = Doubting Thomas film poster director = Mark Blutman producer = Sarah Wasserman Robert Abramoff writer = Mark Blutman David DuBos starring = Forrest Landis AnnaSophia Robb Rider Strong Lea Thompson D.L …   Wikipedia

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