The term “doubting Thomas” refers to a skeptic who requires physical evidence before believing anything. It comes from the scene in which Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, doubted his resurrection until he saw and felt his wounds. Thomas later acknowledged Jesus’ divinity and became known as “Thomas the Believer.” The idiom “Thomas’s doubt” can be used to describe a skeptic. The scene has also been depicted in famous works of art.
The term “doubting Thomas” is a Bible-derived idiom that refers to a skeptic who requires indisputable physical or concrete evidence before believing anything. “Thomas’ Doubt” is specifically based on the scene in which a resurrected Jesus Christ first appears before the apostles. At the time, Thomas, who was also known as Didymus, was not present and scoffed at the words of his fellow apostles when they told him what had happened. Thomas then said that he would believe that Jesus was truly resurrected only if he could see and feel Jesus’ wounds for himself.
A week after his first appearance, Jesus again appeared before his apostles and this time invited Thomas to feel his wounds. Although it was not mentioned in the Bible whether or not Thomas accepted Jesus’ invitation, verses from the Book of John chapter 20 showed that Thomas had obtained the proof he asked for, as he immediately referred to Jesus as “my Lord and my God”. He was the first person to acknowledge Jesus’ divinity after his resurrection and, in a complete reversal, was later known as “Thomas the Believer.” In Christian teachings, Thomas is often seen as a pessimist. He is also often used as an example of how people shouldn’t suffer from lack of faith simply because they haven’t seen Jesus with their own eyes.
The idiom “Thomas’s doubt” can be used in a sentence as a predicative adjective. “I was a doubting Thomas” or “my friend is of the doubting Thomas type” are examples of how this particular idiom can be used in a sentence. A similar idiomatic expression would be “beyond a shadow of a doubt,” which refers to indisputable evidence or evidence. It’s the kind of proof Thomas required before believing that Jesus was truly resurrected.
This biblical scene has also been used as the subject of famous works of art. In 1511, the great German painter Albrecht Dürer created a masterpiece known as “The Doubting Thomas”. This painting was part of a series of 36 images all created by Dürer. In 1602, Caravaggio, one of the most famous painters of the Baroque period, also used this biblical scene as the subject of his painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas”. Most people simply refer to this painting as Doubing Thomas.
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