Thomas - The First Protestant - ( ? )

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seagull
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Seagull

Guest
After Jesus was murdered by crucifixion -
Thomas - cronfronted by the disciples - wouldn’t believe.
Such was the sadness and heartbreak of Thomas ?
Not until Jesus reappeared -
showing the 5 wounds …
( they say with all 5 fingers, we should make the sign of the cross )
They say Thomas fell on his knees and cried and praised God.

Anyways, a Priest said that Thomas was actually the first Protestant -
and then - to come back to the faith…

Any other thoughts on Thomas 🙂
 
He didn’t ask for more than what the others had received. I don’t see him as a Protestant. I see him as someone who struggled with doubt.
 
Protestants do not doubt the resurrection of Jesus so not the right word for St Thomas. In any case, he more than compensated his initial doubting by later going to evangelize India and being martyred there.
 
I can´t help but I see him with a “pre-schooler´s mind”. Stating the fact, that Jesus will have holes in his hands and side as that isn’t really “normal” for people walking on this Earth. I love his “My Lord and my God” when he finally meets Jesus.
 
All of the Anglicans I know, including myself, believe in the historicity of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, 2nd person of the Trinity, Son of God and Son of Mary.

If you want to bash Protestants, attack us for something where we legitimately disagree instead of a straw man argument.
 
I don’t think Louis Evely - was ‘bashing’ Protestants during this homily.
But that he was just hinting - perhaps strongly - at Thomas - protesting - against the other disciples -
whom - Peter was a leader -
And the other disciples weren’t trying to force Thomas into believing anything -
 
The priest you are speaking of is terrible at hermeneutics, and his ignorance is displayed in his homily. If he read the entire passage he would see that when Thomas comes to faith, Jesus again says to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Besides the affirmation of the divinity of Christ bookending John’s prologue, the point of this passage was to extol those who come to believe by reason of faith. We can see this was his aim in including this detail because immediately after John provides the purpose of his book, which is that these things were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. As Protestants believe and confess Christ just as Catholics do this is a blatant and uncharitable misuse of the passage. To the point that Dca2018 brought up, this is a straw man argument for no purpose, and it is poor homiletics.
 
Last edited:
Simplistic answers fail to adequately address complex questions. Thomas was not a Protestant. He was a doubter.
 
I always thought of Thomas as someone who was heartbroken over the death of his teacher and friend and didn’t want to get hurt a second time, ie didn’t want to get his hopes up.

He might also have felt left out—he wasn’t around for the other Jesus sightings.

He also may have felt guilt for running away from Jesus in His hour of need.
 
Thomas is an interesting guy. In John 11, when Jesus is going down to Bethany to raise Lazarus, knowing that the Jews were plotting to kill Jesus, Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” This could be taken that he was doubting Jesus, but it also could go the other way, that Thomas was extremely devoted to Christ. I think I am with you Scarlett on your view of why Thomas was so obstinate in his refusal to believe. I think he was so crushed by the loss of Jesus that he had trouble putting his faith in him again without confirmation. But that’s just my opinion.
 
Louis Evely was himself a Protestant. He left the Church and started his own.
 
It’s interesting - the running away part -
I think it was John who ran off naked -
I wonder if John felt the worse - of all - running away -
 
Thomas, I think, is one of the most psychologically complex people in the new testament right up there with Peter, Paul, and John. Simon wasn’t outright denying that Christ had risen from the dead. The exclamation of Thomas was one made out of fear. He was zealous for his Faith. He clung to it, and Christ, with fervor. This is exhibited in John 11 when he says that they should go with Christ to die with him.

Fast forward to the Crucifixion. This man who was so on fire with zeal for God abandoned his Lord at the first sign of conflict. In his mind, he abandoned his Faith. After the Crucifixion, Thomas is wallowing in despair. When he hears that Christ is actually alive, he is afraid to hope, to believe, that he may have a chance to redeem his desertion. He is scared because to regain hope only to have it crushed again by finding out that Christ wasn’t actually alive would have destroyed him. This is why Thomas doesn’t actually put his finger into the nail wounds and his hand into the side but rather declares with love, “My Lord and my God!”
 
…his desertion. Interesting.
Strong commentary.

I have heard they unearthed a Gospel - according to Thomas -
I might have to glance at that tonight, now.
 
Seagull said:
I think it was John who ran off naked
Click to expand...
Actually, it’s believed that it was likely St. (John) Mark, who would have been in his teens at that time, who ran away naked. That’s probably why St. Mark was the only one to mention this story in his Gospel.
 
Last edited:
I would be careful of the Gospel of Thomas. It was a Gnostic text proclaiming that Christ gave “hidden wisdom” to only a certain few. Most scholars believe that it wasn’t actually written by someone with contact with Thomas as they use Didymus Judas Thomas as his full name. Didymus and Thomas were both nicknames and mean Twin in Greek and Aramaic respectively and would not both have been used.
 
Last edited:
The Gospel of Thomas was not written by St Thomas. It contains a Gnostic view of Christianity, so be aware.
 
It was believed to be St. Mark who ran off naked. Don’t confuse him with St. John, who followed Jesus into the court where He was questioned and let Peter in as well. Then, St. John was there at the crucifixion the next day with Mary.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top