St. Thomas: Patron Of Rationalists? - Averthanus L. D’Souza.

GOA, May 11, 2011, 12:00 Hrs (Averthanus L. D’Souza):

St. Thomas the Apostle of Jesus, also called Didymus, has become ensconced in history as “the doubting Thomas.” He is of particular interest to us in India because he is reported to have come to India in the very first century and is credited with having established the first Christian communities in Kerala. The inheritors of these communities still call themselves the St. Thomas Christians. They have their own distinct liturgical rituals and social practices even up to the present day.

History tells us that the missionaries who accompanied the Portuguese traders to India did, in fact, make contact with the St. Thomas Christians, but mistook them for heretical groups because they followed rituals which, to the Latin missionaries, appeared to be strange and utterly different from what they were accustomed to in Europe. These missionaries attempted to ‘convert’ the St. Thomas Christians and to persuade them to adopt the Latin (or Roman) rite. These attempts were rightly resisted by the St. Thomas Christians because they had inherited their rituals directly from one of the Apostles of Jesus Himself.

The point of this reflection, however, relates to the unfortunate tradition which refers to St. Thomas as the “doubting” Thomas. In his narrative of the events immediately following the resurrection of Jesus, St. John the evangelist is at some pains to point out that when Jesus first appeared to his apostles and breathed upon them the Holy Spirit, Thomas was not present. (Jn. 20: 19–28.) This is very intriguing because all the apostles stayed closely together for fear of the Jews after they had managed to get Jesus crucified. Where could Thomas have been while the rest of his companions were gathered together? This will remain a mystery. When he was told that Jesus had appeared to the rest of the apostles, Thomas is reported to have openly voiced his reservations in a manner so common to modern day scientific researchers. He was not prepared to accept the mere testimony of his companions. He wanted to see for himself the solid evidence of Jesus with the marks of the nails in his hands and the wound of the spear in his side. This is the ‘scientific’ attitude of all modern day researchers. Science always demands ‘evidence’ for claims that are often made only by hearsay. Is there anything wrong with this demand for clear evidence?

Apparently not. St. John does not indicate that Jesus was angry with Thomas for expressing his doubt; or that He reproached him for not believing. On the contrary, the next time that Jesus appeared to his companions when Thomas was also present, Jesus specially reaches out to him to reassure him that there was clear evidence of His resurrection. He offered Thomas the evidence of the marks of the nails and of the spear, which Thomas had demanded to see. There was no reproach or reprimand for Thomas’s unwillingness to believe. Jesus only pointed out to a greater principle which surpasses all science. “Blessed are those who believe although they have not seen.”

There is a very clear message for all of us in this narrative of St. John the Evangelist. The lesson that we can draw from this is that it is alright to demand evidence, but it is also important to remember that not all reality is subject to scientific investigation. There are realities which transcend the limitations of scientific quantification and measurement. Not every ‘fact’ can be scrutinized under a microscope or deduced via a syllogism. The “Truth” surpasses human understanding. It has to be accepted solely on the word of the person who reveals it. The truths of ‘faith’ are accepted only because we are convinced that it is God himself, through His Son Jesus, who reveals them to us. St. Paul reminds us that God cannot deceive, nor can He be deceived. We have to accept certain truths just because Jesus has revealed them to us. This is not so difficult to accept. After all, even in our daily lives we often accept declarations of love by someone merely on their assertion that they love us. We assume that some of our relatives, or friends, or acquaintances are ‘reliable’ in times of distress merely because they have shown themselves to be reliable. We never demand that they prove their loyalty to us each time. When a young man tells his girl friend that he loves her, she does not demand that he offer her ‘scientific’ evidence to support his declaration. She simply accepts it as being honest, until, of course, he betrays her trust in him by proving that he is not trustworthy.

The love of God for his creatures is not only consistent; it is also unwavering and unflinching. Despite all that we do, God still loves us. This is the ultimate mystery which we finite humans are not able to comprehend. God’s relationship with Humankind is not based on a ‘contract’ which, legally speaking, can be rescinded at any time. Rather, God has made a ‘covenant’ with his creatures which He has promised to honour notwithstanding our failure to honour our side of the covenant. In fact, it is a one-sided covenant

Science is the pursuit of truth using the rational methods which humankind has evolved in the course of centuries and millennia. It does not make any sense to declare that we do not need science and scientific investigations. Neither does it make any sense to declare that faith is irrational and ‘unscientific.’ Both science and faith have their roles to play in enhancing our growth as humans. It is not a matter of either-or; it is a matter of both-and. The ‘evidence’ for this has emerged from science itself. Physics, which deals with matter, has finally come to the conclusion that matter itself is not determinable by scientific methods. Psychology has begun to gain increasing acceptance not only in mental health services but also in physical medicine. Psychosomatic therapies have become almost standard practice in the healing services.

The ‘doubting’ Thomas is the prototype of the modern ‘scientific’ approach to “truth” and “reality.” There is no inherent conflict between the pursuit of scientific investigations and the acceptance of theological truths which have been revealed to us by God through His Son Jesus. The Truth will always remain a tantalizing mystery for our finite minds. The ultimate Truth is too vast and too deep for any created “mind” to comprehend. During our brief sojourn on this earth we will do well to respect both the truths revealed to us by scientific investigations and the truths revealed to us by revelation. Any apparent incompatibility between science and faith can, and must, be resolved by deeper study and further consideration of the complementarities between these two disciplines.

Blessed John Paul II began his remarkable encyclical “Fides et Ratio” with a beautiful imagery. He tells us that “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth, and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”

- Averthanus L. D’Souza