"Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

John 20:25 NASB

Thus spoke Thomas the Apostle, one of the twelve who had accompanied Jesus of Nazareth during Jesus' public ministry. And what was Jesus' response? Did he call Thomas names, and insult him, and call him faithless? No, let's read what Jesus did say to him.

"After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said ' Peace be with you.' Then He said to Thomas, 'Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.'" John 20:26-27 NASB

 So Jesus did not belittle Thomas at all, but rather gave him the evidence that Thomas needed in order to believe. Thomas saw, and touched, and became convinced. And Thomas was a hard case indeed, because the Bible records that he had witnessed many of the miracles that Jesus had performed. So if anyone deserved a chewing-out for being faithless, it was Thomas. But did he really deserve one? In reality, none of the disciples believed that Jesus had risen, until they had seen him with their own eyes. Thomas was no different than the rest, indeed, he was only asking for what the other apostles had already been given -- the chance to see the risen Jesus for himself. So Jesus apparently was no more angry with Thomas than he was with the rest of the disciples, for Jesus gave to each of them the evidence each needed to be convinced.

Not a "Blind Faith"

In fact, Jesus was not angry with any of them at all, for Jesus did not ask them for a blind faith (defined as 'faith without evidence') , but for a knowing faith. Further, and contrary to some teachings, the Bible actually requires that evidence precede belief , for if this were not so, how otherwise could one test the truthfulness of what one is being told. With regard to Thomas, we like to think of him as a man with a scientific mind, for he demanded scientific (i.e. empirical) evidence of a claim before committing himself to that claim. And should we be any different today? We think not. And we suspect that many who are reading this would agree, whether or not they are Christians. We view Thomas as an example of a biblically-approved practitioner of evidence-based faith, which we define as faith in God inspired partially by observation and experimentation. For biblical faith is not a blind faith, but a faith based at least partly on empirical, and testable, evidence.

And thus we have arrived at the purpose of the Thomas Project, to determine if biblically defined faith is reconcilable with modern scientific thinking, without any compromising of either. We believe the evidence points solidly in the direction that it is. If you have your doubts, however, you have come to just the right place, for the just like its namesake, the Thomas Project is all about investigating doubts (under construction).

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