The devotional went okay; I stumbled over a few spots and I rushed through other spots, and I was nervous, and I didn't dare look to my professor, whose opinion I was most worried about. But I made it through and no one seemed read to take me out back or burn me for heresy. So, it was over and I relaxed.
During break, however, my professor stopped me in the hallway. He told me that my devotional was really good, that he really liked it and that I should publish it.
... wha-huh? I was astounded. Umm... okay. Cool. :)
When I told my mom about my devotional experience, she asked to read it. Her response? "You are amazing." Yeah, or not. I really don't think it was that great. I mean, I liked it, but it's not for everyone. However, here it is if anyone is interested. And keep in mind, I wrote it out in the way that I expected to say it aloud.
Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Most of you know that I have a background in science, and this Bible verse has always stuck with me as just a little odd. Okay be honest now, if any of you had a friend come up and tell you that your dead teacher had risen, what would your first reaction be? Exodus 23:1 even says specifically, "Do not spread false reports," which I think could be easily translated into "Do not gossip." And here Thomas is, asking for proof. What's wrong with that? Well, I'd like to offer a couple thoughts that will hopefully shed some light on this contradiction.
I am a member of a forum for scientists. I don't really participate anymore, but I do still keep up on what's going on there. And periodically, someone will present a study or an article that they've found and they'd like input on. Whenever this happens, I've noticed that the reaction is always the same. The members of the forum will always ask one question before any other: "Can I get to the source?"
So often, we find articles on CNN.com or other major news moguls that discuss a study that was preformed by some mysterious set of scientists in some mysterious lab. As a scientist, it is our duty not to interpret this story-of-a-study, but to look at the original study, written by the scientists themselves. It's like playing a game of telephone - in the scientific community, it's a bad thing. You've got to get the information from the source.
I think of this and I compare it to Thomas. Kind of looks similar, doesn't it? Thomas doesn't even accuse his friends of being liars or lunatics. He gives them a stipulation. He says, "Sorry, guys, I gotta have some proof."
So, if Thomas is thinking logically, AND following the laws of the Torah by not getting caught up in unverified gossip, why does Jesus criticize him?
To answer, or at least, address that question, I'd like to share something I learned in my introductory Biology class. Our professor was an amazing teacher, a great person and a devout Christian. And she was determined that we would know and understand the difference between having faith and studying science by the time we left her class. She wasn't kidding around, either - that lecture took up 2 months of the semester, and the essay question was half of our final exam. One thing that stuck with me about the lesson is this:
"Science is based on the concept that there are no testable absolute truths." But: "Faith is built on one or more absolute truths."
Let's start with Science real quick. "Science is based on the concept that there are no testable absolute truths."
Testable is the key word, here. In science, a fact is a statement or equation that has been tested repeatedly until finally the scientific community just agrees to accept the fact - until someone disproves it. Even then, in "disproving" the fact, we discover the exception to the rule that helps us better understand what we are studying.
My favorite example of this is the atom. The word atom comes from the Greek word a-tomos, which means 'indivisible'. Ancient Greek philosophers argued about the question of whether matter could be divided up forever, or if there was a smallest particle that could not be divided any further. In the late 1800's, we "discovered" the atom - of which there are many different types, of course. How totally cool, that we could prove what the Greek Philosophers only hypothesized about - a set of indivisible particles that made up all matter.
You hear the but coming, right?
Yeah, fast forward to 1938 - we split the atom. We split the indivisible atom. Problem? It's not indivisible anymore. But, does that mean that atoms - oxygen and carbon and hydrogen and nitrogen, are no longer the building blocks of matter? No. It just means that what we accepted a hard and fast rule, was obviously not so absolute. And, this is the perfect example of how science works. We paint a picture of how we interpret the world and in time we have to alter the picture to slip in changes and new discoveries.
So, to recap? "Science is based on the concept that there are no testable absolute truths."
"Faith, however, is built on one or more absolute truths." Let me repeat that: "Faith is built upon one or more absolute truths."
No ifs, ands or butts. Every faith, every religion, is built upon one or more absolute truths. For us, one of the biggest ones is that Christ is Emmanuel who died for our sins. It's an absolute in our faith. Everything builds on top of that. It cannot be questioned if it's the foundation.
Does this mean that science and faith are incompatible? No. My physics professor once stated that science helps us understand the "who, what, where, when and how." Faith, or religion, tells us the "why." I like to say that "Faith and science question in different directions so that they can answer different questions." Science helps us understand what causes so many different species of butterflies look almost identical. Faith teaches us who we are, why we are, and what our purpose is.
So, real quick, let's revisit John:
"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
What I'd like to leave you with is an idea that Jesus might have been, in his own way, correcting Thomas' misconception about where his faith lies. "You can't prove Me, because I am an absolute. I am the way, the truth and the light. Peter might be the rock upon which I will be My church, but I'm the foundation beneath the rock. Everything starts with God. Everything starts right here." Is it little wonder that we refer to God as Alpha and Omega? Not just the beginning and end of the universe, but of our journey of faith. We start with Christ as our absolute and we go from there. And because Christ is our starting point, it is the one thing that we have to take, forgive the pun, on faith.
Let us pray.
Oh, precious Father, God of our hearts. Continue to anchor us in our faith. You are the absolute in whose hands we rest. And as we gather here to study, I pray that your spirit will reside in us, because the lessons we learn and the understanding we gain will be worth less than nothing if we do not also keep an unconditional love for Your children in our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
