May 23 Fri
Should I believe in something specific, or just ‘in general’?
The Lord said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Now, it’s a terrible thing to call this Apostle “Doubting Thomas.” Yes, he was “unbelieving.” But that wasn’t the end of his story. He proclaimed the Gospel in distant lands and was martyred for Christ. He should also be remembered for that.
Of course, there’s no getting away from Thomas’s doubt: I will not believe. But Thomas’s error is entirely to our benefit, as it was ultimately to his. It teaches us what it means to believe.
First, faith comes from the Church. Thomas did not believe that the disciples had seen the Lord, that Jesus was risen from the dead. But more to the point, he did not believe the testimony of the Church. For when the disciples say to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,” it is in effect the Church herself bearing witness to the Resurrection. It is the Church announcing what is to be believed. Thomas doesn’t believe in the Resurrection because he doesn’t accept the Church’s witness.
The only way we know our Lord and His teachings is through His Church. To believe doesn’t mean to prove it for ourselves, as Thomas wanted to do. It means to receive and to accept what the Church believes and teaches. An individual’s act of faith is inseparable from the Church’s faith.
Once, when defending her conversion to Catholicism, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton blurted out to a relative, I believe everything the Council of Trent teaches – and I have not even read it! That sounds crazy to our individualistic culture. But it captures the truth that our faith rests not on our cleverness or human proofs, but on the Church’s authoritative teaching. It is the Church that believes first. Each of us can say ‘I believe’ only because the Church first says ‘We believe’.
Second, faith has content. The disciples proclaimed to Thomas a specific truth: the Resurrection. And Thomas made this article of faith even more specific: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” This is faith not only in the Resurrection but in the physical resurrection.
We don’t believe in God in some vague or general way. We believe in a particular, specific God, Who has revealed Himself by word and deed, and is known by the articles of the Creed.
It’s silly to exhort someone to “Just believe!” or “Have faith!” Believe what? Faith in whom? The content of faith makes all the difference. It determines whether we have faith at all. To believe in the triune God gives us the truth and leads us to salvation. To believe in error or merely to have religious opinions leads us astray, no matter how well-intentioned we may be.
This fuzziness about faith leads inevitably to the notion that all religions are the same, just different paths to God. This trivialization of belief insults members of other religions (“You’re Muslim? What a coincidence, I’m Catholic!”). More importantly, it fails to take our faith seriously. We don’t believe in our own ideas about God. We believe in the one true God, Who has revealed Himself to us and taught us how to live in union with Him.
Should I believe in something specific, or just ‘in general’?
The Lord said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Now, it’s a terrible thing to call this Apostle “Doubting Thomas.” Yes, he was “unbelieving.” But that wasn’t the end of his story. He proclaimed the Gospel in distant lands and was martyred for Christ. He should also be remembered for that.
Of course, there’s no getting away from Thomas’s doubt: I will not believe. But Thomas’s error is entirely to our benefit, as it was ultimately to his. It teaches us what it means to believe.
First, faith comes from the Church. Thomas did not believe that the disciples had seen the Lord, that Jesus was risen from the dead. But more to the point, he did not believe the testimony of the Church. For when the disciples say to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,” it is in effect the Church herself bearing witness to the Resurrection. It is the Church announcing what is to be believed. Thomas doesn’t believe in the Resurrection because he doesn’t accept the Church’s witness.
The only way we know our Lord and His teachings is through His Church. To believe doesn’t mean to prove it for ourselves, as Thomas wanted to do. It means to receive and to accept what the Church believes and teaches. An individual’s act of faith is inseparable from the Church’s faith.
Once, when defending her conversion to Catholicism, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton blurted out to a relative, I believe everything the Council of Trent teaches – and I have not even read it! That sounds crazy to our individualistic culture. But it captures the truth that our faith rests not on our cleverness or human proofs, but on the Church’s authoritative teaching. It is the Church that believes first. Each of us can say ‘I believe’ only because the Church first says ‘We believe’.
Second, faith has content. The disciples proclaimed to Thomas a specific truth: the Resurrection. And Thomas made this article of faith even more specific: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” This is faith not only in the Resurrection but in the physical resurrection.
We don’t believe in God in some vague or general way. We believe in a particular, specific God, Who has revealed Himself by word and deed, and is known by the articles of the Creed.
It’s silly to exhort someone to “Just believe!” or “Have faith!” Believe what? Faith in whom? The content of faith makes all the difference. It determines whether we have faith at all. To believe in the triune God gives us the truth and leads us to salvation. To believe in error or merely to have religious opinions leads us astray, no matter how well-intentioned we may be.
This fuzziness about faith leads inevitably to the notion that all religions are the same, just different paths to God. This trivialization of belief insults members of other religions (“You’re Muslim? What a coincidence, I’m Catholic!”). More importantly, it fails to take our faith seriously. We don’t believe in our own ideas about God. We believe in the one true God, Who has revealed Himself to us and taught us how to live in union with Him.