About the disciple known as Doubting Thomas, everyone knows at least this much: he stuck his finger into the risen Jesus’ wounds. Or did he? A fresh look at the Gospel of John reveals how little we may really understand about this most perplexing of biblical figures, and how much we might learn from the strange twists and turns Thomas’s story has taken over time. From the New Testament, Glenn W. Most traces Thomas’s permutations through the centuries: as Gnostic saint, missionary to India, paragon of Christian orthodoxy, hero of skepticism, and negative example of doubt, blasphemy, stupidity, and violence. Rife with paradoxes and tensions, these creative transformations at the hands of storytellers, theologians, and artists tell us a great deal about the complex relations between texts and their interpretations—and about faith, love, personal identity, the body, and twins, among other matters. Doubting Thomas begins with a close reading of chapter 20 of the Gospel of John, set against the conclusions of the other Gospels, and ends with a detailed analysis of the painting of this subject by Caravaggio, setting it within the pictorial traditions of late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Along the way, Most considers narrative reactions to John’s account by storytellers of various religious persuasions, and Christian theologians’ interpretations of John 20 from the second century ad until the Counter-Reformation. His work shows how Thomas’s story, in its many guises, touches upon central questions of religion, philosophy, hermeneutics, and, not least, life.

Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers intended a strict separation of church and state, right? He would have been very upset to find out about a child praying in a public school or a government building used for religious purposes, correct? Actually, the history on this has been very distorted. While Jefferson may seem to be the Patron Saint of the ACLU, his words and actions showed that he would totally disagree with the idea of driving God out of the public square. Doubting Thomas documents that ... Jefferson said that our rights come from God. God-given rights are non-negotiables ... At the time that he wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom--major contributions to human and religious rights--Jefferson served diligently as a vestryman (like an elder and a deacon rolled into one) for the Episcopal Church ... In 1777, he wrote up the charter for the Calvinistical Reformed Church in his town with an evangelical preacher, the Rev. Charles Clay--with whom he had a lifelong friendship. Jefferson was the biggest single contributor to this fledgling congregation ... He had many positive relationships with orthodox clergymen and active lay Christians ... He actively supported Christian causes, financially, in ways that would put the average Christian to shame ... He set out to create a non-denominational college that accommodated Christian groups of different stripes. And on it goes. Historical revisionism has distorted the religious views of Thomas Jefferson, making him far more skeptical than he was. But there is no doubt that by the end of his life, he seemed to privately embrace Unitarian views of the Christian faith, while outwardly supporting and attending his local Trinitarian church. Thus, a legacy of Jefferson's has been taken out of context and used to squelch religious freedom in America. Ironically, religious freedom was one of Jefferson's core beliefs and contributions. But this is being turned on its head. Chiseled in stone at the Jefferson Memorial are his famous words: "The God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?" Regardless of Jefferson's private religious views, he stood solidly against the state making theological decisions for its people. Therefore, he would stand solidly against the anti-Christian crusade being carried out in his name today. It's time to set the record straight

What must the disciples have thought during the Passion of Jesus Christ? Imagine their despair when they saw Jesus captured and crucified by the Romans. These frightened, ordinary men must have agonized when Jesus died on the cross. What changed in these men to allow them to go forth into the world and spread Christianity without fear? Doubting Thomas: Disciple and Apostle tells the story of the three days between Christ's crucifixion and resurrection from the perspective of the disciple Thomas. Thomas's relationships with the other disciples strain as he doubts the divinity of Jesus until the very end. Doubting Thomas offers a unique twist on a familiar story. Thomas wrestles with doubts that many, Christians and non-Christians alike, face every day. Follow Thomas as he discovers the true meaning of faith in Christ and gains the courage to go forth and spread God's Word.

Doubting Thomas...Doubting America" is an enlightening and uplifting narrative regarding the declining and doubtful existence of God for both the author and America. It takes you on a journey with candor, humor, humility and joy. Everyone who has seriously sought to know God personally will immediately identify with Tom's struggle to find the answer to this question, "could it be that God desires to have an intimate relationship with me?" Tom takes us along on his journey of struggle and doubt and describes the many amazing and serendipitous experiences that regularly occurred which erased his doubt and convinced him that the God he was seeking was indeed in hot pursuit of him all the while. You will hear of the countless episodes and events that Tom encountered which revealed to him the presence and provision of God in extraordinary ways. Whether it came as a lone tomato and onion sitting on the vine in the dead of winter or thousands of dollars arriving in the "nick of time", it became evident that the God he was pursuing was quite amazing. Tom's spiritual quest brought him to this truth. To believe is to become convinced that God will reveal Himself to those who earnestly seek Him and that it is His joy to provide for His children, often in remarkable ways. Tom's eyes were opened to the wonder of God's love and to the creative ways His love was continually expressed in their lives. This knowledge has inspired and motivated him through his experience with multiple sclerosis and has been the passion that propelled him to write this book. It will also delve into the mystery and causes of our societies declining and sadly misguided path. An eye-opening and awakening chronicle of where we have come from and where we could go...if we choose.

When people encounter an argument for or against God's existence, it often raises more questions than it answers. In Letters to Doubting Thomas, C. Stephen Layman offers a fresh, insightful approach to the issue of God's existence--a way to organize what can seem like a blizzard of claims and concepts--bringing clarity to a debate often mired in confusion. Layman explores the evidence for the existence of God in a series of fictionalized letters between two characters--Zachary, a philosopher, and Thomas, an old college friend who appeals to Zach for help in sorting out his thoughts about God. As their correspondence grows, Zachary leads Thomas through an informal and highly readable comparison of Naturalism (the belief that there is no God and that ultimate reality is physical reality), and Theism (the idea that there is an almighty, perfectly good God). In engaging letters that break down complex philosophical arguments into easily digestible bits, the two friends delve into such weighty topics as the reliability of religious experience, various arguments for God's existence (such as the cosmological, design, and moral arguments), the question of free will, and the problem of evil. A piece at a time, they build an argument that shows that Theism, on balance, provides a better explanation of the world and human life than does Naturalism. Here then is a highly accessible account of the major arguments for and against the existence of God, capturing some of the best new insights of modern philosophy in a marvelously clear and engaging format.

Retells in verse the story of "doubting" Thomas.