Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1930-11-08

shall see in his hands the print
Of the nails and put my finger into
the print Of the nails, nd thrust
my hand into his side, I will not
believe.
And after eight days again his
disciples ere within. and Thomas
with them: then came Jesus. the
doors being shut. and stood in the
midst, and said. Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger. and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand.
and thrust Il into my side; and be
not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said
unto him. Ny Lord and my God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas.
because thou hast seen me thou
hast believed: blessed are they that
have not seen, and yet have be-
lieved.
After these things Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at
the sea Of Tiberias: and On this
wise showed he himself.
There were together Simon Peter.
and Thomas called Aidymus. and
Nathaniel OF Cana in Galilee. and
the III OF Zebedee and two other
OF his disciples.
right and privilege OF every man.
Where faith IS not well founded
and reasonable its reality may well
be questioned. What passes for
faith under such circumstances is
in reality habit or superstition or
convention. It Is where conviction
Is founded upon real belief and
evidence that faith is actually dis
played.
Creaulity Is not in any sense a
virtue any more than incredulity
is a virtue. There are many people
who have interpreted the words Of
Jesus to Thomas, Blessed are thsy
that have not seen and yet have
believed" rs a reblke or Thomas.
These words, however, were not in
any sense a rebuke o. Thomas
doubt concerning the outward
evidence Of the resurrection. They
were rather a reference 10 those
moral and spiritual truths that were
not affected by the resurrection and
that did not depend on o-tward
evidence.
What had happened - Jesus
after his death did not alt. IN
any way the beauty and reality az
his moral example and teaching as
Thomas had known them during
the time of association with Jesus
before the crucifixion.
When Jesus said Blessed are
they that have not seen and yet
have believed" he was approving
Of that inward response to love
and righteousness which is funda-
mentally the right attitude on the
part Of al who would know the
truth.
Inner Life Counts
What Jesus meant was that the
highest character and the most ef-
fective approach to truth is not
found in the cold and calculating
seeker of external evidence, but ii
the one whose inner life IS marked
by spiritual responsiveness and
spiritual expectation.
The SHOW me" attitude II re-
ligion Is not and never car be the
ideal attitude any more than a
superstitious regard o. reason and
a readiness TO believe anything
could be the ideal attitude.
One should lay great stress or
the patience that Jesus had with
Thomas. The rebuke that he gave
was gentle and Of a sort TO lead
Thomas into the higher and bet
ter attitude. Probably the great
mistake we make IS in not taking
our doubts and our difficulties 10
God. We try 70 suppress these
things: we try to hide them from
our fellow men. perhaps with very
good warrant. for our fellow men
are apt TO be critical or scornful
when we express Dill doubts no
matter how honest and inevitable
these may be.
But II we brought our doubts 70
the God OF all truth and prayed
for light in the spirit Of those who
really desire the light. i may be
that We would be much more sue
cessful in finding the truth. II
might not be that We would come
10 believe the things that We wish
we could believe. or IL may be that
these things themselvs do not
represent the highest truth: but we
should come TO some satisfying
truth. for Il is doubtful whether
any ma ever really sought truth
in the right spirit with openness Of
mind, and courage OF heart and viii.
without finding It.
One Of our troubles Is that even
in our doubts We are often self
deluded. and we either exchange one
set Of opinions for another or we
come back through reaction into a
new profession OF faith that Is no
more real than that we have held
before our period Of doubling.