Aren't atheist?

Question

the equivalent of 'doubting Thomas'?

"I don't believe it," barks Thomas. "I don't believe a word of it. You're seeing what you want to see. Jesus is dead. I saw him die, and part of me died with him. But he's dead, and the sooner you accept that fact, the better off you'll be. Give it up!"
Peter pleads with him. "Thomas, I saw him myself, I tell you, and he was as real as you are!"
Thomas is cold, with an edge in his voice that cuts like ice. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
But Thomas's anger cools, and by the next Sunday evening he is eating with his fellow disciples in the same locked room. Suddenly, Jesus stands among them once again and speaks -- "Shalom, peace be with you."
All the blood drains from Thomas' face. Jesus turns to him and speaks plainly, without any hint of rancor or sarcasm, "Put your finger here, see my hands." Jesus holds out his scarred hands for him to examine. Thomas recoils. Not out of fear, really, but from a mixture of amazement and revulsion. Jesus begins to open his outer garment and says, "Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas is weeping now and then begins to sob out loud. Jesus reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. Then Thomas slips to his knees and says in awe, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus replies, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

To bad atheist haven't inderstood the message....

It was an example for ''seeing is believing''

Answer 1

a very good example! we must teach.

Answer 2

Please ask yourself, why do I believe this story? It was written 2000 years ago and almost 100 years after it supposedly happened. The Four Gospels can't agree on what exactly happened and to top it off, no one knows who wrote them. The Gospel where not written by the men they are named after, they were long dead. There are dozens of other writings from the same era that disagree with who Jesus was and what happened. The original manuscripts are lost. The most recent manuscript available of the New Testament stems from the 3rd, century C.E. and we have approximately 5000 different later versions of the manuscripts, none of which agree.

The greatest promoter of Christianity, "Paul" never met Jesus, he tells a story of seeing him in a vision, he admits that the people with him did not share the vision. Perhaps, to much sun on a hot afternoon on the way to Damascus? Paul was a thug, in the pay of the High Priest before his miraculous conversion. I believe that he was the greatest con man to ever walk the earth. You wonder why one could be a Doubting Thomas.

Ask yourself, why doesn't an all powerful God come up with a better way of getting his word out? Maybe, thousands of years of conflict and bloodshed could have been avoided. I can tell you why, because The Bible is a fantasy. I gave up believing in fantasy a long time ago. I guess that either makes me rational, or a Doubting Thomas.

Answer 3

I love Jesus and the stories that relate to His life, but I don't believe Yahoo! Q&A is the proper venue to be "witnessing your faith." There are too many proud atheists here that only get their "shackels up" when they read the prostelitizations from "Campus Crusaders" such as yourself. It's like hearing a grandstanding "born-again" speak down to the "unsaved." There's no greater sactimonious "church person" than a reformed whore! Please save your pontifications for Sunday School... while I don't doubt your faith & committment to our Lord, you are doing more harm than good in an environment such as this. Frankly, you (et.al.) are an embarassment to those of us who are trying to work our more "subtle tactics" behind the scenes. ALL Christians would do well to worry LESS about "talking the talk" and MORE about "walking the walk." And I'm NOT saying you need to be "reticent" about your beliefs, just not so "GOOFY-ON-A-STICK," "out there" like a sore thumb "cornball." It's like "Howdy Doodie" preaching... do you catch my "gestalt" here? I hope so.

Answer 4

No they are not. An atheist does not believe in God. Thomas doubted that Jesus rose from the dead and did not believe it to be true until he saw for himself. That has nothing to do with not believing in God. More like, not believing in the resurrection of life.

Answer 5

No. Doubting Thomas is eventually presented with exactly the evidence he was waiting for. He doubted the resurrection until he (in the story) saw it for himself.

The equivelent for an atheist would be disbelieving in god, only to be shown undoubtable proof of his existence. There is no evidence of any kind for any supernatural god, nonetheless a Christian one.

And what's wrong with a doubting Thomas? There's a benefit to not believing everything you hear. It's called healthy skepticism.

Answer 6

Yes it's the same, Thomas must go to heaven after he died because He has believe in Jesus, right?
So why don't He do it once more to the atheist? show Himself to the public today. So more people will believe him and go to heaven.
Why He must let people speculate about him and then let hem fight each other? He is so kind, right?

Where is he? Did He forget that the most common people motto is "seeing is believing"

Answer 7

Thomas was not an atheist. Thomas was a practical person who wanted to understand what his fellow disciples were talking about. Thomas had faith, but not unlimited faith. Doubt propels persons to pursue that which they do not understand. The desire not to pursue can be driven by lack of interest, spiritual incongruency or other reasons.
Boaz.

Answer 8

Alright

Answer 9

No

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjqAxDGQmYnjVIIE.RlkIHTzy6IX?qid=20060817174617AArpt6J
In one of your answers (see above link) you say:
"Listen to Einstein he was a genius...!"

Why don't you practice what you preach? Albert Einstein was an atheist:

"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

- Albert Einstein

"I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him."

- Albert Einstein

Answer 10

Maybe atheists aren't 'doubting Thomases', maybe you are believing in something that isn't real and there is no god or a god you don't believe exists. Ever think of it this way?

Answer 11

Not at all.

That story is flawed in that an Athiest simply does not believe in the first place.

You are speaking of Agnostics, I think.