“Doubting Thomas” was one of the Twelve disciples of Jesus, but we actually know very little about him. Thomas is mentioned as a member of the Twelve disciples in all four major lists: in Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Acts. But that’s all these sources say about Thomas, which is disappointing. Fortunately, the gospel of John mentions Thomas several times.
The name “Thomas” comes from the Hebrew name “Toma,” which means twin. The gospel of John tells us Thomas was also called “Didymus,” which is a Greek word meaning twin. Some legends say Thomas was the twin of Jesus, but there’s no reason to think that’s true. It seems likely that Thomas came from the fishing village of Capernaum, because it looks like he joined up with Jesus not long after Jesus made Capernaum his headquarters.
Why He’s Called Doubting Thomas
John 20 tells a famous story about Thomas. It’s late in the day on Easter Sunday. Most of the disciples are gathered in one place, with the doors locked for fear of the chief priests. Suddenly, the risen Jesus appears among them and shows the wounds in his hands and side. The disciples are shocked and delighted, both at the same time. Jesus then disappears.
It all sounds very exciting. But somehow Thomas missed the party. He wasn’t there when it happened. When the other disciples tell him, Thomas thinks it’s a pretty weird story.
Thomas says exactly what you and I would have said: “Prove it. Show me Jesus and his wounds. Let me feel them, and I’ll believe.”
That’s a normal response. For twenty centuries, Christians have made Thomas the bad guy for doubting the story. But why is that bad? Only an extremely gullible person would believe every miraculous story they hear.
How Jesus Honors Thomas’s Doubt
In the next part of the story, a week has passed, and all the disciples are together again behind locked doors, including Thomas. Jesus appears again, and he invites Thomas to feel his wounds.
But Thomas doesn’t. For Thomas, seeing the risen Jesus is enough, and now he believes. The story ends with Jesus commending those who believe without seeing. That’s the point that most people take away from the story—that believing without seeing is commendable.
And yet, according to the story, Jesus doesn’t criticize Thomas for doubting. Instead, Jesus honors his doubt, by giving him visual evidence and offering him even more—tactile evidence—which Thomas then decides he doesn’t need.
Because of this story, Thomas has been labeled “Doubting Thomas.” That’s the story everyone knows. But there’s another story about Thomas most people miss.
Courageous Thomas
This story is set a few months before the crucifixion. John 11 tells how Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, has fallen sick. His sisters send a message to Jesus. The messenger finds Jesus hiding out just across the Jordan River.
Jesus waits two days and then decides to go to Lazarus, who lives in Bethany, very close to Jerusalem. The Twelve disciples warn Jesus that the chief priests want to stone him. Jesus tells them he intends to go anyway.
Thomas is the only one of the Twelve with any guts. He tells the others, “Let’s go with Jesus, so we can die with him.”
We don’t know what the others said to that. But they all went with Jesus, because Thomas showed courage. The story tells how, when Jesus got to Bethany, he raised Lazarus from the dead and then got away safe.
A few months later, when Jesus returned to Jerusalem for Passover, the chief priests caught him and killed him. So the fears of the disciples were real. And that gives me serious respect for Thomas. I think we should call him “Courageous Thomas,” not “Doubting Thomas.”
Everything Else We Know About Thomas
There are two other mentions of Thomas in the gospel of John.
In John 14, at the Last Supper, Jesus warns his disciples he’ll be killed. He says he’ll soon leave them, but ultimately they will follow. Thomas pipes up to ask how they can know the way. He comes across as a dim bulb in this story, but none of the other disciples are any brighter. So I don’t think it’s quite fair to criticize him.
In John 21, Thomas is mentioned as one of seven disciples who saw Jesus after a night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. But the story isn’t about Thomas, it’s about Peter and another disciple, “the disciple Jesus loved”—who is not named, but whom most people assume is John.
There’s a famous Coptic document, the “Gospel of Thomas,” which claims to be written by Thomas. But nobody believes Thomas actually wrote it. This gospel contains 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Some of them are similar to sayings in the canonical gospels. Some scholars date the Gospel of Thomas to the first century, but others date it one or two hundred years later.
And that’s all the first-century evidence we have about Thomas.
There are tales from later centuries about Thomas evangelizing. He’s said to have gone to Edessa, to Parthia, to India, and elsewhere. The “Saint Thomas Christians” in India believe to this day that Thomas came to evangelize them in AD 52. There’s a very strange legend that Thomas was a carpenter and was hired by an Indian king to build a palace that would last forever. But instead of building a palace, Thomas gave all the money to the poor. When the king asked where his palace was, Thomas told him that he’d receive his palace in heaven!
A Minor Character in the Story of Jesus
So in the end, we just don’t know much about Thomas for sure. He was a twin. He was one of the Twelve. He showed personal courage. And he plays a role in two stories about the risen Jesus.
Like most of the twelve disciples, Thomas was just a minor character in the story of Jesus. I’ve had fun speculating about Thomas in my Crown of Thorns series of novels.
If he was really a carpenter, then it’s very plausible he could have specialized in making boats, since he probably came from the fishing village of Capernaum. I like to think he was one of the smarter disciples, possibly neurodivergent. Maybe he liked to speculate a bit on philosophy. Maybe the other disciples considered him weird. In fact, it’s probable they considered him weird.
So in my novels, the other disciples give him the name “Toma Trouble.” Because a guy who asks annoying questions about philosophy is going to catch some flak from regular guys who are just trying to earn a living.
But in my novels, Jesus never calls him Toma Trouble. Jesus calls him Toma the boat maker. Jesus was the kind of person to show respect to everybody, whether they were popular or not. Jesus was not one to mock anybody, no matter how weird they might. Maybe that’s why Thomas showed courage when all the others were scaredy cats. Because Jesus treated him with respect.
