Skip to main content

The Incredulity of Thomas

THE INCREDULITY OF THOMAS BY CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610) 
Caravaggio’s painting of the remarkable moment of Thomas's doubt leaves one with many thoughts. The first thing that struck me is that Thomas appears being led by Jesus to place the hand on the wound in his side. He is almost reluctant as evidenced by his one hand gesture. He is not grabbing Jesus. Instead he remains slightly distant. The other disciples here whilst examining the wound closely as well as Thomas function more as an encouragement to help him look at that which he had wished for. Thomas's bold declaration prior to the appearance of Christ appears to have now turned into shame. Confronted with the evidence of the risen Lord, the weight of the appearance appears too much to bear. Caravaggio seems to say that the doubting man cannot ultimately face the truth he seeks. It is almost too heavy for him. Therefore he needs Christ's help to make sense of reality.

Which brings me to a related and more obvious second truth in the painting. Thomas's eyes appear dark and blind. It does not look like he can see the wound. He seems to be looking straight ahead not at the wound. Perhaps its not just the shame that demand the disciples' encouraging push and the Lord's careful hand. It is simply that Thomas is helpless in his state of blindness. The point surely is that those who base all knowledge on things that they can see, as the world system often encourage us to, in the end see nothing at all. In the end it seems the most important truths are those truths we cannot see. Until we appreciate that we will remain blind in our self created knowledge. And here again the truth of the Bible is so true : by God's light we see light (Psalm 36:9). 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Am Mother

I think it is true to say that the Netflix film I Am Mother is one the most disturbing movies I have watched for a long time. The film is set in a near future. Human life has been wiped out. An artificial intelligence (AI) called Mother is living inside a bunker where thousands of embroyos are stored. It selects an embryo and initiates a program to grow a baby within 24 hours. The AI then goes on to raise the child as its mother over the next few years.  After 16 years, the girl, who now goes by the name of Daughter (Clara Rugaard) is a teenager. She has never been outside because Mother has told her that the air is toxic. Her time is spend being home schooled in science and ethics so that she can become a perfect human being. The bond between Daughter and Mother is unusually strong. To our surprise there does not appear to be any mental or pyschological trauma of having a machine as her mother.  The strength of the bond between man and machine is tested when a nameless Woma...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

Pornography as Occultism

There is a kind of helplessness that a man engaged in pornography exhibits. He often speaks of it in terms of a “struggle” or an “addiction.” Now both of those terms are accurate, I believe, but they distance a person from his sin in a soul-decaying manner. Pornography is not just an addiction; it is occultism. The man who sits upstairs viewing pornography while his wife chauffeurs the kids to soccer practice is not some unusual “pervert”; he is (like his forefather Adam) seeking the mystery of the universe apart from Christ. That’s the reason the one picture, stored in his memory, of that naked woman will never be enough for him. He will never be able to be satisfied because he will never be able to get an image naked enough. I say pornography is occultism because I believe the draw toward it is more than biological (though that is strong). The satanic powers understand that “the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). They understand that the pornographic ...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

I am what I am by Gloria Gaynor

Beverly Knight closed the opening ceremony of the Paralympics with what has been dubbed the signature tune of the Paralympics. I had no idea Ms Knight is still in the singing business. And clearly going by the raving reviews she will continue to be around. One media source says her performance was so electric that "there wasn’t a dry eye to be seen as she sang the lyrics to the song and people even watching at home felt the passion in her words" . The song was Gloria Gaynor's I am what I am . Clearly not written by Gloria Gaynor but certainly musically owned and popularized by her. It opens triumphantly: I am what I am / I am my own special creation / So come take a look / Give me the hook or the ovation / It's my world that I want to have a little pride in / My world and it's not a place I have to hide in / Life's not worth a damn till you can say I am what I am The words “I am what I am” echo over ten times in the song. A bold declaration that she ...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →