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[This sermon is also available in MS Word format]
Blind Faith?
Rollins Chapel
April 22, 2004
Richard R. Crocker, College Chaplain
John 20:19-29
Those of you who were here at chapel last week will note that the scripture passage for today is the same as last week. It is such an important passage for us that I know last week’s meditation did not exhaust it. I have not been able to think about much else this week. And so I want to take another stab at the story,
Last week we talked about resurrection appearances as such – and about how we might understand or think about them. This time I want to concentrate on what Jesus actually said to Thomas. I think it’s important to us, because most of us, I expect, identify with “doubting Thomas.” We are immersed in a community of inquiry that values empirical evidence as the primary, or perhaps the only, basis for knowledge. “Unless we see the mark of the nails and put our hands in his side, we will not believe.” Or so we may think.
It is important to note that Jesus did not condemn Thomas for asking for such a sign. Rather, he invited Thomas to overcome his doubt by touching him. Go ahead, he said, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.” And then he said, “Do not doubt but believe.” In other words, Jesus invited Thomas to overcome his doubt by touching him. The statement, “do not doubt but believe!” has sometimes been taken as an injunction against doubt. That is not the case. Rather, it is an invitation to Thomas to overcome his doubt by touching Jesus. Jesus then does make the statement, or ask the question, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Now this is a very problematic statement for us. It seems to say that we should believe without seeing, or without proof. Blind belief, it’s called by some. And it is a problem because it does not, in itself, give us any means for discernment. It seems to make us gullible to any belief.
I hope that part of your education at Dartmouth involves meeting and talking with people who hold very different beliefs than you do. I say I hope that because, if you don’t, your education is very incomplete. People today hold many different beliefs. While some would say that such beliefs are simply variations on a theme, I would say that they are not. They are different. Either you believe that Jesus was the Messiah, or you don’t. You believe that the Koran is the final and complete revelation of God, or you don’t. You believe that Joseph Smith received a revelation from the Angel Maroni, or you don’t. Now, there are millions of people who hold each of these beliefs, and millions who don’t. Gone are the days when we can live in a self-contained mutually reinforcing social system that validates certain beliefs and invalidates others. We must learn how to discern. The beliefs that have been handed on to us, through parents. or church, or whatever, are not the only beliefs. We must learn to discern. A simple defensive dismissal of all beliefs other than our own familiar ones will not suffice – for what is the reason for that? Is the principle of knowledge in the world summarized in the assertion that “My parents, or my church, or my nation is right - and all others are wrong?” Such a statement invites ridicule. But so does the reflexive attitude that says: “”My parents or my church or my nation is obviously wrong. I must find truth elsewhere.” It isn’t easy. A simple acceptance or rejection of our tradition, whatever it is, is usually indefensible. We must learn to discern and to judge.
I want to list several statements, all of which, I think, are generally regarded as true.
Two plus two equals four.
Shakespeare wrote King Lear.
The solar system has nine planets.
My wife loves me.
Now, each of these statements represents a very different kind of assertion. Of them, only the first, “two plus two equals four” is always and everywhere true, because it is true by definition. That it, it is formally and logically true. The other statements are different. “Shakespeare wrote King Lear” is regarded as true by most of us, but we accept that claim on the basis of authority (i.e., well-read English scholars) or tradition. But it can be false, indeed it may be false. “The solar system has nine planets” is similar. It may be true. Most people think it is true. Investigators have reason to tell us it is true. But if tomorrow the announcement is made that another heretofore unknown planet, Quarkus, is discovered, the statement will no longer be true. And, what’s more, it will make very little difference in my life. It is the fourth statement, “My wife loves me” that makes a difference. And it is no wonder what despite all our best efforts to make college education center on the first three statements, it is the fourth that preoccupies most students. Not my wife of course. Whoever it is that loves you or that you want to love you or that you are afraid does not love you or whatever. You get the point. To say that someone loves you is perhaps the most important statement that can be made. It is the most truthful, if it is true. And yet it is the one statement least susceptible to proof.
My point: most of these statements – all except the first – are statements we believe without seeing. All of them can be doubted, but the doubt doesn’t really matter – except for the last. And in that case, the doubt would be torturous.
When we talk about believing in God, or believing in Jesus, we are talking in terms that are much more like the fourth statement than any other. We are talking about something that is very important for giving our lives focus and direction. We are talking about something of ultimate importance. We are talking about something that is felt in relationship to being. We are talking about something that no one else can prove to us. But it is also the kind of statement in which we finally have most confidence. And it is a sad human being whose life conversation includes only the first three kinds of statements, and not the last.
Thomas said, according to the scripture; “My Lord and My God!” That’s what he said. Many people since have made the same claim, or have professed the same love. Is it true? Better, is it convincing? Ah – and here’s the rub, Because whether or not we find this claim – or any other religious claim - convincing is as mysterious and as important as being in love. Amen.
Sermon © 2004 Richard R. Crocker. All rights reserved.
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