Some require seeing the print of the nails

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by zeek

Yeah, Jesus didn't smack Thomas in the head. But, the point of the story seems to be: Don't be like Thomas. Focusing on shrouds and other relics misses the point. Get the point?

That is certainly one way to read it. The problem is that some are like Thomas and they have yet to be changed by faith. Telling this person "get the point" is the same as telling them that salvation is not for them.

Have you ever tried mountain climbing?

My first time climbing we had to cross from one foot hold to the next with a rather large split. I was unable to do it. Finally someone just pushed me off the cliff face (of course I was attached by a rope as I swung out of the frying pan and into the fire).

Another point of the story that seems perfectly reasonable to me is that out of 12 disciples, 1 will be like Thomas. Not a majority, but 8% is a large minority to just boot because they are weak in the faith.

When I read the gospels there seem to be many stories of people who needed help to believe, why is this any different?

Here is the other thing that bothers me. Suppose you were Peter, you were in the tomb and you saw the burial clothes folded up. What would you do? I find it very difficult to believe that those things would not be kept. Very often when I am looking for something that is lost I ask myself "would anyone have thrown this in the garbage by accident?" When I realize that would never have happened then I feel much better about looking for it, knowing that since it was not accidentally tossed in the trash it must be here somewhere.

In the same way, would any of the Lord's disciples have thrown the burial clothes in the trash? I feel certain the answer is no. Therefore I would like to find them. It is good to know that the Sudarium has been kept safe for all this time just as I would have thought.

Also, it is not faithless. They could not have known at the time about DNA, or blood type, or pollen, etc. But they knew it was important. However, today, 2,000 years later this item gives a much stronger testimony than anyone could have foreseen.