I love the story of Thomas in John 20.24–29.

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘I love the story of Thomas in John 20.24–29. He knew that there was such a thing as fake news. People didn’t rise from the dead, did they? So, he says, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” He wanted evidence. 

‘I identify with Thomas. I had been brought up in a Christian home and I think it was simply, probably that in the 1950s and 60s, there was a scientific way of thinking about things and people felt, how could you believe in these extraordinary stories? I did a lot of questioning. I remember the experience as a kind of debate, so that when I did get confirmed, it meant something. 

‘As an academic, it’s been the area of my study: the history of Jesus. I wrote a book looking at his history, the evidence for him, for and against the Christian view. That question of the evidence of Jesus has filled my whole life. What I have studied has confirmed my faith, but temperamentally I’m like Thomas. I’m a pessimist.

‘I don’t think that the modern youth are as sceptical as we were. Then, you gave up ideas of faith unless you had good reason not to. Now, the question that young people ask has changed. Now, it’s not about the evidence for Jesus, it’s about the relevance and I entirely understand that.’

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