Meaning
A person who refuses to believe something until they have seen the evidence for themselves - the sceptic who wants to touch the wound. The phrase scolds more than it describes: it implies the demand for proof is stubbornness rather than sense. Mildly dismissive of the sceptic, though in evidence-based settings being one is often a compliment; the plural is doubting Thomases. Regional use: General English; Biblical origin.
Origin
John's Gospel, chapter 20, supplies the whole scene: Thomas, absent when the risen Jesus appears to the other apostles, refuses to believe on their word - unless I see the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe. Eight days later Jesus appears again, invites the probing finger, and receives the gospel's great confession, 'My Lord and my God'. John never says whether Thomas actually touched, and the ambiguity mattered: pre-Reformation tradition and art held that he did, while many Protestants read a faith that believed on sight alone. The episode became a Counter-Reformation favourite - Caravaggio painted The Incredulity of Saint Thomas around 1601-02 - and early sixth-century mosaics at Ravenna already show it. Wiktionary's settled definition is one who requires proof before believing, with the companion doubting Thomasina for the sceptical woman.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a doubting Thomas
- doubting Thomases
- doubting Thomasina
Usage Examples
- A natural doubting Thomas, he ran his own tests on the lab's headline result and found it held.
- Publish the data and even the doubting Thomases on the scrutiny committee will come round.
- Her doubting Thomas of a father phoned the hotel, the airline, and finally the conference itself.