Each person has a friend who is hard to convince. What to call such a person, what expression to choose for his unwaveringness? We propose to consider the meaning of phraseology "Thomas the unbeliever." We study not only the meaning, but the history of the emergence of the catch phrase.
Biblical origin
Of course, now for Christians, the founder of the doctrine is indisputable authority. But once, in ancient times, Jesus was not yet such. Of course, most of the disciples of Christ were loyal to him, but among them there was one who did not believe the word to anyone. His name was Thomas. The student was told that Master was resurrected, but he didn’t hesitate to say (moving to modern language): “I won’t believe it until I see it, and my fingers will not touch his wounds.”
That's how Thomas got the nickname "unbeliever." As we see, there is no particular mystery in the expression. Many phraseological units and winged expressions come from the Bible. The meaning of the phraseology “Thomas the Unbeliever” came to us from the same source.
Father and son
The son does not study well at school. Let's just say, studies a little. And suddenly he comes home and says to his father:
- Dad, did I get “five” in Russian?
- Well, yes, tell me.
“Can I prove it with a diary entry?”
The son puts a diary in front of his father, he reveals it and sees a miracle - an excellent mark!
Silent scene.
- Well, how, shame on you, father? Oh, you - Thomas is an unbeliever!
The meaning of phraseology and its origin we have examined a little higher.
The image of Thomas embodies ordinary doubt?
The answer is no. If we recall the story, we can understand: a disciple who did not believe in the resurrection of Christ undertook to argue with the obvious, but unbelievable, from his point of view. The rest of the apostles saw the wounds with their own eyes. Therefore, life after the death of Christ no longer required any evidence. And the stubborn student still did not recognize a fait accompli until he was convinced. The meaning of the phraseology “Thomas the Unbeliever” and now fits very many as a characteristic. Most people stopped seeing miracles around them. They only react to something that staggers their imagination.
Therefore, we give an example from which it is truly breathtaking. Imagine one student told another that an alien ship had landed on the roof of his house. Yes, this is a splash. True, a more sane comrade would immediately have shown legitimate doubts. But the dreamer, would almost immediately be offended, retorted: “Oh, you don’t believe it, but let's go to my house, where my parents treat the humanoids with gingerbread cookies and tea!” The boys will go to the address, and indeed: the “plate” is on the roof of the house, and the humanoids, having mastered Russian in an instant, are already arguing with their family father about the political situation in the country. Silent scene. The true lover says to the skeptic proudly and a little (quite a bit) dismissively: "And you did not believe me, Thomas is an unbeliever!"
In fairness, it must be said that such a situation is possible only in the stories of the Soviet science fiction writer Vadim Shefner. In boring everyday reality, things are more prosaic: one boy does not believe the other that his parents bought a computer or set-top box. The girl questions the message that her friend’s husband was promoted at work. In other words, there are a lot of such examples, but they are not interesting.
Is it good to be Thomas?
Phraseologism "Thomas the unbeliever" refers to extreme skepticism, which is not always good. For example, when a person critically perceives reality - this is a virtue. In case he falls into criticism, i.e. he strongly dislikes everything - this is bad. A worldview based on the denial of everything and everything breaks the relations of such a subject with surrounding people and the world as a whole. Yes, and the most radical skeptic does not live very freely.
Since the meaning of the phraseologism “Thomas the Unbeliever” is disapproving, it’s bad to be a hero of such a characteristic, but it is still necessary to maintain criticality and sanity. You never know what can be invented, not everything needs to be believed.
For example, if a person is promised free cheese, then the potential victim of deception must remember where the main delicacy of mice is usually in the mousetrap. Therefore, when someone is promised unprecedented and unknown wealth and gifts, it is better to pretend to be an unbeliever to Thomas and ask for some guarantees. No need to take a word for no reason.
In any case, the main task is completed. The answer to the question, which means "Thomas the unbeliever", is received. This is a person who decides to argue with the obvious before providing him with concrete evidence. Simply put, he does not believe the word to anyone and never. I must say that in their pure form such people are rare in nature.