University of Virginia Library

Material skepticism

To the materialistic Thomas, looking for the ideal Saviour in matter instead of in Spirit and to the testi- mony of the material senses and the body, more than to Soul, for an earnest of immor- tality, - to him Jesus furnished the proof that he was unchanged by the crucifixion. To this dull and doubt- ing disciple Jesus remained a fleshly reality, so long as the Master remained an inhabitant of the earth. Noth- ing but a display of matter could make existence real

to Thomas. For him to believe in matter was no task, but for him to conceive of the substantiality of Spirit - to know that nothing can efface Mind and immortality, in which Spirit reigns - was more difficult.