‘Stop doubting and believe’ was Jesus’ command to Thomas as recorded in John’s gospel. Thomas had been absent when Jesus previously appeared to the disciples and he wasn’t going to believe without proof, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ Many people have seen in this account an elevation of blind faith over faith based on evidence, especially when Jesus says ‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Thomas was a rationally minded sceptic asking for proof; Jesus expected blind faith.
Is that what was really going on here? It seems not. John states just after this incident that the very reason he wrote his gospel was so that people would believe that Jesus was the Son of God – not blind faith, but faith presumably based on the evidence of his account. The clear implication then is that Jesus thought Thomas was being unreasonable in his scepticism, that based on the evidence he had available to him he should have believed in the miracle of the resurrection.