The term “Doubting Thomas” comes to us by way of the New Testament in the Gospel according to John, Chapter 20, verses 24-29. Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, was told by the other disciples they had seen Jesus. He wasn’t buying it. Thomas said he would not believe Jesus had risen from the grave until he had real physical proof. He needed to see and feel the wounds on Jesus’ hands and sides, the wounds suffered in his crucifixion. Eight days passed before Thomas finally saw Jesus, gathered with the other disciples. Jesus extended his hands to Thomas, saying, “Put your finger here into my hands. Put your hand and put it in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!* No further convincing was needed — Thomas believed.
In those five verses from John’s Gospel, the most common of human traits and frailty are imparted. Thomas appears unreasonably headstrong, but Jesus forgives his doubting. He gives his skeptical disciple what he asked for and faith is restored. Tom Baxter, one of the more astute political writers in the American South, took the verses to heart and quoted them in the eulogy at his father’s funeral. Baxter recalls, “I doubt the passage has been used in many funerals, but he was a remarkably inquisitive and skeptical man, and my point was that I believe the passage is often misread. Jesus may have rebuked Thomas for doubting, but John relates the story to the point that if Thomas believed it, it had to be so. He should be the patron saint of journalists.”
Many songs in the country, bluegrass and Appalachian genres in the better part of the twentieth century were inspired by stories of people’s faith in Christ. There could be no recognition of doubt. Perhaps a country singer proclaiming The Word in song had little or no faith himself. But he knew much of his audience was inspired by faith. It kept them going through the tough times. The singer recognized that just as he recognized his need to make a living. Thus, many performers sung of a risen Christ and the audiences were made happy.
One of the best bluegrass songs exemplifying that faith is “I Am the Man, Thomas,” written by the legendary Ralph Stanley with Larry Sparks, a member of The Clinch Mountain Boys, a group long associated with Stanley. It is a hard-charging song, one that brings to mind what a friend said about musical styles, “Bluegrass is to country what heavy metal is to rock and roll.”
The string instruments are played aggressively. The tempo is fast and urgent. The words are direct. They are presented as the words of Jesus as He greets Thomas more than a week after His resurrection. The message is not delivered as eloquently as in John’s Gospel, but the point is made.
Oh, I am the Man, Thomas, I am the Man
Look at these nail scars here in my hands
They pierced me in the side, Thomas, I am the Man.
They made me bear the cross, Thomas, I am the Man
They laid me in the tomb, Thomas, I am the Man
In three days I arose, Thomas, I am the Man
Ralph Stanley’s recording of “I Am the Man, Thomas” is one of many high points in his career, which included a twenty-year stint with his brother, Carter. Upon Carter’s passing in 1966, Stanley decided to carry on. There was a new generation that would embrace his music. Many rock fans of the sixties and seventies, curious about rock’s roots and traditional music forms, began attending concerts and festivals featuring Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys, Doc and Merle Watson, The Osborne Brothers and Ralph Stanley. But it was his rendition of “O Death” on the soundtrack of the 2000 film, O Brother Where Art Thou, that gave Stanley his greatest exposure. Interest in his albums remains strong, seven years after his passing. Especially popular is the all-star 2-disc set, “Clinch Mountain Country” which features guest artists Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam, Gillian Welch, and Bob Dylan.
The best-known performances of “I Am the Man, Thomas” in this century have been Bob Dylan’s. He has never recorded the song for official release but in a little more than three years, he performed it live at least 59 times, first on September 4, 1999, in Atlanta. “I Am the Man, Thomas” fits perfectly with the musical approach taken by Dylan since the early nineties. Old hymns, traditional folk songs and blues numbers have been included in his sets, along with “Like a Rolling Stone” and scores of other Dylan originals. That may have surprised many fans, but then again it shouldn’t have. In his interview with rock critic Robert Hilburn in 2004, Dylan said, “My songs are based on old Protestant hymns or Carter family songs or variations of the blues form.” He then went on to say that he wrote “Blowin’ In the Wind” “in 10 minutes, just put words to an old spiritual, probably something I learned from Carter Family records.”
Several of the Dylan performances of “I Am the Man, Thomas” can be seen on You Tube, plus Rolling Stone recently made Dylan’s February 9, 2002 Atlanta concert available to its readers. (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-2002-tour-atlanta-1113354/) Dylan opens the concert with “I Am The Man, Thomas.” There are also renditions by other performers that convey the rural sensibilities so much a part of Southwestern Virginia’s Ralph Stanley. The most compelling are those performed in tiny churches, perhaps Primitive Baptist churches, like the one Stanley attended most of his life. Also of interest is a seventies performance of the song by an acoustic group, The Gordons, posted on YouTube some 13 years ago.
*From The Living Bible, published in 1971.
(Tom Baxter’s weekly column on politics in the American South and beyond can be found on www.saportareport.com)
Illustration of Thomas touching Jesus to alleviate his doubt is from an illustration found in Wikimedia Commons. It was scanned from a volume entitled The Life of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, published in the 1830s. According to Wikimedia, there is no known copyright on the illustration.
I was fortunate enough to catch several of Dylan's concerts around this time, and I remember watching for the first song that Dylan would play after 9/11. He was playing. I Am The Man Thomas, and I believe his first post 9/11 concert began with another old spiritual bluegrass tune, This World Can't Stand Long.
One of the shows I saw, at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa was just a phenomenal concert. You could hear every single word and every instrument perfectly. Bob was in top form, and clearly enjoying himself. Someone in the audience tossed a couple of bouquets of flowers on the stage at the end and Bob picked some of them up while he acknowledged the crowd at the end of the night.