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ST.
THOMAS THE APOSTI.E AND INDIA
2 5
The apocryphal work called The Acts of Judas Thomas
was originally written in the Syrian language; and according to
authoritative opinion the date of its composition falls between
180 and 230, probably somewhat nearer the former date. The
sources from which the unknown author of this somewhat
fanciful work drew his information are, as far as I am aware, totally
unknown but Dr. Farquhar’ may perhaps be right in
suggesting that some traditions concerning the missionary work of
the Apostle were still available at Edessa when the Acts were
put together. However, the suggestion seems somewhat fanciful
that there should have existed at that time also a letter written
and sent there by the Apostle himself.
Leaving these suggestions for what they are worth we now
turn to the main contents of these Acts.
Some time after the death of Jesus the Apostles were
together in Jerusalem and there cast lots to ascertain to what
missionary field each of them would have to betake himself.
And thus ’India’ was allotted to St. Thomas. But he tried to
excuse himself saying: ’I have not strength enough for this,
because I am weak. And I am a Hebrew: how can I teach
the Indians?’ Then the Lord appeared to him in the night and
said: ’Fear not, Thomas, because my grace it with thee’. But
Thomas still remonstrated, saying: ’Whithersoever Thou wilt,
our Lord, send me; only to India I will not go’.a In the
meantime a merchant by name Habbän had arrived in Jerusalem sent
by King Güdnaphar3 to find and bring him an accomplished
carpenter (or rather architect). The Lord then claimed Thomas
as His personal belonging and sold him to Habbän for the sum
of twenty pieces of silver. The Apostle now journeys with
Habbän — we do not know from where — by sea to a place
called Andrapolis where they stopped and had some adventures
that do not interest us here. From there they went to ’India’
and arrived at the court of king Güdnaphar. The king was very
pleased and handed over to St. Thomas a great sum of money
1 Cp. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library X, 83.
2 i have borrowed some sentences from the translation of Wright
Apocryphal. Acts of the Apostles, ii, 146 sq.
3 Thus in the Syriac version; the Greek translation has TouvSåtpopo;.
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