I. THE PROBLEM . - Our study starts from an apocryphal book, The Acts of Judas Thomas. This book is clearly a piece of fiction; yet it introduces to us a king named Gudnaphar, who is spoken of as ruling in India, and also his brother Gad. These two men are historical persons, and Gudnaphar ruled one of the great provinces of India, viz. the Punjaub and the Indus valley. Yet those names were totally unknown to history until, by excavation both west and east of the river Indus in recent decades, coins and inscriptions were discovered which revealed the facts. These coins and inscriptions have also made it clear that Gudnaphar belonged to a Parthian dynasty and ruled a large part of the Parthian domains as well as his great Indian province. The names in Parthian are Vindapharna and Guda. Of the king's Parthian lineage and his Parthian kingdom the author of The Acts of Judas Thomas is totally ignorant.

The Acts states that the Apostle Thomas went by sea to King Gudnaphar's Indian Kingdom and preached the gospel there, and also met the king and his brother. The chronology is quite possible and there are other details which fit perfectly into the circumstances of the time. The question therefore arises, Is the voyage of Thomas to India historical as well as the king, his Indian realm and his brother?

A number of competent Orientalists have thought that the tale was probably historical, and they have therefore tried to reconstruct the history; yet, thus far every attempt has broken down; and the theory, stated by Dr. Garbe of Tübingen,² that the traditions are all mythical and that Christianity arose in India in the fourth century, has held the field since 1914. But recent archaeological research has provided us with fresh details of the history of N.W. India in the first century, which fit into the old tradition in rather remarkable fashion; while certain facts found in Syriac literature³ tend to favour the truth of the ancient story. A fresh study of the problem may therefore be of interest.

There has been a Christian community in the extreme south-west of India since the sixth century at latest, and for centuries there was a sister-community on the south-east coast. This Christian community has a tradition to the effect that the Apostle Thomas came to the south-west coast from the island of Socotra, and that, when he had done the work of an Apostle in Travancore, he passed over to the Madras coast, where he won many for Christ but finally was put to death as a martyr by lance-thrust. Is this South Indian tradition historical or legendary?

This is the second half of the problem of Saint Thomas; but we propose to consider only the first half here.

The parts of The Acts of Judas Thomas essential for the discussion of the first half of the problem may be summarised as follows:-

When the Apostles had been for a time in Jerusalem, they cast lots to ascertain in which country each should preach, and India fell to thelot of Thomas; but he was most unwilling to go. Christ appeared to him in a dream and promised him His grace, but he would not go. Christ then sold him as a slave to a merchant named Habban, who carried him away by sea to India. The starting-point of the voyage is not mentioned, but they stop at Andrapolis; and then, proceeding to India, reach the court of King Gudnaphar who wanted a man to build him a palace. Thomas, introduced as a carpenter, received from the king money for the erection of the palace, but spent it on the poor. The king remonstrated; but miraculous events convinced him that Thomas by spending the money on the poor had built him a palace in heaven. Hence Gudnaphar and his brother Gad became Christians. Thereafter, Thomas went to another kingdom in India, where by order of the king whose name was Mazdai, he was speared to death by four soldiers.

II. CHRISTIANITY AT EDESSA. - Since The Acts of Judas Thomas was written at or near Edessa in Mesopotamia, we must realise a few facts about the rise of Christianity there.

It was in the lands west and east of the Tigris that the Israelites and Judaeans who were carried into captivity were settled by their conquerors. Their descendants proved a vigorous and intelligent race. There is clear evidence that, by the first century of our era, from the borders of Syria to Parthia there were large numbers of Jews, that many of them were engaged in business, and that a percentage of them were wealthy men.⁴ These are some of the large facts which lie behind the narrative of the conversion of thousands of Jews of the Dispersion at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter of The Acts of the Apostles. In the catalogue of the converts Luke mentions " Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia." Clearly, Mesopotamia is meant to cover the earliest Christians connected with Edessa.

In that great event, then, we see the mighty force liberated which led to the complete Christianisation of Osroëne (the district of which Edessa was the capital) and of Adiabene beyond the Tigris, at an earlier date than any other part of the world.⁵

By rare good fortune The Doctrine of Addai has preserved for us the names of two members of one of the earliest Christian families connected with Edessa. Addai was a travelling evangelist who arrived in Edessa about 90 or 95 and passed on to Adiabene in A.D. 99.⁶ We are told that, when he arrived in Edessa, he became the guest of Tobias, the son of Tobias, a Palestinian Jew.⁷ Thus, if we suppose that Tobias senior became a Christian at Pentecost and that his son was born about the same time, Tobias junior would be about sixty years of age when he had the joy of receiving Addai in his home. It is noteworthy that, when The Doctrine of Addai was written, Tobias senior was still remembered and deeply respected in the Church. So much at least is implied in the careful mention of his name in the historical record. Clearly, he must have been one of the earliest Christian leaders at Edessa.

Aramaic was the language of all the Jews of Mesopotamia and the Far East. The literary form of Aramaic which was used in Osroëne and Adiabene is called Syriac. The O.T. was translated at quite an early date into Syriac; and during the second century the Gospels were translated into Syriac at least three times.

It was probably at some date in the second century that an Edessene merchant, with a few companions, brought a case containing human remains to Edessa. They affirmed that they were the relics of the Apostle Thomas, and that he had suffered martyrdom in India, slain by spear-thrust. They said they had stolen the relics,⁸ and had brought them from India by sea to Charax Spasini, a port at the head of the Persian Gulf. From Charax they had taken them by road to Nisibis and thence to Edessa.