Thomas
One of the twelve, called Didymus, “the twin”. In John he refuses to believe that Jesus has risen until he sees the wounds, and then confesses him as “My Lord and my God”. Later tradition sends him east, to Parthia and India.
Thomas is named in every list of the twelve (Mark 3:18; Matthew 10:3; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Only John tells anything of him, and calls him also Didymus, the Greek for “twin”. When Jesus set out for Bethany and danger, Thomas said to the others, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). At the last supper he said that they did not know where Jesus was going, and was answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:5–6).
John says that he was absent when the risen Jesus first came to the disciples, and that he said he would not believe unless he put his finger into the marks of the nails. Eight days later Jesus offered him his hands and his side, and Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24–29); see the Appearances and the Great Commission. He is among the seven who meet Jesus by the lake (John 21:2).
The New Testament does not say where he went afterwards. Eusebius, in the early fourth century, cites Origen for a tradition that Parthia was allotted to Thomas as his field of work (Eusebius, Church History 3.1). Gregory of Nazianzus, about AD 380, links him with India (Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations 33.11). Both write some three centuries after his time.
In the timeline
- c. AD 28–29, estimated dateJesus Appoints the Twelve
From his wider following Jesus chooses twelve men to be with him and to be sent out to preach and heal. Mark, Matthew and Luke list their names from Simon Peter to Judas Iscariot; Acts lists the eleven who remained.
- AD 30 or 33, estimated dateThe Appearances and the Great Commission
The Gospels and Paul report that the risen Jesus appeared to his followers, in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus and in Galilee, and sent them to make disciples of all nations. The accounts differ on where and in what order.
- AD 52, traditional dateThe Apostle Thomas and the Christians of India
Tradition holds that the apostle Thomas preached in India and died there. The oldest account cited, the Acts of Thomas, sets him at the court of a King Gundaphoros; the tradition of Kerala and Mylapore is attested later. Cosmas reports churches in India about AD 547.