തോമ = ഇരട്ട – ആരുടെ

Few thoughts for truth seekers

1] Thoma originated from Didymos= twin; twin of whom. He was regarded as the twin brother of Jesus.  Did Jesus & Thoma were born from the same pregnancy?  Was Thoma a son of Joseph or Mary? In order to look alike and be called just a twin; both should have a common father or mother.

2] ‘the acts of Thoma is a late 3rd-century pseudo-book. Orthodox/ Apostolic churches do not accept it as genuine. So, no church can quote it as a proof of Thoma came to India as long as they don’t acknowledge the book. If they accept it, they have to admit that Jesus & Thoma had a common father or Mother. - if so, there goes the Christology, virgin birth, only son of god, etc.

3] ‘The Acts of Thoma’ illustrates Jesus as a bad misbehaved kid. Jesus sold Thoma to travelling merchants. [ read the book online for yourself]

4] in ch.2 of the Acts of the Apostles there is a list of all known geographical areas at the time. India is not mentioned. King Gondoforous mentioned in the Acts of Thoma ruled western Asia- Pakistan, Afghanistan area not Kerala.

5] in the beginning until the Synod of Nicaea, Christians were small cults which differed a lot in belief, in fact, they fought each other. You can see that in the letters in the name of Paul. There were no churches or cross worship until the time of Helena the mother of Constantine. So even if Thoma came to Kerala, he won’t erect or construct crosses & churches.

6] until the modern times, any unknown geographical area was given a common name ‘India’ & natives as Indians. So Thoma could have gone to any of those unknown areas. Where ever the Portuguese preached Christianity, Thoma was there.

7]  Jesus had 13+ Paul as his disciples and what happened to their ‘throne’, where are they? Only Thoma, Peter / Paul have it?

8] starting with the first gospel according to Mark CE 70; the books of the new testament were re-written several times and there were hundreds of them which were destroyed. The present NT {new testament} is a politically edited fabrication to serve the establishment of the church-religion. There are very little true facts in it. The Jesus in the gospels differ a lot and Paul’s Jesus is way different. There is very little truth about the real or historical Jesus in the NT.

9] there is no eye-witness news of Jesus or Thoma. The only historical reference about Thoma came even centuries later which is quoted by many church historians & in the web now a day. How far you can remember back; even the food you ate, maybe a few days back, not 10 years before on a particular day. The authors of the books of the Bible are unknown, they were given some known names to look authoritative and Historical. But it is all just a Novel.

10] Christians might have reached the shores of Kerala by late 4^th cent through trade routes.

 Ps: Thoma coming to India is just a belief, a tradition of the Christians of the pre- Portuguese times. You may believe whatever you want but don’t claim it as history.

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As a critic of historical records, try to get as much data as possible before anyone reaches a conclusion. No matter how clear the proof is people like Andrews are not going to believe it if it is against the propaganda machine he is driving. Just get some basics from Wikipedia...Let me put some for the reference of 'so-called elite researchers'...

A number of early Christian writings written during centuries immediately following the first Ecumenical Council of 325 mention Thomas' mission.

• The apocryphal Acts of Thomas, sometimes called by its full name The Acts of Judas Thomas: 2nd/3rd century (c. 180–230)^[45][46] Gist of the testimony: The Apostles cast lots as to where they should go, and to Thomas fell India. Habban took Thomas to king Gondophares, the ruler of Indo-Parthian Kingdom, as an architect and carpenter. The journey to India is described in detail. After a long residence in the court at ancient Taxila, he ordained leaders for the Church and left in a chariot for the kingdom of Mazdei. According to the Acts of St. Thomas, the Kingdom of Mazdai, in the Southern India, was ruled by King Misdeus. Some Greek Satraps, the descendents of Alexander the Great, were vassals to the Indo-Parthian Kingdom.^[47][48] The king Misdeus was infuriated when Saint Thomas converted his Queen Tertia, son Juzanes, sister-in-law princess Mygdonia (a province of Mesopotamia), and her friend Markia. Misdeus led Saint Thomas outside the city and ordered four soldiers to take him to the nearby hill, where the soldiers speared Thomas and killed him. Syphorus was elected the first presbyter by the brethren, after Thomas' death, while Juzanes the prince became the deacon. The names Misdeus, Tertia, Juzanes, Syphorus, Markia, and Mygdonia suggest Greek descent or Hellenised Persian descent^[49] There, after performing many miracles, he dies a martyr.^[50] During the rule of Vasudeva I, the Kushan emperor, the bones of Saint Thomas were transferred from the Mylapore to Edessa. These are generally rejected by various Christian religions as either apocryphal or heretical. The two centuries that lapsed between the life of the apostle and the recording of this work cast doubt on their authenticity.
• Doctrine of the Apostles, 3rd century; Church represented: Syrian ^[51] “After the death of the Apostles there were Guides and Rulers in the Churches… They again at their deaths also committed and delivered to their disciples after them everything which they had received from the Apostles; … (also what) Judas Thomas (had written) from India”.^{[clarification needed]}

“India and all its own countries, and those bordering on it, even to the farther sea, received the Apostle’s hand of Priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was Guide and Ruler in the Church which he built and ministered there”. In what follows “the whole Persia of the Assyrians and Medes, and of the countries round about Babylon… even to the borders of the Indians and even to the country of Gog and Magog” are said to have received the Apostles’ Hand of Priesthood from Aggaeus the disciple of Addaeus ^[52]

• Origen: 3rd century (185–254?), quoted in Eusebius; Church represented: Alexandrian/ Greek Biographical. Christian Philosopher, b-Egypt, Origen taught with great acclaim in Alexandria and then in Caesarea.^[53] He is the first known writer to record the casting of lots by the Apostles. Origen's original work has been lost, but his statement about Parthia falling to Thomas has been preserved by Eusebius. “Origen, in the third chapter of his Commentary on Genesis, says that, according to tradition, Thomas’s allotted field of labour was Parthia”.^[54]
• Eusebius of Caesarea: 4th century (died 340); Church Represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical ^[55] Quoting Origen, Eusebius says: “When the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered over all the world, Thomas, so the tradition has it, obtained as his portion Parthia…”^[56] "Judas, who is also called Thomas" has a role in the legend of king Abgar of Edessa (Urfa), for having sent Thaddaeus to preach in Edessa after the Ascension (Eusebius, Historia ecclesiae 1.13; III.1; Ephrem the Syrian also recounts this legend.)
• Ephrem: 4th century; Church Represented: Syrian Biographical ^[57] Many devotional hymns composed by St. Ephraem bear witness to the Edessan Church’s strong conviction concerning St. Thomas’s Indian Apostolate. There the devil speaks of Saint Thomas as “the Apostle I slew in India”. Also “The merchant brought the bones” to Edessa.

Another hymn eulogizing Saint Thomas reads “The bones the merchant hath brought”. “In his several journeyings to India/ And thence on his return/ All riches/ which there he found/ Dirt in his eyes he did repute when to thy sacred bones compared”. In yet another hymn Ephrem speaks of the mission of Thomas: “The earth darkened with sacrifices’ fumes to illuminate”, “a land of people dark fell to thy lot”, “a tainted land Thomas has purified”; “India’s dark night” was “flooded with light” by Thomas.^[58]

• Gregory of Nazianzus: 4th century (died 389); Church Represented: Alexandrian. Biographical Note: Gregory of Nazianzus was born AD 330, consecrated a bishop by his friend St. Basil; in 372 his father, the Bishop of Nazianzus, induced him to share his charge. In 379 the people of Constantinople called him to be their bishop. By the Orthodox Church he is emphatically called "the Theologian".^[59] “What? were not the Apostles strangers amidst the many nations and countries over which they spread themselves? … Peter indeed may have belonged to Judea; but what had Paul in common with the gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?” ^[60]
• Ambrose of Milan: 4th century (died 397); Church Represented: Western. Biographical Note: Saint Ambrose was thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Latin Classics, and had a good deal of information on India and Indians. He speaks of the Gymnosophists of India, the Indian Ocean, the river Ganges etc., a number of times.^[61] “This admitted of the Apostles being sent without delay according to the saying of our Lord Jesus… Even those Kingdoms which were shut out by rugged mountains became accessible to them, as India to Thomas, Persia to Matthew...” ^[62]
• Saint Gregory of Tours (died 594) Saint Gregory's testimony: “Thomas the Apostle, according to the narrative of his martyrdom is stated to have suffered in India. His holy remains (corpus), after a long interval of time, were removed to the city of Edessa in Syria and there interred. In that part of India where they first rested, stand a monastery and a church of striking dimensions, elaborately adorned and designed. This Theodore, who had been to the place, narrated to us.'^[63]