Did St Thomas really come to India?
Upvote:1
There are certainly no inscriptions or literature that I am aware of but the group of Syrian Christians of Indian state of Kerala are certain proof that St. Thomas the Apostle came to India. The form of Christianity that the British, French and Portuguese’ Catholic and Protestant versions are much, much different from the Syrian version. Moreover, The grave of St. Thomas the Apostle is in Mylapore, Chennai(an Indian city) and a few churches and crosses built by St. Thomas the Apostle still survive to this day. An incident where the Syrian Christian minority is mentioned;when Pedro Alvares Cabral of Portugal incited violence in Calicut, where the Portuguese massacred Arab traders and Syrian Christians. There is also evidence that St. Thomas came to Taxila(a famed Indian centre for learning) but failed This incident is in ‘Land of the seven rivers’ by Sanjeev Sanyal. The overall information is in the second link and the evidence that St. Thomas was in Taxila is in the first link 1]: http://odysseuslahori.blogspot.com/2013/03/st-thomas-in-taxila.html?m=1 [2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Apostle
Upvote:3
Its possible that the tradition of Saint Thomas had a historical basis. However, its very unlikely that the Christian community in Kerala dates to such an early period.
The story you're referring to is from the Acts of St Thomas. This is a new testament apocrypha, or a non-canonical work, dated to the 3rd century. The most compelling part of the story is that it correctly names the ruler in North India, Gondopharnes. This is significant because we didn't know anything about him or most Kushan rulers until they were discovered by modern archaeology and numismatics. This means that it probably does represent a tradition near contemporary to the time in which it is set.
The details of the story are quite probable. He accompanied a businessman. He first stayed at the court of Gondopharnes, then traveled to South India where he spent the rest of his life. The amiability of Gondopharnes to Christianity may be represented by the fact that he became one of the three kings in the new testament.
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