October 2021

The Apostle Thomas and the Evangelism of India

May 23, 2023

Ancient Christian writings prevalent among those found within the literary corpus of the Orthodox Church, and which are classified as “Holy Tradition” tell us that St. Thomas (one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ) went on to fulfill the great commission of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth, by traveling all the way unto the subcontinent of India. On top of preaching Christ to the peoples of India it is also believed that the Apostle Thomas died there in this far away land by martyrdom. However, before his execution this doubting disciple managed to plant many spiritual seeds in the country and as a result of St. Thomas’s selfless spiritual labor, an Oriental form of Christianity has settled and survived in India for nearly 2,000 years. Though the Church in India which traces it’s origins to Thomas is called Orthodox, it is not however in communion with other Orthodox Churches such as the Greek and Antiochian Orthodox Churches. Instead it shares similarities in theology with that of the Coptic Church of Egypt, which along with the Indian Church are classified as Oriental Orthodox. Now that we have briefly acquainted ourselves with the Apostle Thomas and his mission in India, let us eagerly peer into this fascinating story in greater detail.

Now before we cover his mission in India, I do believe that it is proper to present Thomas’s back story as found within the Biblical narrative. For the Gospel testifies, that immediately following His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ began to appear unto His disciples. But in the twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John we see that when Jesus first appeared to his disciples Thomas was not with them when Jesus came. When the other disciples told Thomas how they had seen the risen Lord, Thomas famously said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now after eight days had past Jesus appeared to His disciples again and this time Thomas was with them. Upon seeing the wounds of Jesus, Thomas not only believed in the resurrection, but also confessed Jesus Christ as his Lord and his God (John 20:28). However, even though Thomas believed in the resurrection of Christ by seeing Him, the Lord explained to Thomas that even more blessed are those who believe in the risen Jesus who have not seen Him. Thus with these doubting thoughts which St. Thomas demonstrated, do we derive the saying of someone who is lacking in faith or in confidence as a “Doubting Thomas.”

The most ancient written account of Thomas’s travels in India comes from an early Christian document titled: The Acts of Thomas, which was originally compiled around the year 200 AD. The story begins in Jerusalem shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ, where we see the Apostles casting lots to determine which part of the world each would travel to in order evangelize all nations. Thomas’s lot assigned him to India, but in good old doubting fashion, Thomas initially refuses. However, through a vision and the efforts of the risen Jesus, Thomas comes around and agrees on his mission to India. According to Indian tradition, St. Thomas traveled to India by sea, initially setting foot in Cranganore on the Kerala coast, around the year 52 AD. Shortly thereafter, Thomas managed to convert many high cast Hindu families to Christianity and went on to establish seven church communities in Kerala.

Later Thomas traveled to southern India, preaching and performing miracles, until he was imprisoned by king Misdaeus. As it would happen (during his incarceration) Thomas ultimately suffered a martyrdom by the king’s guards, who pierced him with spears. Thus Thomas experienced a form of karma, for this doubting disciple went on to share with Jesus a spear wound in his side. Just as the spear wound of Jesus made a believer out of Thomas, so too did his own spear wound make a martyr and saint out of Thomas.

Though it is not exactly clear how St. Thomas was able to successfully convert the Hindus of India to the faith in Jesus of Nazareth, I would propose the theory that Thomas used the identity of the Hindu holy man or sadhu to better express the holiness found in the person of Jesus Christ. For the Hindu sadhu is a religious ascetic who renounces a worldly lifestyle, and who also detaches himself from material possessions in order to lead a more spiritual life instead. These religious beliefs and spiritual disciplines of the sadhu strikingly mirrors that of the way Jesus lived His life while here on earth. It also reflects the teachings of Jesus which He gave to all those who would strive to follow Him. Emphasizing the point of how the sadhus renounce money and possessions is voiced by Christ Himself when He said, “…a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luke 12:15). So if Thomas saw these similarities between Hindu and Christian spirituality, he may have discovered the key which opened the hearts of the people of India to the love found in Jesus Christ.

Now during the time Thomas spent in India, did the mother of Jesus die back in the Holy Land in the Garden of Gethsemane. All of Christ’s Apostles were caught up on the clouds of heaven, translating them from the various lands where they were preaching in order to be present at the Dormition or burial of the Mother of God. However, Thomas was not initially included with the other Apostles who witnessed the burial of the Lord’s mother. Yet three days after the burial of the Blessed Virgin, the clouds of heaven did indeed bring St. Thomas all the way from India to Gethsemane, transporting him to a place in the air directly above the Virgin’s tomb. As we shall see this delay in Thomas’s arrival at the Blessed One’s funeral was by divine provenance. For from where he was positioned in the heavens, did Thomas witness the translation of the Virgin Mary’s body into heaven. Upon seeing this oracle Thomas cried out to her, “Where are you going O’ all-holy one?” And removing her belt, Mary gave it to Thomas, saying, “Receive this, my friend.” And then she ascended up to heaven, and Thomas descended down to earth. And that belt which the Virgin Mary gave to St. Thomas has been preserved to this very day, housed in the holy monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, where it is safely kept in a silver reliquary.

From all the stories that have come down to us concerning the life of St. Thomas and of his evangelical journeys in India, are we presented with a script which would be sure to produce the next Bollywood blockbuster! For without a doubt, the life of St. Thomas is indeed legendary. From the parallels between Christ and the sadhus, to the martyrdom of Thomas which corresponded to the death of Jesus, are we left with a saga that testifies to the weakness of man and the almighty power of God. For even though Thomas had doubting thoughts the Lord was able to help His disciple’s unbelief, and transformed a man lacking in faith into an Apostle of God, who went on to instill faith in the hearts of others. Thomas may have doubted, but he was not disobedient. A trait that those of faith can learn from. So, may the story of the Apostle Thomas serve as a springboard for all of us who would dare to take a leap of faith!

 

References:

Catholic Encyclopedia, by Herbert Thurston; For All The Saints, by Katherine Rabenstein

Holy Apostles Convent. The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Theotokos. (Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent, 2000).

Kurikilamkatt, J. First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India. (Bangalore, India: Asian Trading Corporation, 2005).

Thomas, Christine. The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel: Rewriting the Past. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

The Church, The Templars, and The Crusades – Part 2

May 23, 2023

The leader and founder, and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar was the French knight Hughes de Payens. Hughes was a veteran of the First Crusade, and was close to the age of fifty when the order of the Templars was founded on Christmas Day in 1119 AD. The King of Jerusalem granted the Poor-Soldiers of Christ the al-Aqsa Mosque as the place of their residence, at the southeast corner of the Temple Mount. Also on the Temple Mount north of the al-Aqsa Mosque, stands to this day the Islamic shine known as the Dome of the Rock. This structure was built over the Foundation Stone, also known as “Even ha-Shtiyya” in Hebrew. According to Jewish tradition this location is where God created the first man Adam, where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son Issac, and also marks the location of the Holy of Holies where Solomon’s Temple once stood. In Muslim belief this location marks the starting point of Muhammad’s Night Journey to Heaven. After the siege of Jerusalem in 1099 the Dome of the Rock was turned into a church, and the Knights Templars used its image on the reverse side of their official seals. Its round architectural feature would also become the model for round Templar churches throughout Europe.

The Templar seal depicted two knights sharing a single horse. This symbolized the poverty and the brotherhood of the order. In the beginning they had no financial resources, and no official rule other than the monk-like vows they pledged themselves to at their formation. This led Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem to write to St. Bernard of the Abby of Clairvaux, asking for his assistance in getting the Pope to approve of the Templar order, and also to help draft a Rule to guide the knights in their duty of protecting the pilgrims. In addition to the protection of pilgrims, Baldwin II also felt that the Templars should help defend the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Thus in the year 1128 after the blessing of Pope Honorius II, a great ecclesiastical council was assembled in Troyes, France; which Hughes de Payens and his brethren were invited to attend. There St. Bernard subjected the Templars to the governance of the great religious and military fraternity of the Temple. This endorsement of the Templars by St. Bernard at the Council of Troyes, has gone down in history as the famous epithet, In Praise of the New Knighthood.

After the confirmation of the rules and statutes of the order, Hughes de Payens traveled through France and then to England in order to secure funds to increase the strength of the new knighthood. In Normandy the king gladly received him and gave him much silver and gold. He was also welcomed in England, and many donated to the Templar cause of Jerusalem. Grants of land were also made to Hughes de Payens and his brotherhood. Before his departure, Hughes placed a Knight Templar at the head of the order in England, who was called the Prior of the Temple. It was his responsibility to manage the estates granted to the brotherhood and to send the revenues to Jerusalem. Now having laid the foundations of the great monastic and military institution of the temple in Europe, Hughes de Payens returned to Palestine as the head of a valiant band of newly elected Templars, drafted mainly from France and England. However, shortly after his return Hughes de Payens died, and was succeeded in 1136 by Lord Robert, also known as the Burgundian.

Now at this time the strong Muslim leader, Zengi, was on the rise. After a conflict with the Byzantines in Syria, Zengi besieged the Crusader county of Edessa and captured it on December 24th, 1144. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was shaken to its foundations, and the clergy immediately sent letters to the Pope for assistance. During this period, around the year 1147, Lord Robert Master of the Temple had been succeeded by Everard des Barres, Prior of France. Everard convened a meeting of the order in Paris, which was attended by Pope Eugenius III, Louis VII King of France, and many Princes and Nobles from all parts of Christendom. With the efforts of Pope Eugenius III, along with the preaching of St. Bernard, the Second Crusade was arranged. The Templars, with the blessing of the Pope, adopted the blood-red cross, the symbol of martyrdom, as the distinguishing badge of the order along with the white mantle worn over their chain-mail. At this grand assembly the Templars were given various donations to aid them in their defense of the Holy Land. Brother Everard des Barres, the newly-elected Master of the Temple, gathered together all the brethren from the Western provinces, and in 1147 joined the Second Crusade to Palestine. This would also be noted by Muslim chroniclers as the beginning of the jihad against the Crusader states.

During the march through Asia Minor, the rear of the Christian army was protected by the Templars. Conrad, Emperor of Germany, had preceded King Louis at the head of an army, which was cut to pieces by the Turks. Conrad then fell ill and fled to Constantinople, got on board a merchant vessel, and arrived in Jerusalem with only a handful of men. There he was welcomed by the Templars and given lodging in their quarters in the Holy City. Soon afterwards King Louis arrived with Grand Master Everard, and for the first time the red-cross banner was unfolded in the field of battle. For in July of 1148 the two monarchs, Conrad and Louis, took to the open field, and supported by Templars, laid siege to the magnificent city of Damascus, “The Queen of Syria,” which was defended by the emir Undur. The Crusader army camped near orchards with fresh flowing water in front of the western walls of Damascus. However, the orchards also served as cover for the Damascenes who were able to make repeated attacks against the Crusaders. Louis and Conrad responded by attacking the eastern walls, but the walls were higher on this side of the city and the siege began to drag on. The Crusaders got bogged down and had no other choice but to retreat. Without even entering Damascus the Second Crusade was defeated. The Muslims came out of the Second Crusade stronger than before. They shattered the myth of the invisibility of the Christian knights, and proved their own skill in battle. Throughout all of Islam a resurgence of pride now arose in hearts of the Muslims.

The failure of the Second Crusade came as a shock to Europe because it had been led by the powerful kings of France and Germany. Some blamed the French, who’s decades long presence in the Middle East had led them to forge an alliance with the ruler of Damascus at a time previous to the siege in 1148. Some Germans blamed the Templars, saying that they betrayed Conrad and deliberately retreated after taking a bribe from the emir of Damascus. There is no evidence that the Templars did this, but the significance of their criticism is important. For this noble order of warrior monks who fought for God, were now open to complaints. The biggest problem for the Crusaders however, was that the more the Franks of the Holy Land relied on European money and military aid, the more critical the West became if things went wrong. If efforts and victories did not come cheap and easy, then the enthusiasm and support from Europe were not there either. From now on, the defense of the Holy Land would depend on its network of castles, largely built and commanded by the knights of the military orders.

With the departure of the Crusader armies of Louis and Conrad from the Middle East, the Muslim leader Nur ad-din, meaning “Light of Religion” started to encroach upon the holdings of Prince Raymond of Antioch. Raymond, unable to find allies among his fellow Christians, managed to form an alliance with the Kurdish leader of the Shia Assassins, who hated Nur ad-din due to religious conflicts. The Christians were not actually in danger of Nur ad-din. The center of his ambition was the conquest of all of Syria and its grand prize, the city of Damascus. Damascus was now ruled by the emir Mujir ad-din, who made an alliance with the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem in order to stand against Nur ad-din. Raymond of Antioch had been criticized for his alliance with the fanatical Shia sect of Assassins, but now the entire Christian kingdom was the ally of a Muslim state. The religious concept of the Crusaders had changed since the initial zeal of the First Crusade. Now religion was on the back burner. The motivation of preserving landholdings and governing power was the focus now. God was being replaced by greed, and not for the first or last time.

In 1151 Nur ad-din and his armies approached Damascus, but with the timely arrival of Christian support for the city, his plans were halted. With Nur ad-din held in check to the north by the Muslim-Christian alliance, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem turned his ambitions towards Egypt, which was experiencing political turmoil at this time. To break into Egypt Baldwin III needed to control Ascalon, the southernmost Muslim city on the coast of Palestine. After making preparations, the Christian army marched to Ascalon in January 1153. Equipped with siege engines, many Templars, and even a relic of the True Cross, Baldwin was confident. The siege of Ascalon went on for many months until a breach in the wall allowed the Templars to enter the city. However, the Egyptian soldiers quickly killed all of them and later that day their naked bodies were hanging from ropes along the walls of Ascalon. Depressed and fearful, King Baldwin summoned a council of his nobles. He discussed with them a possible abandonment of the siege, but his officers persuaded him against it. It turned out to be a good decision, for supplies in the city were getting low and soon the inhabitants were prepared to surrender. The large amount of plunder taken from Ascalon was divided among the Christian leaders, and rule of the city was given to Amalric, Baldwin’s younger brother and heir to the throne.

The emir Mujir ad-din of Damascus was so impressed by the victory of the Christians, that on top of his alliance with the Kingdom of Jerusalem he agreed to pay an annual tribute in gold. This overt submission to Christian power had a negative effect on his Muslim followers, and they began to side with Nur ad-din in Aleppo. To help him in his desired conquest of Damascus, Nur ad-din turned to two Kurdish brothers who had served him faithfully in the past. One brother, Shirkuh, was a man of great military skill. The other brother, Ayub, drew on a natural talent for administration and had been made the emir of Baalbek. Ayub had a young son, Yusuf, who had yet to make his mark, but who one day would become the greatest Muslim hero of the Crusader period. In his days to come Yusuf’s followers would call him “The Prosperity of the Faith,” and to the Christians, and to history he would be known as Saladin.

 

References:

Adduson, C.G. The Knights Templars. (Forgotten Books, 2012).

Bernard of Clairvaux. In Praise of the New Knighthood. (Trappist, Kentucky: Cistercian Publications, 2000).

Haag, M. The Templars: History & Myth. (London, England: Profile Books, 2008).

Lane-Poole, S. Saladin and the Fall of Jerusalem. (London, England: Greenhill Books, 2002).

Robinson, J.J. Dungeon, Fire & Sword. (Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., 2009).

Wasserman, J. The Templars and the Assassins. (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001).