dr. nicola denzey lewis has come to the british library, where there is a rare copy of an ancient book, the acts of thomas. >> this text is written in syriac, and that's significant because it's very closely related to aramaic, and aramaic is the language which jesus spoke with his disciples, so this is a really, really fabulous piece to the puzzle in uncovering a little more information than we had before about what thomas was up to. and the story goes that after jesus' death, the disciples are getting together, and they're trying to decide who goes where, and they actually draw lots. thomas chooses the short straw. >> the disciples believed drawing lots would allow god to decide where they should go to spread the word. thomas gets india. >> i cannot go. i do not wish to go. >> to a first-century judean,