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,
india was on the other side of the world, so it would ve been enormously daunting for anyone to think about traveling to india. how can i, as a hebrew man, go among the indians to proclaim the truth? the lots are drawn. we have a human moment. thomas says, i d rather not go to india. i mean, that s a whale of a long way from here. and who says that i would even be able to understand the people at the end of the earth? according to the acts of
the acts of thomas narrates thomas journey from jerusalem to india by boat. he lands in the southwest corner of coastal india, what is today kerala. according to the story, upon arrival in india, thomas is introduced to a legendary king, gondophares. it s a fantastic tale, but could it be true? the acts of thomas is written over a century after books like the canonical gospels that we find in the new testament. they re stories that are
kerala, southwest india. around seven million christians here trace their faith directly to the apostle famous for his doubt. they believe their ancestors were baptized by one of jesus 12 disciples, thomas. stop doubting and believe. my lord, my god. thomas vanishes from the new testament after the resurrection, but his story is taken up by a third-century epic narrative, the acts of thomas. now, it seems that the acts of thomas preserves at least some historically accurate information. but the acts of thomas is not the only account of his mission to india. [ speaking in foreign language ] there are two different sets of songs that we continue to sing. one is called the ramban pattu, song of the ramban, which narrates the activities of saint thomas, his missionary activities in kerala, and the other is margamkali, dance of the way, which is still being danced in kerala. it seems extraordinary, maybe even unlikely, to us that a song could survive for 2,000 years,
and i think that he represent many people. in the acts, one of thomas first encounters is with an indian ruler, king gondophares. thomas instructs the king and his brother in the christian liturgy and eucharist. for years, king gondophares was regarded as a mythical figure, but a surprising discovery in the 19th century saw the acts of thomas cast in a new light. it appeared to provide some degree of verification for key a key detail in the acts of thomas, so it made people think, well, maybe the book isn t quite as legendary as we thought it was. dr. nicola denzey lewis is at the british museum in london to see a 2,000-year-old coin that could connect thomas to india. this is the silver tetradrachm of gondophares.