I. Life
One of the “Twelve,” characterized by the epithet Didymus, which means “twin,” a rendering (John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2) of the Aramaic name T. Hellenized (Θωμᾶς ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος). Some have erroneously interpreted this as a synonym for “double-minded.”Ancient writers have speculated about the identity of Thomas’s twin. Some (Chronicon Paschale, 9: PG 92, 1076) say he was the twin of a certain Lydia or Lysia; others of a certain Eliezer (Hom. Clem., 2, 1: PG 2, 77). The apocryphal Acts of T. (see below), the History of Abgar (cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl., I, 6: PG 20, 126), and the Teaching of the Apostles call him Judas-Thomas.
In the apostolic lists of the Synoptics (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15) and in Acts 1:13, only the name Thomas appears. The Fourth Gospel recounts several episodes involving him. One shows his courage: “Let us also go, that we may die with him,” said Thomas when it was a question of going to Bethany, where Jesus was sought for death (John 11:16). Another reveals his reflective nature: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?” he asked Jesus at the Last Supper (ibid. 14:5). Most famous is his skepticism in the face of the other apostles’ claims to have seen the Risen Jesus (ibid. 20:24–25), which he overcame with his protest of faith in the Risen Lord’s true humanity and divinity, expressed eight days later: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replied: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (ibid. 20:26–29). John 21:2 lists Thomas among the five who took part in the second miraculous catch of fish, indicating that he too was a fisherman.
Tradition provides uncertain information about his field of apostolic labor. A relatively consistent tradition assigns him the eastern regions between Syria, Persia, and India. The Roman Breviary commemorates him on December 21 as a martyr at Calamina in India. The Greek and Syriac Churches celebrate his feast on October 6, the Melkite Church on July 3 (the anniversary of the translation of his relics to Edessa), and the Malabar Christians claim to have been evangelized by the apostle Thomas, a claim still debated by many.
II. Christian Archaeology
One of the oldest depictions of St. Thomas’s incredulity is found on the sarcophagus of St. Celso in Milan, where the apostle places his finger in the side of the Risen Lord (R. Garrucci, Storia dell’arte cristiana, II, Prato 1876–81, pl. 315, 5). Also in Milan, the Duomo preserves an ivory diptych in which the apostle Thomas is represented in the same posture (Venturi, I, p. 426, fig. 390). In London, a British Museum ivory shows the nimbed Lord standing on a dais, surrounded by four disciples; the first to his left is Thomas, whoTHOMAS THE APOSTLE
in the Castelvecchio Museum), as well as Dutch and Flemish works, e.g., P. W. Crabeth (Amsterdam Museum). A fine canvas by Guercino in the Vatican Pinacoteca also depicts this sacred subject.
For early 18th-century art, notable is the marble statue of St. Thomas the Apostle by Pierre Le Gros, executed for the nave of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome; it shows the saint pointing to his finger, an allusion to the scene of his incredulity.
IV. APOCRYPHAL BOOKS
1. Apocalypse of Thomas
An apocryphal work condemned by the Gelasian Decree (v.) under the title Revelatio quae appellatur Thomae Apostoli.In 1907, F. Wilhelm claimed to have recovered the text in an Epistola domini nostri Iesu Christi ad Thomam discipulum suum, which describes the physical and moral disasters of the last seven days preceding the cosmic catastrophe. The text, very late, is datable, according to E. Amann (in DBs, I, col. 529), to Merovingian times. In 1911, P. Bihlmeyer discovered a better-preserved, older recension that seems to have already been in use among the Priscillianists, published in Revue bénédictine, 28 (1911), pp. 270–282. A critical reconstruction translated into English is published by M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, Oxford 1924, pp. 555–562.
2. Acts of Thomas
An apocryphal book, judged encratite by St. Epiphanius (PG 41, 852), Manichaean by St. Augustine (PL 42, 452.758), and Priscillianist by Turribius (PL 44, 694). The Acts of Thomas survive in many manuscripts with Catholic revisions, in two principal recensions: one in Greek, the other in Syriac; the latter appears to be the original language. The Ethiopian revisions are of lesser importance.In the Greek recension, the text is divided into 13 parts (plus one on Thomas’s martyrdom). Its contents are as follows: the apostles in Jerusalem divide the field of their mission. To Judas-Thomas, also called Didymus, falls India. He is reluctant to go. Jesus appears to him, repeats the command, and sells him as a slave to a merchant sent by an Indian king named Gundafor, who is seeking a skilled architect to build him a splendid palace. At a certain point in the journey, Thomas attends a royal wedding and recites a hymn on the mystical union of the soul with eternal Wisdom. Meanwhile, Jesus, in Thomas’s guise, persuades the newlyweds to maintain perfect continence in marriage. Later, presented to the king as an architect, Thomas, entrusted with building a palace, distributes the funds he receives for this purpose to widows and the poor. The king, enraged, is later calmed by a dream in which he sees the palace built by the souls converted by Thomas, and he himself is baptized. Thomas performs various miracles, including freeing the king’s daughter Misdaeus from a demon and urging all women to perfect continence in marriage. Imprisoned for this reason, Thomas miraculously escapes, only to return to prison again, and finally is killed by a lance. His body continues to work miracles.
Traces of Gnosticism are found especially in the poetic sections; it is difficult, however, to determine to which Gnostic system they belong. If the poetic sections, which some think may be interpolations, are excluded, the legendary narrative appears substantially orthodox and may contain some reliable tradition. Some believe the book originated in Syria through Bardesanes. Among the Latin revisions, without the poetic sections and therefore substantially orthodox, is one attributed to St. Gregory of Tours: De miraculis b. Thomae Apostoli. There is also a Passio s. Thomae Apostoli from the 6th century. The Ethiopian revision, derived from a Coptic one, takes many liberties.
Thomas, the Apostle, Saint — The Incredulity of St. Thomas. Statue by A. del Verrocchio (1464–83). The tabernacle is by Donatello. Florence, Orsanmichele.
S. Irenaeus (Adv. haer., I, 20, 1: PG 7, 653) seems to suppose its use by the Marcosians; while St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech. IV, 36: PG 33, 500), together with the Pseudo-Gelasian Decree, declares that the work was of Manichaean origin. From such statements it is reasonable to conclude that in the 2nd century there existed a Gospel of Thomas of Gnostic origin. Only the saying reported by Hippolytus is certainly known: “Whoever seeks me will find me among children from seven years old upwards; for there, hidden in the 14th aeon, I shall become manifest.” What remains of the Gospel of Thomas is most probably a Catholic reworking, which nonetheless preserves evident traces of Gnosticism, in the apocryphal work entitled in Greek *Tales of the Childhood of the Lord Thomas the Israelite Philosopher*, and in Latin *Tractatus de pueritia Iesu secundum Thomam*. Its diffusion is attested by numerous versions (Syriac, Latin, Arabic, Slavonic). In Greek there are two recensions: the longer one, first published from a codex in Bologna by G. L. Mingarelli in 1764, comprises 19 chapters and narrates the life of Jesus from ages 5 to 12; the shorter one (13 chapters), drawn from a codex Sinaiticus, is limited to ages 5–9. The unknown author was neither a philosopher nor an Israelite; his knowledge of Jewish customs is very limited, while he displays a petty conception of religion. The narrative is a sequence of pointless miracles performed by a vindictive and capricious child Jesus. The hypothesis has also been advanced that the underlying material is of pagan, specifically Indian, origin (cf. A. Mayer, *Kindheitserzählung des Thomas*, in E. Hennecke, *Neutestamentliche Apokryphen*, 2nd ed., Tübingen 1924, pp. 94 ff.).