Acts of Judas Thomas
The Acts of Judas Thomas emerged, it seems, from the East Syrian civilization of the upper Euphrates Valley early in the third century. It was apparently written originally in Syriac (a variant of Aramaic, which was the language of Jesus and his followers), translated into Greek, then back into Syriac and several other languages. (We are told that M. Bonnet's edition of the Greek version, which is now "taken as standard, depends mainly on an eleventh-century manuscript, the only complete manuscript of the twenty-one known Greek ones.) Like other religious writings, the text varied somewhat from version to version, depending on what points the editors or re-writers wished to make.
Several things are likely to strike the modern reader. One is the negative attitude toward this world and the human body, the "visibles," which must be kept in check if the "invisibles," the spirits or souls, are to be freed. Another is the lack of interest in the Old Testament. Still another is the lack of creeds; Thomas's converts, usually won by performance of an act of exorcism or a miracle, are asked simply to believe in his God, then "sealed" by rites such as baptism. The book was written long before the credal arguments of the fourth and fifth centuries about the nature of Christ and the Trinity.
Rather, the savior's claims to reverence are found in long and often eloquent lists of attributes and titles: For example, in the Acts of Judas Thomas he is called, among other things, guide and leader, city of refuge and repose, planter of the good tree, healer of sick souls, lifegiver of the universe, discloser of hidden secrets, revealer of mysterious sayings. Robert Murray, a principal modern explorer of the origins of the Syriac-speaking church, finds at least 130 titles of Christ.
"Judas Thomas," as we have noted, was the name by which the Doubting Thomas of John's gospel was known in the Syriac culture. But "Thomas" simply means "twin," and would be rendered in Aramaic as Tauma, just as in Greek the word is "Didymus." The familiar English translations of John's gospel might seem to use redundant names for "Thomas Didymus" -- "twin-twin." In the Syriac tradition the apostle is dubbed Judas, and is distinguished from other Judases (such as Judas Iscariot and Judas, son of Jacob) by calling him the twin. And, in the Acts of Judas Thomas, the person of whom he is the twin-- corporeal, or spiritual, or allegorical?-- is Jesus.
Interestingly, John, the most "spiritual" of the gospels and the only one in which the role of Thomas is at all developed, was always a favorite of Gnostic groups. Partly for that reason, it was slow to be accepted into the canon. Scholars widely agree that the writer of that gospel was well acquainted with Gnosticism and had perhaps been a Gnostic himself at some time. Although his is the most spiritual gospel, it repeatedly knocks down the Gnostic notion that Jesus was a man temporarily occupied by the Spirit; Jesus, he affirms, was Christ the Lord.
Mark 6:3 and Matthew l3:55 list a Judas (or Jude) -- a common Jewish name -- as one of the four brothers of Jesus, but nowhere in the canon is it suggested that this Judas was a disciple. Indeed, this Judas, like other members of the family, is described as unimpressed by Jesus. Two of the scriptural lists of the Twelve include a Judas in addition to Iscariot, but Thomas is also found in the same lists. Some scholars have identified him with the author of the Epistle of Judas (or Jude), who calls himself "brother of James" (presumably referring to James the brother of Jesus), but the second-century writer of that letter is widely thought to have claimed kinship with James to give more authority to his message. As one New-Testament scholar has pointed out, "If the quest for the 'historical Jesus' is difficult, the quest for the 'historical relations of Jesus' is nigh impossible."
In the stories of the AJT Jesus and Thomas are often mistaken for each other. This brotherhood, this twinship with Jesus, immediately points to one of the dominant themes in the Thomas writings -- that the earthly self has a spiritual element which belongs in the spiritual realm. From Sayings attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, historian Elaine Pagels concludes that the writer meant the twinship to serve as a more general symbol, to indicate that those who recognize the divine element within themselves become just like Jesus. (The apocryphal Gospel of Philip, she writes, "makes the same point more succinctly: one is to 'become not a Christian, but a Christ.'" )
The Twelve, says the Acts of Judas Thomas, gathered in Jerusalem to decide how to carry out their master's injunction to "teach all nations." They divided the world (so far as they knew it) by lot, to determine which part each should evangelize. Thomas drew India. He resisted the mission. Indians, he said, were too hard-hearted to receive the message, and besides, he did not speak their language. Jesus appeared in a vision to reassure him: "Fear not, Thomas, because my grace is with you" Thomas still balked: "Send me, Lord, wheresoever you will, but to India I will not go."
At that time a merchant named Habban -- an emissary from Gundaphorus, a great king in India --arrived on the scene. He was looking for someone to build a palace for his ruler. Jesus pointed out Thomas to him, as a skilled carpenter and a slave whom he was willing to sell. The deal was closed, the price paid in silver, and Thomas summoned. Pointing to Jesus, Habban asked the apostle, "Is this your master," and Thomas, of course, acknowledged that Jesus was indeed his master. Thereupon the Indian informed him that he now had a new owner. The two set sail for India.