Who was the doubting apostle?

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

	St. Thomas the Apostle When: died c. 72 Where: Palestine, possibly Iran or India Feast: July 3 Patron: India, East Indies, Pakistan, surveyors, carpenters and architects

An old saying holds that seeing is believing. That certainly was true for Thomas the Apostle, who has been known for centuries by Christians as "doubting Thomas."

He earned this name on Easter. Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared, and he refused to believe Jesus had risen. He would not believe, he said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands, unless I put my finger into the place where the nails were, and my hand into his side."

Eight days later, Jesus appeared again and told Thomas to touch his hands and side and believe. Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" - the only time in the gospels Jesus is explicitly called "God." Jesus then, responded, "You have come to believe because you saw me. Blessed as those who have not seen and have believed" (Jn 20:24-29).

Who was Thomas? How did he become an apostle? We know little about him, other than he was a Jew, whose name means "twin." There is no story of how he was called, but he is listed as one of the Twelve in Mt 10:3, Mk 3:18, Lk 6:15 and Acts 1:13.

Still, Thomas has a prominent place in the life of Christ. In addition to his well known doubt, Thomas is featured three other times. The first is when Jesus learns of the death of Lazarus and wishes to return to Judea, where he had narrowly escaped being stoned to death. When the other disciples express their fear, Thomas says: "Let us go also, so that we may die with Jesus" (Jn 11:7-16).

Then, at the Last Supper, after Jesus says he is going to the Father and they are to follow because they know the way, Thomas asks, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" To which Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." (Jn 14:3-6).

Finally, Thomas is among the disciples fishing on the sea of Tiberias when, for the last time in John's Gospel, Jesus appears to them after his resurrection, leading to a large catch of fish (Jn 21:1-14).

Just as we don't know anything about Thomas before he became a disciple, we know nothing with certainty about his role in the early church. The historian Eusebius (d. ca. 339) says Thomas preached to the Parthians in what is now Iran.

But the strongest tradition holds that he preached in India where he met martyrdom by a spear near Madras. His relics were reportedly moved in 394 to Edessa, Syria, and finally to Ortona, Italy, but Indian Christians maintain that he is buried near St. Thomas Cathedral, where he was martyred.

Did he make it to India? It's not known for sure, but when Portuguese missionaries arrived in the 16th century they were met by a group of Christians who said their community was started by Thomas.

Several writings are attributed to Thomas, but none are accepted in Christian scriptures.