Saint Thomas

Saint Thomas one of the Twelve Apostles, called Didymus. According to John, he refused to believe in the resurrection until he saw Jesus' wounds; hence the expression "doubting Thomas." John 11.16; 14.5; 20.24-29; 21.2. By tradition he is said to have gone as missionary to Parthia or India. The Syriac-rite Christians of Malabar, India, whose church was established by the 3d cent., claim St. Thomas as their founder. Among the Pseudepigrapha are a Gospel of Thomas and Acts of Thomas. In addition, a Gospel of Thomas was among the 4th-century Coptic books found at Nag Hammadi . Feast: Dec. 21.

Bibliography: See E. Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003).

Thomas, Saint One of the original 12 Apostles or disciples of Jesus Christ. He has been called ‘Doubting Thomas’ because, after the resurrection of Christ, he refused to believe that the risen Lord had indeed appeared to the other disciples (John 20). Only when Jesus appeared to him and allowed him to touch his wounds did he lay aside his doubts. According to Christian tradition, he took Christianity to India. His feast day is July 3.

Thomas, St, Apostle. He is mentioned as one of the Twelve in all four Gospels. In Jn. he appears in three episodes, namely offering to die with the Lord on the way to Bethany (11:16), interrupting the Last Discourse with the question ‘We know not where you are going, how can we know the way?’ (14: 5), and doubting the Resurrection (20: 24–8). After Christ's appearance he confesses his faith in the words ‘My Lord and my God’ and is thus the first explicitly to confess His Divinity. According to one tradition he evangelized the Parthians, according to another he preached in India. Feast day: 3 July in the RC Church, CW, and the Syrian Church; 21 Dec. in the BCP and some modern Anglican liturgies (and formerly in the RC Church); 6 Oct. in the Greek Church. See also the following entries.