Orthodox TV: Illuminating Oriental Orthodox Theology in the Modern World
Did Saint Thomas the Apostle really travel to India in the 1st century and establish Christian communities there? Or is this just a later legend? In this video, we explore one of the most fascinating and ancient traditions of Christian history: the mission of Saint Thomas in India.
This tradition is especially important to the Saint Thomas Christians (Nasranis) of Kerala, who have preserved, for centuries, the belief that their Church was founded by the Apostle Thomas himself. But this claim is not based on one source alone. It rests on a combination of ancient texts, early Church historians, living tradition, and historical context.
In this documentary-style episode, we examine:
• India and Kerala in the ancient world and their connections to the Roman and Middle Eastern worlds
• The ancient sea trade routes between the Roman Empire and India
• Roman coins, Jewish communities, and evidence of early contact with South India
• Who Saint Thomas (Didymus, “the Twin”) was
• The ancient Indian tradition of Thomas’s arrival around AD 52 and his martyrdom near Mylapore
• The Acts of Thomas and what it really tells us
• The testimony of early Church writers like Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome
• The Saint Thomas Christians (Nasranis) and their continuous, ancient tradition
• Syriac Christianity and the link to the Middle Eastern Church
• The tomb of Saint Thomas at Mylapore and other historical clues
• What historians can and cannot say with certainty
While there is no surviving 1st-century inscription that says “Thomas was here,” the combined literary, traditional, and historical evidence shows that the Thomas-in-India tradition is ancient, widespread, and historically plausible. It also explains how one of the oldest Christian communities in the world took root in South India long before European colonial missions.
This video does not try to turn tradition into myth or myth into propaganda. Instead, it asks an honest historical question:
What does the evidence really tell us about Saint Thomas in India?
If you’re interested in early Christianity, Church history, India’s ancient global connections, or the roots of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition, this video is for you.
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