Reconnecting With The Ancient Church / Thomas in India

 

 

"We the faithful stand fast unto death." ~Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel 2.19.4

One of the 12 statues inside the church of San Giovanni in Laterano depicts Thomas, the disciple who doubted the resurrection of Jesus and said he'd only believe if he could put his hands in the wounds Christ suffered. He's also the disciple who carried the Gospel to India.

Standing before his enormous statue, I thought back to the stories I'd heard about Thomas from our church planters in India.  According to their traditions, Thomas died of stab wounds in 72 A.D., after being attacked by the Brahman priests who feared that the Christian faith would eclipse Hinduism. 

The 3rd Century Roman, Hippolytus, certainly believed that to be true. He wrote, "And Thomas preached to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Margians, and was thrust through in the four members of his body with pine spears at Calamene, the city of India, and was buried there." - Hippolytus, On the End of the World, Chapter 49.

What pierced me was the thought that our brothers and sisters in India face the exact same threat today. It's the upper cast Brahmans who fear the rise of Christianity - a faith that declares the "untouchable," touchable and the "unworthy," worthy.

I pray God helps us continue the important work Thomas began in India.

It matters.

John 20:25b-28  -  But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"