2011/11/05 by Przemysław Turek · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #African history and culture analysis #Historical and Linguistic Studies #SAINT #Apostle #Liturgy #Gospel #Martyr #Christianity #History #Early Christianity #Theology #Ancient history #Art #Classics #Philosophy #Art history #Archaeology
paper · pdf · doi:10.15633/ochc.1038
openalex publication_date 2011/11/05 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
According to the anonymous Syriac apocryphal Acts of Thomas from the first half of the 3rd century, the apostolic mission to India began during the first half of the first century CE. Thomas the Apostle himself is supposed to bring the Gospel to India’s king and eventually to die as a martyr in South India near Madras. As mentioned in the Indian tradition, St Thomas did not travel directly to Madras but made landfall in the coastal region of Kerala. The historical sources mentioned the existence of an ancient group of Christians from Kerala, traditionally called Saint Thomas Christians, since the end of the 2nd century. We have no detailed information about Christianity in Kerala in the first three centuries. One could only speculate what language was used in prayers (most probably Aramaic, and later Syriac), what the early liturgy looked like (doubtless similar to the early Christian one).