The Acts of Thomas is one of several ancient writings known as the acts of the apostles. These writings share three main features:
They tell how the apostles spread the good news (the Gospel) across the ancient world.
They highlight the actions and teachings of one specific apostle.
They usually describe that apostle’s death as a martyr (someone who dies for their faith).
The oldest of these acts are about Paul, John, Andrew, Peter, and Thomas. The Acts of Thomas, like the others, combines Christian devotion, popular Greek-style stories (called romances), and moral teachings similar to Jewish haggadic stories (traditional tales that explain or teach moral lessons).
When Was the Acts of Thomas Written?
Scholars believe that the Acts of Thomas was written at the beginning of the third century AD. It was first written in Syriac (a language related to Aramaic). The author likely had Gnostic beliefs (a movement that taught salvation through secret spiritual knowledge).
The book became popular among Gnostics, Manichaeans (followers of a Persian religious teacher named Mani), and in the wider church. It was translated from Syriac into Arabic, Armenian, and several Greek versions. From these Greek texts, it was later translated into Coptic, Latin, and Ethiopic. Some Coptic parts were even translated back into Arabic, Ethiopic, and Greek. This complex pattern created a confusing history of the text.
Only one complete early Syriac copy still exists, but it may be less reliable than some of the Greek translations that survive today.
What Is the Structure and Content of the Acts of Thomas?
In 1962, scholar A. F. J. Klijn published a critical English edition of the Acts of Thomas. In this edition, the story is divided into 13 main sections called acts (from the Greek word praxeis, meaning “deeds” or “actions”). These 13 acts make up 170 short chapters. The first act tells how the apostles received their different regions to share the good news. The book ends with the death of the apostle Thomas as a martyr.
The stories contain various liturgical pieces, sermon fragments, and hymns. This includes two particularly famous hymns used in the early church: the “Song of the Bride” (act 1) and the “Song of the Pearl” (act 9). The first six acts are not connected by a single theme. They tell how Thomas boarded a ship to travel to India (act 3). This suggests his ministry was in southern India. However, one part describes his work with a northern Indian ruler named Gundaphoro (act 4). Acts 7 through 13, along with the story of Thomas’s death as a martyr, take place in the southern Indian kingdom of Mazdai. These final acts appear to have been written by the same author.
The first six acts probably come from earlier stories that the writer of the last seven acts and the story of Thomas’s death later added to his book.
Thomas's Mission to India
This work gives the earliest known account that Thomas served as a missionary in India, was killed there for his faith, and that his bones were later taken to Edessa (a city in ancient Mesopotamia). Like other apocryphal acts of the apostles, the Acts of Thomas assumes that the world was divided into regions, and each apostle was sent to share the good news in one of them. Thomas was given India.
In the Acts of Thomas, the apostle is called Judas Thomas. This follows the Syrian way of naming him. He is described as the twin of Jesus. The word Didymus in the New Testament also means “twin.”
In these stories, Thomas receives special revelations from God and is sometimes described as Jesus appearing again in human form (in chapters 10, 11, 39, 47, and 48 of the Acts). Many historians think these are clear indications of Gnostic thought. Others think that Jesus was represented by an apostle to make him someone the readers could more easily identify with. These are frequent features in early Christian literature. Over time, editors from the established church removed most of the Gnostic and Manichaean ideas from the Greek and Latin versions of the text.
Stories and Miracles
One quickly gets a sense of how this story works. At the beginning of the Acts of Thomas, the apostle refuses to go to India. He is then sold as a slave. This parallels the coming of Christ in the form of a servant to save humankind. Thomas arrives in India as a carpenter (like Jesus) and a builder of homes. He is a groomsman in a wedding. There he performs such miracles that the flute player is convinced that Thomas is an as apostle of God. As a result, the king asks Thomas to pray for his daughter. Thomas greatly emphasizes purity in his teaching, which usually involves sexual abstinence as well. Finally, many convert to the Christian faith, including the king. Together they form a community of believers in the city of Sandaruk.
In the second act, King Gundophor gives Thomas a large amount of money to build a palace. Thomas surprises the king by drawing the palace plan on the ground during winter. Instead of building a palace on earth, Thomas gives the money to the poor, saying that he is building a palace for the king in heaven.
When Gundophor learns this, he believes Thomas has deceived him. He throws Thomas into prison and plans to have him killed. But then the king’s brother, Gad, dies and goes to heaven. There he sees the beautiful palace that Thomas built through his generosity. Gad wants to buy it for himself.
God returns Gad to life, and he asks Gundophor to sell him the heavenly palace. The king realizes that he cannot sell it and frees Thomas from prison. Thomas praises God with a hymn of thanksgiving (chapter 25 of act 2). Both brothers come to believe in Christ and ask to be baptized.
Martyrdom and Legacy
The Acts of Thomas includes many miracles and teachings that echo stories from across the New Testament, though it rarely quotes them directly. Some well-known miracle scenes are retold in new ways. For example, Balaam’s talking donkey and Peter’s escape from prison appear again in Thomas’s life, but with added details. The talking donkey enters a house and drives out a demon when Thomas commands it. Thomas amazes everyone by repeatedly walking in and out of a locked prison. Miracles, sufferings, and conversions like these fill acts 3 through 13 and continue to the climax of Judas Thomas’s ministry.
In the end, Thomas is killed with spears by four soldiers under orders from King Mazdai (chapter 168). Later, Thomas appears to his followers, who take his bones to Edessa. Meanwhile, King Mazdai’s son becomes seriously ill. Desperate for help, the king visits Thomas’s tomb, hoping to find a relic that could heal his son. When he discovers the body is gone, he takes some of the dust from where it had lain, and his son is healed. Because of this miracle, the king also becomes a believer and joins the Christian community.