More Acts of the Apostles

 

There were12 apostles but only Phillip and Peter, James and John are somewhat covered in the Acts of the Apostles.  Paul gets most of the story from Acts 8 on.  Phillip converts a lot of people in Samaria, then an Ethopian Eunuch.  The church in Jerusalem gets organized in previous chapters and then in Acts 10 Peter converts a family of Greco-Romans.  But there are huge gaps of time.  In Galations, Paul tells about how there was a 17-year period from the time he saw the light and his first missionary journey. His trusted doctor, Luke records his journeys.  What were the other disciples doing?

            They were traveling.  Few or no written records were left behind.  Yet substantial Christian communities seemed to spring up.  However, there are 3 travels in which we have true historic records from royal scribes who dutifully recorded events—Armenia, Ethiopia and Kerala.

Jude Thaddeus and Nathaniel Bartholomew (full names. Gospels often use only first or last names in narrative) struck off north and made it to the country of Edessa where they healed the king of leprosy.  The story goes that the king had sent a messenger to Jesus during his ministry and begged the Healer from Galilee to come stay with him but Jesus replied negatively, sending the messenger back with a message that after his death he would send someone to heal the king.  When this exactly happened the king converted and so did his family.  Jude and Nathaniel may have been brothers(scholars disagree). Edessa had connections to Armenia where they went next. They witnessed to the king and reportedly converted 60,000 people in a decade. But another Armenian king arose and killed  Jude who was flayed (skinned alive).  Later, another evangelist, Gregory converted King Tiridates III.  By 301, the Armenian nation, isolated in western modern Turkey and the Caucasus mountains, became the first country with a Christian majority.

  Matthew Levi, perhaps the son of a priest who had rebelled and colluded with Romans and became a tax collector wrote the most Jewish of the gospels.  It is speculated that he was rather impulsive, perhaps joining the Romans first and then Jesus suddenly.  Matthew had a somewhat tarnished reputation having been a tax-collector.  After writing his gospel, he headed south to Ethiopia where he found the eunuch Phillip had baptized. The Eunuch had spread the news among this nation which was partially Jewish (from Solomon’s era), part pagan. Matthew healed the king’s son and the family became believers.  But when the king died, the king’s brother disliked Christianity and lusted after one of the king’s daughters who had pledged herself to virginity in order to learn the faith.  He battled Matthew and had him killed by an assassin.  Then he pressured the girl into being his wife and queen.  When she refused, he set the compound where she lived on fire but a powerful wind drove the flames to the palace and nearly killed the king. When he died the son who had been healed from near death became king and Ethiopia gradually became Christian under royal encouragement.

Records of Armenia and Ethiopia are somewhat sketchy but not the amazing story of Thomas  “the twin” Didymus from Kerala, India. He was, as in the Gospel of John, reluctant to go anywhere and always seems a bit of a skeptic.  According to an apochrophyl book, he had a dream where Jesus told him to go to India and announce as an architect (which was perhaps his trade).  He arrived in Kerala province (SW India, south of Mumbai) in 52 AD, a firm date by royal records.  The prince was elated and wanted a palace built with Roman detailing.  He hired Thomas as a westerner to build it, then left for 2 years.  Thereupon,Thomas did a weird thing.  He took the money he was supposed to spend on the building and gave it away to the poor.  The prince came back, horrified and betrayed that he had no palace. Thomas told him it is in heaven The furious prince, was about to have Thomas executed. but suddenly the prince’s brother died.  At the funeral, just at the instant the pyre was to be lit to burn the body, the brother miraculously came back to life.  And he told the prince he has been to heaven and seen angels. In heaven is a palace that Thomas built for him and he must release the disciple at once.  The stunned prince converted when Thomas shared the gospel.   Thomas healed and preached then headed east to the Bay of Bengal coast.  He converted the wife of a raja who thereupon refused him sex until he converted also.  The raja had Thomas flayed and so he too died as a martyr.

Other stories of the apostles are just word of mouth and recorded later, thus are easy for scholars to pass off with skepticism. But these 3 incidents, all improbable by modern standards, were dutifully recorded by official palace scribes. And what is impossible to argue is that these 3 widely scattered nations had Christian believers from very early on—an astonishing occurance. Next week, His Story will consider the stories from other places which claim an apostle visited them.