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,
The Lives o
the Twelve Apostles
SifftonPeter
We
know
more about Peter than
we do any
of
the other of the
. original Twelve Apostles.
He
ran a
successful fishing business with his
brother. They lived first in
Bethsaida
and then
in Capemaum.
His original name was Simon
ben
jonas,
butjesus
re-named him,
Peter, meaning rock Peter had a
struggle with being stedfast and
stable in his faith in Christ. He
would sometimes sway from one
position
to
its opposite. "He turned
from
trust
to doubt, Mt. 14:28,30;
from open
profeSSion of
Jesus as the
Christ, to
rebuking
that
very Christ,
Mt. 16:16,22;
from a
vehement
declaration
of
loyalty to base
denial, Mat.
26:33-35,
69-75; from
'by no means
shalt thou
wash
my
feet
ever, to not
my feet only
but
also my hands and
head,'
jn.
n8 9 --- Nevenheless,
by the grace
and
power
of
the Lord
this changeable Simon was
transformed into a true Peter."
Hendriksen. Besides writing I arid II
Peter,
he
was probably Mark's
source
of
information for his Gospel;
hence the reason for the early
church
referring
to
Mark
as
"Peter's
interpreter."
Peter's house in Capemaum was
the headquaners of jesus' Gallilean
ministry. He always heads the lists
of
apostles,
and
was probably the
spokesman for the Twelve.
With
James and John, Peter formed an
inner circle ofthree around Jesus,
who alone was allowed to
accompany jesus into the house for
the raising ofJairus's daughter from
the dead, to the Transfiguration and
to share in the agony of the Garden
of Gethsernane. Peter was beaten for
preaching the gospel, walked on the
water, identi
fie
d jesus as "the Christ
the
So
n of
th
e living God," and
played a major role in the book of
Acts
in
the evangelization of the
Jews and then of the Gentiles.
He
was entrusted with the arrangement
for the Last Supper. When Judas
betrayed jesus and the soldiers
arrested Him , Peter tried to defend
Him with his sword; but after the
arrest, he played the part of a
coward, when
he
denied jesus three
times with blasphemy, being
intimidated
by th
e question of a
young girl.
Peter played such an important
role in the early church that, besides
the information on him in the New
Testament,
five
documents from the
early centuries of the church are in
existence on the life and ministry of
Peter: (1). "The Proclamation of
Peter," probably Egyptian in origin
in the second century;
(2).
"The
Apocalypse of Peter" from the
second century;
(3).
"The Gospel of
Pete
r
also from the same period and
p
i
bly
of
Syrian origin; (4). "The
Acts
of
peter
,
from Asia in
th
e
4
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THE COUNSEL
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l December,
996
,
second century; and (5). "The
History
of
Peter and Paul" .
circulating in the t )ird century.
The turning point in Peter's life
was the appearance of Jesus to him
after His resurrection, and jesus'
threefold ques ti
on
and commission
to him to "feed
My
sheep." From
th
e Day of Pen ee
OS
on Peter was a
great preacher in the Church, facing
without
fe
ar persecution and
punishment for the cause
of
Christ,
and doing
so
with courage and
humilit
y.
Remember his great
sermon to Cornelius the centurion at
Caesarea: I
most
certainly
understand that
God s
not
one
tD show
partiality
but
in every
nation the man
who
fears Him
and does
what
s
right is
welcome
tD Him. The
word
which
He .
sent
to
the sons
of Israel,
preaching
peace
through
Jesus
Christ He is
Lord
a
all)---you
, yoursel
ve
s know
the thing which
ok
place
throughout
all
Judea, starting
from Galilee,
after the baptism which John
proclaimed. You knowo Jesus
of
Nazareth, how
God
anointed Him with
the
Hol
y
Spirit
and
power, and
how He
went about doing good, and healing
all
who
were oppressed
by
the devil; for
God was with Him.
And
w< are
witnesses of
all
the things He did both
in the land
of
the
Jews
and in
Jerusalem.
And
they also put Him
to
death
by hanging
Him on
a
cross.
God
raised
Him
up on the third
day, and
granted
that He should becomeVisible,
not to
all
the people,
but
to
witnesses
who wer
e
chosen beforehand by God,
that is,
to
us ,
who
ate and drank with
Him
after He
arose from the dead
.
And
He ordered us to preach to the
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people
and
solemnly
to testify
that
this
is the One who has been appointed by
God as Judge oj the living and
the
decu
OJ Him all
the
prophets bear witness
that through His
name
everyone
who
believes
in
Him has received Jorgiveness
ofsins".- Acts 10:34-43
Tradition dates the death of
Peter, and of Paul
as
approximately
A.D.
64, 4uring the persecution of
Christians
by
Nero Caesar, when he
was crucified upside down.
Eusibius relates that Peter's wife was
crucified before Peter and that Peter,
compelled to watch, encouraged her
with the words, "Remember the
Lord." Peter's behaVior led his jailor
to Christ. Peter requested to be .
crucified upside down because
Adam
fell
down from grace
headlong, as it were, and only the
sovereign grace of God and the
omnipotent rule of Christ can
and
will tum
life
ba.ck around in its
proper order.
ndrew
Andrew was the protokletos, i.e.,
"the first to be called" an apostle.
He was Peter's brother, and shared
in a prosperous fishing business
with him. Their home was a house
directly outside the synagogue in
Capemaum, which has been marked
by a shrine for cenrnries. Andrew
was present on the Mouth of Olives
with Peter,James and John, when
Jesus foretold the destruction.of the
temple, Mark 13:4. He was also in
the Upper Room just before
Pentecost, Acts l
Andrew was probably a diSCiple
ofJohn the Baptist,]n. 1:35-39, who
. ntroduced
him
to Jesus. After
coming to Christ, the next day
Andrew brought his brother Peter to
Christ. At the feeding of the five
thousand, Andrew brings to Jesus a
small boy with a picnic of five barley
loaves and two small fish. And just
before the Passover festival in
Jerusalem at the triumphant entry of
Jesus into Jerusalem
on
the Sunday
before His cruCifixion and
resurrection, Andrew and Philip
bring to Jesus some Greeks who
wanted to see Him. "Andrew once
again seems to have been the willing
witness and missionary, introdUcing
first his own brother, Peter,
then
the
boy with the loaves and flshes, and
finally a Gentile delegation to Jesus.
--- Compared with his bombastic
brother, Andrew emerges as a
sensitive and approachable man
who always had time and patience
to listen to inquiries, even from
children and foreigners. He was a
selfless
and
considerate man, who
did not resent the leadership
of
his
brother. -- Although himself a Jew,
he enabled Greeks to meet Jesus and
he has been called the first 'home
missionary' as well as the first
'foreign' missionary of the Christian
Church."- Ronald Brownrigg, THE
TWELVE
APOSTLES,
london,
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974),
pg.46f.
Eusebius, the great church
historian of the third century, agrees
with the early tradition that Andrew
missionary endeavors took him to
Scythia, Le., "the wild steppelands
beyond the Carpathians and the
Caucasus, that is, the territory to the
north-east of the Roman Empire,
which is today part of SOUtll
Russia--beyond the Danube and
north of the Black
Sea.
"- Brownrigg,
pg. 47. The Scythians were
unciVilized barbarians, and
according to Josephus, "little
different from wild beasts." It is
interesting that Peter's first epistle
was to towns bordering on Scythia
to the south
of
the Black
Sea
.
The story of Andrew's
martyrdom in Greece exists in
several ancient texts. He was IU'st
beaten
and then
crucified
on
a cross
in the shape
of
an
X.
His hands and
feet were tied to the cross not
nailed. so that his deatll would be
long and torturous with the hope
that he would be eaten alive
by
dogs.
Tradition and legend link
Andrew witll Scotland. In the
seventh centmya monk
named
Regulus, went through a box of
bones and relics of Andrew in
Constantinople, where Andrew's
coffin was transferred in the fourth
century. He took some
of
these
bones with him on his westward
journey to the coast of Fife, (now in
Scotland), where he conVinced
Nechtan,
th
e newly converted king
of
the Piets, that these bones were
really the relics of Andrew the
Apostle. Regulus became the first
Bishop at 51. Andrews Church, and
the ruins
of
this magnificent
church
can still be seen in the most ancient
university town
of
Scotland.
The Picts and the English were at
war
in
those days. The
night
before
the battle Andrew was supposed to .
have visited Hungus, another king
of the Picts, to promise him victory
in
battle. "'On the follOwing day,'
Wlites William Barclay
of
Glasgow,
'a shining cross was seen in the sky
straight above the aIDlY
of
the Picts,
not unlike the same cross that the
apostle died on. The cross vanished
never
out of
the sky till the Victory
succeeded to the Picts. The Picts
advanced to the battle with the cry,
St. Andrew, our patron, be our
guide They utterly defeated the
English who had
been
terrified
seeing the cross shine with awful
beams in the sky.' Since about 750,
Andrew has
been
the patron saint
of
the Scots and his white cross on a
sky-blue background has
been
their
standard."- Brownrigg, pg. 56. This
St. Andrew's cross" is the X on the
Confederate Battle Flag '
Supposedly Andrew
spoke
these
words at his crucifixion: "Hail,
precious cross You have been
consecrated by the body of my Lord,
and adorned with His limbs as rich
jewels. I come to you exulting and
glad. Receive me with joy
into
your arms, good cross, you have
received
beauty
from our Lord's
limbs. -- Receive me into your
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to them right
in the
middle of their
celebration: "Men of Ephesus,
You ...have remained to this day
unchanged towards
the
true
religion, and are
being
corrupted by
your ancient rituals. How many
miracles and cures of diseases have
you seen performed through me?
And yet you are blinded in your
heans, and canllot recover your
Sight. What is it then, men of
Ephesus? I have ventured' to come
up now
into this very idol-temple of
yours, I will convict you of being
utterly godless and dead through
human reasoning. See, here I stand.
You all say that you have Anemis as
your goddess; so pray in her name
and I and I alone, may die; or if you
cannot do this, then I alone will call
upon
my own God and because of
your unbelief I will
put
you all to
death.'
"And wbenJohn was saying this,
all of a s\:ldden the altar of Artemis
split into many pieces, and all the
offerings laid
up
in the temple
suddenly fell to
the
floor.., and so
were mor.e than seven images; and
half the temple fell down, so that the
priest was killed at one stroke as the
roof came down. Then the
assembled Ephesians cried out,
There
is but one God, the God of
John ' Nld the people rising from
the ground went running and threw
down the rest of
the
temple, crying'
out,
The
God of john is the only
God we know; from now on we
worship Him, since He has
had
mercy on us.'''- Brownrigg, pg. 118f.
His linal prayer
and
death has
been described simply
in
an ancient
document entitled, "The Acts of
john": "'And grant
me
to finish my
way to Thee preserved from .violence
and insult, receiving what Thou has
promised to them
that
live purely
and love Thee alone.' And having
sealed himself in every part,
standing thus, he said, Be Thou .
with me, Lord Jesus Chlist'; and he
lay down in the trench where he had
spread out his clothes; and he said
to us, 'Peace
be
with you, my
brethren,' and gave up his spirit
rejoicing."-Brownrigg, pg. 122.
hilip
The names of Philip and
Bartholomew are linked in the New
Testamem, yet we do not know
much at all abou t them. jolm s
Gospel describes several incidents
involving them both, from which we
can come to some estimate of their
characters and personalities. Philip
lived
in
Bethsaida for a time.
As
soon
as
he
responded to jesus call
to discipleship, he brought
Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus
with the words: We have found
Him of
whom
Moses in the law and
also the prophets wrote, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph ,
jn.
1:45.
In
fact he, like Andrew, was
always bringing people
to
jesus,
jn.
12:21,22; 6:5,7; 14:8,9. The New
Testament
not
only identifies Philip
as "the apostle," it also calls him "the
deacon" and "the evangelist." As
other of the apostles, Philip was
probably a diSciple ofJohn the
Baptist, because Jesus called
him
from the crowds on the banks of the
jordan
River where John was
baptiZing.
Philip is mentioned
in
connect ion with jesus' feeding of the
live thousand. He appears
to
have
been the one responsible for the .
arrangements and the provisions for
the meal. He was staggered at the
idea of feeding such a crowd, when
Jesus suggested buying bread for all
of them.
DuringJesus' final visit to
jerusalem before His death, some
Greeks had come for the Passover.
They approached Philip
and
asked:
Sir, we wish to see jesus . Philip
and
'
Andrew
brought
them to jesus. The
apostle,
john,
records Philip's words
in the Upper Room at the Last
Supper. After Jesus reassures His
disciples that wherever He is they
will be also, and promising them: I
am the way, and the truth, and the
. ife; no one comes to the Father but
by me. f you had known me, you
would have
known
my Father also;
henceforth you
know
Him and have
seen Him, Philip asks, Lord, show
us the Father, and we shall
be
satisfied. Jesus answers Philip:
Have I been with you so long, and
yet you do not
know
me , Philip? He
who has seen me has seen the
Father. ..he who loves me will be
loved by
my
Father, and I will love
him and manifest myself to him,
john
14.
. Philip is
mentioned in
Acts 6, 8,
and 21, first as one of
the
deacons
called to distribute daily charity to
the Hellenistic widows in Jerusalem,
second as a successful evangelist
in
Samaria and Caesarea, 8: 12f. He
was a man of good repute, full of the
Spirit
and
wisdom. In Acts 8 Philip
is sent to the chariot of the chief
treasurer of
the queen
of Ethiopia on
his way from
jerusalem
to Gaza.
The eunuch was reading the book of
Isaiah, which he could
not
fully
understand until Philip became
expounding it
to
him, telling him
the good news ofJesus. The eunuch
believes injesus
and
Philip baptizes
him.
Some fourth century documents
link the ministries of Philip and
Bartholomew in Hierapolis. They
also speak of Philip's preaching
in
Athens, and of his martyrdom.
Bartholomew
Nathaniel)
Nathaniel and Bartholomew fon.n
the personal
name
and the
patronymic naine, (I.e., a name
derived from one's father), of
the
same
man.
Nathaniel means
in
Hebrew "God has given,"
and
Bartholomew comes from the Greek
form of
the
Aramaic "Son of
Ptolemy, (Tolmai)." However,
jerome suggested that Bartholomew
might be descended from Talmai,
rather
tban
Tolmai, who was king of
Geshur, mentioned in II Samuel 3;3.
This Talmai bad a daughter who
married King David and became the
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mother of Absalom. f erome is
correct, then one of the tWelve had a
royal pedigree
One
thousand years
old, and was
a
descendant of King
DaVid.
The story
of
Nathaniel's
conversion to Christ is a fasCinating
one. It is recorded
inJohn
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condemnation and death at the
hands of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Another source relates that
he
died a
martyr's death
in
some far-off land
of cannibals, after a series of
hair-raising adventures.
The legend of his martyrdom is a
fascinating one. t is found
in
"The
Acts
of
Matthew" quoted
by
Brownrigg, pg. 157f--King
Phu1banus of the city of Myrna, "the
city of man-eaters," his wife
Phulbana, and their son Phulbanos
with his wife, Erba, were all
demon-possessed. Matthew was
preaching in this evil and danger9us
city.
He
came to the city gate and
met with the king, his wife and his
son. The demons within them
screamed out
and
threatened
Matthew that they would rouse the
king against him. But Matthew
preached to them and cast oUt
the
demons. He baptized the queen
and
the rest of the fanti1y, and although
the king was pleased at first, but
later,
when
his wife and his family
refused to leave Matthew, out of
apparent jealousy, the king resolved
to bum him.
The king had Matthew brought
from the church to the palace, where
"they pinned
him hand and
foot
to
the earth and covered him with
papyrus soaked
in
dolphin oil, and
poured brimstone, asphalt and pitch
on him,
and
heaped up tow
and
wood. And the fire turned to dew,
and all the people praised Go.d.
Much c h r c o ~ l from the royal baths
was brought,
and
the twelve gods of
gold
and
silver were set round the
fire. The fire blazed up, and the
king said: 'Where is
now your
magic?' But all the
fire
flew
out
about
the
idols and melted
them--whose weight was 1
talents of gold. --- The fire burned
up many; soldiers, and then look the
form of a dragon and chased the
king to the palace, and curled
round
so that he could not go
in
and made
him come back to Matthew, crying
for help. Matthew rebuked the fire
with prayer, and gave up the
ghosl."- Brownrigg, pg. 157.
Thomas
"Both despondency
and
devotion
marked this man. He was ever
afraid that he might lose his beloved
Master. He expected evil,
and
it was
hard
for
him
to
believe good tidings
when
they were brought to hil)1. Yet
when
the risen Savior in all His
tender, condescending love, revealed
Himself to him,
i t
was
he
who
exclaimed, My Lord and my God,
In. 11:16; 14:5; 20:24f; 21:2."
Hendriksen
The Gospel of John refers to him
on
four occasions
as
Thomas, who is
called Didymus,
In.
11:16; 20:24;
21:2. Furthermore, John mentions
four occasions where the presence of
Thomas is significant to the Gospel
story,
and
from which passages we
can learn a great deal about Thomas'
character.
The First Occasion. When Jesus
heard of
the
serious illness of his
dear friend, Lazarus, and decided to
travel all the way back to Bethany to
see him, Thomas was frightened,
because
he
knew that Bethany was
only two miles from Jerusalem;
and
there was great danger awaiting
Jesus in Jerusalem. But fearful and
pessimistic that he was, Thomas was
al
so
a man ofloyalty to Christ
and of
courage for
he
said to the other
diSciples: Let us also go, that we may
die with him.
The Second Occasion. In the
Upper Room at the Last Supper on
the Thursday evening just before
Jesus ' crucifIXion, Jesus was
preparing His apostles for His
comiug death, saying to them: And
when
I go
and prepare
a place for
you,
[ will come
again and
tal , you
to
myse
lf,
that
where
I
am you
may be
also.
And
you know the way where 1
am going, John 14:3-4. Thomas at
once interrupted him, Lord, we do
not know where
you
are going; how
can we know the way,Jn. 14:5. It
was not
as
though the others knew
any more than Thomas, bW
he
was
not the sort to let his master get
away with something
that
he,
Thomas, did
not
understand. No
doubt Christians should be thankful
for TIlDmas' question, which evoked
such an answer--Jesus said to him, '[
am the way, and the truth
,
and the life;
no
One Comes to the Father but by Me.'-
In. 14:6"- Brownligg, pg. 178.
The Third
Occasion. This took
place once again in
the Upper
Room, but after the resurrection of
Jesus. Thomas had
not
been with
the others on the evening of the day
Jesus was raised from the dead,
when
the risen Jesus carrie
to
them.
When
they re ported to Thomas
what had
happened,
Thomas found
it vety difficult to believe them,
he
was grieving so over the death of
Jesus. His reply to them was "Unless
I see in
his
hands
the
p int of his nails,
and placemy finger in the mark of the
nails,
and place
my
hand
in
his
side, I
will
not
believe,
In.
20:25.
One
week later all the diSCiples
were together again
in
the Upper
Room and this time Thomas was
present. Although the doors were
barred for fear
of
the Jewish
authorities, Jesus appeared in the
room. Jesus called Thomas over to
touch his scars, exhorting him do
not be faithless, but believing. "In
that
moment
Thomas
must
have
seen both the body on the cross,
hanging by hands and feet, the side
opened by
the
soldier's spear, AND
his living friend
and
master.
As
these two figures fused together, so
Thomas leapt the gap between the
loyalty to a friend
and
an
adOring
fai th
in
that friend as God Himself.
His doubts disappeared and he
identified his friend as
both
My Lord
and
my God
The Fourth Occasion. Thomas
was among the seven disCiples who
went fishing in the Lake of Galilee
after the resurrection ofJesus. At
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dawn Jesus met them on the shore,
after they had landed a miraculous
catch
of
fish. Thomas is mentioned
only second to Simon Peler in this
final post,resurrection story of Jesus.
He expressed no doubts
t is
time
but
was by now a highly respected
and integrated member of the
company. - Brownrigg,pg, 178.
But why is Thomas referred to by
John as omas who is called
Didymus? The word, Didymus, is
not surname
l
-but aGreek
translation
of
the Hebrew,
Thomas. Both names mean
twin.
Apparently. his real name is
unkPown, bUt'among the Jews he
was called Thomas and among the
r e e ~ Christians he was called'
Didymus. Both names are
nickPames with the same meaning
in
different languages, although both
names were also used very early as
surnames.
Ancient Syriac documents and
Edessan legends give thomas the
surname Judas the Twin.
f
they
are correct, then who was his twin
brother? The reference to Judas as
'the twin' would imply that the other
'twin' was the more important of the
two.
On
the face oEit, this could
only have been
one of
the more
important of the twelve apostles, but
they would,seem to be all excluded.
With
brothers of Bethsaida, the ,sons
of
Zebedee
and
the sons of
Alphaeus, the name of udas is not
mentioned;
no r
,could
it
have been
Nathaniel Bartholomew, for he
already had asingle.patronymic (son
ofTalmai). -Brownrigg, .pg. 180.
So
then, who,was the more
important t w i n .
The Syriac Acts of Thomas give
a surprising answer, it relates a
similarity between Jesus and '
Thomas
both
in their physical
appearance and in their ministry,
thus linking the Edessan Christians
with their founder Judas Thomas
with Judas, the brother
of
JeSus,
whQ may have been the author of
the Epistle of Jude. Whereas, we
kPow for certain Jesus and Thomas
were not literally twins, for that
would contradict the Biblical
doctrine of the virgin bir th of Christ.
However, perhaps there was a
twin-like Similarity between Jesus
and Thomas because they were
brothers, which is perfectly possible
since the Bible, as over agaihSt
Romanism, doeS
not
teach the
perpetual chastity of Mary, who had
other children, with Joseph, after the
virgin birth of Jesus. In medieval
times Thomas was described as
, simillimus sal.Jatori, because he was
likest our Savior, either physically
or spiritually. Therefore it is
possible to accept the brotherhood
or similarity but not his natal '
twinship with Jesus. Judas
Thomas can then be identified with
the Judas mentioned by Mark and
Matthew: Is not this the carpenter's
son? Is not his mother called Mary?
Are not his brothers James and
Joseph and Simon and Judas? And
, ate
not
all his sisters with us? Mat.
l3:5Si.
Concerning the travels of
Thomas, there are two traditions.
Origin of Alexandria quoted by ,
Eusebius
of
Caesarea, relates the '
story that Thomas sent to Parthia
and to Edessa in Persia
Mesopotamia, between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers. A second
tradition takes Thomas all the way
to south India'preaching the gospel.
Isidore of Seville, at the
tum
of '
, the sixth century,says 'ThisThomas
preached the Gospel of Christ to the
Parthians, the Medes, the Persians,
, the Hercanians and the
Bactrians---and to the lndians of the
oriental region and penetrating the
innermost regions, Sealing his
preaching
by
his passion, he died
transfixed with a lance at Calamina,
a city of India,
and
there was buried,
with honor. '- Brownrigg .pg. 188.
Third century documents exist
which reveal that Thomas was used
10 TH
COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon
December,
1996
to convert several kings and queens
in India. Arrilenia ,convertedby '
Gregory th muminator in the third
century. claims to have received the
gospel from Bartholbni.ew and
Thomas.
There are in face three traditions
linking Thomas with three different
parts
of
India: with the Punjab
On
the upper reaches of the Indus in the
, northwest, with the Coromandal .
coast and the cities
of
Madras and
Mylapote in the east, and finally
with the Kenda (Malabar) coast on'
the southwest..
..
This last tradition
is not basedon any early'
documentary evidence put upon the
strong oral family traditions handed
down to succeeding generatiohS of
the 'St. Thom:'s Christiatls: as they
,call' themselves to this day
. -
Brownrigg, pg. 194. (The gothic
cathedral ofSt. Thomas in the
suburbs of Madras. India, enshrines
the traditional tomb of the Apostle
Thoma;;.)
When the Portuguese landed (in
India) in the i x t e e n t h c e n t ~ r y they
recorded the traditions and customs
of the Christians,
whom
they follnd .
south of Goa Both Christians 'and
Hindus.
toldM
tne preaching
o ...
Thomas, who
had
converted ~ a n y
of
the ' r a h m ~ . . . .
thomasis
',sald
to
have established Christian
I comrilUnities in
e v ~
different
localities
ir,t
Mah bar.:- Brownrigg,
pg.194:
. . ' .
The memory of the apostle is
still kept alive in the minds of the St.
Thomas Christians by their
traditional songs, recording the
explOits of their founder: ...while
the martiage songs---sungby
Hindus at Christian feasts and
martiageS---extol the coming;
teaching and martyrdom of .
Thomas
.
- Brownrigg, pg. 194.
(TO BE CONTINUED)