Thomas-Malabar Connection & The Jewish Heritage, A Biblical & Analytical Approach

Introduction 

This short article is an attempt to view the Thomas tradition from a Biblical perspective with an analytical lens. Hence this should not be treated as a stand-alone article but must be read in conjunction with other historical information which are not stressed or cited in here. 

I. Why is it so Difficult to Believe in Thomas-Malabar Connection 

The apostle Thomas found it difficult to believe the Resurrection of his Master from death until he saw Him personally. Today modern “scholars” find it even more difficult to believe in the apostleship of Thomas to Kerala. Why is it so difficult to believe in the Kerala Christianity as started from the first century?

Even today after so many archeological evidences have come up to corroborate the Middle East connection of Malabar Coast from the BC period, so many skeptics still adamantly deny this historical fact as hoax.  It is true that tradition as such is not to be trusted unless otherwise proved to be fact supported by the other branches of knowledge.

In this article I try to see the Thomas tradition analytically from the point of view of the foundation of all knowledge; the Bible. The Biblical historical facts together with the latest archeological evidences strongly point to the Thomas tradition as a fact.  

When the Problem Started? It has become a modern scholarly fashion to deny anything and everything in the fields of literature and history. This tendency takes the force of a tornado when it comes to religion and Bible. Whatever was established as absolute truth in the past centuries have become suddenly the object of much disputation and doubts. Hence we hear great scholars claiming that Moses never existed, Joshua never existed, Isaiah never existed, Hittites never existed, gospels were not written by the apostles etc, etc. 

Even in modern times one hears that Shakespeare never wrote the plays which are credited to his name throughout the previous centuries! 

This is the modern scholarship! When one considers this “modern” phenomenon, one gets to know the real cause BEHIND this development and can pinpoint it as ……the theory of evolution!! Yes, it has revolutionized the modern scholarship so thoroughly that today whoever opposes this “theory” is considered as “uneducated”.  

This theory (which works BEHIND the modern scholarship) in history and literature goes something like this: that the modern human beings are at the latest stage of advanced evolutionary spectrum and the ancient people were not as “evolved” as we are in intellectual faculty and hence we cannot depend on their statements and historical records. 

In the Biblical textual criticism, one scholar named Julius Wellhausen changed all the previously held concepts. He claimed that Moses never wrote the Pentateuch, that in fact the Old Testament was orally transmitted fables which were recorded at different periods in time by different people and that the Pentateuch is a “synthesis” of at least four traditions (Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly and Deuteronomical). Gradually this spirit of distrust on the word of God spread to almost all the books in the Bible. 

This is in spite of the fact that Jesus Himself claimed emphatically several times that “Moses WROTE” the Pentateuch (John 5:46, Mark 10:5 as examples). So either Jesus is a liar or Wellhausen is a liar. But if Jesus is a liar then we do not have a Savior, there is no Messiah, there is no redemption, there is no Christianity and there is NO NASRANIS! Then those ancient prophets and apostles who forsook everything including their family and ultimately gave up their lives for the name of Christ were all idiots and fools! 

But the modern archeological excavations have been proving time and again that the persons, the places, the races and the incidents are as historical as what is happening today. Moreover, archaeology has proven that the art of writing was used even before Moses’ time. Moses could write the Law because he “was instructed in all the wisdom of Egyptians and was powerful in words and in works” (Acts 7:22). Remember Egypt was the super power when Moses was raised as the son for 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh (Acts 7:23). So God made sure that he got the best education available!! 

Wellhausen and Thomas 

This same Wellhausen spirit has been present in the study of Thomas Christianity in Kerala. The so called scholars simply deny the historicity of Thomas’ visit to India. But we do have many Biblical, traditional, historical and archeological evidences to support the Thomas visit. 

However the skeptical scholars give us a concession by stating that Christianity came to Kerala during the time of Portuguese, Dutch and British rules and not earlier.  

But two things refute this false claim; the name “St. Thomas Christians” and the presence of Syriac language. If the Europeans brought Christianity to Kerala, naturally the name will be either Anglican Church or Dutch church etc. and the liturgical language will not be Syriac but English or Dutch or Latin. 

Thus we can establish easily that the Kerala Christians go back even before the European missionaries. But the question is, since what time. 

II. Thomas Came to Malabar

The Bible itself claims as the sure word of God tested and proved seven times like Silver by God Himself (Psalm 12:6). It contains history, doctrines, biographies, advices, prophecies, definitions etc. So it is a good starting point for Thomas visit to Kerala. 

The New Testament Pattern 

The New Testament clearly shows that the disciples took Jesus their Master as seriously and literally. (Remember the incident of the mother of Zebedee brothers coming to Jesus and requesting for the most important positions in the Kingdom of God). Whatever He commanded them, they did.  

Initially Jesus prohibited them from proclaiming the gospel to the gentiles (Matt.10:5-6, 15:24). He commanded them to preach ONLY to the lost house of Israel. Even at the time of His ascension, He did not command them to go to the gentiles but only to the Jews and the lost house of Israel. In Acts 1:8 Jesus commands His disciples, “but you will receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you will be witnesses of Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. Indeed they did go to the ends of the world! But still, to the disciples, this “end of the earth” DID NOT include gentiles!!! 

This is contrary to the popular beliefs!

It is much afterwards (read Acts chapter 10 fully) when God through a vision to Peter opens the door to the gentiles!! Here, if you read carefully you will notice that God had to do miracles to CONVINCE the Jewish Christians who came along with Peter. Usually a person has to get baptized first and laid hands on and then only he receives the Holy Spirit. But in this case the order was REVERSED! They received the Holy Spirit first and then Peter asked them to be baptized!  

For this action, that of opening the door to the gentiles, Peter is cross examined in Jerusalem by the Jewish Christians there (Acts 11:1-3)! When the Jewish Christians came to know about this incident they get ASTONISHED (Acts 10:45/ 11:18). Why? Because it was NEVER in their mind to preach the gospel to the gentiles!! 

Even the original converts in Antioch were Jews only, NOT gentiles (Acts 11:19)! It is after Peter opened the door to the gentiles that gentiles were converted in Antioch also (Acts 11:20)! 

Even then the FIRST PREFERNCE always went to the children of Israel. The pattern was always “to the Jews first and then to the gentiles” (See Acts13:46-47, Rom 1:16, and 2:9-10, 3:2). Even at a very later stage of his life, the apostle to the gentiles, Paul gives first preference to the Jews. Read the last chapter of Acts. When Paul reaches Rome as a comparatively free prisoner he calls the elders of the Jews together in Rome to proclaim the gospel FIRST (Acts 28:17). 

Again there was another pattern of custom among the apostles. None worked among a church founded by another apostle unless it was an emergency (Rom.15:20/ 2 Cor.10:15-16). It was always the same apostle and his assistants who founded and sustained the same church. This was in line with one of the Ten Commandments; thou shall not covet anything that belongs to thy neighbor. 

We have to remember that of all the apostles, ONLY Paul and Barnabas were exclusively selected as “apostles of the gentiles” (Gal.2:9, Rom.11:13). None of the original 12 apostles were ever called in the Bible as apostles of the gentiles. They were in fact sent exclusively to the lost house of Israel (James 1:1). This does not mean that they rejected any gentile who came to Christ. They happily accepted any gentile who came into the faith. But basically and more importantly they were to search and go to the lost house of Israel including the Jews who were scattered all over the earth. 

Viewed in this way, we can know for sure that Apostle Thomas was NOT an apostle of the gentiles. I can emphatically state that Thomas came to India looking for Jews and other lost Israelites on the Malabar Coast including Mumbai and China. But like all the genuine apostles of Christ, he never rejected any gentile, but he came basically looking for Israelites. 

In the New Testament we see that Antioch and Syria was already converted by others. So it is highly unlikely that Thomas ever worked in Antioch but as history shows he went east of Syria and that will take him straight to Indo-Parthian Empire and Far East! 

Again if we can follow the Acts of the Apostles as a guideline to know how the “primitive” apostles’ style of functioning which never was contradictory, we can see that they had several missionary journeys to the same places. Read how many times Paul traveled on the same routes but each time farther and farther. On his fourth and a very long journey he reached Rome and was acquitted from death sentence (2 Tim.4:16-17). Tradition says he made a fifth and final journey to Rome and succumbed to death by beheading. 

He himself says that he wanted to travel as far as Spain (Rom 15:24). Again tradition says that he reached even unto the British Isles! And remember that the journeys into the then Europe was a dangerous affair as just about 80 years before, Julius Caesar was fighting the barbarian Germanic tribes who knew nothing but destruction and looting.  

If the apostles could travel and proclaim gospel to the barbarian countries in the far west, it was much easier for Thomas to travel Far East into a land which was civilized and friendly and which lay on the centuries old trade routes compared to the barbaric Europe. 

The fact is Thomas made several missionary journeys in to the Far East to establish new churches among the Jews and later to sustain them just like all the other apostles did. His first journey took him to Indo-Parthian kingdom of Gondophorus which lies in the North West side of present India and his second journey took him to the Malabar and Coromandel area. His third and final journey took him to China. 

Why Thomas Came to India. 

Let us forget the Evolutionary idea and grasp an important truth about these ancient people. They were more intelligent and hard working people than we are and they knew exactly what they were doing! Much of their work and writings have been hidden by time and earth or destroyed by the incessant wars and other natural calamities which continued ever after. [I do not say that they never made mistakes or that we do not need to check for any error in their works. But my point is they made mistakes ONLY AS MUCH AS we the modern people do! Today also we need to sift through original and spurious works by the current authors. There is a big difference between propagandist history and genuine history. The propagandist historian (for example a Marxist) first makes the conclusion he wants and then sift through historical information and select only those facts which suits his conclusions whereas a genuine historian first goes through the history, collects all the facts and then makes his conclusion. Both types of historians existed throughout history. We need to be careful.] 

If we study the pattern, as I said earlier, of the apostles in the New Testament and especially the Acts we see that they followed the same pattern; proclaim gospel first to the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, then to the mixed people of Samaria (Hebrews and Assyrians were mixed in Samaria) and then to the ends of the earth (where to the Jews first and then to the gentiles).  

As serious priority was given to the Jews first we can understand that Jesus and the apostles wanted to cover the Jews in the entire world wherever they could be found. Why? 

Because God made the first covenant with Israel, He prophesied He will make a second and better covenant WITH THE SAME people (Jer.31:31, 33). Unlike the first covenant which the entire Israel accepted, the second covenant was “accepted” but only by a very few not by the entire Israel. It is when they rejected the second covenant that God called the gentiles to the covenant (Matt.22:2-10). 

However it was necessary on God’s part to send the message of the second covenant to each Jewish community on the earth “for a witness” (courtesy Matthew 24:14) so that they cannot complain that they did not accept it because they did not hear it! That is why Jesus included the Israelites on the “end of the earth”. 

Is God powerful enough to do this? The answer is yes. If it is God who scattered the Israelites and Jews all over the world He knows exactly where to find them. “For, behold, I will command, and I will shake the house of Israel AMONG ALL THE NATIONS, as one shakes with a sieve; yet NOT A GRAIN shall fall to the ground” (Amos 9:9)[emphasis added]. 

Consider this as a powerful statement from God and He knows exactly what He is doing!! In order not to leave any Jews and the lost Israelites in India and Malabar Coast without hearing the gospel, God sent Thomas to India. Now the point is, were there Hebrews in Kerala? 

Hebrews in Kerala

Just like today’s Syriac Nasranis in Kerala, the Jews and the lost house of Israel were famed for their world migration known to history as the famous Jewish Diaspora. They have come to India as well. There are historical references to prove that Jews came to Kerala as early as 900 BC during King Solomon’s time. These Jews in Kerala are known as Bene Israel or the black Jews.  

The Bible shows that during the time of King Solomon in Israel, he with the help of King Hiram of Tyre made sea trading a profitable business of international trading. Solomon and Hiram made a bilateral agreement of cooperation and trade (1 Kings 5:12). Solomon had a port at Eziongeber (today’s Aquaba) (1 Kings 9:26) and had hired a fleet of ships that went to and came from both Ophir and Tarshish. There are so many varied theories regarding the locations of Ophir and Tarshish. But the general idea by majority is that the eastern Tarshish is the present Japan/China and Ophir is Sophir, the Coptic name for India. 

Wherever these locations are, what is interesting to us is that this fleet of ships was sailing along the Malabar Coast because the items brought to Solomon in these ships are almug trees, ivory, apes, peacocks etc.  

While one may argue that apes and ivory can be obtained from Africa, the peacocks and almug wood cannot be, as these are available only in India and Kerala! Almug tree is the famous sandalwood which is found only on the Malabar Coast. Let us read what the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says about this: “it was evidently a fine, close grained wood, suitable for carving. Tradition says that this was the famous sandal wood, which was in ancient times put to similar uses in India and was all through the ages highly prized for its color, fragrance, durability and texture. It is the wood of a tree, Pterocar pussantalinus (N.D. Santalaceae), which grows to a height of 25 to 30 feet; it is a native of the mountains of Malabar” (ISBE). 

It is clear that these sandal wood trees were not grown in Lebanon like the famous cedar trees because the Bible states that: “NO such almug trees have come, NOR have there been seen such to this day” (1Kings 10:12). If the sandal trees were grown in Lebanon like the cedar they could have brought BEFORE and AFTERWARDS to Israel. But it never happened as Israel could not bring sandal wood from Kerala because immediately after Solomon, the prosperous country succumbed to a great civil war which ultimately split the country in to two: Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judea. The once prosperous sea trade was stopped and the country’s economy declined so that no more sandal wood could be brought from Malabar. 

If you consider the apes and peacocks what is interesting is that the Hebrew words used for both these are not etymologically Hebrew but FOREIGN words borrowed from outside sources. The Hebrew word used for apes is “koph”. ISBE may be quoted here: “An INDIAN origin may be inferred from the fact that the Hebrew ḳōph, the Greek kḗbos (κῆβος) and the English “ape” are akin to the Sanskrit “kapi”, which is referred to the root kap, kamp, “to tremble”[emphasis added]. (Remember our Kapish cartoon stories). 

Cultural Similarities of Syrian Christians and Jews

1. Introduction
2. A brief Jewish history
3. A brief Nasrani History
4. Malabar Coast and the ancient trade links
5. The Ten lost tribes: Possibility of their arrival to Malabar Coast
6. Cultural similarities of Nasranies and Jews

1. Introduction

A travel from central to south most part of Kerala, one can find that several churches belong to Syrian Christians (Nasranies). Syrian Christians are the descendants of the early Christians baptised by St Thomas, the apostle. Caution should be used when talking about the early converts by St Thomas as many argue that it is very difficult to trace out what happened in the first century especially when there is no philological evidence to prove the arrival of St Thomas. So, the purpose of this article is not to find out how many Jews were converted in the first century or to discuss about the converts from other religions. For this reason, at this stage, the author prefers to say: “It is believed that St. Thomas travelled to Kerala in AD. 52 and preached gospel to people of several religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, Brahmin religion and other tribal religions”. Modern science has advanced enough to find out the similarities of a human gene with other world communities by analysing DNA structure. The future DNA structure analysis projects might give an answer to the aforementioned argument. Therefore, the scope of this article is only limited to discuss the Jewish cultural roots of Nasranies.

A brief history of Nasranies and Jews is necessary for setting up the background of this subject and the next two sections of this article are dedicated to do this. The fourth section discusses about the ancient connection between Malabar Coast and other foreign countries esp. the Palestine area. The fifth section is dedicated to discuss about the ten lost tribes of Jews. The sixth section focuses into the cultural similarities of Jews and Nasranies. The final section is dedicated for discussing the possibilities of Jewish links among the Nasranies and will be published later.

2. Brief Jewish history

Jewish history starts with Abraham, probably 17^th century BC. Abraham had two sons named Isaac and Ishmael. The heritage and traditions of Abraham continued through Isaac. Isaac had two sons Jacob and Esau. Jacob was his father’s descendant and he had twelve sons. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. The twelve tribes of Jews are the descendants of all these people and are known with their names.