Thomas Didymus
Thomas earned the doubter name because he always looked on the gloomy side of things. He found it hard to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead because he was not present when Jesus made his appearance on the evening of the resurrection. When the others told Thomas, he made his famous statement: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Eight days later when Jesus appeared again, Thomas was convinced, "My Lord and my God."
The hardheaded insistence of facts made the others call him doubting Thomas. Doubter he was, a man slow to make up his mind, one truly born with a thirst for honest inquiry and one who dearly loved a fact - yet once doubts were resolved, his loyalty was simple, fixed and unshakable. Thomas foresaw nothing but disaster, he wheeled on his companions and snapped, 'Let us also go! That we may die with him.' Their hearts were heavy, but they backed up Thomas, all of them, from John to Judas.
Thomas is believed to have preached in Parthia, in Persia, and in India. They say that Thomas was a builder and helped to build a palace in India. St. Thomas is called the apostle of India, and is said to have founded the Christian communities in India who still call themselves by his name. This may be a mistake, there was another Thomas who was a Manichee. Origen says that the Apostle preached in Parthia.
The builder's square and the spear, the instrument of his death are his emblem. Another version of the story is that Thomas spent the money for the poor instead of using it to build the royal palace. When the King demanded his palace, Thomas told him that God had prepared one for him in heaven. Exiting the rage of the pagan priests Thomas was martyred by being thrust through with a spear and said to have been buried at Edessa. His grave was shown at Edessa, in the 4th century.
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Thomas Didymus was one of the twelve disciples. It has been conjectured that Thomas was the twin brother of Matthew, and was originally called Jude; and that Jude was the son of James the Less, and therefore grandson of Alpheus. Some legends make Thomas the twin of James. Thomas whose other name is Didymus, in Greek "the twin".
[309, 325, 330, 331, 18, John 20]
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