The Acts of Thomas written in AD200 suggest that Thomas was a carpenter and a member of Jesus' immediate family. Apart from this small nugget of information, scholars know little else of his birthplace or background.

In the New Testament there are few references to the man. We learn in John 11:16 that Thomas was the only Apostle not afraid to accompany Jesus to raise Lazarus, whilst the remainder feared for their life if they visited Jerusalem.

The incident in The Bible that we most associate with Thomas, and has earned him the moniker 'Thomas the Doubter', was his response to the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. In John 20:25 Thomas is supposed to have said: "I will never believe it without probing the nailprints in his hands, without putting my finger in the nailmarks and my hand into his side."

After the Pentecost we learn from the writer, Eusebius, that Thomas preached in Osroene, which lay north of Palestine in what would now be known as eastern Turkey, and then from there he went to Armenia.

The earliest source for knowledge of Thomas' ministry in India is a Syriac document written around AD200 and titled The Acts of Thomas. Described as a historical novel and a piece of fiction written for entertainment, it is based on historical fact. Thomas was a national hero for the Christians of Osroene and they enjoyed reading about the founder of their national church. Another document attributed to the third century writer, Hippolytus, also talks of Thomas preaching in Iran and India.

When the Portuguese arrived in southern India in the 16th century, they found a flourishing Christian community who maintained that their church had been founded by St Thomas in the 1st century AD. In 1533 the Portuguese monarch directed all his missionaries to record the oral history of this community and it was soon discovered that there was a substantial body of tradition about Thomas in India. Ancient books, songs and an oral history of his teachings allow contemporary scholars to assume that there is a 50% chance that he introduced Christianity to Southern India.

The ancient Syriac document The Doctrines of the Apostles recounts that " India and all its own countries and those bordering even to the farthest sea, received the Apostles' hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was guide and ruler in the Church which he built there and ministered there."

The Acts of Thomas recounts that Thomas first appears in north India preaching in the Punjab at the court of King Gundaphorus. The text recounts that the king employed Thomas as an architect and requested that he build the ruler a palace; instead Thomas travelled the kingdom preaching and giving the money to the poor. On learning of Thomas' actions the king threatened to put him to death. He was saved by Gad, one of the king's brothers, who had had visions of the palace that Thomas had built for the king in his afterlife. The story goes on to say that both brothers requested to be baptised on the spot.

South Indian legends indicate that Thomas arrived on the Malabar coast around AD49 and in the Rabban Song, which has been handed down orally by Indian Christians over the generations, we learn more details about Thomas' work in India . The song indicates that, after arriving in South India, he went to preach in China (probably Burma and Malaysia) and on his return in AD52 he began to build churches and convert the local population.

From AD59 onward he began to travel through South India and conduct missionary tours founding Christian colonies in cities throughout the region. Between AD62-69 the Rabban Song records him baptizing over 17,000 Hindus, including king Choran of Lola and 700 of his subjects. The song also talks of the miracles he performed including the healing of lepers and restoring the sight of blind men. It is said that even the Hindus considered him a holy man.

According to the Indian traditions, Thomas died of stab wounds on July 3 AD72, after being attacked by the Brahmin priests of Mylapore who feared that the Christian faith would eclipse Hinduism.

Thomas is represented by an image of the lance which pierced and killed him at Mylapore.

Depending upon which tradition one believes, Thomas is buried in two places, Ortona (Naples) and Madras.

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