8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the palace a king pays for is not made of stone?
In The Acts of Thomas, a lot drawn in Jerusalem sends Judas Thomas toward India. He resists the call, but the merchant Abbanes buys him as a skilled builder and takes him to King Gundaphorus. According to this early Christian story, the king expects a palace; Thomas gives the royal wealth to the poor.
The episodes mix travel, preaching, prayer and miracles with conflicts inside royal households. Mygdonia hears Thomas and chooses a life her husband Charisius opposes. King Mizdai wants the apostle's influence stopped. Alongside these struggles stands the Hymn of the Pearl, a poem about a prince who forgets who he is.
What you’ll discover
- A reluctant apostle Follow Thomas from a disputed calling into a journey of service, preaching and danger.
- The palace in heaven Explore a story that sets royal wealth against charity and spiritual treasure.
- Faith inside the household Meet Mygdonia as her response to Thomas brings her into conflict with Charisius.
- The Hymn of the Pearl Enter a poem whose prince forgets his identity, set within Thomas's prison episode.
- Miracles and mounting resistance Encounter the text's healings and talking donkey as Thomas faces growing hostility.
Is it for you?
This is for readers of early Christian writing, for lovers of ancient adventure and miracle stories, and for anyone curious about Christianity in Syria and India. Readers who want a gentle, historically exact biography of Thomas may find it less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lot sends Thomas to India
- A wedding night becomes a vow
- The palace that stands in heaven
- Mygdonia and the court of King Mizdai
- The Hymn of the Pearl
- How to read this book today
Who’s who
- Judas ThomasThe apostle who is given India by lot, resists the call, and then works as a slave, builder, healer and preacher.
- AbbanesA merchant sent by the Indian king to buy a skilled builder, who buys Thomas and brings him to India.
- King GundaphorusAn Indian king who hires Thomas to build a palace and learns that the palace he asked for is not made of stone.
- GadThe king's brother, who falls ill, sees a palace prepared in the other world and urges his brother to believe.
- King MizdaiThe ruler of another land, who sees his court and family turned toward the apostle's teaching and wants it stopped.
- MygdoniaA noble woman and wife of Charisius, who hears Thomas preach and chooses a new life against her husband's wishes.
- CharisiusA kinsman of the king and Mygdonia's husband, who fights to win back his wife and his honor.
- TertiaThe king's wife, who hears Thomas and is drawn to him, setting the royal household at odds.
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The Acts of Thomas
by Anonymous· 225
An apostle travels to India to preach and perform miracles.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A lot sends Thomas to India
The story opens in Jerusalem. The apostles divide the lands of the world among themselves by casting lots, so that each will carry the message to one region. India falls to Judas Thomas. He refuses to go. He says he is weak and a Hebrew, and he does not know the Indian lands or their language.
The Lord appears to him in a vision at night and tells him not to be afraid, promising that grace will go with him. Thomas still resists and says that the Lord may send whom he likes, but not him. The scene shows an apostle who is reluctant, not a hero from the start. It also gives the book its first idea, that a calling is not always welcome.
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What is the Acts of Thomas about?
It tells how the apostle Judas Thomas is sent to India, serves a king as a builder, heals and preaches, and draws followers away from marriage and wealth.
What is the Hymn of the Pearl?
It is a poem inside the Acts of Thomas about a prince sent to Egypt to bring back a pearl. He forgets his origin, is awakened by a letter and returns home. Many read it as a picture of the soul.
Is the Acts of Thomas in the Bible?
No. It is an early Christian text outside the New Testament. Some church leaders linked it with groups that taught strict abstinence, and it was left out of the approved lists of books.
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