A Sahaja yogi is realized; so, he can feel

vibrations in a meditative state in thoughtless

awareness. In that state he must be able to

1
receive every information on every subject, as
Shri Mataji says:
“Unless and until you are a realized soul you cannot make it out
whether these are real or not. You have to have vibrations to see
that they emit vibrations quite strongly. A stone starts emitting
vibrations, but it has a form, it has a coefficient, so how this has
been created.
Its signal, as they call, is Ekmeva Satya (the only truth) and when
you get that knowledge, then you can tally it also. You can find
out whether if it is correct or not. This is something that has
happened to all of you and you have already got those vibrations
with which you can feel.”
Sahasrara Puja, Cabella, Italy, 07.05.2000

“Even the physical is just the same. But when you start seeing
through the vibrations what to do, is to ask the Spirit to
communicate to you and the spirit is the absolute knowledge. So,
you do not succumb to your conditioning or to your ego or to any
other training or any other guru but yourself. So, it is very
important for all of you to understand that we are not going to
take any decision on our mental level but on our vibrations.
So, on vibrations you can know everything, but those who try to
decide things without vibrations, can make mistakes, till you reach
a certain state where you don’t have to stretch your hands to ask,
just you will know. But to get to that stage you have to first of
all surrender your discretion to vibrations. Now some people don’t
have proper vibrations. Maybe their Vishuddhis are bad. They
should take proper care of their Vishuddhis.”
Ekadesha Rudra Puja, Mödling, Austria, 08.06.1988

2
“You can verify what I'm saying on your vibrations.”
Krishna Puja, Yamuna Nagar, India, 11.12.1993

“After Self- realization, the vibrations of Chaitanya begin to flow

from your hands. If a particular matter is true, then waves of cool
vibrations would start flowing into the palms; but if the same be
untrue, hot vibrations would be felt. In this manner, you are able
to know as to whether any particular matter is true or not.”
Kundalini Shakti and Jesus Christ, Mumbai, 26.09.1979

In English they say ‘the proof of the pudding is in

the eating!’ … So, let’s do what we are supposed
to do:

“Was Jesus Christ in India?”

- Before He started His mission? (Between

His 6 and 30 years.)
- After His resurrection?

3
1. A bit of history
The ‘unknown years of Jesus’ (also called his silent
years, lost years, or missing years) generally refers to the
period of Jesus's life between his childhood and the
beginning of his ministry, a period not described in the New
Testament.
In the 19th and 20th centuries theories began to emerge that
between the ages of 12 and 29 Jesus had visited Kashmir, or
had studied with the Essenes in the Judea desert. Modern
mainstream Christian scholarship has generally rejected
these theories and holds that nothing is known about this
time period in the life of Jesus.
Other than the statement that after he was 12 years old
(Luke 2:42) Jesus "advanced in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52), the New Testament
has no other details regarding the gap. While Christian
tradition suggests that Jesus simply lived in Galilee during
that period, modern scholarship holds that there is little
historical information to determine what happened during
those years.
In 1887, a Russian war correspondent, Nicolas Notovitch,
claimed that while at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, he had
learned of the document "Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons
of Men" – Isa being the Arabic name of Jesus
in Islam. Notovitch's story, with a translated text of the "Life
of Saint Issa," was published in French in 1894 as La vie
inconnue de Jesus Christ (Unknown Life of Jesus Christ).
According to the scrolls, Jesus abandoned Jerusalem at the
age of 13 and set out towards Sind, “intending to improve

4
 and perfect himself in the divine understanding and to study
the laws of the great Buddha”. He crossed Punjab and
reached Puri Jagannath where he studied the Vedas
under Brahmin priests. He spent six years in Puri and
Rajgirh, near Nalanda, the ancient seat of Hindu learning.
Then he went to the Himalayas, and spent time in Tibetan
monasteries, studying Buddhism, and through Persia,
returned to Jerusalem at the age of 29.
Notovitch's writings were immediately controversial and Max
Müller stated that either the monks at the monastery had
deceived Notovitch (or played a joke on him), or he had
fabricated the evidence. Müller then wrote to the monastery
at Hemis and the head lama replied that there had been no
Western visitor at the monastery in the past fifteen years and
there were no documents related to Notovitch's story. J.
Archibald Douglas then visited Hemis monastery and
interviewed the head lama who stated that Notovitch had
never been there. Indologist Leopold von Schroeder called
Notovitch's story a "big fat lie". Wilhelm
Schneemelcher states that Notovich's accounts were soon
exposed as fabrications, and that to date no one has even
had a glimpse at the manuscripts Notovitch claims to have
had.
In 1922 Swami Abhedananda, the founder of Vedanta
Society of New York 1897 and the author of several books, went
to Himalayas on foot and reached Tibet, where he studied Bud-
dhistic philosophy and Lamaism. He was one of the skeptics
who tried to debunk Nicholas Notovitch and disprove the exist-
ence of the manuscript about Jesus in India. However, when he
reached Hemis monastery he found the manuscript which was a
Tibetan translation of the original scrolls written in Pali. The

5
lama said that it was a copy and the original was in a monastery
at Marbour near Lhasa. After Abhedananda's death in 1939,
one of his disciples inquired about the documents at the Hemis
monastery, but was told they disappeared.
In 1908, Levi H. Dowling published the Aquarian Gospel of
Jesus the Christ which he claimed was channeled to him from
the "Akashic Records" as the true story of the life of Jesus,
including "the 'lost' eighteen years silent in the New Testament."
The narrative follows the young Jesus across India, Tibet,
Persia, Assyria, Greece and Egypt. Dowling's work was later
used by Holger Kersten who combined it with elements derived
from other sources such as the Ahmadiyya beliefs.
Modern mainstream Christian scholarship has generally rejected
any travels by Jesus to India,Tibet or surrounding areas as
without historical basis.
According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad the founder of
the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the further sayings of
Muhammad say that Jesus died in Kashmir at the age of one
hundred and twenty years. They identify the holy man Yuz Asaf
buried at the Roza Bal shrine in Srinagar, India, as Jesus on the
basis of an account in the History of Kashmir by the Sufi
poet Khwaja Muhammad Azam Didamari (1747) that the holy
man Yuz Asaf buried there was a prophet and a foreign
prince. Paul C. Pappas states that from a historical perspective,
the Ahmadi identification of Yuzasaf with Jesus relies on
legends and documents which include clear historical errors
(e.g. ‘Gondophares' reign) and that "it is almost impossible to
identify Yuz Asaf with Jesus".
According to Indian spiritual master Meher Baba (1925), when
Jesus was crucified, he did not die physically. But he entered
6
the state of Nirvikalp Samadhi (the I-am-God state without
bodily consciousness). On the third day, he again became
conscious of his body, and he travelled secretly in disguise
eastward with some apostles, most importantly
with Bartholomew and Thaddeus, to India. This was called
Jesus' resurrection. After reaching India, Jesus travelled further
east to Rangoon, in Burma, where he remained for some time.
He then went north to Kashmir, where he settled. After Jesus's
spiritual work was completed, Jesus subsequently dropped his
body, and the body was buried by the Two Apostles in Harvan,
at Kan Yar, district of Kashmir.
n 1981, Holger Kersten, a German writer on esoteric subjects
popularized the subject in his Christ Lived in India.
From Wikipedia

Ahmadi Muslims hold the unique belief that Jesus (peace be upon him)
survived the crucifixion and travelled towards India to continue his
ministry among the Lost Tribes of Israel. Furthermore, they claim that
his tomb, containing his body, has been recently re-discovered in India,
where it can be seen to this day. Ahmadi Muslims also assert that this
belief is not only upheld by the Holy Quran and the Sayings of
Muhammad, but even by the Holy Bible itself.

It is also notable that early Church history documents the existence of

a Gospel in the Hebrew language found in India, which also confirms
Israelites in India. St. Jerome (c 400 A.D) wrote that the scholar
Pantaenus in the second century came across the document in his
travels. St. Jerome further wrote that the Israelites in his time con-
tinue to live in the Persian empire.

The mission of Jesus was to reach out to the Lost Tribes (or 'Sheep') of
Israel, as stated in Matthew 15:24. It was thus imperative for him to
migrate to the east.

7
The mass of evidence showing that the peoples of Afghanistan, north-
west India (particularly Kashmir) and neighboring areas are of Israel-
ite ancestry continues to grow. Their physical features, language, folk-
lore, customs and festivals attest to their Israelite heritage. Evidence
also comes from the names they give to their villages, their monu-
ments and ancient historical works.

The ancient books of Hindus are called Puranas. One book,

Bhavishya Maha Purana (written in Sanskrit) contains
an account of a king of India, Salivahana meeting "Isa-
Masiha" (Jesus the Messiah)- a religious personage of fair
complexion who was a foreigner.

“This place is known as the tomb of Yuz Asaf, which may be of Buddhist derivation
or possibly from Yusu or Yehoshua (Jesus) the Gatherer.
Local tradition states that the entombed was a prophet of Ahle-Kitab, or People of
the Book, and his name was Isa - the Quranic name for Jesus.
The prophet Yuz Asaf came to Kashmir from the West (Holy Land) in the reign of
Raja Gopdatta (c. 1st century A.D) according to the ancient official documents held
by the current custodian of the tomb.”

8
2. Shri Mataji on the subject

“The main thing about Christ is that His name was Je-
sus Christ’. Jesus comes from the word Jesu. There was
the foster mother of Christ, the foster mother of
Krishna, who was born as Yeshoda. The name Jesu
comes from that Jeshoda. In Indian languages, a short
form of Yeshoda is Jeshu or Yeshu. We even call Christ
Yesu. In many European countries they call Him Jesu.
This Yeshoda was the foster mother and Christ itself
comes from the word Krishna. Krishna means ‘the one
who has done the sowing of the seed’. And Radha Her-
self is Mahalakshmi and She was born as the Mother
of Christ. So, when Christ talked of the Father, Ma-
havishnu, He talked of Shri Krishna. In this book as I
told you, if you read it, Mahavishnu’s description,
you’ll find that Christ was specially created and
Krishna told Him that you will be the Adhara, You will
be the support of the whole world, that you’ll be placed
higher than Me”
lic Program, Santa Cruz, USA, 18.10.1981

“I have read a book about Jesus coming to India in

Kashmir and meeting one of the Kings called Shali-
vahana. The meeting is quoted from an ancient book of
9
Puranas, in Sanskrit, which perhaps, the writer did not
know. It is written that King Shalivahana asked Jesus
his name, and he said his name was Isa Masih and he
asked him: “Why are you here in this country?” He said:
“I have come from a country where people are ‘Mlec-
chas’. Mlecchas are the people who have a desire to be
only filthy or to be vulgar and immoral.” In those days,
foreigners were all called “Mlecchas” in India be-
cause Indians believed that they had no idea of purifica-
tion or transformation. Whatever may be the case, this
was the conversation between Shalivahana and
Lord Jesus Christ. So, Shalivahana asked him: “Why
you do not go back and cleanse these people and teach
them about Nirmal Tattwa?” (means the principle of
cleansing). Thus, I think Christ went back and was cru-
cified within three and a half years by the Romans who
were not keen about their salvation. Now, the way the
Church of England is trying to support immoral lives
and illegal marriages, etc. of the priests taking the sup-
port of the gene’s theory, shows how the Indians were
right in calling the Westerners “Mlecchas”. I have dealt
with this gene’s theory in the chapter on Meta science.”
Shri Mataji: Meta Modern Era, Vishwa Nirmala Dharma, Pune,
1995, p. 149 - 150

“This word was used by Jesus Christ’s disciple, Thomas,

when he came to India, but his books were buried for

10
1600 years. Actually, he buried 52 of his books in the
ground, fearing that people might call him a heretic,
meaning a person who would mislead others from the
belief in God; or a blasphemer, meaning he disrespects
God. He wrote that knowing God is an “experience”
and until you have had this experience you cannot be a
scholar. At that time, whoever experienced this
knowledge were called gnostic, and those who did not
acknowledge the existence of God, were called agnostic.
But these mullahs, priests, and also the Hindus who
considered themselves the incarnation of God, did not
want Thomas’s preachings to spread, and went com-
pletely against him and started saying that Thomas had
no knowledge, and whatever he was saying, was wrong.
Because when religion becomes a means to earn money,
then this knowledge obviously will be declared wrong.
And like this they started spreading that whatever is
told by the gnostics, is wrong and completely against
God. These people do not have any knowledge. So, these
people buried all their books in Egypt, and then came
to India. This was the circumstance at that time, and it
was worse than today’s situation. (…)
When did Jesus Christ not come to India? Of course he
came. He was here since the time of creation. But we
need to understand him. We can understand everything
not from the book but from our Kundalini awakening.”
Public Program, Hyderabad, India, 12.12.1991

11
“There is a book written by somebody, which I was
looking in, where they say that Christ, He died on the
cross and all that. I mean, He cannot die in any case,
because He is the Spirit, you see. So how can He die?
It’s true, but that He was carried away is not true be-
cause He did have resurrection, went into His resurrec-
tion and then He came down. Then He went to Kash-
mir. It’s a fact. But how can you prove whether [he]
there was or not? But for Me, who else will [say?].
That is it, you see, that I had told them that this thing
had happened: Christ had gone to India; He was there.
This I told long time back. Also, I had told them that
Moses died in India in Kashmir. I told them, and now
it is, it is proved now. (…)
Yes, the book is written by, I think he’s a German or
someone, I think. I don’t know why he wrote that part.
But he tried to prove. Perhaps maybe he might be think-
ing that these Jews were always blamed for the crucifix-
ion of Christ. So, he might have been, he must be feeling
guilty for all the German [unclear], whatever it is. But
he found about Christ in some monastery in Leh. I will
find out Myself because near Leh, my son-in-law goes
there. I will find out. But there, there was, they say, a
prophet was there at the time Christ was there. He was
known as Isa, Isu. All these names are there and… But
how can you scientifically prove whether He was ever
resurrected or not? The only way is through vibrations.”
Conversation about children, Ruth’s apartment, Rome, Italy,
24.04.1982

12
3 Dan Costian: Bible Enlightened
(Vishwa Nirmala Dharma, Bombay, India, 1995, 81-86650-
00-8)
Part One XIV: The ten lost tribes of Israel, p. 110 - 119

“Tabaqat-i-Nasiri says that in the time of the Shansabi dynasty, a people called Ben-i-
Israel (Children of Israel) used to live in Asareth. Thomas Ledie (More Ledlian, Cal-
cutta Review, January 1898) considered Asareth to be the Hazara District in Pakistan
and the adjoining territory of Kashmir.” (p.111)

Part Two XXIII: The secret life of Jesus, p. 352 - 392

D. Costian retells in great detail the stories of Nikolai Notovich (p. 353 - 358), Swami
Abhedananda (p. 359), Henriette S. Merrick (p. 359), Nikolai Konstantinovitch Roerich
(p. 360 - 361), Holger Kersten (p. 361 - 362) and the texts in the Aquarian Gospel (p.
362 - 363).

In Matutiry and old age he describes Jesus’ year in Kashmir.

“Actae Thomae was accepted and read together with the Gospel of Thomas in all
churches up to the decree of Pope Gelasius (495) when it was declared as heretical,
the real cause being the fact that it establishes the presence of Jesus long time after
His resurrection. Nevertheless, it is read and accepted even today by the Assyrian
Church.” (p. 372)

“Proceeding with their journey, Jesus, His mother Mary and Thomas reached Murree
which is only about 45 miles far from Taxila by road. Mary died there and was buried
at a place called now Pindi-Point (…), situated six miles from Rawalpindi (as the crow
flies). It is not without interest to show that until 1875 Murree was called Mari after the
name given to Jesus’ mother by Afghans, Jews and Kashmiris (…), while her tomb,
next to the (…).Defence tower is even today called Mai Mari da Asthan (the Resting
Place of Mother Mary).” (p. 377- 378)

“Thus, most of the toponyms connected with the name of Jesus are in Kashmir. They
are derivatives from Issa, Yusu (Yuz) and variants: Arya-Issa, Issa-Brari, I-yes-Issa,

13
Kal-Issa, Issa-Kush, Issa-mati, Issa-eil, I-yes-th-Issa-vara, Ram-Issa, Issa-Ta Yusu-
dha, Yusu-dhara, Yusu-gam, Yassu-hatpura,, Yusu-kun, Yus-mangala, Yusu-maidan,
Yusu-varman,, Yus-nag, Yusu-para, Yusu-raja, all according to Kwaja Nazir Amhmad.
All those names denoted that Jesus travelled a lot through Kashmir.” (p. 379)

“He (Shakivahan) asked (Him) who He was. His reply was that He was Yusashaphat
(Yuz Asaf), and had been born of a woman, and (on Shalivahan being surprised) He
said that He spoke the truth and He had to purify the religion. The Raja asked Him
what His religion was. He replied: “O Raja! When truth had disappeared and there
was no limit (to the evil practices) in the Mlecha country, I appeared there and through
My work the guilty and the wicked suffered, and I also suffered at their hands.” The
Raja asked Him (again) what His religion was. He replied: “It is (to established) love,
truth and purity of heart and for this I am called Isa Masih.” The Raja returned after
making His obeisance to him.” (Bhavishya Maha Purana, Parva [book] III, Adhyaya
[section] II, Shloka [verse] 9 - 31).

“One day, Shalivahan, the chief of the Sakas, went to the Himalayas. There, in the
Land of Hun, the powerful King saw a man sitting on a mountain, who seemed to
promise auspiciousness. His skin was fair and He wore white garments. The king
asked the holy man who He was. The other replied: “I am called a Son of God, born
of a virgin, minister of the nonbelievers, relentlessly in search of the truth.’ The King
then asked Him: “What is your religion?” The other replied: “O great King, I come from
a foreign country, where there is no longer truth and where evil knows no bounds. In
the land of the non-believers, I appeared as the Messiah.” (p. 380 - 381)

“The Ahmadiyya Movement of Islam “teaches the Jesus escaped from Jerusalem,
wandered to the East, settled at Srinagar and died there, where His tomb is still
shown (…). He is said to have died at the age of 120 years.” (p. 382)

“The tomb of syed Nasir-ud-Din is in Mohalla Khaniyar and is also known as Rauza-
bal.” (p. 390)

Related by Dan Costian: “We returned with Shri Mataji to

the palace (fall 1992, Rumania), where She was staying.
I had the courage to present Mother with the manuscript
of the ‘Bible Enlightened’, of which I had just completed
the first part. At that time, the book had no title. It was
chosen later on by Shri Mataji. She opened the manu-
script at a specific page and showed me a mistake I

14
made translating a Sanskrit word. I was amazed: She
went directly there! Then She decided the book would
be printed in India. I felt extremely happy being thus en-
couraged to go on with this work. I had finished reading
there Holger Kersten’s Jesus live in India and had some
uncertainties.
‘Shri Mataji, did Lord Jesus really die in the cross?’ I
asked. ‘Yes,’ came Her answer, ‘He died, indeed, then
He resurrected.’ I asked if the Turin Shroud had be-
longed to Lord Jesus, and Shri Mataji confirmed that
fact.”

3. Levi Dowling: Aquarian

Gospel of Jesus the Christ
(Levi Dowling: 1844 - 1911)

“CHAPTER 23 Jesus and Lamaas among the sudras and visyas. In

Benares, Jesus becomes a pupil of Udraka. The lessons of Udraka. Aquar-
ian Gospel of Jesus, the Christ-- NOW, Jesus with his friend Lamaas
went through all the regions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seek-
ing wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters. (…)
3) And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pu-
pil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers. 4) Udraka taught the uses of
the waters, plants and earths; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of
light and dark. (…)
CHAPTER 24 The Brahmic doctrine of castes. Jesus repudiates it and
teaches human equality. The priests are offended and drive him from the
temple. He abides with the sudras and teaches them. (…)
CHAPTER 26 Jesus at Katak. The car of Jagannath. Jesus reveals to
the people the emptiness of Brahmic rites, and how to see God in man.
Teaches them the divine law of sacrifice. (…)
CHAPTER 27 Jesus attends a feast in Behar. Preaches a revolutionary
sermon on human equality. Relates the parable of the broken blades. The
fame of Jesus as a teacher spread through all the land, and people came

15
from near and far to hear his words of truth. 2) At Behar, on the sacred
river of the Brahms, he taught for many days. 3) And Ach, a wealthy man
of Behar, made a feast in honor of his guest, and he invited everyone to
come. 4) And many came; among them thieves, extortioners, and courte-
sans. And Jesus sat with them and taught; but they who followed him
were much aggrieved because he sat with thieves and courtesans. (…)
CHAPTER 28 Udraka gives a feast in Jesus' honor. Jesus speaks on
the unity of God and the brotherhood of life. Criticizes the priesthood.
Becomes the guest of a farmer. (…)
CHAPTER 31 Brahmic priests are enraged because of Jesus' teach-
ing and resolve to drive him from India. Lamaas pleads for him. Priests
employ a murderer to kill him. Lamaas warns him and he flees to Nepal.
The words and works of Jesus caused unrest through all the land. 2) The
common people were his friends, believed in him and followed him in
thongs. 3) The priests and rulers were afraid of him, his very name sent
terror to their hearts. 4) He preached the brotherhood of life, the right-
eousness of equal rights, and taught the uselessness of priests, and sacrifi-
cial rites. 5) He shook the very sand on which the Brahmic system stood;
he made the Brahmic idols seem so small, and sacrifice so fraught with
sin, that shrines and wheels of prayer were all forgot. 6) The priests de-
clared that if this Jewish boy should tarry longer in the land a revolution
would occur; the common people would arise and kill the priests, and tear
the temples down. 7) And so they sent a call abroad, and priests from
every province came. Benares was on fire with Brahmic zeal. (…)
CHAPTER 32 Jesus and Barata. Together they read the sacred books.
Jesus takes exception to the Buddhist doctrine of evolution and reveals
the true origin of man. (…)

SECTION VII ZAIN Life and Works of Jesus in Tibet and Western
India
CHAPTER 36 Jesus in Lassa. He meets Meng-tse who aids him in
reading the ancient manuscripts. He goes to Ladak. Heals a child. (…) In
Lassa of Tibet there was a master's temple, rich in manuscripts of ancient
lore. 2) The Indian sage had read these manuscripts, and he revealed to
Jesus many of the secret lessons they contained; but Jesus wished to read
them for himself.

SECTION VIII CHETH Life and Works of Jesus in Persia

CHAPTER 38 Jesus crosses Persia. Teaches and heals in many places.
Three magian priests meet him as he nears Persepolis. Kaspar and two
other Persian masters meet him in Persepolis. The seven masters sit in si-
lence seven days.

16
FOUR-AND-TWENTY years of age was Jesus when he entered Persia
on his homeward way. 2) In many a hamlet, town and neighborhood he
paused a while and taught and healed. 3) The priests and ruling classes
did not welcome him, because he censured them for cruelty to those of
low estate. 4) The common people followed him in throngs. 5) At times
the chiefs made bold to try to hinder him, forbidding him to teach or heal
the sick. But he regarded not their angry threats; he taught, and healed the
sick.
CHAPTER 39 Jesus attends a feast in Persepolis. Speaks to the peo-
ple, reviewing the magian philosophy. Explains the origin of evil. Spends
the night in prayer. (…)
CHAPTER 40 Jesus teaches the magians. Explains the Silence and
how to enter it.

SECTION IX TETH Life and Works of Jesus in Assyria

CHAPTER 42 Jesus bids the magians farewell. Goes to Assyria.
Teaches the people in Ur of Chaldea. Meets Ashbina, with whom he vis-
its many towns and cities, teaching and healing the sick. (…)
CHAPTER 43 Jesus and Ashbina visit Babylon and remark its deso-
lation. The two masters remain in company seven days; then Jesus re-
sumes his homeward journey. Arrives in Nazareth. His mother gives a
feast in his honor. His brothers are displeased. Jesus tells his mother and
aunt the story of his journeys.

SECTION X JOD Life and Works of Jesus in Greece

CHAPTER 44 Jesus visits Greece and is welcomed by the Athenians.
Meets Apollo. Addresses the Grecian masters in the Amphitheatre. (…)
CHAPTER 45 Jesus teaches the Greek masters. Goes with Apollo to
Delphi and hears the Oracle speak. It testifies for him. He abides with
Apollo, and is recognized as the living Oracle of God. Explains to Apollo
the phenomenon of oraclular speech. (…)

SECTION XI CAPH Life and Works of Jesus in Egypt

CHAPTER 47 Jesus with Elihu and Salome in Egypt.

17
 4. The Gospel of Thomas
First of all we should distinguish three (3) Thomas-
gospels: ‘The Gospel of Thomas’, ‘The Acts of
Thomas’ and ‘The Infancy Gospel of Thomas’.

The Gospel of Thomas

Nag Hammadi Codex II, folio 32, the

Beginning of the gospel of Thomas

“The Gospel of Thomas is by far most well-known of all the gospels that were ex-
cluded from the Bible. The book was written in either the first or second century, but
it had been lost for a long time. It was found again in the year 1945 in Egypt. Ever
since that discovery, this book has been a fascination of many researchers.

18
The Gospel of Thomas is very different from all the other gospels. Rather than
simply telling the story of Jesus, or even having the mere words of a sermon, it con-
tains sayings of Jesus. The other thing is that the majority of these sayings are not
even found in the Bible. Many of them are quite cryptic and actually contradict other
sayings that exist in the official Gospels. There are some portions that feature Jesus
as a god and not human at all. Almost all scholars think this is one of the primary
reasons that this book was excluded. But there is the possibility that the Gospel of
Thomas enjoyed popularity during the early years of Christianity.”

Wikipedia

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (the Israelite)

This gospel is gnostic in origin. It was written in the late 2nd century and
relates the childhood of Jesus with all kinds of miracles, performed by the
infant Jesus.

The Acts of Thomas

Were probably written in the early 3rd century and relate the mission of
Judas Thomas to India.

“Although little is known of the immediate growth of the

church, Bar-Daisan (154–223) reports that in his time there were
Christian tribes in North India which claimed to have been con-
verted by Thomas and to have books and relics to prove it. But
at least by the year of the establishment of the Second Persian
Empire (226), there were bishops of the Church of the East in
north-west India comprising Afghanistan and Baluchistan, with
laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.
The Acts of Thomas identifies his second mission in India with a
kingdom ruled by King Mahadeva, one of the rulers of a 1st-cen-
tury dynasty in southern India. It is most significant that, aside
from a small remnant of the Church of the East in Kurdistan, the
only other church to maintain a distinctive identity is the Mar

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Thoma or “Church of Thomas” congregations along the Malabar
Coast of Kerala State in southwest India. According to the most
ancient tradition of this church, Thomas evangelized this area
and then crossed to the Coromandel Coast of southeast India,
where, after carrying out a second mission, he died in Myla-
pore near Madras. Throughout the period under review, the
church in India was under the jurisdiction of Edessa, which was
then under the Mesopotamian patriarchate at Seleucia-Ctesi-
phon and later at Baghdad and Mosul. Historian Vincent A.
Smith says: “It must be admitted that a personal visit of the
Apostle Thomas to South India was easily feasible in the tradi-
tional belief that he came by way of Socotra, where an ancient
Christian settlement undoubtedly existed. I am now satisfied that
the Christian church of South India is extremely ancient... ”.
Although there was a lively trade between the Near East and In-
dia via Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, the most direct route
to India in the 1st century was via Alexandria and the Red Sea,
taking advantage of the Monsoon winds, which could carry ships
directly to and from the Malabar coast. The discovery of large
hoards of Roman coins of 1st-century Caesars and the remains
of Roman trading posts testify to the frequency of that trade. In
addition, thriving Jewish colonies were to be found at the various
trading centers, thereby furnishing obvious bases for the apos-
tolic witness.
Piecing together the various traditions, one may conclude that
Thomas left north-west India when invasion threatened, and
traveled by vessel to the Malabar coast, possibly visiting south-
east Arabia and Socotra en route and landing at the former flour-
ishing port of Muziris on an island near Cochin (c. AD 51–52).
From there he is said to have preached the gospel throughout
the Malabar coast, though the various churches he founded
were located mainly on the Periyar Riverand its tributaries and
along the coast, where there were Jewish colonies. He reputedly
preached to all classes of people and had about seventeen thou-
sand converts, including members of the four principal castes.
Later, stone crosses were erected at the places where churches
were founded, and they became pilgrimage centers. In accord-
ance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and

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leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry
of the Malabar church.”

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