When the Fathers of the Greek and Latin Churches write that St. Thomas preached the gospel in India, Origen writes that when the apostles divided the world for preaching by casting lots Parthia fell to Thomas. Origen’s original work has been lost; but this statement has been preserved by Eusebius. Origen associates the Apostle Thomas with Parthia in his Commentary on Genesis. This work is not extant in the Greek original, but is available in fragments of Greek citations and in an early Latin translation. The text is as the following:

The holy apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered throughout the whole world. Thomas, as tradition relates, obtained by lot Parthia, Andrew Scythia, John Asia, but Peter seems to have preached to the Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia and at the end he came to Rome and was crucified head downwards, for he had demanded to suffer. What need be said of Paul, who fulfilled the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Illyria and afterwards was martyred in Rome under Nero. This is stated exactly by Origen in the third volume of his Commentary on Genesis (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III. I).

This text is taken from the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius who cited Origen textually. When Eusebius writes that’ these facts have been stated exactly by Origen’ is a compliment to Origen. In fact, Eusebius had the opportunity to transcribe directly from the original work of Origen after the latter had moved to Caesarea in Palestine, which was to become the see of Eusebius himself. Here his teacher had Pamphilius had set up a library on the basis of the legacy of books left behind by Origen. This is important also because Origen’s work is most likely the earliest written record we possess about the mission of Apostle Thomas. Since Origen’s Commentary on Genesis is dated 224, it is certain that he wrote it before leaving Alexandria for Caesarea in 231 or 233. The tradition (paradosis), which he cites regarding the Apostle Thomas (and the other apostles) is therefore Alexandrian.

Here it is very clear that the holy apostles and disciples of Our Lord were dispersed all over the world. Origen writes about the missionary fields of Thomas, Andrew, John, Peter and Paul. According to him Thomas obtained Parthia by lot, Andrew Scythia, John Asia (who died in Ephesus) and Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome under Nero. Origen’s Parthia should mean the same as India in the Acts of Thomas, which is mentioned as the place of the apostle’s apostolate and martyrdom in the Acts of Thomas. At the time of the apostles Parthia extended from the Indus river in the east of the Tigris in the West, from the Caspian Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. But the Indo-Parthian kingdom of Gondophorous corresponds to the North West India of the Mauryan empire. Parthia was an elastic term like Scythia, which is sometimes used for the European Scythia, lying between the Danube and the Tanais, or for the Asiatic Scythia extending eastward from the Ural Mountains. Therefore, Parthia in the patristic text is the same as India. Then the testimony of Origen is not opposed to the Indian apostolate of St. Thomas. It is to give special note to the fact the Origen mentions Thomas in the first place in his book. This is not to give primacy to Thomas but to show the fame of Thomas who evangelized the greatest number of peoples inhabiting the many lands lying east of the Roman empire.

Rev. Dr. James Puliurumpil