St. Jerome’s Chronicle testifies that before embracing Christianity, Arnobius was a well-known rhetorician in the town of Sicca in present-day Tunisia. After his conversion, he became a defender of the faith from Africa during the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian. At the request of the local bishop, he composed the work Adversus gentes in seven volumes in A.D. 303. From the ninth century onward, the work came to be known as Adversus nationes. The book highlights the greatness of Christianity. The historian Lactantius was a disciple of Arnobius.
Arnobius records in his work the missionary activity of St. Thomas the Apostle in India. He notes that, witnessing the miracles performed by St. Thomas, the people of India abandoned paganism and embraced Christianity. Although Arnobius initially opposed Christianity, after his conversion he spoke forcefully against pagan beliefs.
He writes as follows:
“In India, Persia, Media, Arabia, Egypt, Asia, Syria, Galatia, Parthia, Achaia, Macedonia, Epirus, and in all lands where the sun rises and sets, and finally even in Rome, the Gospel has been proclaimed. People everywhere have abandoned their former religions and embraced Christianity. There was no delay in recognizing the truth of Christianity” (Arnobius of Sicca, Adversus gentes, PL 5, 828).
These words, written in the early fourth century, provide strong evidence that Christianity existed in India at that time. According to Arnobius, the Indians were among those who had renounced paganism and accepted Christianity. When writing about peoples who became Christians in the third century or earlier, he mentions India first and Rome last. In his understanding, India was the land of the rising sun and Rome the land of the setting sun-the easternmost and westernmost boundaries of the known world. Arnobius sought to convey that the Gospel had spread throughout the entire world known at that time.
He does not mention the names of the apostles who preached among the various peoples, as his intention was only to show which nations had accepted the Gospel. At that time, it was commonly believed that Thomas was the apostle of India, Peter and Paul of Rome, John of Ephesus, and Andrew of Achaia. This is why many of the Church Fathers recorded these traditions in their writings.
Rev. Dr. James Puliurumpil
