The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle

THE DOCTRINE OF ADDAI.

thou hast written to Me, that I should come to thee, that for which I was sent here is now finished, and I am going up to my Father, who sent me, and when I have gone up to Him, I will send to thee one of my disciples, who will cure the disease which thou hast, and restore thee to health; and all who are with thee he will convert to everlasting life. Thy city shall be blessed, and no enemy shall again become master of it for ever.’ ”

When Hannan, the keeper of the archives, saw that Jesus spake thus to him, by virtue of being the king’s painter, he took and painted a likeness of Jesus with choice paints, and brought with him to Abgar the king, his master. And when Abgar the king saw the likeness, he received it with great joy, and placed it with great honour in one of his palatial houses. Hannan, the keeper of the archives, related to him everything which he had heard from Jesus, as His words were put by him in writing. After that Christ had ascended to heaven, Judas Thomas sent to Abgar, Addai the Apostle, who was one of the seventy-two Apostles. And when Addai came to the city of Edessa, he dwelt at the house of

The preceding words are a quotation from the Old Testament; but they are not to be found in any part of that sacred Book. Our Lord said to Thomas: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (St. John xx. 29.) The passage in this reply is somewhat like these words. Although these words are not found in the Old Testament, they are like passages there in sense. See Isaiah vi. 9; lii. 15.

There is a tradition preserved by Eusebius, see Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, under "Jude," that the true name of Thomas (the twin) was Judas (original: Ἰούδας ὁ καὶ Θωμᾶς). It is therefore probable that Judas is mentioned in the text to certify that it was the Apostle Thomas, and not another Thomas, who sent Addai to Edessa. See also Wright’s Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, p. 74.