THE FIRST APOSTLES OF THE EAST.

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Thomas the Apostle, the first supreme patriarch of the East.

The book of the teaching of the holy Apostles teaches us that from the beginning, the gospel was preached to the faith in the East through the hands of Thomas the Apostle, in the second year of the ascension of our Lord, while he was passing through on his way to India, he proclaimed to the diverse nations, to the Parthians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Carmanians.

1. The text of the "Doctrine of the Apostles," which Cureton brought forth from a manuscript of the 5th or 6th century, is as follows: "...and from the beginning the gospel was preached... and he received the hand of the priesthood of the Apostles of India with all the countries around it and up to the farthest sea, from Judas Thomas, who was the head and teacher..."
   "The India of the Apostles received the hand of the priesthood with all its regions and surroundings as far as the extreme sea, from Judas Thomas, who was the head and teacher in the church that he had founded there and in which he himself served." Cf. Ancient Syriac documents, edited by W. Cureton, London 1864, p. A manicule symbol indicates a reference point.
   The Doctrine of the Apostles under the title: Doctrine of Addai was edited from the Sangerman Parisian manuscript by de Lagarde in Reliquiis juris ecclesiastici antiquissimi [Relics of the most ancient ecclesiastical law], Vienna, 1856, p. A manicule symbol indicates a reference point. The same text is recited by Ebed-Jesu in his Nomocanon under the title: Canons of the rites and laws which the Apostles established, in Mai's Scriptor. vett. nov. collect. [New collection of ancient writers], vol. X.

1. THOMAS the apostle, first pontiff of the East.

Indeed, the book a of the teaching 1 of the holy Apostles teaches us that from the beginning, the gospel was announced in the eastern region by the divine apostle Thomas, in the second year of the Lord's ascension. As he was passing through on his way to India 2, he evangelized various peoples: Parthians, Medes, Persians, Carmanians 3, Bactrians, and Margians 4.

2. That St. Thomas went to India after he had already ruled the Seleucian see for six years is reported by Guriel in his Chronotaxi patriarcharum Chaldæorum [Chronological list of Chaldean patriarchs], added to his Grammatica chaldaica [Chaldean grammar], Rome, 1860. It is to be regretted, however, that this Chronotaxis lacks an indication of the sources from which the author drew these and other excerpts below.

3. For the unknown "Carabæi," Assemanus, Bibl. Orient., III, part. II, 33, reads "Carmani," which seems to be the true reading of this passage; for Sophronius (in Hieron. De vir. illust. appendix [On Illustrious Men, appendix] V) agrees entirely with Bar Hebraeus, reporting that the Carmanians were evangelized by Thomas the Apostle: "Thomas the apostle, as it has been handed down to us, preached the Gospel of the Lord to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Carmanians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Magians (Margians). He slept in the city of Calamina, which is in India."

4. The Margi, people of the Margiana (Μαργιανη) region, beyond the Caspian Sea between Hyrcania and Bactria.

a) Asseman. B. O. III, part. II, 33, reads ܟܪܡܢܝܐ [Carmanians]. — But R has ܟܪ̈ܘܡܝܐ [Carabæi/Romans?].