Reading Acts of Thomas:
 with special consideration of its sexual ethic

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 | Intro | Who Wrote Acts of Thomas? | What is the context of the author? | What is the context of Acts of Thomas? | What is the genre of AofT | Things not discussed in AofT | What is the purpose of AofT? | Conclusion |

Who wrote AofT?

The author of the book is Xenophon, the young man slain by the ‘serpent’ in AofT 3:16.  (There is a more comprehensive article available on blessed Xenophon).  In brief, for the purpose of this discussion, Xenophon was well educated in letters and was fluent in the two international languages, Greek (probably his home language) and Aramaic.  He worked closely with St. Thomas for many years and set up Church of the East’s library and publishing facility in Srinagar.  Later, when St. Thomas returned from his last trip to India, Xenophon was ordained as +Teacher in charge of the area that included (modern) Kashmir, Pakistan and North India.  This was by any means the most important diocese of Church of the East at the time.  As +Teacher, Xenophon served on Senior Council seated in Srinagar, which was attended by the Suren (Gondophares’ family) and later Kushan kings –not to mention other seers and sages from Persia, China and India.

Besides the fact that he was a most splendid +Teacher, Xenophon has excellent literary and language skills and is well suited for the task of publisher and librarian.  The quality of the work in AofT is beyond compare for the time and setting –it is nothing less than a literary masterpiece.

Finally, millions of normally sane people of standard intelligence around the world today believe that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, even though half way through the second book Moses dies, ‘never allowed to enter the promised land’, yet the story continues for some hundred years after his death.  The Christian Gospels, written about one hundred years after Yesu left the area, many years after the death of the purported authors, seem to be first hand accounts of the Lord’s work among the Jews.  Fortunately for us, AofT does not pose similar problems.  The author of AofT relies on information gathered from years of personal observation of the works of the saint, from discussions with St. Thomas whom he served daily for a number of years, and from other witnesses (notably St. Siphor) –and the book is published before the death of the author.

Therefore, with regards to the identity of the author, we know that Xenophon, born 20CE in Takshashila (Taxila), student of letters, wrote AofT -first publishing it in chapters from 45CE onward and by 80CE (the year St. Siphor died) the first Eastern Bible canon was announced and it included AofT.  Xenophon was fluent in Greek and Aramaic and additionally he mastered (at least) Sanskrit and Bactrian and the Kharoshti and Brahmi scripts.  AofT was completed in 65 or 66CE, shortly after Siphor arrived in Srinagar.  The first publication of the book was in Kharoshti but we know of Greek and Aramaic versions that circulated in the West.  However, during later years AofT and other books of the Eastern Bible was published only in Devanagari script, in Sanskrit, especially during the Gupta period and beyond.    

Xenophon was 18 years old when he met the Lord in 38CE (AofT 3:16ff).  When St. Thomas passed over in 62CE, at age fifty two, Xenophon was forty-two years old.  Xenophon left the body somewhere between the age of seventy and seventy three –we don’t know the year, except that “the great and enlightened King Kanishka buried Teacher Xenophon with great honours in the same tomb used for blessed Teacher Siphor”.  Kanishka came to power in 78CE, Xenophon was alive in 80CE, but in 83CE, his passing is lamented by a prosaic lover (the “comely girl” of AofT 3:16ff perhaps?).

What is the author’s context?

Takshashila, Xenophon’s earlier home, was one of the world’s more fascinating and charming cities.  Even five hundred years earlier Takshashila was renowned for hosting what was perhaps the world’s first university and boasted more spiritual learning centres, schools of philosophy, mathematics, and astrology than any other place in the world.  Takshashila was the main centre of study in the art of the Magi of the East –the wise men who divined the time, place, and person of the Great Incarnation of our Lord.  Takshashila was the place where westerners learned to incorporate the zero as a number (remember your Roman numerals?), where many western philosophers studied, and where civilisation dawned on humanity.

Early during the first century, Takshashila was conquered and got a new ruler (Gondophares, 20CE), and a massive earthquake, at the time of the Lord’s crucifixion, ravaged the city and destroyed many school buildings, institutions and palaces.  However, Takshashila remained the prime university city, attended by the sons of rich and noble people from all over the world.  Takshashila’s libraries were more sought after than that of Alexandria (it was older) and a new medical faculty in Parthia was recently incorporated.

Prostitutes were not in short supply and concubines and would-be concubines decorated every street, motel, and pub.  Ample supply of marijuana, opium, and wine mixed with opium helped the university city’s moral decadence along.  This was Xenophon’s India, his heritage, and the place where he was schooled. 

He was himself a victim of another’s greed and lust –that was how he met St. Thomas and how he came face to face with the Lord.  His was not a near-death experience but a death experience.  His reaction upon returning from death is consistent with the personality of the Xenophon we know later in his life.  Was it mere youthful arrogance or just his personality that causes him to stand up and demand explanations of the man who just brought him back to life?  He really lays it on the saint: - you were there yourself; now you ask me to tell you what happened there; who was that man with you; who gave you instructions; what the heck did I ever do to you to deserve such terrible treatment?

Son of a rich man, well schooled, an enquiring mind, a very determined man with a highly developed sense of duty.  He is the type of man that could set up a publishing concern and go to pains to collect material from all over the world, edit it, and publish it in various languages.  We need to remind ourselves that Xenophon lived many ages before printing presses and viable paper.  They copied by hand and edited every copy by lamplight.  He was a master theologian and wrote text books for training of clergy.  And then he had another side as well – he could sit around tables with kings, princes and seers and sages from Persia, Parthia, China, and India.  His position in the Church required of him to be the one where the buck finally stops and he had to make calls of judgement that affected the entire diocese and beyond.

Did Xenophon marry the girl of AofT 3:16ff?  Did he keep concubines?  How many wives did he have?  We have no answers to these questions.  These may seem silly questions but the tabloids always want to know answers to irrelevant questions.

Xenophon lived and worked in Srinagar during his later life – an actual paradise on earth.  Considering his social status, background and sensibility we think he probably lived well, had a nice house, had good transportation, and could entertain important guests.  He ministered at the old and dilapidated Wayist temple in Srinagar, one of the oldest temples in the city and was patron of at least one work camp for children.  The early work camps of Church of the East were alternatives for slavery and being destitute.  In contrast with Buddhism of the day, Wayist monks, and nuns served the community, and children in hostels manufactured book covers, Saikaralis, and religious articles.  Children’s hostels became very successful in later years and were financially self supporting because Wayist worship has always been home-based and every home or business had at least one shrine.  Ironically, that human rights movement is today outmoded and is denigrated as an exploitation of child labour – such is the nature of progress.

The author of AofT was a versatile man in a job that required all of his talents.  AofT was by no means his magnum opus or even his greatest contribution to humankind – he produced huge works of collecting, translation, editing and copying of books ten times as large as AofT – comprising many rooms full of tablets, wood blocks and tons of parchment.  AofT is a magnificent work--even two thousand years later, but Xenophon conceivably produced it in the little free time he had, relaxing in his swing chair on the porch overlooking the beautiful and serene Dal Lake and valley with its backdrop of majestic snow peaked mountains. 

 | Intro | Who Wrote Acts of Thomas? | What is the context of the author? | What is the context of Acts of Thomas? | What is the genre of AofT | Things not discussed in AofT | What is the purpose of AofT? | Conclusion |