For many people, the answer to when Christianity came to India is very clear, it came in the first century with the Apostle Thomas. But did it?
Donald Fairbairn, in this short video, explains that the situation is more complex. He points out that there are three main options:
The Apostle Thomas brought the gospel to India in the middle of the first century.
Pantaenus, a Jewish Christian philosopher from Alexandria, arrived in India in the second century and preached the Gospel to higher classes.
A large group of Persian Christians fled the Great Persecution in the fourth century. They traveled to India and brought Christianity with them.
In the video, Fairbairn suggests that the third option has the best episode. However, in the comments for the video, he also makes this clarification:
It is worth pointing out that I DO think Thomas went to India in the first century, and I think the Mar Thoma traditions are plausible. In the video and the book, my point is that not until 345 do we have direct contemporary evidence of Christian presence. Regarding Thomas and the first century, we have contemporary corroborating evidence and direct claims from three centuries later but not direct contemporary evidence. Looking at that evidence, many scholars reject the Thomas traditions. But I accept them.
If you are interested in learning more, you might want to get his book on global church history:
Liked it? Take a second to support Stephen Bedard on Patreon!
