In this episode of The Holy Land Path, hosts Ethan and Sarah journey beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire to trace Saint Thomas’s mission to ancient India. The episode navigates the historical tension surrounding the Acts of Thomas, examining its rejected Gnostic-Encratite theology alongside its undeniable historical accuracy regarding first-century South Asian rulers.

• The Text and The Controversy: An overview of the 3rd-century Acts of Thomas, its origins in Edessa, and why early church councils declared its Encratite, ascetic theology heretical.

• The "Fictional" King: How 18th- and 19th-century scholars dismissed King Gondophares as a fictional character created for apocryphal storytelling.

• The Numismatic Breakthrough: The 1834 discovery of thousands of ancient coins in modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan that proved King Gondophares was a real Indo-Parthian emperor.

• The Takht-i-Bahi Inscription: A deep dive into the famous Kharosthi inscription dated to 46 AD, which fixes Gondophares’s reign starting in 20 AD—placing his rule directly in line with Thomas’s arrival around 40 AD.

• The Royal Palace Encounter: Exploring the tradition of Thomas commissioned as a builder, his choice to spend the royal treasury on the poor, and the miraculous conversion of Gondophares and his brother Gad.

• A Cosmopolitan Ancient World: Reconstructing Taxila through the writings of Apollonius of Tyana, revealing a sophisticated, multi-ethnic trade hub where Greek, Aramaic, and Indian cultures intersected.