Catholic priest Cosme of Pilar quote Chronicle confirming Jewish Apostle Thomas arrived in Goa in India, where he baptized two Hindus.
After his arrival in Goa, the Apostle traveled south to the coast of Kerala.
Catholic priest Cosme confirms Apostle Thomas came to Goa
05 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
The Indian-Israeli Exchange 2014 
Pingback: Sacerdote católico confirma opinión de que el apóstol Tomás fue a la India
This is a very interesting bit of information. I have been doing research on St Thomas and after nearly 10 years of research I have now published a book titled” St Thomas of Keralam a New Perspective”. I have no doubt about his missionary work in either Keralam or Goa. However the notion that he converted Hindus in Goa and Keralam needs to be viewed with skepticism. The idea of conversion to Christianity was brought to India by European Christian missionaries and it is most inappropriate to even use the word conversion in the context of St.Thomas. He came to India ,not just Goa and Keralam but also other parts of India but his intention was to bring a message from Jesus’ and disciples about the new interpretation of Judaism as propounded by Jesus. And his mission was to Jewish traders who were settled in India even before the time of Jesus, probably even before King Solomon who of course encouraged the trade with India.The trade consisted of many items the most important item being pepper. Pepper was grown in Goa (then, but not now in commercial scale)as well as Keralam and therefore it is not surprising that Jewish settlers were there in many parts of India trading in pepper and many other commodities. In the first century CE the predominant religions in India were Buddhism and Jain religion and it does not look likely that they would have accepted a rigidly monotheistic, revealed religion like Christianity. The idea of conversion as I mentioned earlier was a later import for imperialist requirements. Most early missionaries and even the present lot think that Christianity is a superior religion compared with Hinduism, Buddhism and Jain religions. In addition Christians have found it difficult to believe that Jesus was an Asian Jew probably dark complexioned. The same could be said about St. Thomas. Judaism was not and still is not a proselytizing religion like Christianity and both Jesus and St. Thomas were practicing Jews to the core.If anybody is interested in knowing more about my thesis they are welcome to obtain a copy of my book mentioned above from Kindle an- E publishing house. Thanking you,
B. George.