The story of Thaddeus is as follows. The divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, glorified among all people for its miraculous power, attracted thousands of people even from foreign countries, very far from Judea, who hoped for the healing of illnesses and various sufferings. 2 Therefore king Augarus, who had ruled the nations on the other side of the Euphrates with distinction, but was tormented by an illness which was beyond the power of man to cure, when he heard of the name of Jesus and his miracles, which were borne witness by all, decided to implore him, sending a messenger with a letter and a request for deliverance from the disease. (3) The Saviour did not then heed his request, but vouchsafed a special letter, in which He promised to send one of His disciples to cure his illness and save him and all his relatives together. 4 This promise was soon fulfilled. After the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and the Ascension, Thomas, one of the twelve, by the inspiration of God, sent Thaddeus, who belonged to the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa to preach the teaching of Christ. He fulfilled everything that our Savior promised. 5 There is a written testimony to this, taken from the archives of Edessa, which was then the capital. Among the state documents reporting on the events ancient and contemporary with Augarus, the following story has been preserved from that time to the present day. There seems to be nothing more interesting than these letters, which I received from the archives and translated word for word from Syriac.

Copy of a letter written by the toparch to Jesus and sent to Jerusalem with the speeding Ananias:

(6) "Augarus, son of Ukhama, toparch, sends greetings to Jesus, the good Saviour, who has appeared within the borders of Jerusalem. A rumor has come to me about Thee and about Thy healings, that Thou doest them without medicines and herbs. You, they say, restore sight to the blind, walk to the lame, cleanse lepers, cast out unclean spirits and demons. You heal those who suffer from long illnesses and raise the dead. (7) I have heard all this about you, and I have grasped in my mind one of two things: either you are God, and having come down from heaven, you work such miracles, or you are the Son of God, who works miracles. (8) That is why I have written to you, and I ask you: Take the trouble to come to me, and heal my illness. I have also heard that the Jews murmur against Thee, and plot against Thee. My city is very small, but venerable, and it will be enough for the two of us."

9 This is what and how Augarus wrote, when the divine light illumined him only a little. But it is also necessary to listen to the letter of Jesus, sent to him through the same letter carrier. It is not verbose, but full of power. Here is its text:

Jesus' answer to the toparch (Augarus) through the walker Ananias:

(10) "Blessed are you if you believe in me without seeing me. It is written about Me, Those who have seen Me will not believe in Me, so that those who have not seen will believe and live. And because you invite Me to you, it behooves Me to fulfill here all that I was sent for; and when I have done it, I will be lifted up to Him who sent me. And when I am lifted up, I will send one of My disciples to thee, that he may heal that sickness and give life to thee and to those who are with thee."

11 To these letters was appended the following, also written in Syriac:

"After the Ascension of Jesus, Judas, surnamed Thomas, sent (to Augarus) the Apostle Thaddeus, one of the seventy. When he came, he stayed with Tobias the son of Tobias. They heard of him and reported (to Augarus) that the apostle of Jesus was here, as promised to you. (12) And Thaddeus began to heal every sickness and every infirmity by the power of God, so that everyone was amazed. When (Augarus) heard of his great and wonderful works, it occurred to him that this was the one of whom Jesus wrote:

"And when I am lifted up, I will send one of my disciples unto thee, that he may heal thy sickness." (13) He called Tobias, with whom Thaddeus was staying, and said: "I have heard that a powerful man has lodged with you. Bring him to me." Tobias, returning to Thaddeus, said: "Toparchus (Augarus) has called me and ordered you to be brought to him so that you may heal him." And Thaddeus said: "I am coming, for I am sent to him in power." 14 On the following day at dawn, Tobias took Thaddeus and went to Augarus. When he entered, a great sign appeared to Augarus, before whom the first people of the country stood, on the face of the Apostle Thaddeus. Seeing this, Augarus bowed to Thaddeus to the ground. All those standing around were amazed, because they did not see the sign that appeared to Abgarus alone. (15) He asked Thaddeus, "Are you truly a disciple of Jesus, the Son of God, who said to me, 'I will send you one of my disciples who will heal you and give you life?'" And if you believe in Him as you believe, the desires of your heart will be fulfilled." (16) And Abgarus said to him, "I have so much faith in him that I would have taken an army and slain the Jews who had crucified him, had not the Roman power prevented me." And Thaddeus said, "My Lord has done the will of His Father, and having done it, He has ascended to the Father." (17) Abgarus said to him, "And I have believed in him and in his Father." And Thaddeus said, "Therefore in His name I lay my hand on you." And as soon as he said this, Abgarus was healed of his illness and sufferings. (18) Abgarus was amazed: what he had heard about Jesus was actually done in him through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicine or herbs, and not only him, but also his son Abd, who was sick with gout. He, too, approaching Thaddeus, fell at his feet and was healed by prayer and the touch of his hand. Thaddeus healed many of their fellow citizens, worked great miracles and preached the word of God. (19) Then Abgarus said: "You, Thaddeus, do all this by the power of God, and we ourselves are amazed. Wherefore, I beseech thee, tell me of the coming of Jesus, how it came about, of His power, and of what power He did all that I have heard of." 20 And Thaddeus said, "I will say nothing now, for I have been sent to preach the word for all to hear. But tomorrow call all your citizens to me, and I will preach to them, and sow the word of life in them: I will tell you of the coming of Jesus, how it came to pass, of his messengership, and of what he was sent by the Father, of his power and of his works, of the mysteries which he has made known to the world, of the power by which he has done it, of the newness of his doctrine, about His humiliation and humiliation, about how He humbled Himself and died, how He belittled His Divinity, how He was crucified, descended into hell, broke down the fence, indestructible from eternity, raised the dead, how He descended alone, and ascended to His Father with a great multitude of people."

21 Augarus ordered his citizens to assemble early in the morning and listen to the sermon of Thaddeus, and then gave orders that gold should be given to him in coinage and bullion, but he would not take it, saying: "If we have forsaken what is ours, shall we take what is not ours?"

22 All this took place in the year 340.

This, by the way, and not without use, is given here in literal translation from Syriac.

BOOK TWO

What should have been reported as if in the preface to Church history, namely: about the Divinity of the Word the Saviour, about the antiquity of the dogmas of our faith and the evangelical-Christian way of life, as well as about His recent appearance, about the events that preceded His sufferings, and about the election of the Apostles - we told about all this with brief proofs in the previous book. (2) In the same case, let us consider what happened after his ascension, basing ourselves on the Holy Scriptures, and involving lay historians, to whose notes I shall refer when necessary.