"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.

1

First of all, he was chosen by lot as an apostle, instead of the traitor Judas, Matter, who, as it is said, was a disciple of the Lord. Through prayer and with the laying on of hands, seven tried men were ordained by the Apostles to serve the community, among them Stephen; he was the first after the Lord, immediately after his consecration - as if he had been chosen for this - to be stoned by the murderers of the Lord. He was the first of the victorious martyrs of Christ to receive a crown – his name has precisely this meaning. (2) At the same time James, who is called the brother of the Lord (for he was called the son of Joseph; the father of Christ was the same Joseph to whom the Virgin was betrothed, and before they were united, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit, as the holy Gospel teaches us), this same James, who in ancient times was given the nickname "The Righteous" because of his exceptional virtue, the first, as they say, received the episcopal throne in the Church of Jerusalem. Clement, in the sixth book of his Essays, asserts this, and writes thus: "Peter, James, and John, though they were especially honoured by the Saviour, yet after the Ascension of the Saviour, did not dispute this honour with one another, but chose James the Righteous bishop of Jerusalem." (4) In the 7th book of the same work he says of him the following: "To James the Righteous, to John and Peter, after the Resurrection, the Lord imparted knowledge, and they handed it down to the rest of the apostles, and the rest of the apostles of the seventy, one of whom was Barnabas." (5) And there were two Jacobs: one, the "Righteous One," was thrown from the roof and beaten to death with a felter's rolling pin, and the other was beheaded." This "Righteous One" is also mentioned by Paul: "Of the apostles I saw none but James, the brother of the Lord."

6 At the same time the promise of our Saviour, which he had made to the king of Osroene, was fulfilled. Thomas, by the inspiration of God, sent Thaddeus to Edessa to preach and proclaim the Gospel of Christ, as I said a little above on the basis of the manuscript found there. 7 Thaddeus, having arrived at the place, healed Abgarus with the word of Christ, and struck all the people there with amazing miracles. Having sufficiently prepared them by his works, and having brought them to reverence for the power of Christ, he began to teach them the saving faith. And to this day, since then, the whole of Edessa has been sanctified in the name of Christ; it convincingly testifies to the mercies of our Saviour to her.

8 This is borrowed from ancient legends. Let us now turn to the Holy Scriptures. After the martyrdom of Stephen, the Jews raised the first great persecution against the Church of Jerusalem, and all the disciples, except the twelve, scattered throughout Judea and Samaria; some, as the Holy Scriptures say, reached as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but were not able to dare to preach the Word to the Gentiles, and proclaimed it only to the Jews.

(9) At the same time Paul was ravaging the Church; broke into the homes of the faithful and dragged men and women to prison. 10 Philip, one of those who had been ordained deacon with Stephen, left Jerusalem with the others and came to Samaria. being filled with the power of God, he was the first to preach the Word to the inhabitants there. He was assisted by such a great grace of God that he carried away with his words even Simon the Sorcerer and many with him. 11 Simon at this time had become so famous, and had so taken possession of the people who had been deceived by his charms, that he was considered a great power of God. At the same time, struck by the miracles that Philip performed by the power of God, he gained his trust and pretended that he believed in Christ so much that he was ready to be baptized. 12 The conduct of the present followers of his most abominable heresy is also surprising; following the example of their ancestor, they invade the Church and, like the plague and scabies, inflict grave harm on people if they succeed in unleashing their secret, destructive poison into them. However, many of them, convicted of their abomination, were expelled, just as Simon, caught by Peter in deed, suffered the punishment he deserved.

(13) The preaching of salvation increased day by day. Divine Providence brought from Ethiopia a courtier of the local queen - according to the custom of their ancestors, this people are still ruled by women; he, the first of the Gentiles, was joined by Philip by revelation to the mysteries of the Word; and he became the first believer (Ethiopian) in the universe. There is a legend that, having returned to his homeland, he taught in the gospel the knowledge of God Almighty and told about the life-giving sojourn of our Savior on earth. In fact, the prophecy was fulfilled: "Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God."

(14) At the same time, Paul, the chosen vessel, was declared an apostle, not by men or by men, but by revelation of Jesus Christ Himself and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. He was honored with this title because of a vision and a voice from heaven that accompanied the revelation.