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>> yep. >> they're now positively, triple-positively charged through here. >> yep, yep. >> and they're going about 15 million miles an hour. >> in india, a tradition preserved in song, dance and the acts of thomas tells how the apostle came here to spread the word of jesus in the first century. >> i think it's possible, even plausible, that thomas went to india because we know that this was a fairly well-trod route, and we have a text that explains thomas' evangelical mission to india, and we have a community in this corner of india that goes back to antiquity. >> to this day, saint thomas chr...

Saint thomas christians in kerala also maintain an ancient dance tradition. >> the songs tell us that the apostle was well-received wherever he went. people welcomed him and received his message and accepted the baptism from the apostle, and christian communities grew. >> the songs about thomas, it was about the works of thomas, and how he was as -- as an individual and as a disciple of jesus, was able to actually live that message of jesus in a different country. >> the songs describe thomas founding seven churches and baptizing 17,000 converts, missionary work common to the acts. >> what is ...

>> we know that there were in fact jewish communities there in india, and that part of india is part of the trade networks early on for the first century. >> one of the important strands of thomas's work is the fact that he did come to minister to the jewish community. >> this is my body. >> this is my body. >> because as a jew himself, he felt that he's bringing this new way of relating with god. >> i think thomas would make the perfect apostle because he represents someone that had to go through a process in order to get to the place of believing, and i think that he represent many people. >...

So thomas decided to go to india. >> is it possible the disciple famous for his lack of faith brought a form of christianity here nearly 2,000 years ago? >> in the bible, the resurrected jesus leaves his disciples with a final mission. >> go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. >> well, apostle means to be sent, and after the resurrection, christ commissions them to go to the ends of the earth to proclaim the good news, to proclaim his resurrection, and it's a lifetime mission for them, and some of them literally

Written in greek: gondophares. >> and so where did this coin come from? >> these coins are found in pakistan. >> oh, wow. >> and gondophares was the -- the first, most important -- >> mm-hmm. >> -- of the kings that ruled in that area. >> do we know anything else about this figure, about this ruler? >> yes, we do. we know when he ruled, about 60 ad. >> that aligns pretty nicely with the time in which thomas, as an apostle, would've been doing his missionizing activity in india. so to be able to find a real historical object and say, "huh, this is interesting. this has a name on it that actuall...