TWO INTERESTING DOCUMENTS, RECOGNIZED AS AUTHENTIC, THAT BEAR UPON THE
LIFE OF THE SAVIOUR.
The Greek Church preserves a very interesting tradition which seems to
rest upon some evidence which many Biblical scholars accept as quite
convincing. The tradition relates that while Christ was working His
miracles in Palestine the report of His divine power spread throughout
Asia Minor until it reached the ears of Abgar, the Prince of Edessa in
Mesopotamia. Abgar was afflicted with leprosy; and at last, in his
despair, he is said to have written a letter to Christ beseeching Him
to journey to Edessa and heal the prince of his disease. To this
appeal the legend says that Christ dictated a reply by the hand of St.
Thomas the Apostle, and that after the crucifixion St. Thomas sent
Thaddeus, one of the Seventy, to Edessa, where he cured Abgar, who,
with all his subjects, became converted to Christianity.
The tradition is very old, and is believed among the Eastern
Christians. It is first found recorded by the Greek writer, Eusebius,
in his “Ecclesiastical History,” written about the year 330. Eusebius
gives copies of both letters. It was not until the year 494 that the
Roman Church declared the letter of Christ to be fictitious. The Greek
Church has never made any such declaration. Among those scholars who
have accepted the letters as authentic are Tillemont and the German
theologian Welte. The following is a translation of the two documents: