Susan E. Myers concentrates on two prayers, strikingly similar in style and content, found in the third-century Acts of Thomas. Each prayer is located in the context of Christian initiation and each is addressed to a feminine deity who is asked to "come" to be present in the ritual. The prayers appeal to the feminine Spirit, who is called "Mother," "fellowship of the male," and "dove," among other titles. The author examines these prayers in their historical, literary, and liturgical contexts, challenging some of the prevailing assumptions about Syriac-speaking Christianity in general, and the Acts of Thomas in particular.

Annotation Klijn (emeritus, U. of Groningen) presents a commentary on the acts of Thomas. He relies on the Syriac text, thought by him to be the original language of the writing, but makes reference to the Greek translation. He seeks to demonstrate that the work belongs to the Eastern Christian tradition rather than that of the Gnostics. Klijn has revised the introduction in response to more recent work on Syriac Christianity, but largely left the commentary the same as in the original 1962 edition. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

This is the second edition of a book published as long ago as 1962. The at that time relatively young Dr. A.F.J. Klijn was brought up in the school of W.C. van Unnik and G. Quispel, both in Utrecht. In his book about the Acts of Thomas he tried to demonstrate that this work cannot be reckoned among the Gnostic writings but belongs to the early Syriac or rather Eastern Christian tradition. In the last decades much has been written about Syriac Christianity, which made it necessary to rewrite the original introduction of this book. The commentary has mainly been left as it was, although many additions have been made to its great number of valuable references.

This is the story of Apostle Thomas - the doubting Thomas - who dared to ask the evidence for the resurrection to believe. Jesus was only glad to provide that. Once satisfied, he became the first to proclaim that Jesus indeed was God, by shouting ""My Lord, and My God"" In the fullest sense, Thomas was the first Christian. His ministry was essentially in Parthia (including Yemen), China and India. He was martyred in Mylapore, Chennai. He came to Kerala in AD 52. This is his story which was handed down to us from our fore fathers for over 2000 years. Come and touch Jesus and believe.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Durham under the title: Christ's proclamation to the imprisoned spirits: 1 Peter 3:18-22 in its tradition historical and literary contexts.