Thomas the Apostle

=== Other names ===
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The [[Nag Hammadi library|Nag Hammadi]] copy of the ''[[Gospel of Thomas]]'' begins: "These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymus, Judas Thomas, recorded." Early Syrian traditions also relate the apostle's full name as Judas Thomas.{{efn|"... Judas Thomas, as he is called [in the ''Acta Thomae''] and elsewhere in Syriac tradition ...". {{harvnb|Thurston|1913}} }} Some have seen in the ''[[Acts of Thomas]]'' (written in east Syria in the early 3rd century, or perhaps as early as the first half of the 2nd century) an identification of Thomas with the apostle [[Jude the Apostle|Judas, Son of James]]. However, the first sentence of the Acts follows the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in distinguishing the apostle Thomas and the apostle Judas son of James. Others, such as [[James Tabor]], identify him as [[Jude, brother of Jesus]] mentioned by Mark. In the [[Book of Thomas the Contender]], part of the [[Nag Hammadi library]], he is alleged to be a twin to Jesus: "Now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself…"{{sfn |Thomas the Apostle|n.d.}}

A "[[Doubting Thomas]]" is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience—a reference to the [[Gospel of John]]'s depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who, in John's account, refused to believe the resurrected [[Jesus]] had appeared to the ten other apostles until he could see and feel Jesus' [[Five Holy Wounds|crucifixion wounds]].