The Acts of Thomas is a retelling of the events during the ministry of Judas Thomas in India, or Mar Tuma as he is known among Manichaeans. The Manichaean Faith holds that the Acts were composed during the time of Mar Tuma, but later re-adapted during the time of the Prophet Mar Mani.
It is believed to have originally been written in Syriac and later translated to Greek. According to one source, “The major Greek witnesses… date to the 11th century, although there are partial Greek witnesses dating from the 10th… Epiphanius (Anac. 47.1 and 60.1.5) records its use by Encratites. Augustine (de serm. dom. in monte 1.20.65; c. Adiamantium 17; c. Faustum 14 and 22.79) attests its use by Manicheans, and allusions are found in the Manichean Psalms. Attestations continue sporadically until the 9th-century Byzantine patriarch Photius (Cod. 114) and the 11th-century archbishop, Nicetas of Thessalonica, who paraphrased the work… It is likely that Acts Thom. underwent redactional development, including adaptation by Manicheans, in the late 3d or 4th centuries.” (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6, page 531)
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