The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle: The Armenian Version (The Development of the Gospel of Abgar)

The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle narrates the story of the correspondence between King Abgar and Jesus, the miracles worked by Addai, and the finding by Protonice, consort of Emperor Claudius, of the Cross, Golgotha, and the Holy Sepulchre. It was first recounted in the 4th century A.D. by the Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History and it was also retold in elaborated form by Ephrem the Syrian. According to tradition, Eusebius had been shown documents purporting to contain the official correspondence that passed between King Abgar and Jesus, and he was well enough convinced by their authenticity to quote them extensively in his famed history. The Armenian version of the Doctrine of Addai the Apostle retells the story of all these miraculous occurrences with plenty of details, and confirms the fact that it is a continuation of the Gospel of Abgar, since the text of the latter constitutes the urtext of the former.