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Again, I will point out that the Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, who accompanied Paul after his (Luke's) conversion.

And, of course....neither Paul nor Luke was one of the original twelve.

For example Peter identifies himself as in "Babylon" (Rome) and John indicated that he was at Patmos.

Well....as I have pointed out a number of times on this thread, I believe that the Babylon Peter was writing from was Babylon, not Rome. When he addresses the tribes along the shores of the Black sea he addresses them as strangers (Greek=parepidemos meaning "a resident foreigner") [1 Peter 1:1] and these folks had a "Foreknowledge of God" unlike their Gentile neighbors. They were Israelites....not Jews or Gentiles. That was to whom Peter had been sent [Matthew 10:6]

I believe John was a prisoner at Patmos....he may not have been there voluntarily.

One notable example that is widely accepted through tradition (small "t"), though not recorded in scripture, is the example of St. Thomas. Tradition states (and I see no reason to discount it) that he travelled east and spread the gospel to the Chaldeans and ended up in the Malabar province of India.

How are you so sure that these folks in India were not transplanted Israelites? When they were carried away to captivity in 721 B.C. they were a great multitude. I would imagine by 700 years later they would have increased quite a bit in population. The starting point for most of the post Assyrian captivity was the "Parthinian Empire"....same time and same geographical area. Some folks have even conjectured that this "WAS" most of the ten tribes. I don't know. But, their location....beyond the Euphrates and of an immense multitude that cannot be estimated by numbers (according to Josephus) sure allows for migrations of great populations in all directions, including east to India.

And, of course....neither Paul nor Luke was one of the original twelve.

And Luke was not an apostle at all.

Well....as I have pointed out a number of times on this thread, I believe that the Babylon Peter was writing from was Babylon, not Rome.

And as I've pointed out before, I think we've both presented our evidence. We both think we're right. And neither of us are convinced. So rather than continuing to beat this dead horse, we should simply agree to disagree on this point. You're not going to convince anybody of your point and, unless you have something new to present, I doubt that you will be able to do so.

I believe John was a prisoner at Patmos....he may not have been there voluntarily.

I've heard that too. But the other part of that is that he relocated to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin.

The house of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus

How are you so sure that these folks in India were not transplanted Israelites?

LOL--LMAO--ROTFLMAO!!!

Well, maybe the American Indians are actually descendents of Israel, too. Maybe that's why the angel Moroni came and gave them the plates. (No offense to any Mormons who might be reading the thread)

There is a legend that Joseph of Arimathea settled in Glastonbury, England, and started Christianity there. Does that mean that the English are actually descended from the 10 lost tribes?

Arthur Koestler wrote a book called the Thirteenth Tribe. This book hypothesized that the people from an ancient kingdom of Khazaria converted, en masse, to Judaism, and that all of the European Jews are actually descended from the diaspora of that nation. (No I don't buy his argument) Does that mean that Europeans are descendents of that dispersed nation?

What about the Copts? (Originally evangelized by St. Mark) Were they of the 10 tribes?

And what about the Ethiopian Jews? (Beta Israel) Or the Ethiopian Christians? (Evangelized by St. Phillip) Were they from the 10 tribes?

And then what about intermarriage? What percentage of Jewish blood is required for a person to be eligible for evangelisation from a non-Pauline source?

**I believe John was a prisoner at Patmos....he may not have been there voluntarily.**

Which John are you speaking about here? John the Evangelist or John who wrote Revelation? Or are they one and the same?

Some scholars say they were different "Johns". (No pun intended!)

**How are you so sure that these folks in India were not transplanted Israelites? **

This is the first time I have heard this? I bet you have some kind of a source and I just haven't looked for it yet.