The Gospel of Thomas
Renaldo W.
An ancient collection of sayings of Jesus allegedly recorded by Judas Thomas the twin, who is hailed by Syrian Christians as the twin brother of Jesus and the messenger (or apostle) to the Syrians came to light with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library. This coptic text, second tractate, or document, of Codex II was titled the Gospel of Thomas. Contrary to other early Christian gospels, which commonly consisted of narrative accounts illustrating the life of Jesus of Nazareth all the way until his death, the Gospel of Thomas quite remarkably specifically focuses on the sayings of Jesus. Within the pages of the Gospel of Thomas are claims that when Jesus’ sayings are correctly interpreted will produce salvation and everlasting life. “And he said, ‘Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death’,” (saying 1).
Rather than being akin to other New Testament gospels, the Gospel of Thomas as a collection of sayings of Jesus is closer to other ancient collection of sayings. Sayings are especially prominent in Jewish wisdom literature such as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The Jewish wisdom texts commonly personify Wisdom as feminine, in Hebrew, hokhmah and in Greek, sophia.
For Greco-Roman rhetoricians, particularly those with a Cynic penchant to use adroit and sharp sayings called chreiai (“useful sayings”), which one of these useful sayings characteristics were that it was correctly attributed to specific speakers when employed in academic exercises. Interestingly enough by the 19th century, insistence on the negative aspects of Cynic philosophy led to the modern day understanding of cynicism to mean an inclination of distrust in the truthfulness or benevolence of one’s motives and actions.
As Marvin Meyer details in his book The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus the most popular collection of sayings “is what Burton Mack calls “the lost gospel” Q (from the German Quelle, “source”), which was used, along with Mark, by Matthew and Luke in compilation of their gospels,” (Meyer 8-9). As it has been reassembled out of sayings in Matthew and Luke Meyer explains that Q was most likely a “gospel” of wisdom in the vein of the Gospel of Thomas in its literary genre, its orientation toward wisdom, and even in some of its actual content. The sayings in Q represent how intertwined Jesus and Wisdom may be correlated in a Christian sayings collection.
In conserving enlightened sayings accredited to Jesus, the Gospel of Thomas therefore belongs to an abundant tradition of sayings collections. The text of the Nag Hammadi Gospel of Thomas is preserved in Coptic, the latest stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Some scholars presume that the Gospel was originally written in Greek, others propose it was composed in Syriac or Aramaic. Meyer notes that “The differences among the three Greek fragments from Oxyrhynchus and the Coptic text indicate that there were several editions of the Gospel of Thomas in circulation, and modifications could be worked into these editions with some ease,” (Meyer 9).
Unlike the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and even in other non-canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas contains virtually no narrative. There are 114 sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that are numbered conventionally and are presented in what appears to be pretty much in random order. Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas performs no miracles, reveals no fulfillment of prophecy, announces no apocalyptic kingdom imminently coming to Earth, dies for no one’s sins, and didn’t miraculously rise from the dead on Easter Sunday. Instead, the Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas dispenses enigmatic sayings such as “Thomas said to them, ‘If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and consume you’,” (saying 13). In saying 52 Jesus disregards prophecy and fulfillment: “His followers said to him, ‘Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you.’ He said to them, ‘You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence and have spoken of dead’.” Thomas’ Jesus even admonishes end-of-the-world proclamations: “His followers said to him, ‘When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘What you look for has come, but you do not know it’,” (saying 51). Further expounding on that notion in saying 113 “His followers said to him, ‘When will kingdom come?’ ‘It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, there it is.’ Rather, the father’s kingdom is spread out upon the Earth, and people do not see it’.”
There are many esoteric sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that look to transcend the world in hopes of identifying with the divine which has prompted many scholars to consider such sayings to be representative of a gnostic point of view, and have therefore classified the Gospel of Thomas as a gnostic document. The gnostics were religious mystics who proclaimed gnosis, a Greek noun for the word “knowledge” as the way to true salvation. “Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed,” (saying 5). To know oneself truly allowed the gnostics to know God directly without any need for the mediation of rabbis, priests, bishops, or any other religious official. It should be noted though as Meyer explains “ancient gnosticism remains an elusive and highly syncretistic phenomenon, and scholars continue to debate how gnosticism should be defined and how gnostic groups should be identified. As a result it is difficult to call the Gospel of Thomas a gnostic gospel without considerable qualification, and we do well to exercise caution in classifying the text,” (Meyer 12).
Unlike the canonical gospels, Judas the Twin dispenses with the crucification, makes the resurrection irrelevant, and does not present us with a God named Jesus. Nothing intercedes the self for the Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas, for everything we seek is already within us, and not outside our self. Jesus said, ‘I am the light over all things. I am all. From me all has come forth, and to me all has reached. Split a piece of wood. I am there. Lift up a stone and you will find me there’,” (saying 77). For those in search of knowledge the Gospel of Thomas and the hidden sayings of Jesus represent just that.
An ancient collection of sayings of Jesus allegedly recorded by Judas Thomas the twin, who is hailed by Syrian Christians as the twin brother of Jesus and the messenger (or apostle) to the Syrians came to light with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library. This coptic text, second tractate, or document, of Codex II was titled the Gospel of Thomas. Contrary to other early Christian gospels, which commonly consisted of narrative accounts illustrating the life of Jesus of Nazareth all the way until his death, the Gospel of Thomas quite remarkably specifically focuses on the sayings of Jesus. Within the pages of the Gospel of Thomas are claims that when Jesus’ sayings are correctly interpreted will produce salvation and everlasting life. “And he said, ‘Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death’,” (saying 1).
Rather than being akin to other New Testament gospels, the Gospel of Thomas as a collection of sayings of Jesus is closer to other ancient collection of sayings. Sayings are especially prominent in Jewish wisdom literature such as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The Jewish wisdom texts commonly personify Wisdom as feminine, in Hebrew, hokhmah and in Greek, sophia.
For Greco-Roman rhetoricians, particularly those with a Cynic penchant to use adroit and sharp sayings called chreiai (“useful sayings”), which one of these useful sayings characteristics were that it was correctly attributed to specific speakers when employed in academic exercises. Interestingly enough by the 19th century, insistence on the negative aspects of Cynic philosophy led to the modern day understanding of cynicism to mean an inclination of distrust in the truthfulness or benevolence of one’s motives and actions.
As Marvin Meyer details in his book The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus the most popular collection of sayings “is what Burton Mack calls “the lost gospel” Q (from the German Quelle, “source”), which was used, along with Mark, by Matthew and Luke in compilation of their gospels,” (Meyer 8-9). As it has been reassembled out of sayings in Matthew and Luke Meyer explains that Q was most likely a “gospel” of wisdom in the vein of the Gospel of Thomas in its literary genre, its orientation toward wisdom, and even in some of its actual content. The sayings in Q represent how intertwined Jesus and Wisdom may be correlated in a Christian sayings collection.
In conserving enlightened sayings accredited to Jesus, the Gospel of Thomas therefore belongs to an abundant tradition of sayings collections. The text of the Nag Hammadi Gospel of Thomas is preserved in Coptic, the latest stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Some scholars presume that the Gospel was originally written in Greek, others propose it was composed in Syriac or Aramaic. Meyer notes that “The differences among the three Greek fragments from Oxyrhynchus and the Coptic text indicate that there were several editions of the Gospel of Thomas in circulation, and modifications could be worked into these editions with some ease,” (Meyer 9).
Unlike the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and even in other non-canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas contains virtually no narrative. There are 114 sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that are numbered conventionally and are presented in what appears to be pretty much in random order. Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas performs no miracles, reveals no fulfillment of prophecy, announces no apocalyptic kingdom imminently coming to Earth, dies for no one’s sins, and didn’t miraculously rise from the dead on Easter Sunday. Instead, the Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas dispenses enigmatic sayings such as “Thomas said to them, ‘If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and consume you’,” (saying 13). In saying 52 Jesus disregards prophecy and fulfillment: “His followers said to him, ‘Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you.’ He said to them, ‘You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence and have spoken of dead’.” Thomas’ Jesus even admonishes end-of-the-world proclamations: “His followers said to him, ‘When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘What you look for has come, but you do not know it’,” (saying 51). Further expounding on that notion in saying 113 “His followers said to him, ‘When will kingdom come?’ ‘It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, there it is.’ Rather, the father’s kingdom is spread out upon the Earth, and people do not see it’.”
There are many esoteric sayings in the Gospel of Thomas that look to transcend the world in hopes of identifying with the divine which has prompted many scholars to consider such sayings to be representative of a gnostic point of view, and have therefore classified the Gospel of Thomas as a gnostic document. The gnostics were religious mystics who proclaimed gnosis, a Greek noun for the word “knowledge” as the way to true salvation. “Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed,” (saying 5). To know oneself truly allowed the gnostics to know God directly without any need for the mediation of rabbis, priests, bishops, or any other religious official. It should be noted though as Meyer explains “ancient gnosticism remains an elusive and highly syncretistic phenomenon, and scholars continue to debate how gnosticism should be defined and how gnostic groups should be identified. As a result it is difficult to call the Gospel of Thomas a gnostic gospel without considerable qualification, and we do well to exercise caution in classifying the text,” (Meyer 12).
Unlike the canonical gospels, Judas the Twin dispenses with the crucification, makes the resurrection irrelevant, and does not present us with a God named Jesus. Nothing intercedes the self for the Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas, for everything we seek is already within us, and not outside our self. Jesus said, ‘I am the light over all things. I am all. From me all has come forth, and to me all has reached. Split a piece of wood. I am there. Lift up a stone and you will find me there’,” (saying 77). For those in search of knowledge the Gospel of Thomas and the hidden sayings of Jesus represent just that.
Trapped in Flesh
By Malaak D.
The discovery of the texts found in Egypt in the village Nag Hammadi in the early 1940s revealed the unknown Christian individuals and groups of Gnosticism in the early second and third centuries. These texts were not only different from the opposing views of proto-orthodox Christians, but also from each other. There was more than one version of Gnosticism, but all of them thought they had the “true” knowledge. Orthodox Christians’ message was to be a believer of Jesus and take literal meaning to the gospels and teachings of the church. If you believed, you were a Christian. On the other hand, Gnostics thought it was more important for them to seek God through knowledge than just to simply believe. And they did so by finding God within themselves and not through principle or belief from the church.
Both the Gospel of Truth and Ehrman in the book Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew focus on the fact that people who have gnosis (knowledge) from the Father, are spirits trapped in flesh and imprisoned on Earth. They are partly divine and belong in a different realm. The creation of this world was not good and in fact was a mistake. Which we find out was a result of Yaldabaoth’s anger and ignorance. “And so they make Adam. But Adam, not having a spirit within him, is completely immobile. The one true God then tricks Yaldabaoth into conveying the power of his mother into this inanimate being, by breathing the breath of life into it, thereby imparting the power of Sophia into humans, making them animate and giving them a power greater even than the lesser cosmic forces that Yaldabaoth had created.” (Lost Christianities p. 123-124). But how do these Gnostics return to their true place in the pleroma and achieve the feeling of fullness? Well Ehrman says “This world is a cesspool of ignorance and suffering, and salvation will come not by trying to make it better but by escaping it altogether.” (Lost Christianities p. 114) Like the Gospel of Truth, the main issue about humans’ struggle to return to their realm is not sinning, but their ignorance. And to get salvation they must escape the barrier of ignorance, which they can do by seeking and looking for knowledge from the Father.
Another important thing to point out was the fact that Gnosticism was not knowledge that could be given to anyone. Only people of the elite could attain this knowledge. And those people knew their identity and where they came from. They understood this material world was not created by the true God. And the people who understand this and believe in it will be the people who “know.” Although this knowledge and information comes from Jesus, he is not portrayed as he is in the other gospels and his life story is not presented in the stories and explanations of Gnosticism. As I referred to earlier, Gnostics believed they were souls trapped in a body they didn’t belong in. The Gospel of Truth mentions Jesus in this way during his crucifixion. He was not killed and he became a way for people to find wisdom through him. “He was nailed to a tree (and) he became a fruit of knowledge of the Father. It did not, however, cause destruction because it was eaten, but to those who ate it it gave (cause) to become glad in the discovery, and he discovered them in himself, and they discovered him in themselves.” (Gospel of Truth p. 161). This kind of reminds me of Buddhism in the way that the Gnostics find enlightenment through knowledge from Jesus and then return to their spiritual selves. And in Buddhism, they must find enlightenment to reach Nirvana and not have to be reincarnated again. I guess Gnosticism is simpler than that but the ideas are a little similar. Gnostics are still Christians and valued the same literature as Christians, but their interpretations of the texts were different. The way Gnostics thought was really creative and not restricting. People did often question what to believe. I think Ehrman makes a great point to describe this, “Despite their inherent interest, many of these Gnostic texts are not simple to understand. And that, of course, is as it should be: If the knowledge necessary for salvation were simple and straightforward, we all would have figured it out long ago.” (Lost Christianities p. 114). If the knowledge was so dead-on and to the point, there would be no need for seeking God to find knowledge; it would already be there and then how is salvation achieved?
The main theme I got out of this is basically how the material world is less important than the spiritual one and how they need to find an escape. Jesus didn’t exactly come down to save everyone, but to provide knowledge on how they can return to their spiritual existence through his teachings. And the people who follow the teachings will be on the path of salvation.
Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003. (Chapter 3)
Both the Gospel of Truth and Ehrman in the book Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew focus on the fact that people who have gnosis (knowledge) from the Father, are spirits trapped in flesh and imprisoned on Earth. They are partly divine and belong in a different realm. The creation of this world was not good and in fact was a mistake. Which we find out was a result of Yaldabaoth’s anger and ignorance. “And so they make Adam. But Adam, not having a spirit within him, is completely immobile. The one true God then tricks Yaldabaoth into conveying the power of his mother into this inanimate being, by breathing the breath of life into it, thereby imparting the power of Sophia into humans, making them animate and giving them a power greater even than the lesser cosmic forces that Yaldabaoth had created.” (Lost Christianities p. 123-124). But how do these Gnostics return to their true place in the pleroma and achieve the feeling of fullness? Well Ehrman says “This world is a cesspool of ignorance and suffering, and salvation will come not by trying to make it better but by escaping it altogether.” (Lost Christianities p. 114) Like the Gospel of Truth, the main issue about humans’ struggle to return to their realm is not sinning, but their ignorance. And to get salvation they must escape the barrier of ignorance, which they can do by seeking and looking for knowledge from the Father.
Another important thing to point out was the fact that Gnosticism was not knowledge that could be given to anyone. Only people of the elite could attain this knowledge. And those people knew their identity and where they came from. They understood this material world was not created by the true God. And the people who understand this and believe in it will be the people who “know.” Although this knowledge and information comes from Jesus, he is not portrayed as he is in the other gospels and his life story is not presented in the stories and explanations of Gnosticism. As I referred to earlier, Gnostics believed they were souls trapped in a body they didn’t belong in. The Gospel of Truth mentions Jesus in this way during his crucifixion. He was not killed and he became a way for people to find wisdom through him. “He was nailed to a tree (and) he became a fruit of knowledge of the Father. It did not, however, cause destruction because it was eaten, but to those who ate it it gave (cause) to become glad in the discovery, and he discovered them in himself, and they discovered him in themselves.” (Gospel of Truth p. 161). This kind of reminds me of Buddhism in the way that the Gnostics find enlightenment through knowledge from Jesus and then return to their spiritual selves. And in Buddhism, they must find enlightenment to reach Nirvana and not have to be reincarnated again. I guess Gnosticism is simpler than that but the ideas are a little similar. Gnostics are still Christians and valued the same literature as Christians, but their interpretations of the texts were different. The way Gnostics thought was really creative and not restricting. People did often question what to believe. I think Ehrman makes a great point to describe this, “Despite their inherent interest, many of these Gnostic texts are not simple to understand. And that, of course, is as it should be: If the knowledge necessary for salvation were simple and straightforward, we all would have figured it out long ago.” (Lost Christianities p. 114). If the knowledge was so dead-on and to the point, there would be no need for seeking God to find knowledge; it would already be there and then how is salvation achieved?
The main theme I got out of this is basically how the material world is less important than the spiritual one and how they need to find an escape. Jesus didn’t exactly come down to save everyone, but to provide knowledge on how they can return to their spiritual existence through his teachings. And the people who follow the teachings will be on the path of salvation.
Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003. (Chapter 3)