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Gospel of Thomas: Difference between revisions
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Through the Gospel of Thomas our eyes are opened to another side of our Brother Jesus—a side that the Bishop of Alexandria made certain we would never see in the New Testament. Whereas the New Testament Gospels emphasize the events of Jesus’ life, the Gospel of Thomas reveals almost no biographical details. Through the Gospel of Thomas our eyes are opened to another side of Jesus, as this Gospel emphasizes the words of the Master. | Through the Gospel of Thomas our eyes are opened to another side of our Brother Jesus—a side that the Bishop of Alexandria made certain we would never see in the New Testament. Whereas the New Testament Gospels emphasize the events of Jesus’ life, the Gospel of Thomas reveals almost no biographical details. Through the Gospel of Thomas our eyes are opened to another side of Jesus, as this Gospel emphasizes the words of the Master. | ||
The Gospel opens with the saying, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”<ref>James M. Robinson, ed., ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English'', 3d ed., rev. (San Francisco: | The Gospel opens with the saying, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”<ref>James M. Robinson, ed., ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English'', 3d ed., rev. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), p. 126.</ref> In the Gospel of Thomas we do not meet a Jesus who works miracles, or a Jesus who comes to judge the world, or who is called “the Lord” or “the Christ.” The Jesus who speaks to us in the Gospel of Thomas is simply, profoundly, masterfully, a teacher of wisdom. He guides his students on a path of self-discovery: the discovery of the divine self within. He explains what it means to be a true disciple—and a true master. He speaks not of outer deeds and rituals but of the inner life, and the inner walk with him. | ||
This Jesus teaches about a savior—but one who is inside of you, not outside of you. He speaks of the inner Christ. Like the Jesus of Matthew, Mark and Luke, he speaks of the kingdom of God, but it is not a future kingdom that the [[Son of Man]] will establish when he returns to earth in the clouds with power and glory. Instead, it is a kingdom that can be attained in the here and now by those who understand and apply Jesus’ teachings. | This Jesus teaches about a savior—but one who is inside of you, not outside of you. He speaks of the inner Christ. Like the Jesus of Matthew, Mark and Luke, he speaks of the kingdom of God, but it is not a future kingdom that the [[Son of Man]] will establish when he returns to earth in the clouds with power and glory. Instead, it is a kingdom that can be attained in the here and now by those who understand and apply Jesus’ teachings. | ||
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== Authorship == | == Authorship == | ||
The Gospel of Thomas claims to be a collection of the “secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas, the Twin, recorded.”<ref> | The Gospel of Thomas claims to be a collection of the “secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas, the Twin, recorded.”<ref>Ibid., p. 124.</ref> According to one tradition, Judas Thomas was the twin brother of Jesus, and the apostle who brought Jesus’ teachings to India. On a more symbolic level Judas Thomas may be “the twin” of Jesus in the sense that he attained the goal of all Christians: to be one with Jesus Christ. Thomas so identified with Jesus that he became one with the Christ and one with his own inner Christ. | ||
Scholars are divided on when the gospel was written. One group of scholars believes that the Gospel of Thomas was written in the middle of the second century. That would mean it was written about 120 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and eighty years after the earliest of the Four Gospels was written. This group of scholars claims that the author of the Gospel of Thomas borrowed sayings from the Bible. Then he edited them and mixed them up with some new sayings to suit his own brand of Christianity. They conclude that the Gospel of Thomas is a potpourri of borrowed Bible quotes and fabrications that does not preserve the original message of Jesus. | Scholars are divided on when the gospel was written. One group of scholars believes that the Gospel of Thomas was written in the middle of the second century. That would mean it was written about 120 years after Jesus’ crucifixion and eighty years after the earliest of the Four Gospels was written. This group of scholars claims that the author of the Gospel of Thomas borrowed sayings from the Bible. Then he edited them and mixed them up with some new sayings to suit his own brand of Christianity. They conclude that the Gospel of Thomas is a potpourri of borrowed Bible quotes and fabrications that does not preserve the original message of Jesus. | ||
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Their opponents, however, use the same evidence to make the opposite point. They believe that Thomas’s sayings are more concise only because the author pirated the words of the Bible and then edited them. | Their opponents, however, use the same evidence to make the opposite point. They believe that Thomas’s sayings are more concise only because the author pirated the words of the Bible and then edited them. | ||
This brings up the question of how the New Testament Gospels themselves were written. Although this may come as a surprise to many Christians, most scholars today agree that the Four Gospels probably were not written by their reputed authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These Gospels were most likely compiled thirty to sixty years after Jesus' crucifixion. They were composed from oral and written collections of his sayings, parables and miracles. Most scholars believe that the authors of the Gospels edited and at times embellished their works to conform to their own theological viewpoints and to address the needs of the growing church. | This brings up the question of how the New Testament Gospels themselves were written. Although this may come as a surprise to many Christians, most scholars today agree that the Four Gospels probably were not written by their reputed authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These Gospels were most likely compiled thirty to sixty years after Jesus' crucifixion. They were composed from oral and written collections of his sayings, parables and miracles. Most scholars believe that the authors of the Gospels edited and at times embellished their works to conform to their own theological viewpoints and to address the needs of the growing church. | ||
Thus, the Gospels may include more than just firsthand reports of Jesus’ life and sayings. If the Gospel writers embellished their works, then we must ask, Do the Four Gospels really preserve a more accurate account of Jesus’ sayings than the Gospel of Thomas? Or does the Gospel of Thomas more accurately portray Jesus’ teachings? | Thus, the Gospels may include more than just firsthand reports of Jesus’ life and sayings. If the Gospel writers embellished their works, then we must ask, Do the Four Gospels really preserve a more accurate account of Jesus’ sayings than the Gospel of Thomas? Or does the Gospel of Thomas more accurately portray Jesus’ teachings? | ||
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That’s what [[Gnosticism]] is all about. Jesus gave the wisdom sayings. When we study them and follow them and understand them and assimilate them, we are fulfilling Jesus’ command, “Except ye eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”<ref>John 6:53.</ref> The flesh and blood of Jesus Christ is [[gnosis]], is the mind of God, and we have to eat these words. We have to listen to them again and again. They are like mantras. They fall from heaven. They tie us to heaven. | That’s what [[Gnosticism]] is all about. Jesus gave the wisdom sayings. When we study them and follow them and understand them and assimilate them, we are fulfilling Jesus’ command, “Except ye eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”<ref>John 6:53.</ref> The flesh and blood of Jesus Christ is [[gnosis]], is the mind of God, and we have to eat these words. We have to listen to them again and again. They are like mantras. They fall from heaven. They tie us to heaven. | ||
This wondrous teaching heals our souls, making us whole because through it we have new knowledge about ourselves, new knowledge about the Path, new knowledge about how Jesus had an ongoing dialogue with his disciples. | This wondrous teaching heals our souls, making us whole because through it we have new knowledge about ourselves, new knowledge about the Path, new knowledge about how Jesus had an ongoing dialogue with his disciples. | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
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[[Gnostic Gospels]] | [[Gnostic Gospels]] | ||
== For more information == | |||
A number of lectures by Elizabeth Clare Prophet delivering commentary on the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas are available from [http://www.ascendedmasterlibrary.org/ Ascended Master Library]. | |||
Multiple translations and other resources of the Gospel of Thomas are available at [http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl_thomas.htm The Gnostic Society Library]. | |||
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||