Gospel of Thomas
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The Gospel of Thomas, one of the Nag Hammadi texts, is a logia (collection of sayings) attributed to Jesus. Scholars generally fall into two camps on the question of dating the source: An "early camp" who date it between 50-100 CE and a "late camp" who date it to the middle of the 2nd century.[1] Because it is a collection of sayings without any external framework contextualizing or politicizing the quotes, modern scholars accept it to be as reliable a source of the historical Jesus' true words as the other 3 synoptic gospels.[2][3] However, no Christian Church accepts it as a canonical text.
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[edit] Gnosticism
The Gospel comes from the Gnostic tradition, which implies a secret tradition reserved for special students. Though there is no commentary nor interwoven story to accompany them, the quotes alone provide quite a different character of Jesus from the traditional portrayals of Jesus as political activist or moral guide. This Jesus is less concerned with the political and religio-political revolution than in teaching adherents about the true path to God and eternity.
[edit] Focus on inner spirituality
For the character of Jesus in Thomas, the Kingdom of Heaven is something within each person that can be directly obtained without priest or cleric. The Kingdom of Heaven is not based on worshipping the right way or on behaving the right way, nor is it based on the condemnation of sin. In fact, modern Christian Conservatives would find nothing here to further its anti-science, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-everything else agendas.[4]
- His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed." Thomas, v. 6 [5]
- Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits. Thomas, v. 14
- His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect."
[edit] Mysticism
The gospel of Thomas portrays Jesus as a mystic rather than a moralist. Like mystics in other religions, Jesus says here that spirituality is something you find within, after contemplation and separation from the worldly. Like that of other mystical writers, little of what Jesus says is simplistic, straightforward, or at all logical.
- "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
- When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." [6]
[edit] Mary as Disciple
An interesting aspect of the Gospel of Thomas is the role of Mary of Magdala. She is mentioned three times in the Gospel, but nothing of note is said to demonstrate how she is distinct from any of the other disciples. Some scholars and feminist writers have suggested that she is simply one of the handful of Jesus’ students and that he accepted her without commentary.[7]
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ The dating of any biblical text is generally a complex argument involving archaeological evidence including other writings that reference it, traditional positioning of the book, literary analysis, and of course modern church politics. Wikipedia gives an indepth outline of the dating issues.
- ↑ Funk, Robert Walter and Roy W. Hoover, The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? the Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus, Polebridge Press, 1993
- ↑ Koester, Helmut; Lambdin (translator), Thomas O. (1996). "The Gospel of Thomas". In Robinson, James MacConkey. The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Revised ed.). Leiden, New York, Cologne: E. J. Brill. p. 125. ISBN 9004088563
- ↑ Perhaps Thomas is a threat to Christians precisely because Jesus removes the Church's authority to tell others what to do.
- ↑ http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html
- ↑ Gospel of Thomas v. 3
- ↑ http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/thomas/gospelthomas114.html