False Gospels The Famous The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel Itself

1. What is the Gospel?  There are no narratives  The gospel consists of 114 sayings of Jesus  The gospel was found, with many other ancient documents in the Nag Hammadi library by a man named Mohammad Ali  The gospel is written in Coptic, though many scholars believe that it was originally in Greek.

Nag Hammadi Materials

2. Who Wrote the Gospel?   in the first verse, the author calls himself Didymus Judas Thomas. Who was this person?  The word didymus means twin in Greek; the word Thomas means twin in Aramaic. The person’s name was Jude.  Jesus had a brother named Jude and Some Syriac preserve an idea that Jesus had a twin.

3. Other Questions  When was Thomas written?  Did Thomas make use of the Synoptic gospels or vice versa?  Do any of these sayings actually go back to Jesus?  Does the gospel have Gnostic pre- understanding?

Short Excurses on Gnosticism  Gnosticism was a cult that originated in the 200 A. D.  It had a great deal to say about “secret knowledge” and mysteries.  There was, at least in some strains of Gnosticism, a devaluation of the body.  Thus the spirit is saved, the body is worthless.

4. Opening Sayings from Thomas  These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus | spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down. |  (1) And he said, | “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will | not experience death.” (  (2) Jesus said, 15 “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he | finds. When he finds, he will | become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will | be astonished, and he will | rule over the all.”

What Do the Sayings Teach?  The sayings are said to be secret.  The key to eternal life is in correctly interpreting them.  Contrast the NT where in the Gospels and in Paul the death and resurrection are the keys for eternal life.

5. Sayings that are Like the NT  Thomas 20- The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is | like.” He said to them, “it is like | a mustard seed. It is the smallest of 30 all seeds. But when it | falls on tilled soil, it | produces a great plant and becomes | a shelter for birds of the sky.”  Mark 4:30-31  Mark 4:30-31 Mark 4: "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

Sayings  Thomas 26 - Jesus said, “You (sg.) see the mote | in your brother’s eye, | but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When 15 you cast the beam out of your own | eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote | from your brother’s eye.” |  Matt. 7:3-5  Matt. 7:3-5 Matthew 7:3-4 3 "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?

Sayings  Thomas (34) Jesus said, “If a blind man leads | a blind man, they will both fall 20 into a pit.”   Matthew 15:14 14 "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

When was the Gospel Written?  Some scholars argue for a date in the 50’s or early 60’s thus making Thomas the earliest gospel.  Many scholars today will date the book at around  The reasons for this late date are Thomas’s familiarity with the Synoptics; Thomas seeming knowledge of other NT writings; and Thomas Gnosticism

6. The Use of Thomas Today  Is it possible that Thomas contains genuine sayings of Jesus that do not appear in the NT?  If so, what should the Christian do with these sayings?

7. Thomas Gnosticism  Saying one seems to clearly foreshadow the Gnostic character of the book.  It is secret  They bring eternal life to those who understand them.  Thus salvation is not through the redeeming death of Christ, but through the secret knowledge.

Gnosticism  Thomas 3b But if you will not know yourselves, you | dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”  This seems to tell us that we are spiritual beings trapped in an impoverished body.  This entrapment is shown in several ways: –One who is drunk –One who is draped with unneeded clothes.

Gnosticism  Bodies are Evil- Thomas 36 His disciples said, “When | will you become revealed to us and when | shall we see you?”  Jesus said, “When 30 you disrobe without being | ashamed and take up your garments | and place them under your feet | like little children and | tread on them, then [will you see] 40 the son of the living one, and you will not be | afraid.” [

Gnosticism  Material world with the body is evil- (29) Jesus said, “If the flesh | came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. | But if spirit came into being because of the body, | it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed 39 at how this great wealth | has made its home in this poverty.”

Gnosticism  Salvation is becoming one with the divine entity from which you have been divided.  This comes not to everyone- Thomas 23 Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one out | of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and | they shall stand as a single one.”  Thomas 114- Simon Peter said | to them, “Let Mary leave us, 20 for women are not worthy of life.”  Jesus said, | “I myself shall lead her | in order to make her male, so that | she too may become a living spirit resembling | you males. For every woman who will make herself 25 male will enter the kingdom | of heaven.”

8. Final Analysis  Thomas is late for a New Testament Document. (A.D at the earliest)  Thomas is Gnostic rather than “mainstream Christian.”  Thomas was likely originally written in Syriac (see N. Perrin’s recent work).  For more work see C. Evans Fabricating Jesus  For more work see C. Evans Fabricating Jesus (IVP, 2006)