Reading and Study Guide for the Gospel of Thomas
1.
Read quickly sayings 1-27, 30, 34, 42, 49-50and 60-112 to get a feel for the gospel. (Of course, it would be
great to read the whole gospel!)
2.
Read the following passages with parallels in the canonical gospels to get an idea of
similarities and differences. Compare and contrast the sayings in Thomas with those in
other gospels. You can use Marshall’s Five Gospel Parallels at http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/
to compare sayings in the canonical gospels with those in Thomas.
Sayings 43-45 and Matthew 12:31-35 and 7:16-18 as well as Luke 6:43-45.
Saying 8 and Matthew 13:47-50.
Saying 9 and Mark 4:3-9=Mt. 13:3-9,18-23 = Lk 8:5-15
Saying 20 and Mark 4:30-32
Saying 34 and Luke 6:39=Matt 15:14
Saying 1 and John 8:51-52 and saying 49 and John 16:28.
3.
Read sayings 60, 97, 98. These parables have no canonical parallels. Would you be
surprised if you read them as part of a canonical gospel? Do they sound like part of the
same oral traditions that the canonical evangelists used?
4.Read
sayings 4, 11, 22, 23, 30, 61 and 106 that speak about "single one" and 16, 49,
and 75 about "solitary." (Ron Cameron, "Thomas, Gospel of" in the Anchor
Bible Dictionary. Vol 6, pp. 535-40 selects and discusses these sayings on 539. This
reading is on e-reserve). Also read sayings 21, 22, 37, 56, and 114 which seem to deal
with salvation. What themes come out in these sayings?
5. Read sayings 18, 19, 28, 29, 42, 49-50, 112 which are among the sayings some argue are "gnostic" or "gnosticizing" sayings, possibly added to the collection by a gnostic redactor at some stage. Why would these sayings be labeled "gnostic" or "proto-gnostic"? Do these sayings sound like the "proto-gnostic" perspectives Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians? Earlier in the scholarly discussions of Thomas the gospel was often labeled a gnostic gospel. Recently, this has been much disputed. Note the comments in the Valantasis "Introduction" on e-reserve. There has also been a reassessment of the category "gnosticism" itself. The entry on "gnosticism" in the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible discusses the issue of how to define gnosticism. (Discussions of whether the current text is gnostic can be found in Cameron, 539 , the Eerdmans Dictionary entry on "Thomas, Gospel of" by Davies, and in DeConick "The Gospel of Thomas" in the Expository Times 118 (2007) 469-79 on pages 417-44) --available at http://www.aprildeconick.com/images/TheGospelofThomas.PDF
7. Valantasis compares and contrasts the Gospel of Thomas with the Gospel of John and the letters of Ignatius. How does he see each coming to terms with Christian identity?
8.
What are your overall impressions of the Gospel of Thomas? Make a list of some specific observations based on the exercises
above or on your own reactions to specific sayings. You may also want to consider what
kind of cosmology, anthropology (view of humans), soteriology (theory of salvation),
eschatology, or community ethos it presupposes.
FYI- To read an overview of issues in interpreting Thomas from April DeConick's perspective, see her article from the Expository Times at http://www.aprildeconick.com/images/TheGospelofThomas.PDF She has a complex theory of the gospel's composition. She also argues that the theology of the Gospel of Thomas is quite similar to that of early Syriac Christianity and represents a kind of precursor to Eastern Orthodoxy. Scholars coming from the Western Christian tradition have tended not to recognize these connections in her view.