Gospel of Thomas
I.
Discovery and Dating
A. Coptic
Gospel of Thomas - discovered in 1945 when an Egyptian farmer, Mohammed Ali,
was digging for fertilizer with his brother near the village of Nag Hammadi.
Broke jar and discovered 13 leatherbound codices.
Variety including excerpts from Plato’s Republic, some “gnostic”
texts such as the Gospel of Truth, and the Apocryphon of John.
Current dispute over “gnosticism”
Language: Coptic
Date: copied circa 350 CE
B. Greek
fragments of Gospel of Thomas found at Oxyrhyncus in Egypt in 1890's.
Fragments Dated circa 140 CE.
This is very early.
C. Didymos (Greek)
and Thomas (Aramaic) both mean “twin”
II. Theories of Nature and Origin of Gospel of Thomas -
a collection of sayings, no narrative context
A. Old Jewish
Christian gospel – variant – old Syriac Christian gospel
B. Late
Gnostic gospel – associated with those who read it in the light of 2nd-4th
century traditions labeled as Gnostic. – either in the early church fathers’
accounts or in developed systems in documents now available to us.
Critics argue sapiential and encratic dimensions don’t necessarily
make it “gnostic.” Difference between assertion that the contents are
product of a gnostic community and that contents may be read from a gnostic
perspective. See Mirecki's article on "gnosticism" in Eerdman's
Dictionary of the Bible, Deconick's Expository Times article,
and Cameron article
C. Proto-gnostic
gospel – similarities to wisdom/spirit ideas that Paul addresses in 1
Corinthians and which appear in certain readings of the Gospel of John.
D. Valantasis
– a gospel that deals with the reshaping of Christian identity circa
100-110CE It contains much
earlier traditional sayings as well as developments of that tradition much
in the the way the Johannine community develops it.
Valantasis argues that the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of John and
the Letters of Ignatius each deal with “the way Jesus is present and related
to the community of his followers.” (19).
See discussion on 19-20, especially paragraph at top of page 20.
E. De Conick - “Rolling
Corpus Theory” – “living gospel” – interaction of orality and
literacy -early Jewish Christian, to Syria, continued to be revised in light of needs of
community, eventually copied by Coptic Christians. Represents
an encratite, mystical Christianity not all that distant from Eastern Orthodox and
mystical Western versions of Christianity. Changed
from future apocalyptic eschatology to realized eschatology due to the “Non-Event”:
III. Literary Structure –
collection of sayings, tied together at points by catchwords, certain themes; about one
third of the sayings are shared between Thomas and a reconstructed Q. Form may have been similar, but Thomas is NOT Q (NOTE: more than half of the sayings in Thomas
appear in the Synoptics)
IV. Relation to the Canonical Gospels – Class Exercise
How would you describe the differences and similarities between the
sayings?
Would the unique sayings be out of place in one of the Synoptics or
John?
What strikes you as interesting or puzzling?
V. Philosophy/Theology of
the Coptic Gospel of Thomas (Final Redaction we have).
1. Dualism. Spirit and matter.
Spirit and body. Light and dark. Male
and Female. Life and death. The world of light
and this material world.
Gos. Thomas 8: “Jesus said, ‘I
took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in the flesh. I found all
of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And My soul became afflicted for the
sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they
came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they
are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent.’"
Gos. Thomas 56: “ Jesus said, ‘Whoever
has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse
is superior to the world.’"
Gos. Thomas 110 Jesus said, "Whoever
finds the world and becomes rich, let him renounce the world."
Gos. Thomas 111 Jesus
said, "The heavens and the earth will be rolled up in your presence. And one who
lives from the Living One will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Whoever
finds himself is superior to the world?"
“Dualistic anthropology: the world and
with it the human body are devalued and become a synonym for death. The Father’s kingdom of light, knowledge, and
eternal life are to be attained only by radical ‘fasting from the world’(27):
“Whoever finds himself is superior to the world.” (111)” [Theissen and
Mertz, 40]. Salvation is, in part, a
reunification with the divine, light, spirit, etc.; a stripping of the body.
2. Realized eschatology. Rejects a futuristic eschatology. Kingdom is within
and “spread out” on the earth.
Gos. Thom. 18: "The disciples said
to Jesus, 'Tell us how our end will be.' Jesus said, 'Have you discovered, then, the
beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be.
Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning: he will know the end and will not
experience death."
Gos. Thom 51: His disciples said to Him,
"When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?"
He said to them, "What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize
it."
Gos. Thom113: “ His disciples said to
him, ‘When will the kingdom come?’ <Jesus said,> ‘It will not
come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.'
Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.’"
3. First Things. Kingdom has been present from the beginning,
but has been hidden. Each person has hidden
light within. One bears the image of God if
one but realizes it. Creation meant separation, the division between male and female,
spirit and matter, etc.
4. Christology. Jesus is the Living Revealer. He is Light. He brings Knowledge.
a.
Jesus is a living revealer who speaks to the hearers/readers and brings life.
Gos. Thom. Incipit and 1: “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.’"
Gos. Thom. 59 “Jesus said, ‘Take
heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see him and be unable
to do so.’"
b. He is the light. He brings the
knowledge of the kingdom and of the hidden light within. Thus one will not taste death who
has understood. Before one comes to this
knowledge it is as if one is drunk or in poverty.
Gos. Thom. 50a: "Jesus said, 'If they
say to you, "Where did you come from?" say to them, "We came from the
light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established
[itself] and became manifest through their image."'"
Gos. Thom. 24: "His disciples said,
'Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it.' He said to
them, 'Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights
up the whole world. If he does not shine he is darkness.'"
G. Thom.
37: “His disciples said, ‘When will You become revealed to us and
when shall we see You?’ Jesus said, ‘When 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] the Son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid.’"
G. Thomas 77: “Jesus said, ‘It is
I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the all. From me did the all
come forth, and unto me did the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up
the stone, and you will find me there.’"
Gos. Thom 108: “ Jesus said,
‘He who will drink from my mouth will become like Me. I myself shall become he, and
the things that are hidden will become revealed to him.’"
c.
Jesus brings knowledge through his sayings.
Wisdom, the Father, etc. speak through Jesus.
Eternal life comes through understanding, knowledge, of the sayings.
d. There is no explicit mention of
the passion and cross except in saying 55: “Jesus said, "Whoever does
not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not
hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in my way will not be worthy of me.’"
5. Discipleship. Some
argue that the believer is Jesus’ twin. The
true believer is one with Jesus and thus with God. May involve becoming a “solitary”
– see below. May involve encratism.
Gos. Thom. 108 “Jesus said, ‘He
who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things
that are hidden will be revealed to him.’"
6. Singleness.
Becoming a “solitary”. (See Ron Cameron, "Thomas, Gospel of" in
the Anchor Bible Dictionary Vol. 6, pp. 535-40) Primordial
mystical unity as in creation before Adam and Eve separated?
Gos. Thom. 4 Jesus said, "The
man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of
life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one
and the same."
Gos. Thom. 11 Jesus said, "This heaven
will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the
living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is
alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one
you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"
Gos. Thom. 16 Jesus said, "Men think,
perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that
it is dissension, which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For
there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the
father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand
solitary."
Gos. Thom. 22 Jesus saw infants being
suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who
enter the kingdom."
They said to him, "Shall we then, as
children, enter the kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one,
and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the
above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that
the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an
eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place
of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom."
Gos. Thom. 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."
Gos. Thom. 49 Jesus said, "Blessed
are the solitary and elect, for you will find the kingdom. For you are from it, and to it
you will return."
Gos. Thom. 75 Jesus said, "Many are
standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber."
Gos. Thom. 106 Jesus said, "When you
make the two one, you will become the sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move
away,' it will move away."
Gos. Thom. 114 Simon Peter said to him,
"Let Mary leave us, 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 male will enter the
kingdom of heaven."
7. Baptism may have been significant in creating/celebrating the
unity with the divine, returning to first things, etc.
8. “Performative
Theology” - “Communal Theology: Richard
Valantasis calls G. Thomas performative theology. (The Gospel of Thomas, New York:
Routledge, 1997, 7-8) Other scholars have made similar points. The idea is that because there is a collection of
sayings not embedded in a narrative, the hearers/readers must create a theology in
response to the puzzling, sometimes apparently contradictory, and juxtaposed sayings. The hearer/reader is drawn in to active
participation and response as they interpret the sayings.
April De Conick points to the importance of a communal process of
interpretation and transmission, which responds to the changing needs and composition of
the community. The community teaching and praxis constitutes the context for the
sayings in the absence of narrative context.
9. Stevan Davies has an interesting take in “The
Christology And Protology of the Gospel of Thomas” (http://users.misericordia.edu//davies/thomas/jblprot.htm; accessed 11-06-08):
In
the Gospel of Thomas Jesus initiates a new possibility for humanity (sayings 17, 46). As
such he is incarnate (sarx, saying 28) wisdom,
and the light from which all things come (saying 77). Perhaps he is uniquely so, as
sayings 28 and 77 imply, but more likely he is the first fruits of those that follow, as
sayings 13 and 108 imply. People can actualize the light, comprehend the kingdom, restore
God's image, know themselves to be sons of the living father, and dwell in the beginning.
As a result, how those who have accomplished these things will differ from Jesus is
difficult to comprehend, but the problem is not unique to Thomas. How those who are one
person in Christ, having the mind, Spirit, body, life, and death of Christ will differ
from Christ is difficult to comprehend in Paul's thought as well.
Whereas the canonical Gospels focus largely
on christological concerns, such concerns in Thomas are secondary, if not misguided. This
is logically entailed in Thomas's overall perspective. If one discovers oneself actually
and other people potentially to possess the light and to be the image of God, one thereby
discovers also what Jesus is. The quest to determine what Jesus is apart from discovery of
what one is oneself cannot succeed any more than can the quest to discover the light apart
from one's own illumination of the world.
The perspectives of the Gospel of Thomas
discussed above may be summarized into the following propositions:
1. The eternal light of Genesis through
which the world was created persists in the world and in the people.
2. Jesus physically came and informed
people of the possibility of actualizing that light.
3. People who actualize their light
perceive the world and themselves to be at the condition of the beginning seven days.
4. Such people are in their primordial
unisexual state of immortal rest and dominion, images of God prior to religious
requisites.
5. They are as Jesus is and live in the
kingdom of God.
Bibliography -
Works Consulted
Lambdin translation - Lambdin Translation at http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis
and at http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gthlamb.html
There is also an online version with several translations side by
side at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9068/splitv.htm
To read a parallel set of translations for a given saying, click on the number with
a "t" after it. (e.g., 01t will be saying one displayed in several translations)
The author is Michael Grondin.
Ron Cameron, "Thomas, Gospel of" in the Anchor Bible
Dictionary Vol. 6, pp. 535-40
Stevan Davies. “The Christology And Protology of the Gospel of
Thomas” (http://users.misericordia.edu//davies/thomas/jblprot.htm; accessed 11-06-08.
Stevan Davies, “Thomas, Gospel of,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. ed. David Noel Freedman. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2000, 1303-04.
April D. DeConick. “Gospel
of Thomas” at http://www.aprildeconick.com/gospelofthomas.html
April D. DeConick, “The
Gospel of Thomas” Expository Times 118:10, pages 469-479 available as pdf at http://www.aprildeconick.com/images/TheGospelofThomas.PDF
Stephen L. Harris, "Chapter 11: The Other Gospels" in
The New Testament: A Student's Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill,
2009, 242-58
Paul Mirecki, "Gnosticism, gnosis," Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. ed. David Noel Freedman. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2000, 508-09.
Elaine Pagels and Helmut Koester, "The Gospel of Thomas"
from Frontline: From Jesus to Christ. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/thomas.html;
accessed 3/35/10.
Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz, Historical
Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide. Minneapolis: Augsburg/Fortress, 1998.
Richard Valantasis. The Gospel of Thomas. New York: Routledge,
1997.