Gospel of Thomas

Tonight I randomly came across a news article which referenced the Gospel of Thomas. For those who do not know, the Gospel of Thomas (attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas) is a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, and is commonly referred to as the 5th gospel (the officially recognized gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Christian scholars maintain that the Gospel of Thomas was probably written between 50 and 200 A.D., with stark fluctuations in viewpoint depending upon who you ask. The gospel was lost for almost 2,000 years, however, only recently discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945.

The Gospel of Thomas is said to be gnostic in origin and stance by several fundamentalist Christians and this is probably why it was kept out of the original canon of the Holy Bible. It isn’t necessarily a “gospel” in the strictest sense, because there is no connecting narrative about the life of Jesus, no summaries about his teachings, and no theological interpretations and commentary, as is found in the other gospels. While many of its contents are similar to other gospels with some even paralleling, about half of its contents appear nowhere else in Scripture.

While the majority of the Gospel of Thomas presents little that most early Christians would object to, there are certain parts that reflect a more clearly gnostic perspective, such as the Preamble and saying 114.

114 Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

However, when taking this passage in context of the day, it fits well with the Gnostic world view. Whereby, “female” may refer to those Christians who are not seeking the way of gnosis. The “male” represents the Gnostic Christians who are seeking to “know” the secret things, attempting to fulfill the first saying in Thomas: “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”

There is debate whether the Gospel of Thomas was actually a gnostic writing, or whether it was simply valued by the Gnostics and adapted into their belief system. At any rate, Thomas is clearly Gnostic. The introduction mentions the “secret sayings,” suggesting that his writing is only for those who are seeking or have attained the gnosis. The conclusion to the Coptic version (referenced by saying 114 above) could easily be seen as simply a radical sexist perspective.

It is easy to see why the Gospel of Thomas has been omitted from inclusion with the other gospels due to the sometime controversial nature it exhibits. However, I still recommend everyone to read it. It doesn’t contradict anything in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and there are numerous instances where it overlaps with them, which in the end, only serves to strengthen, not weaken, our faith in Jesus Christ and the traditional Christian position, as we have yet another corroborative piece of evidence behind the historicity of traditions/teachings established by our Lord in the canonical Gospels.