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The Fifth Gospel: The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age
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- GenresReligionChristianity
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 27, 2017
The Gospel of Thomas, found in 1945 in northern Egypt (Nag Hammadi) and written in Coptic, consists of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. The actual gospel is a pretty quick read, and although some of the sayings are perplexing, they give an interesting insight into Jesus's message. One thing that stood out to me was that multiple sayings in Thomas's gospel end with "whoever has ears to hear should hear." This repetition made me think about the fact that Jesus, like the Buddha, did not write any of his own message down. More interestingly, it would seem that both of them were most assuredly literate, implying that this was a conscious choice. The knowledge that Jesus had about the power of the Old Testament for both good and bad based on its interpretation, as discussed in The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image The Alphabet vs. the Goddess, may have been the reason that none of his story and sayings were written down until more than a generation after his death. Perhaps he meant, "whoever has ears to hear (right now, this which I am currently saying) should hear." This could mean that his statements were contextually based in what was going on at that moment, and the true understanding of what he meant was best grasped in that moment's context, not meant as a universal statement for context-less consumption. This by no means makes them worthless, but it does call into question if Jesus himself would approve of the New Testament, or if Jesus even felt that his message could be accurately represented through any text removed from its context. Another interesting idea found in this gospel is an alternative understanding of the coming of the Kingdom and Resurrection. In this gospel, Jesus's disciples ask him about both the coming of the Kingdom and the Resurrection of the dead; Jesus states that God's Kingdom has already come and the Resurrection has already happened, but the people do not see or recognize it. This makes the entire apocalyptic understanding of Biblical text seem a likely misinterpretation. I could go on, but I will keep this brief. Overall the introduction, gospel, and the first essay were a fun read. The last essay was a bit dry for my taste, but I would recommend that anyone who is curious about Jesus read this gospel as another piece of the puzzle.
January 28, 2018
This book helped me understand the story of the Nag Hammadi discoveries and the complexity and politics involved in the translation and publication of these ancient texts. It's quite academic in structure but a good read for any interested in these long hidden texts.
February 14, 2023
This rating is not derived from the remarkable research work of the author, but for the content of the gospel itself, which is nothing but a set of sayings, attributed to Yeshua/Jesus. The meditative quality of the sayings reminds one of a first year college student at best, the underwhelming essence of the text is probably the cause of it not being part of the biblical cannon.
October 31, 2012
This is an excellent commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. It’s concise and in places speculative, but immensely informative, representing the latest scholarship on this fascinating find.
Part 1 presents a translation of the gospel; Part 2 provides commentary; Part 3 tells of its discovery at Nag Hammadi. It’s a skinny little book, but very full.
The most controversial question about this gospel seems to be its dating. Is it a collection of late second- or even third-century Gnostic sayings, or does it date back to the first century and contain the words of Jesus? The answer seems to be both. As a saying gospel, it’s much more malleable than a storyline gospel, and probably the collection grew over time. Some of the sayings seem very early; others seem quite late, surely not added until the Coptic version in Egypt began to form. (The most complete version we have is in Coptic, discovered in upper Egypt, and dating back to the fourth century.)
There are several reasons for dating parts of Thomas back to the first century. First, many sayings are quite similar to other first-century documents. Second, the rivalry it displays tends to suggest a time in early Christianity when local communities claimed loyalty to a particular well-known figurehead. Finally, its Christology is quite low. Jesus is not the Son of God or even the Son of Man. He’s just Jesus.
The association with “Thomas” should not be confused with the “doubting Thomas” of John chapter 20. Rather, it is more likely the “Judas Thomas” of John 14, Luke 6, and Acts 1. The same Judas Thomas of the Acts of Thomas, and the person to whom the epistle of Jude is attributed. If the Acts of Thomas carries any historic authenticity, then this is possibly the brother of Jesus; the Jude of Mark 6:3. Thus, we have uncovered a gospel possibly attributed not merely to one of the Twelve, but to a blood brother of Jesus.
Another confusion about this gospel is its so-called “Gnostic” bent. There just seems to no longer be a simple description of what “Gnostic” means; you won’t find any hints in Thomas of the evil creator who surfaces in other Gnostic writings. Instead, Thomas reads very much like John’s Gospel and Paul’s epistles, both in theme and theology. If Thomas is Gnostic, it’s not much more so than canonical New Testament writings, which can be just as exotic.
Yet it also appears that the Gospel of Thomas provides an independent source. Might Thomas have something to teach us about the original Jesus movement? As the book’s introduction claims, it “has reshaped the discussion of Christian origins by introducing students of early Christianity to a new set of ideas and practices that, a generation ago, one could hardly imagine as deriving from the words of Jesus.”
Part 1 presents a translation of the gospel; Part 2 provides commentary; Part 3 tells of its discovery at Nag Hammadi. It’s a skinny little book, but very full.
The most controversial question about this gospel seems to be its dating. Is it a collection of late second- or even third-century Gnostic sayings, or does it date back to the first century and contain the words of Jesus? The answer seems to be both. As a saying gospel, it’s much more malleable than a storyline gospel, and probably the collection grew over time. Some of the sayings seem very early; others seem quite late, surely not added until the Coptic version in Egypt began to form. (The most complete version we have is in Coptic, discovered in upper Egypt, and dating back to the fourth century.)
There are several reasons for dating parts of Thomas back to the first century. First, many sayings are quite similar to other first-century documents. Second, the rivalry it displays tends to suggest a time in early Christianity when local communities claimed loyalty to a particular well-known figurehead. Finally, its Christology is quite low. Jesus is not the Son of God or even the Son of Man. He’s just Jesus.
The association with “Thomas” should not be confused with the “doubting Thomas” of John chapter 20. Rather, it is more likely the “Judas Thomas” of John 14, Luke 6, and Acts 1. The same Judas Thomas of the Acts of Thomas, and the person to whom the epistle of Jude is attributed. If the Acts of Thomas carries any historic authenticity, then this is possibly the brother of Jesus; the Jude of Mark 6:3. Thus, we have uncovered a gospel possibly attributed not merely to one of the Twelve, but to a blood brother of Jesus.
Another confusion about this gospel is its so-called “Gnostic” bent. There just seems to no longer be a simple description of what “Gnostic” means; you won’t find any hints in Thomas of the evil creator who surfaces in other Gnostic writings. Instead, Thomas reads very much like John’s Gospel and Paul’s epistles, both in theme and theology. If Thomas is Gnostic, it’s not much more so than canonical New Testament writings, which can be just as exotic.
Yet it also appears that the Gospel of Thomas provides an independent source. Might Thomas have something to teach us about the original Jesus movement? As the book’s introduction claims, it “has reshaped the discussion of Christian origins by introducing students of early Christianity to a new set of ideas and practices that, a generation ago, one could hardly imagine as deriving from the words of Jesus.”
September 13, 2014
An english translation of the Gospel of Thomas, plus two commentaries on the Gospel and it's history. Interesting to me.
September 19, 2015
This was interesting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews