My favorite Apocrypha gospel by far is the Gospel of Thomas where you can see Youtube videos on it as a top hit.
I was listening to it and noticing the parallels between the cannon and Thomas gospel versions. Listening I noticed something that caught my attention? One of the fundalmentalist comments on youtube say it can’t be the gospels because the Trinity and salvation are not mentioned 🙂 … yes I am aware of Dr. Ehrman’s work claiming that was added later. However, I thought about what she said and noticed a very different experience compared to the cannon NT gospels.
The theme is totally different than anything else out there. Jesus always gives warnings about fire and hell and the coming kingdom but I do not see any of this in Thomas.Â
I would love to ask Dr. Ehrmen or anyone who has studied these is that because these were added to the cannon gospels or rather they were removed from Gospel of Thomas records? Also why the difference? I would rather think these would be important for early and modern Christians.
Here is my understanding of the Gospel of Thomas. Early Jesus followers believed the end was coming at any moment. Jesus said there were some standing there that would not taste death. People were instructed to go up on their rooftops and wait. If the Gospel of Thomas was early, it would make sense that it is just a concoction of Jesus sayings because there would have been no point in having a gospel narrative, or writing one for that matter, because they were going to heaven any second. Get the bread and butter of his teachings. The synoptic gospels were composed after all of Paul’s letters when people started to realize maybe they missed something; perhaps the end wasn’t coming that very moment, so the gospels were written to pass on to the next generation, so they were informed as well. The Gospel of Thomas is a Gnostic text, meaning one would have to obtain secret knowledge in order to find salvation. You won’t find any mention of the type of salvation (be it baptismal or grace through faith in the NT we read today, because the church is still divided over the matter) you have come to know because salvation wasn’t attained the same way Orthodoxy would say it is, according to the Gnostics. Well, we know that the Gospel of Thomas is later, most likely 2nd century because it does have some authentic sayings of Jesus that we find were taken from the original synoptic gospels among other minor things. So, to answer your second question about the trinity, Gnosticism had a very different view of Jesus than what Orthodoxy gives us today. They did not believe Jesus was fully human and fully divine. They did not believe he was God in the flesh at all which completely disavows any notion of a proper trinity that you might be looking for.Â
I know Trinity is not mentioned in any of the gospels 🙂
Â
However, wasn’t the kingdom of heaven an Earthly one like in Mark? Still had the if the hand causes you to sin cut it off talk because it’s better than cast whole into flame.
I wonder if legalistic brimstone teachings were added by Pauline or Jewish influences or were Jesus teachings? It was my understanding that Jews didn’t believe this theology.
If it were Jesus it would have been included in Thomas. If anything it shows me Thomas could be earlier before the concept of the rapture. Â
BradleyLeathers said
Here is my understanding of the Gospel of Thomas. Early Jesus followers believed the end was coming at any moment. Jesus said there were some standing there that would not taste death. People were instructed to go up on their rooftops and wait. If the Gospel of Thomas was early, it would make sense that it is just a concoction of Jesus sayings because there would have been no point in having a gospel narrative, or writing one for that matter, because they were going to heaven any second. Get the bread and butter of his teachings. The synoptic gospels were composed after all of Paul’s letters when people started to realize maybe they missed something; perhaps the end wasn’t coming that very moment, so the gospels were written to pass on to the next generation, so they were informed as well.
Â
The idea that Jesus was actually teaching that the end of the world was imminent is found in the canonical gospels. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he actually was teaching that. The earliest person in the NT to make this claim is Paul. Now, did he get this idea from Jesus and his disciples or was this another one of his unique views he derived from his visions? It’s hard to say. The gospels might very well have been putting these Pauline ideas on the lips of Jesus.Â
RAhmed said
BradleyLeathers said
Here is my understanding of the Gospel of Thomas. Early Jesus followers believed the end was coming at any moment. Jesus said there were some standing there that would not taste death. People were instructed to go up on their rooftops and wait. If the Gospel of Thomas was early, it would make sense that it is just a concoction of Jesus sayings because there would have been no point in having a gospel narrative, or writing one for that matter, because they were going to heaven any second. Get the bread and butter of his teachings. The synoptic gospels were composed after all of Paul’s letters when people started to realize maybe they missed something; perhaps the end wasn’t coming that very moment, so the gospels were written to pass on to the next generation, so they were informed as well.Â
The idea that Jesus was actually teaching that the end of the world was imminent is found in the canonical gospels. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he actually was teaching that. The earliest person in the NT to make this claim is Paul. Now, did he get this idea from Jesus and his disciples or was this another one of his unique views he derived from his visions? It’s hard to say. The gospels might very well have been putting these Pauline ideas on the lips of Jesus.Â
In part, it’s the embarrassment factor that makes it rather certain he preached the end was coming soon. The gospels were written because the end didn’t come right away, so record of Jesus’ life was needed to be written down in the event that the end didn’t come and the next generation could read about it. There isn’t much dispute over what it means when Jesus says some in that very generation would not taste death, but you’re entitled to your opinion. It is rather embarrassing to have to write down what your Messiah said and it be wrong, so it further adds to the validity of the historicity behind the sayings.Â
More importantly, Jesus taught the Kingdom at hand. His disciples taught about Jesus. It is important to remember what Jesus was teaching and the purpose behind it.Â
You would think if there would be any corruption of Scripture it would have occurred in these passages?
I could see this being argued by fundamentalists as proof if anything would have been changed it would be this? I was under the impression the gospel of Thomas was read outside gnostic circles until the 3rd centuryÂ
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert