Gospel of Thomas is Canonical

[Shade]

Gospel of Thomas is canonical

Gospel of Thomas #70
"bring out what is within you, for what you do not bring out will destroy you"

parallels mark 11:25 and luke 6:37

Mark 11:25
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Luke 6:37
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven"

The Dating

Gospel of Thomas was found way before the others of the Nag Hammadi in Oxyrhynhus Egypt. They named it Oxyus Papyri 1 654 and 655 dated to 150-200 C.E and it was found along with the works of Mathew and Luke that were dated to 150-190 C.E. The fragments found of Thomas are older than some of the fragments of new testament gospel text and about as old as the oldest we have.

Gospel of John is canonical and is clearly a refutation of Thomas in the greek manner of a polemic which wqas common for the time.

Gospel of John dated to around 50-90 C.E.is a polemic of the gospel of Thomas proving that the Gospel of Thomas was written even before the gospel of John, the dating of Thomas as 150-200 CE is likely a copy of an earlier version.



Helmet Kester a renowned new testament scholar believes it was composed during the first half of the first century with some of the writing even predating that of the canonical gospels. Dr Peggels, a student of his, agrees namely because that the way in which you decide on which writing predates the other is looking at the style in which it was written, styles change drastically over time, no cap. This is a very good tell in what period something was written. (science of paleography)



Thomas shares about 40% of passages with Mathew and Luke so you can actually use paleography to see that Thomas denotes an earlier source.



Hebrew Gospel of Mathew is the first gospel written that is known, Mathew was a tax collector so he had the ability to write.

The Gospel of Thomas starts off with a quote that comes from the Hebrew Gospel of Mathew

H. Gospel of Mathew

"he who seeks will not stop seeking until he finds; and having found he will be amazed; having been amazed he will reign; and having reigned. he will rest."

Gospel of Thomas

"These are the words the living Christ spoke;"

"He who seeks, let him not cease seeking until he finds; and when he finds he will be troubled, and when he is troubled he will be amazed, and he will reign over the All."

(this seems to coincide with the canonical Matt as well 7:7-11 just not in such a straightforward quote)



Other Parallels

Other parallels in Thomas to canon script include; but are not limited to.

Mark 4:30-32
=
Gospel of Thomas #20

Mathew 18:12-13
=
Gospel of Thomas #107
+ More about 40% to be more precise mimics Yeshua's Parables.
There are many more quotes and it's likely that Mathew, Mark and Luke didn't get these sayings from Thomas but rather they got them from the same original "Q" source which Thomas would have as well.



Words of the living Christ

Dr. Bert Ehrman agrees that it is possible the Gospel of Thomas got the sayings in which they were more directly said or written rather than having anything extra added to them or taken from them. That is to say...

The Sayings in Thomas are likely closer to what Jesus originally said.

John's depiction of Thomas in the gospel of John seems to of been done in jealousy and goes a route in deifying Jesus that tries to degrade the light in every man, woman and child. The truth is, Jesus is deified just by a person recognizing the light within oneself.

 

[deci belle]

Thank you, Shade, for bringing this out— especially the last part:

Dr. Bert Ehrman agrees that it is possible the Gospel of Thomas got the sayings in which they were more directly said or written rather than having anything extra added to them or taken from them. That is to say...

The Sayings in Thomas are likely closer to what Jesus originally said.

John's depiction of Thomas in the gospel of John seems to of been done in jealousy and goes a route in deifying Jesus that tries to degrade the light in every man, woman and child. The truth is, Jesus is deified just by a person recognizing the light within oneself.

Above italics, mine… this a big problem with hagiographers, and a hallmark of immature practice. I call this phenomena the conceit of ignorance. Jesus did not intimate that the light was greater or lesser; such that the light does not depend on the person.

That "Jesus is deified just by one recognizing the light within oneself.", is sublime insight.

 

[Shade]

That "Jesus is deified just by one recognizing the light within oneself.", is sublime insight.

Tyvm, when that came to mind it clicked and really resonated, I think it holds a lot of truth, more specifically I should of said "The Christ is deified just by the recognizing the light within oneself" but since this thread was on Gospel of Thomas and Yeshua, hindsight is 20/20.
I read an interesting article on biophotons and consciousness and how Halo's of light around enlightened individuals holds some scientific merit in the regard of higher states of consciousness. If i read that before this I probably would of mentioned something to that effect and the light, (enLIGHTenment)

 

[cormundum]

The whole discussion is moot since Thomas wasn't canonized. Since it wasn't canonized at Nicaea, it's not canonical, by definition.

Now Catholics/Orthodox accept all sorts of non-canonical Scripture as inspirational and important, like the Shepherd of Hermas/Hermes. Loads of oral tradition also. So does this mean that the so-called "gospel" of Thomas is evil? Absolutely not. There is wheat among the chaff, but canonical it can never be called.

 

[Omee]

I hope you don't mind this slightly joking post.

heaven-affirming jesus trans surgery​

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."

 

[deci belle]

Fortunately, cormundum, there are those who do not depend on the politics of historical Nicaean hierarchical hegemony to determine that Thomas' record is canonical, despite the fact that its inclusion is not ordained.

Wearing the canonical blinders of Nicaea in the face of reality is apparently moot, as I see it.

 

[MorganBlack]

Right! Not canonical. But if you enjoy it, please continue.

The Gospel of Thomas, which I actually very much like, is classified as Apocrypha or Pseudepigrapha, writings falsely attributed to a biblical figure.

And let me add, speaking as a very heretical Folk Catholic, can y'all please leave the Church alone? I actually like having a stable, fixed point of tradition to circle back to when I need to pull back a bit, integrate, and reflect. There’s no need to dissolve the whole institution, even if often flawed, into individualized mystical soup.

To be clear, I absolutely and totally support, on an individual level, you following your own heart's wild prompting. But someone please tell me why the hell do Protestants always have to smear their own highly personal beef and stuff over everything, and undo tradition, culture, and institutions? Tell me why it's not just solipsism meets narcissism.

People barely even know about, let alone practice, the deeply mystical practices in Catholicism we have already - and you want to add MORE? Why? To relititage ancient Euporean tribal grudges?

Now personally, I think Buddhism (something I like) is in there somewhere. Buddhism probably influenced Hellenic mystical culture during the time of Alexander. If you enjoy this line of thinking, you might also like the book The Shape of Ancient Thought by Thomas McEvilley. It’s the gold standard for exploring how much Greek and Indian philosophy influenced each other.

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