Sermon for the thirteenth sunday after trinity, september 14, 2014, by the revd mathew fenlon. Thomas is a collection of teachings that some attribute to jesus of nazareth. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from bishop athanasius declaring a strict canon of christian scripture. The gospel of thomas collection the gnostic society library. Download the gospel of thomas download the free pdf. Lambdin these are the secret sayings which the living jesus spoke and which didymos judas thomas wrote down. We are a group of christians who meet together for worship, prayer and bible study. The first and perhaps most reasonable assumption is that it was written by the disciple thomas. The words of the teacher of righteousness, some people call him jesus, are probably best and least distorted preserved in the gospel of thomas. It was discovered near nag hammadi, egypt, in december 1945 among a group of books known as the nag hammadi library. It is the work of a master theologian, delivered at the university of paris, then the intellectual center in christendom, when thomas was at the height of. Explain these secrets to us thomas said to them, if i tell you one of the things which he told me, about how there would be a third testament you will. The gospel of thomas is a noncanonical scripture dating back to around 50100 ce that was found near nag hammadi, egypt in 1945 ce, buried in a clay jar with many other documents, all in coptic, that collectively came to be known as the nag hammadi libr. Chapter by chapter, aquinas draws together the biblical reflections of these great historical figures to.
The version recorded in thomas differs both in substance and in form from the matthean version. This gospel is a collection of sayings and teachings attributed to jesus chri. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The infancy gospel of james the following translation is based on the greek text printed in ronald f.
The question remains if jesus is not merely a metaphor of the logos, the conscience or the inner voice, and if the personification jesus has been used merely as a vehicle to carry the message. Mary magdalene in the early church, and other mystical and magical teachings. When the gospel of thomas was later returned at the end of the age to his companions the jews and christians, they asked him, what did jesus say to you. Of the remainder, some are very similar to those in our gospels, but have been adapted for gnostic purposes. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading commentary on the gospel of st. I was surprised to learn recently that mary magdalene and st. The socalled gospel of thomas really isnt a gospel at all, but a collection of 114 sayings or logia attributed to jesus. Chapter 1 describes the greek fragments and coptic codex of thomas. The gospel of thomass 114 sayings of jesus biblical. Thomas gospel choir is excited about this new, anointed, live recording especially since this will once again be a first and a pioneer venue for the first episcopal church and congregation in the world of african descent. The gospel of thomas is a gnostic gospel, espousing a gnostic viewpoint of christianity.
Does anyone know why and when the gospel of thomas the doubting apostle was removed from the canon of literature. About the original gospel of thomas in translation. Thomas reveals how the reader can use each verse in this scripture as a source of daily contemplation and spiritual growth, while exploring the secrets of resurrection and ascension, the true role of st. Thomas the apostle, nevertheless thanks to the fourth gospel his personality is clearer to us than that of some others of the twelve. This title provides the first comprehensive analysis of the stages of development of the gospel of thomas, including a reconstruction, translation, and analysis of the original form of this gospel, the kernel gospel of thomas, as well as the later accretions. The very interesting thing is that the book contains direct citations of jesus christ in 114 verses. This secret sayings gospel does not tell the story of jesus life, but rather is a list of over 100 of his sayings, some of which are familiar to readers of the new testament. Jan 15, 2011 although the gospel of thomas is not included as part of the new testament it is regarded by some as the fifth gospel. The gospel of thomas in multiple translations along with a vast collection of material about the thomas tradition. The gospel of thomas, the gospel of philip, and the gospel of truth, found in the nag hammadi library, present various mystic gnostic ideas as if coming from jesus.
It is the work of a master theologian, delivered at the university of paris, then the intellectual center in christendom, when thomas was at the height of his fame and apostolic zeal for souls. Thomas said to him, master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like. The commentary begins with a 186page, 12chapter introduction, followed by commentary on each of the 114 sayings in the gospel of thomas, a 55page bibliography, an index of references to ancient literature, a modern author index, and a subject index. Thomas episcopal church and school in houston, texas. The text, which provided the basis for the jesus seminars scholars version translation of the infancy gospel of james, has been divided. Aquinas gospel of matthew features the teachings of st. Primary sources gospel of thomas from jesus to christ. The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose. Jan 02, 2020 the gospel of thomas very clearly tries to maintain an air of secrecy in its words. Since 1912, we have met as a local church to serve god and the community in this way. In some circles, there is the misunderstanding that there are hidden gospels and hidden books of the bible which some large, nebulous organization left out of the bible because it challenged the view this.
During one of my wifes confirmation classes, a question came up about the gospel of st. All of this is contained in the understanding of john as the sacramental gospel. In addition, we are active in sunday school and adult evangelism outreaches. Explain these secrets to us thomas said to them, if i tell you one of the things which he told me, about how there. Thomas gospel choir is excited about this new, anointed, live recording especially since this will once again be a first and a pioneer venue for the first episcopal church. Catena aurea, or golden chain, is a unique style of biblical commentary comprised of fragments from other existing commentaries. It portrays judas in a positive light as the only apostle who really. The gospel of thomas was written in 340 in coptic, but the foundations are earlier oral traditions. Sect, the naassenes,5 held the serpent hebrew nahash in honour because he defied the ban which the demiurge had placed on the impartation of knowledge this reinterpretation of the. The gospel of thomas is simply a heretical forgery, much the same as the. The gospel of thomas is extant in three greek fragments and one coptic manuscript. Mar 22, 2014 the gospel according to thomas, commonly shortened to the gospel of thomas, is a well preserved early christian, noncanonical sayings gospel which many scholars believe provides insight into the.
Approximately onefourth of these sayings are the same as those found in the canonical gospels. These are the hidden words that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas thomas wrote them down. Many people have called the gospel of john, the mystical gospel. Gospel of john commentary patristic bible commentary. This site includes the entire nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. The church traditionally depicted john as an eagle soaring above the other evangelists depicted as a man, an ox, and a lion. Precious lord recordings of the great gospel songs of thomas a.
A complete version in coptic an egyptian language derived from the greek alphabet was found at nag hammadi, egypt in 1945. The gospel of thomas also known as the coptic gospel of thomas is a noncanonical sayings gospel. Mathew fenlon is the senior associate rector of st. By doing so they are able to reach out to men and women of all ages and backgrounds. The gospel of thomas elucidation of the secret words.
This gospel is a collection of sayings and teachings attributed to jesus christ. Portions of greek versions of the text were found at oxyrhynchus, egypt in the late 1800s. A lost, secret vision of jesus earl richard loyola university yamauchi lecture october 17, 1993 the recent discovery and current interest in the gospel of thomas have elicited considerable popular and scholarly attention, a phenomenon which shows no indication of coming to an end. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The gospel of thomas begins with the following statement. It is based on the coptic text of nag hammadi codex ii, 2. A lost, secret vision of jesus earl richard loyola university yamauchi lecture october 17, 1993 the recent discovery and current interest in the gospel of thomas have elicited considerable popular and scholarly attention, a phenomenon which shows no. John is unique among his many writings on sacred scripture.
The gospel of thomas very clearly tries to maintain an air of secrecy in its words. The gospel of thomas audiobook by jason augustus newcomb. Although the gospel of thomas is not included as part of the new testament it is regarded by some as the fifth gospel. The gospel according to thomas, commonly shortened to the gospel of thomas, is a well preserved early christian, noncanonical sayingsgospel which many scholars believe provides insight into. These are the secret sayings that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas. I know this isnt considered part of the cannon of the catholic church, and i dont think any other major christian denominations accept it either, do they. Dec 20, 2004 i was surprised to learn recently that mary magdalene and st.
If it,s true, 340 ad thomas written this book, there are more hidden from god words. The recently discovered gospel of judas is also counted among the gnostic gospels. The best of thomas whitfield music download thomas whitfield. The gnostic gospel of st thomas download ebook pdf, epub. The gospel of thomas is simply a heretical forgery, much the same as the gospel of judas, the gospel of mary, and the gospel of philip. The end of this gospel is also clear, and it is that the faithful become the temple of god, and become filled with the majesty of god. The harsh and widespread reaction to marcions canon. The text of the gospel of thomas from the scholars version translation published in the complete gospels prologue these are the secret sayings that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas thomas recorded. For information about the surviving manuscripts of the gospel of thomas, see the manuscript information page. In this article we will look at interpretating the saying from the gospel of st thomas v1 to v5. His name occurs in all the lists of the synoptists matt. The gospel according to thomas also known as codex ii was found in egypt in 1945. Click download or read online button to get the gnostic gospel of st thomas book now.