The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

294 THE DIFFERING APPROACH TO A THEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
Yet even if we cannot unfold this complex question further in this
essay, we can maintain the Gospel of John portrays Thomas as a multifaceted
figure. By contrast, the Gospel of Thomas presents him in an exclusively
positive way.
The incipit and first saying (NHC II,2 32.10–14) already mark the
Gospel of Thomas as the secret (hidden) words of Jesus, written down by
Didymus Judas Thomas, whose meaning is to be searched and realized.
Saying 13 explicitly pronounces his special position among the disciples,
already mentioned here. In this saying Jesus asks his disciples who they
think he is. After Peter and Matthew have given plainly unsatisfactory
answers, Thomas replies that his mouth is incapable of uttering who
Jesus is. Accordingly, Jesus tells Thomas three secret words, which the
other disciples may not know. Correspondingly, the text emphasizes that
Thomas does not need Jesus as teacher (13e). These sayings already
demonstrate the special position of Thomas in the Gospel of Thomas. His
preeminence becomes more apparent as we regard these sayings in relation
to the opening of the Gospel of Thomas. Accordingly, the hidden words
of Jesus are given only to those who acknowledge the importance of
Thomas as the guarantor for the tradition, meaning these words written
down by Thomas. 28
Now we finally stand before a core question of this essay: What is the
relationship between these two early Christian documents, which have
such stunning links in subject and which give Thomas such special attention.
In the next step I focus this question.
3.3. Different Views on the Relationship of the Two Gospels
The relationship between the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Thomas has
only been discussed intently for less than ten years. There are four basic
types or schemes for relating these traditions. 29
28. Fittingly, Schröter and Bethge, “Das Evangelium nach Thomas (NHC II,2),”
151–81, 163.
29. On these categorizations, see Ismo Dunderberg, “John and Thomas in
Conflict?” in The Nag Hammadi Library after Fifty Years (ed. J. D. Turner and A.
McGuire; NHS 44; Leiden: Brill, 1997), 361–80, esp. 361–63; Enno E. Popkes, “‘Ich
bin das Licht’—Erwägungen zur Verhältnisbestimmung des Thomasevangeliums und
der johanneischen Schriften anhand der Lichtmetaphorik,” in Kontexte des Johannesevangeliums:
Religions- und traditionsgeschichtliche Studien (ed. J. Frey and U. Schnelle;
WUNT 175; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), 641–74, esp. 642–43.