Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

More documents

Recommendations

Info

31. A splendid website of early Christian writings: www.earlychristianwritings.com (maintained by Peter Kirby). 32. On the formation of the New Testament canon, see Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. 33. Pedro Chamizo, ‘La traducción como problema en Wittgenstein’, Pensamiento, 1987; www.metalog.org/files/trad-witt.html. 34. The five Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John & Thomas in interlinked parallel layout: John W. Marshall (ed.), Department of Religion, University of Toronto: www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/meta-5g.htm. 35. A definitive analysis of the 613 rules of the Torah: Abraham Chill, The Mitzvot: The Commandments and Their Rationale, Jerusalem: Urim Publications (www.urimpublications.com), 2000². ‘FIFTH GOSPEL’ THROWS LIGHT ON SAYINGS OF JESUS Darrell Turner, Religion News Service, New York 27.XII.91 (#15709) (RNS) An ancient document composed of sayings of Jesus has generated a recent spate of scholarly articles, along with strongly held opinions that the document, known as the Gospel of Thomas, deserves a much wider audience. According to scholars, the 114 quotations in the Gospel of Thomas are as valuable as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for gaining understanding of the man Christians worship as Messiah. In a recent telephone interview, Helmut Koester of Harvard Divinity School, the new president of the Society of Biblical Literature (USA), said nearly all biblical scholars in the United states agree that Thomas is as authentic as the New Testament Gospels. In an article that appeared in Bible Review in April 1990, Koester and his co-author Stephen J. Patterson wrote, ‘the Gospel of Thomas must be given equal weight with the canonical Gospels’ in any effort to reconstruct the beginnings of Christianity. Yet, despite excitement over the work for several decades, ‘nobody's heard of it except the scholars,’ says Paterson Brown, a former professor of the philosophy of religion who has written on Thomas for the journal Novum Testamentum 14
(www.metalog.org/files/tpb/sabbath.html). Thomas was discovered in 1945 in Egypt along with more than 50 other ancient Christian, Jewish and pagan works that make up a collection known as the Nag Hammadi Library. The documents, which date from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD, were written in Coptic, the language of early Egyptian Christians. The library, including Thomas, has been translated into English and published in several scholarly editions. But many scholars feel that Thomas should be made available in a separate volume. ‘I think it's urgent that Thomas be published alone in a paperback edition,’ said Brown. Unlike the other Nag Hammadi volumes, Thomas contains teachings of Jesus, which scholars believe would be particularly valuable for Christian readers. Many students of the Gospel of Thomas believe that its material is potentially of more interest to the general public than the much-ballyhooed Dead Sea Scrolls— except that it is not as well known. Many quotations recorded in Thomas are similar to those in the Gospels that make up what is known as the New Testament canon— the writings of the early church that eventually came to be accepted as authentic and authoritative texts for all Christians. For example, Saying 90 in Thomas, ‘Come unto me, for my yoke is easy and my lordship is mild, and you will find repose for yourselves,’ bears strong resemblance to a familiar passage in Matthew 11:2830. Recent Scholarly Comments Henry Barclay Swete, ‘ The Oxyrhynchus Fragment [PapOx 1]’ (lecture delivered to the Summer Meeting of Clergy, the University of Cambridge, 29 July 1897): The site of Oxyrhynchus ... in Christian times ... acquired a reputation as a stronghold of Egyptian monasticism.... The Λογια Ιησου are the oracles of Jesus, or sayings in which He reveals the Divine will. The book bears, I think, manifest tokens of its claim to possess this character. It was written in the form of a codex, on leaves, not in successive columns on a roll— a form which seems to have been reserved among Christians for sacred or ecclesiastical books. Each saying begins with a formula which indicates its oracular authority.... The reason why λεγει [i.e. ‘x says’ in the present tense] is appropriate, is that we have before us a fragment of a collection of sayings which purport to be λογια ζωντα, living oracles of the living Lord.... There is 15
Page 1 and 2: Metalogos’ The Gospels of Thomas
Page 3 and 4: Introduction In December of 1945 tw
Page 5 and 6: www.metalog.org/files/supremacy.htm
Page 7 and 8: as the original Gospel Messianics w
Page 9 and 10: Establishment— whether political,
Page 11 and 12: Somsel); also in MSWord print versi
Page 13: www.metalog.org. 20. ‘The History
Page 17 and 18: the words of Jesus contained in our
Page 19 and 20: contains ... four parables which ar
Page 21 and 22: the year 140 AD, and could date fro
Page 23 and 24: These are the secret sayings° whic
Page 25 and 26: together?’; ³the Qur’án 27:75
Page 27 and 28: sick among them. For what goes into
Page 29 and 30: act feminine, when you establish [a
Page 31 and 32: 33. Yeshua says: What thou shall he
Page 33 and 34: 45. Yeshua says: They do not harves
Page 35 and 36: 55. Yeshua says: Whoever does not h
Page 37 and 38: invites thee. He replied to him: My
Page 39 and 40: 77. Yeshua says: I-Am the Light who
Page 41 and 42: 89. Yeshua says: Why do you wash th
Page 43 and 44: nor does he allow the oxen to eat.
Page 45 and 46: evolving after the invasion of Alex
Page 47 and 48: Image/Imagery (22 50 83 84): Gk Ε
Page 49 and 50: Sabbath (27): Heb tb# (shabat: repo
Page 51 and 52: Yeshua (Prologue et passim): Aram (
Page 53 and 54: you.’) 9. The light with the dark
Page 55 and 56: it had no wheat as food for humanki
Page 57 and 58: Logos; and his blood is the Sacred
Page 59 and 60: are born. Therefore we also are mot
Page 61 and 62: have found his sons to be noble for
Page 63 and 64: (Isa 44:9-20!, Ph 14) 55. Vessels o
Page 65 and 66:
65. (Among) the unclean spirits the
Page 67 and 68:
28 58) 72. The truth did not come u
Page 69 and 70:
80. Thru the Sacred Spirit we are i
Page 71 and 72:
the Sovereignty of the Heavens, whi
Page 73 and 74:
on that which he had planted. His h
Page 75 and 76:
custom drink this, we shall receive
Page 77 and 78:
the Union° is the recognition. The
Page 79 and 80:
and sun and wind bring on the flowe
Page 81 and 82:
woman mate with each other, except
Page 83 and 84:
that visible beings are thus weak a
Page 85 and 86:
eternal. And it is thus revealed to
Page 87 and 88:
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary,
Page 89 and 90:
thereafter in Mesopotamia. Joseph t
Page 91 and 92:
Disciple, one of the Seven and auth
Page 93 and 94:
1. The Gospel of Truth is joy for t
Page 95 and 96:
8. Thus he became a reposeful and l
Page 97 and 98:
whither he is going. He understands
Page 99 and 100:
drawn to cut this way and that as e
Page 101 and 102:
27. Then the moment comes when thos
Page 103 and 104:
35. Thus strength grows in action.
Page 105 and 106:
compassion of the Father who will h
Page 107 and 108:
Father is the Son. How otherwise wo
Page 109 and 110:
speaking the perfect light which is
Page 111:
(1) Are the Coptic Gospels Gnostic?
Page 114 and 115:
It would merely beg the question to
Page 116 and 117:
This allusion strongly conveys a ma
Page 118 and 119:
It will be of value to list here th
Page 120 and 121:
III Philip 46 is thus a logion whic
Page 122 and 123:
composed of God’s imagination. VI
Page 124 and 125:
structure of [Mahayana] Buddhist ph
Page 126 and 127:
4.3 the ego is within its imagery (
Page 128 and 129:
excerpts suffice to show that what
Page 130 and 131:
The Gospels stipulate that those wo
Page 132 and 133:
The Gospels endorse John's Baptism
Page 134 and 135:
Pauline Church— which indeed has
Page 136 and 137:
epose? Tales from the Old French,
Page 138 and 139:
he did not know that he was dead [J
Page 140 and 141:
opinion of St Paul, all things cons
Page 142 and 143:
teachings set forth in the Gospel o
Page 144 and 145:
Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth
Page 146 and 147:
celibacy indeed entered Christianit
Page 148 and 149:
Bertrand Russell, ‘An Outline of
Page 150 and 151:
William D. Davies, ‘Paul and Jewi
Page 152 and 153:
primary, but rather a Jewish Christ
Page 154 and 155:
doomed to disappointment.... The Bi
Page 156 and 157:
ejecting the [Mosaic] law.... Paul
Page 158 and 159:
Jon Sobrino, Jesus Christ Liberator
Page 160 and 161:
individual deeds. || One might refl
Page 162:
fitting teacher for flesh and blood
show all

Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?