Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

perspective offered by one of the other Christian gospels composed in the first
century and discovered at Nag Hammadi, the Gospel of Thomas.
Nicholas Perrin, ‘The Gospel of Thomas: Witness to the Historical
Jesus?’ (paper, Annual Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2002): The Gospel of
Thomas was not originally written in Greek;... instead, it shows every evidence of
having been written in Syriac [i.e. Aramaic¹].... Secondly,... the Gospel of Thomas is
not an evolving sayings collection of different strata. Instead, it is a carefully worked
unity, brought together by a Syriac-speaking editor. [¹Heb Mr) (aram) = LXX Gk ΣΥΡΟΙ,
as Ezra 4:7; Biblio.26, Mt 4:24, www.metalog.org/files/ph_interlin/ph020a.html (line 6)]
Jean-Yves Leloup, Introduction to The Gospel of Philip (French 2003, English
2004): To reach [thus] into Christian origins is to find ourselves in a space of freedom
without dogmatism, a space of awe before the Event that was manifest in the
person, the deeds, and the words of the Teacher from Galilee.... The Gospel of Philip
invites us to follow Christ by awakening in this life to that in us which does not die, to
what St John called Eternal Life.... Another important theme showing a kinship
between this Gospel and that of Thomas is the idea of non-duality.... The Gospel of
Philip ... [is] dealing with subjects that were undoubtedly the source of much
misunderstanding in his times, as they still are today.
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