A Look At The Gospel Of Thomas

by Joel Hendon⁽¹⁷⁷⁾ Red Star

To spend a lot of time studying the apocryphal books would probably be a waste of time when one should be studying the bible. But, a little knowledge of these books, I believe, is valuable. The Gospel of Thomas, for instance was discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt near the end of 1945 and a number of scholars have contended that it does actually date back to the first century and some even go so far as to say it was written by the Apostle Thomas. But to read the available translations of it, shows evidence of a lack of quality which you do not find in the inspired writings. It contains a number of quotations credited to Jesus, some of which seems to be unrealistic for the Lord.

Some of the brief statements made, supposedly by Jesus, make little sense and sound as if written by a person with limited comprehension of truths and/or a limited ability to express himself. These verses remind me somewhat of the manner of other uninspired religious writings. Read these few quotes:

3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised."]

12. The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."

Many of the Old Testament apocryphal books are better written and more meaningful (historically) than the New Testament apocrypha.

There are numerous apocryphal writings, some which are quite enlightening on certain subjects. But one should always remember that these have been determined by a number of renowned scholars to be written by uninspired writers and therefore, subject to error. Anything you might find in the apocrypha should be compared by the inspired Holy Bible before accepting such as fact.

Article submitted Sunday, September 06, 2009 & read 185 times.

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