Why don't home videos win Emmy awards? Why don't my kindergartener's drawings hang in the Louvre? When I was a boy and tried to shoot the moon with a BB gun, why couldn't I hit it? If you can answer any of these questions, you already know the answer to the next question: Why isn't the Gospel of Thomas in the Bible?
The Gospel of Thomas isn't a gospel at all -- in fact, it doesn't call itself a gospel, but rather "the sayings of Jesus." It is a short (about the same length as 1 Timothy) collection of mostly unrelated quotes from Jesus. There are no "stories" here, but there are sayings, proverbs, and a few parables. Less than forty of the 114 sayings are completely independent of quotations of Jesus in the New Testament.
There is no atonement for sin here. There is no crucifixion, and no resurrection. There is nothing offensive, except to those who read it lightly and don't know what the author means by "female becoming male" and such things. And there is nothing here that helps a person—Christian or not—understand God or put his faith in God. In fact, there is no God here. There is only a clever philosophy that makes the reader wish he knew what was being talked about. There is a hidden knowledge that is never quite revealed. Even Jesus' parable of the sower is presented without the interpretation that always accompanies it in the Bible.
You will find as you read that the Gospel of Thomas is more like a desk calendar than a gospel. The sayings sometimes follow a pattern, but more often they do not. The original document was probably written in Greek (a few fragments of Greek copies survive) around 200 AD or a little later -- more than a century after the actual apostle Thomas died and after the writing and sharing of the complete New Testament. The copies we have today are written in Coptic, an Egyptian language written with the Greek alphabet with a few extra letters. Since I am only an amateur when it comes to translating Coptic, I won't claim that this is anything like a perfect translation of the text. I have tried to use turns of phrase common in contemporary editions of the Bible whenever the Coptic is identical or similar to the Greek of the New Testament. I have felt free to rely on other translations where the grammar or word meanings are difficult.
The Gospel of Thomas isn't a gospel at all -- in fact, it doesn't call itself a gospel, but rather "the sayings of Jesus." It is a short (about the same length as 1 Timothy) collection of mostly unrelated quotes from Jesus. There are no "stories" here, but there are sayings, proverbs, and a few parables. Less than forty of the 114 sayings are completely independent of quotations of Jesus in the New Testament.
There is no atonement for sin here. There is no crucifixion, and no resurrection. There is nothing offensive, except to those who read it lightly and don't know what the author means by "female becoming male" and such things. And there is nothing here that helps a person—Christian or not—understand God or put his faith in God. In fact, there is no God here. There is only a clever philosophy that makes the reader wish he knew what was being talked about. There is a hidden knowledge that is never quite revealed. Even Jesus' parable of the sower is presented without the interpretation that always accompanies it in the Bible.
You will find as you read that the Gospel of Thomas is more like a desk calendar than a gospel. The sayings sometimes follow a pattern, but more often they do not. The original document was probably written in Greek (a few fragments of Greek copies survive) around 200 AD or a little later -- more than a century after the actual apostle Thomas died and after the writing and sharing of the complete New Testament. The copies we have today are written in Coptic, an Egyptian language written with the Greek alphabet with a few extra letters. Since I am only an amateur when it comes to translating Coptic, I won't claim that this is anything like a perfect translation of the text. I have tried to use turns of phrase common in contemporary editions of the Bible whenever the Coptic is identical or similar to the Greek of the New Testament. I have felt free to rely on other translations where the grammar or word meanings are difficult.
The Gospel of Thomas
These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and that Didymus Judas Thomas wrote down.
The apostle Thomas is called Didymus (Greek "the Twin") in John's gospel. Thomas is not called Judas anywhere in the Bible. Sometimes there is some speculation that the person with whom Thomas was a twin was Jesus himself -- but a twin is not mentioned in either Matthew's nor Luke's account of Jesus' birth. In fact, Matthew 1:25 and especially Luke 2:7 and Luke 2:16 indicate that there was only one baby born to Mary while they were in Bethlehem. The "twin" theory is nothing more than a legend that contradicts the facts we have in the Gospels.
1 Jesus said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will never see death." [John 8:51] 2 Jesus said, "Let him who seeks keep seeking until he finds. [Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10] When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over all."
These first sayings both imply that salvation is something that we must seek or choose for ourselves rather than something God offers to us freely. This is typical of the message in the Gospel of Thomas, a message of searching but no help in the search. It is a message of superiority. The author claims that "we" who know are superior to "you" who don't know. The special people in the "kingdom of the Father" have something that no can learn by reading this gospel.
3 Jesus said, "If your leaders say, 'See, the 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 inside you [Luke 17:21], and it is outside of you. If you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you don't know yourselves, then you live in poverty and you are poverty itself."
This saying may be an interpretation of Proverbs 28:19, "the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty." The references to sky and fish reflect the order of creation, since the fifth day of creation saw the making of the creatures of the sky and sea. Self-knowledge is exalted here, not knowledge about Jesus.
4 Jesus said, "An old man will not hesitate to ask a little week-old child about the place of life, ¹ and he will live. For many who are first will become last [Matthew 19:30], and they will become one and the same."
¹ Coptic topos m-pmto, perhaps similar to "the everlasting place" of Tobit 3:6.
This passage is quoted by the Church Father Hippolytus as being a saying of the Nassene Gnostics (Against Heresies 5,7,20). The cult that St. Augustine belonged to before he became a Christian (the Manicheans) also had a saying like this (Manichean Psalm Book 192:2-3). The reference to a week-old child probably means "an uncircumcised child" since circumcision happened on the eighth day.
5 Jesus said, "Recognize what is in front of you, and that which is concealed from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not be made known" [Matthew 10:26].
Although a modern example, I can't help but be reminded of the dualism of the Force in the Star Wars series, and particularly the old master Yoda's comment: "This one a long time have I watched. Always looking ahead he is, to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he is; what he is doing. You are reckless." The thought seems to be the same: Know where and who you are today and that's what truly matters. There is no Christ here.
6 His disciples questioned him saying, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? [cp. Luke 11:1] Shall we give to the poor¹? What diet shall we observe?" ² Jesus said, "Do not tell lies [Leviticus 19:11], and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For there is nothing hidden that will not be made known, and nothing concealed that will not be disclosed." [Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2]
¹ The Coptic for "alms" is the same as the Greek word ελεημοσυνη (eleémosyné).
Ironically, the author of the Gospel of Thomas quotes a saying of Jesus hoping that it will support the philosophy of uncovering hidden knowledge. But in context, what Jesus was saying (see Luke 12) was watch out for Pharisees and people who twist the true gospel, making people reach for something apart from the free salvation that we all have in Jesus. The context of Jesus' original quote preaches against the false doctrine of the passage here.
One of the basic teachings of the gnostics was that salvation is found in the escape from the body, an escape that isn't achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, but by a special, hidden knowledge. The Greek word for "knowledge" is gnosis (sounds like noses), hence "gnostic." Incidentally, the silent G in gnosis is where we get the silent K in knowledge.
The only knowledge we need isn't hidden at all. It's preached every Sunday; it's on every page of Scripture. Even the real Thomas, who doubted Jesus' resurrection, had to be convinced, not by secret knowledge, but on the evidence of what he felt with his own hands. It's as John said as he began his first epistle:
The apostle Thomas is called Didymus (Greek "the Twin") in John's gospel. Thomas is not called Judas anywhere in the Bible. Sometimes there is some speculation that the person with whom Thomas was a twin was Jesus himself -- but a twin is not mentioned in either Matthew's nor Luke's account of Jesus' birth. In fact, Matthew 1:25 and especially Luke 2:7 and Luke 2:16 indicate that there was only one baby born to Mary while they were in Bethlehem. The "twin" theory is nothing more than a legend that contradicts the facts we have in the Gospels.
1 Jesus said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will never see death." [John 8:51] 2 Jesus said, "Let him who seeks keep seeking until he finds. [Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10] When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over all."
These first sayings both imply that salvation is something that we must seek or choose for ourselves rather than something God offers to us freely. This is typical of the message in the Gospel of Thomas, a message of searching but no help in the search. It is a message of superiority. The author claims that "we" who know are superior to "you" who don't know. The special people in the "kingdom of the Father" have something that no can learn by reading this gospel.
3 Jesus said, "If your leaders say, 'See, the 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 inside you [Luke 17:21], and it is outside of you. If you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you don't know yourselves, then you live in poverty and you are poverty itself."
This saying may be an interpretation of Proverbs 28:19, "the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty." The references to sky and fish reflect the order of creation, since the fifth day of creation saw the making of the creatures of the sky and sea. Self-knowledge is exalted here, not knowledge about Jesus.
4 Jesus said, "An old man will not hesitate to ask a little week-old child about the place of life, ¹ and he will live. For many who are first will become last [Matthew 19:30], and they will become one and the same."
¹ Coptic topos m-pmto, perhaps similar to "the everlasting place" of Tobit 3:6.
This passage is quoted by the Church Father Hippolytus as being a saying of the Nassene Gnostics (Against Heresies 5,7,20). The cult that St. Augustine belonged to before he became a Christian (the Manicheans) also had a saying like this (Manichean Psalm Book 192:2-3). The reference to a week-old child probably means "an uncircumcised child" since circumcision happened on the eighth day.
5 Jesus said, "Recognize what is in front of you, and that which is concealed from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not be made known" [Matthew 10:26].
Although a modern example, I can't help but be reminded of the dualism of the Force in the Star Wars series, and particularly the old master Yoda's comment: "This one a long time have I watched. Always looking ahead he is, to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he is; what he is doing. You are reckless." The thought seems to be the same: Know where and who you are today and that's what truly matters. There is no Christ here.
6 His disciples questioned him saying, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? [cp. Luke 11:1] Shall we give to the poor¹? What diet shall we observe?" ² Jesus said, "Do not tell lies [Leviticus 19:11], and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For there is nothing hidden that will not be made known, and nothing concealed that will not be disclosed." [Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2]
¹ The Coptic for "alms" is the same as the Greek word ελεημοσυνη (eleémosyné).
Ironically, the author of the Gospel of Thomas quotes a saying of Jesus hoping that it will support the philosophy of uncovering hidden knowledge. But in context, what Jesus was saying (see Luke 12) was watch out for Pharisees and people who twist the true gospel, making people reach for something apart from the free salvation that we all have in Jesus. The context of Jesus' original quote preaches against the false doctrine of the passage here.
One of the basic teachings of the gnostics was that salvation is found in the escape from the body, an escape that isn't achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, but by a special, hidden knowledge. The Greek word for "knowledge" is gnosis (sounds like noses), hence "gnostic." Incidentally, the silent G in gnosis is where we get the silent K in knowledge.
The only knowledge we need isn't hidden at all. It's preached every Sunday; it's on every page of Scripture. Even the real Thomas, who doubted Jesus' resurrection, had to be convinced, not by secret knowledge, but on the evidence of what he felt with his own hands. It's as John said as he began his first epistle:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.(1 John 1:1)
Now that truly is the word of God.
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