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The Gospel Of Thomas
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<blockquote data-quote="Archived_member15" data-source="post: 176872" data-attributes="member: 17438"><p>My dear sister Namji mundahug</p><p> </p><p>Thank you for the thread! </p><p> </p><p>Well, there is a huge difference between being a "Gnostic" and being a "Heretic", not all Gnostics were heretics and not all heretics were Gnostic (ie Arianism, Montanism, Ebionitism etc.). Many of the early Fathers of the Church were Gnostics. To be a true Gnostic is to posses intellectual or esoteric knowledge of spiritual things. Both orthodox Christians and those of a heretical formulation claimed to have such. </p><p> </p><p>Gnosticism comes from the greek word "Gnosis" meaning "knowledge". This word is used in the New Testament, most prominently by Paul. The Greek word "Pleroma" means "Fullness." It refers to the totality of Divine Power. It's used generally in Gnosticism, and also by St. Paul in Colossians 2:9, who was a Gnostic <em>par excellence</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Read: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Gnosticism isn't a uniform phenomenon or system of belief. There developed many strands in the second century, of which an orthodox Gnosticism [the earliest form] thrived in the early Church. This orthodox form was the original, and we call it nowadays (post-first millenium) "Catholic mysticism" whether Eastern or Western. </p><p> </p><p>Jesus explained the very essence of Gnosticism when he said: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>As such there is an "orthodox Gnostic" tradition in Christianity. Saint Clement of Alexandria, Saint Justin Martyr, Origen and Saint Jerome to name a few, were all loyal orthodox Catholics and Gnostics. </p><p> </p><p>As an example Saint Clement, an important early Church Father. </p><p> </p><p>Here is Pope Benedict XVI's description of his Gnosticism: </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Read: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Now on the Gospel of Thomas particularly...</p><p> </p><p>The Gospel of Thomas is actually not really a Gospel per se. Its a sayings source, much like the hypothetical Q or the proposed Signs Gospel under lying John. </p><p> </p><p>St Augustine, an important fourth century church father, once said this: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>These words of St Augustine were quoted by Pope Benedict XVI in his 2007 Christmas Eve Mass Sermon. </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">“If we believe that God is located in the heavens, then the birds would be more fortunate than we”</span></p><p> </p><p>Now, this idea is not in the Bible. Where does it come from? Well there was this ancient text, you know found in Nag Hammadi in 1945 and in it this saying is attributed to Jesus, in this document alone and nowhere else: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>The Gospel of Thomas witnesses to Sacred Tradition that is not in the Bible but which was attested to in the theology of St Augustine and other Church Fathers, up and until today with Pope Benedict. </p><p> </p><p>And this is not the only instance where Thomas seems to have access to genuine Sacred Tradition not preserved in the Bible. </p><p> </p><p>The following agrapha comes from the book of 2 Clement, which is an Orthodox writing and an Apostolic Father from the 2nd century. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This is clearly a quote from the Gospel of Thomas, saying 22, or at least derived from the same common source (which is thus Orthodox). The saying in Thomas 22 reads: </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>This saying is also referred to by the Church Father, Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata: </p><p> </p><p><strong>"When Salome inquired when the things concerning which she asked should be known, the Lord said: When ye have trampled on the garment of shame, and when the two become one and the male with the female is neither male nor female." - (Stromateis iii)</strong></p><p> </p><p>Here are other examples where the Church Fathers clearly quoted Thomas (or the source behind Thomas. These sayings surface nowhere else apart from in the Fathers and Thomas):</p><p> </p><p><em><u>Augustine, Against Adversaries of the Law and Prophets 2.4.14 (it is now known that this saying comes from Thomas 52):</u></em></p><p> </p><p><strong>The apostles asked the Lord: Has the advent already happened in the past?</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>And the Lord answered: You have dismissed the living one who is before your eyes and talk idly of the dead.</strong></p><p> </p><p><u><em>Here is the saying from the Gospel of Thomas 52: </em></u></p><p> </p><p><strong>His disciples said to him: Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and they all spoke of you. He said to them: You have abandoned the living one before your eyes, and spoken about the dead. </strong></p><p> </p><p>Another saying found in Thomas which is quoted by the Church Fathers is the following: </p><p> </p><p><em><u>Origen, On Jeremiah, Latin homily 20.3: </u></em></p><p> </p><p><strong>He that is near me is near the fire.</strong></p><p><strong>He that is far from me is far from the kingdom</strong></p><p> </p><p><u><em>Gospel of Thomas saying 82</em></u></p><p> </p><p><strong>Jesus said: He who is near to me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom.</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Another example...</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em><u>Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, V, 10, 64: </u></em></p><p> </p><p><strong>"For not grudgingly, he saith, did the Lord declare in a certain gospel: My mystery is for me and for the sons of my house."</strong> </p><p> </p><p><em><u>Gospel of Thomas 62: </u></em></p><p> </p><p><strong>I tell my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries</strong></p><p> </p><p>There are many other such agrapha quoted by the Church Fathers which crop up in Thomas. We can only conclude then that the Gospel of Thomas is not a heretical Gnostic gospelbut rather part of the orthodox gnostic tradition. The Gospel of John, an orthodox text in the New Testament, was widely used by heretical Gnostics - in fact the earliest commentary on it comes from a heretical Gnostic. So Thomas' usage by the Nag Hammadi community does not make it a heretical Gnostic text [in fact other texts in that canon are not heretical either such as the Apochryphon of James]. </p><p> </p><p>As you can see Thomas (or its source text) was extremely well-known to the Fathers and frequently quoted as an Orthodox source containing genuine Sacred Tradition not contained in the Four Canon Gospels.</p><p> </p><p>Even Orthodox Wiki says of Thomas: </p><p> </p><p><strong>"(The First Epistle of Clement) ranks with Didache and the Gospel of Thomas as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of extant Christian documents outside the canonical New Testament"</strong></p><p> </p><p><a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/First_Epistle_of_Clement" target="_blank"><span style="color: #444466">http://orthodoxwiki.org/First_Epistle_of_Clement</span></a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Thomas is not actually a "Gnostic" Gospel, if by Gnostic you mean the un-Orthodox kind which devalues the flesh and teaches that the material universe was created by an evil deity. It has a very high view of the flesh and has none of that heretical Gnostic mythology in it. It is a work of orthodox Gnosticism. </p><p> </p><p>Steven Davies, one of the foremost scholars of Thomas, said:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>“Thomas, if anything is anti-Gnostic, with its emphasis on the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven within the world now . . . Gnosticism emphatically insisted that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be found in the highest sphere above this world and certainly not here"</strong></p><p> </p><p><em>~Stevan Davies </em><!-- / message --><!-- sig --></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Gospel of Thomas was first discovered in the late 19th century as a group of fragments which were called by scholars, 'The Logia of Jesus'. </p><p> </p><p>The Catholic Church accepted these sayings as part of the sacred tradition of Jesus outside the Bible. </p><p> </p><p>Even the ultra-conservative Catholic encyloepedia written in 1911, accepts these sayings as orthodox and authentic agrapha: </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01225c.htm" target="_blank">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01225c.htm</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10px"><!--3ref=u44=xxyyyk.htm--><!--BIBLE-SUMMA-FATHERS--></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The last "the Oxyrhynchus <!--3ref=u96=09323a.htm-->Logia" <!--k02-->are fragments from the earliest known copy of the Gospel of Thomas (before its name was known and discovered entirely in Nag Hammadi in 1945).</p><p> </p><p>So in view of all of this the current Pope's positive attitude to the Gospel of Thomas, to the extent of referencing it as an authority in his 2008 book on Jesus, is not suprising to me - although it might be to a lot of people.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Archived_member15, post: 176872, member: 17438"] My dear sister Namji mundahug Thank you for the thread! Well, there is a huge difference between being a "Gnostic" and being a "Heretic", not all Gnostics were heretics and not all heretics were Gnostic (ie Arianism, Montanism, Ebionitism etc.). Many of the early Fathers of the Church were Gnostics. To be a true Gnostic is to posses intellectual or esoteric knowledge of spiritual things. Both orthodox Christians and those of a heretical formulation claimed to have such. Gnosticism comes from the greek word "Gnosis" meaning "knowledge". This word is used in the New Testament, most prominently by Paul. The Greek word "Pleroma" means "Fullness." It refers to the totality of Divine Power. It's used generally in Gnosticism, and also by St. Paul in Colossians 2:9, who was a Gnostic [I]par excellence[/I]. Read: Gnosticism isn't a uniform phenomenon or system of belief. There developed many strands in the second century, of which an orthodox Gnosticism [the earliest form] thrived in the early Church. This orthodox form was the original, and we call it nowadays (post-first millenium) "Catholic mysticism" whether Eastern or Western. Jesus explained the very essence of Gnosticism when he said: As such there is an "orthodox Gnostic" tradition in Christianity. Saint Clement of Alexandria, Saint Justin Martyr, Origen and Saint Jerome to name a few, were all loyal orthodox Catholics and Gnostics. As an example Saint Clement, an important early Church Father. Here is Pope Benedict XVI's description of his Gnosticism: Read: Now on the Gospel of Thomas particularly... The Gospel of Thomas is actually not really a Gospel per se. Its a sayings source, much like the hypothetical Q or the proposed Signs Gospel under lying John. St Augustine, an important fourth century church father, once said this: These words of St Augustine were quoted by Pope Benedict XVI in his 2007 Christmas Eve Mass Sermon. [SIZE=4]“If we believe that God is located in the heavens, then the birds would be more fortunate than we”[/SIZE] Now, this idea is not in the Bible. Where does it come from? Well there was this ancient text, you know found in Nag Hammadi in 1945 and in it this saying is attributed to Jesus, in this document alone and nowhere else: The Gospel of Thomas witnesses to Sacred Tradition that is not in the Bible but which was attested to in the theology of St Augustine and other Church Fathers, up and until today with Pope Benedict. And this is not the only instance where Thomas seems to have access to genuine Sacred Tradition not preserved in the Bible. The following agrapha comes from the book of 2 Clement, which is an Orthodox writing and an Apostolic Father from the 2nd century. [B][/B] This is clearly a quote from the Gospel of Thomas, saying 22, or at least derived from the same common source (which is thus Orthodox). The saying in Thomas 22 reads: [B][/B] This saying is also referred to by the Church Father, Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata: [B]"When Salome inquired when the things concerning which she asked should be known, the Lord said: When ye have trampled on the garment of shame, and when the two become one and the male with the female is neither male nor female." - (Stromateis iii)[/B] Here are other examples where the Church Fathers clearly quoted Thomas (or the source behind Thomas. These sayings surface nowhere else apart from in the Fathers and Thomas): [I][U]Augustine, Against Adversaries of the Law and Prophets 2.4.14 (it is now known that this saying comes from Thomas 52):[/U][/I] [B]The apostles asked the Lord: Has the advent already happened in the past?[/B] [B]And the Lord answered: You have dismissed the living one who is before your eyes and talk idly of the dead.[/B] [U][I]Here is the saying from the Gospel of Thomas 52: [/I][/U] [B]His disciples said to him: Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and they all spoke of you. He said to them: You have abandoned the living one before your eyes, and spoken about the dead. [/B] Another saying found in Thomas which is quoted by the Church Fathers is the following: [I][U]Origen, On Jeremiah, Latin homily 20.3: [/U][/I] [B]He that is near me is near the fire.[/B] [B]He that is far from me is far from the kingdom[/B] [U][I]Gospel of Thomas saying 82[/I][/U] [B]Jesus said: He who is near to me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom.[/B] Another example... [I][U]Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, V, 10, 64: [/U][/I] [B]"For not grudgingly, he saith, did the Lord declare in a certain gospel: My mystery is for me and for the sons of my house."[/B] [I][U]Gospel of Thomas 62: [/U][/I] [B]I tell my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries[/B] There are many other such agrapha quoted by the Church Fathers which crop up in Thomas. We can only conclude then that the Gospel of Thomas is not a heretical Gnostic gospelbut rather part of the orthodox gnostic tradition. The Gospel of John, an orthodox text in the New Testament, was widely used by heretical Gnostics - in fact the earliest commentary on it comes from a heretical Gnostic. So Thomas' usage by the Nag Hammadi community does not make it a heretical Gnostic text [in fact other texts in that canon are not heretical either such as the Apochryphon of James]. As you can see Thomas (or its source text) was extremely well-known to the Fathers and frequently quoted as an Orthodox source containing genuine Sacred Tradition not contained in the Four Canon Gospels. Even Orthodox Wiki says of Thomas: [B]"(The First Epistle of Clement) ranks with Didache and the Gospel of Thomas as one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of extant Christian documents outside the canonical New Testament"[/B] [URL="http://orthodoxwiki.org/First_Epistle_of_Clement"][COLOR=#444466]http://orthodoxwiki.org/First_Epistle_of_Clement[/COLOR][/URL] Thomas is not actually a "Gnostic" Gospel, if by Gnostic you mean the un-Orthodox kind which devalues the flesh and teaches that the material universe was created by an evil deity. It has a very high view of the flesh and has none of that heretical Gnostic mythology in it. It is a work of orthodox Gnosticism. Steven Davies, one of the foremost scholars of Thomas, said: [B]“Thomas, if anything is anti-Gnostic, with its emphasis on the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven within the world now . . . Gnosticism emphatically insisted that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be found in the highest sphere above this world and certainly not here"[/B] [I]~Stevan Davies [/I]<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> The Gospel of Thomas was first discovered in the late 19th century as a group of fragments which were called by scholars, 'The Logia of Jesus'. The Catholic Church accepted these sayings as part of the sacred tradition of Jesus outside the Bible. Even the ultra-conservative Catholic encyloepedia written in 1911, accepts these sayings as orthodox and authentic agrapha: [URL]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01225c.htm[/URL] [B][/B][B][SIZE=2]<!--3ref=u44=xxyyyk.htm--><!--BIBLE-SUMMA-FATHERS-->[/SIZE][/B] The last "the Oxyrhynchus <!--3ref=u96=09323a.htm-->Logia" <!--k02-->are fragments from the earliest known copy of the Gospel of Thomas (before its name was known and discovered entirely in Nag Hammadi in 1945). So in view of all of this the current Pope's positive attitude to the Gospel of Thomas, to the extent of referencing it as an authority in his 2008 book on Jesus, is not suprising to me - although it might be to a lot of people. [/QUOTE]
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