I have often wondered why “official” Christendom has outlawed the Gospel of Thomas (Coptic).

For me it is one of the most stunning and illuminating documents ever to come to light. It is a part of the Nag Hammadi find written in Coptic Greek dating to around 4CE, the writings in Syriac (a variation of Aramaic) dates to the middle of the 1st century CE. In other words the author was a contemporary of Jesus and it was written originally in a language Jesus may have spoken unlike the other Gospels written in Greek. We would not be far wrong to call it “the Fifth Gospel”

The Gospel is slightly gnostic in nature, it contains no birth or death narrative and reads mainly as a book of 112 sayings of Jesus, however, many of the sayings have parallels in the book of Matthew. And for all intent likely pre-dates Matthew. It begins with the following; “these are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke and are written down by Didymus Judas Thomas. The one who finds meanings in these words will not taste death”

Who was Didymus Judas Thomas ? Both “Didymus” and “Thomas” are words that simply mean “twin” “Didymus” is Greek and Thomas is Semitic, therefore his proper name is Judas, and he is a twin. In the ancient Syrian Book “acts of Thomas” we are told he is a blood relation of Jesus, the one mentioned in the NT Gospel of Mark 6:3, to cut a long story short, Didymus Judas Thomas is likely the twin brother of Jesus.

In the “acts of Thomas” Jesus is at pains several times to point out that he must not be confused with “Judas Thomas”, it is also clear even in the NT that “Judas Thomas” or “Thomas” as he is more commonly referred to is a close confidante of Jesus. Has the Gospel been excluded primarily to prevent a parallel being drawn between Jesus and a possible twin brother in direct opposition to orthodox belief ?

Sarassin: I have often wondered why “official” Christendom has outlawed the Gospel of Thomas (Coptic).

For me it is one of the most stunning and illuminating documents ever to come to light. It is a part of the Nag Hammadi find written in Coptic Greek dating to around 4CE, the writings in Syriac (a variation of Aramaic) dates to the middle of the 1st century CE. In other words the author was a contemporary of Jesus and it was written originally in a language Jesus may have spoken unlike the other Gospels written in Greek. We would not be far wrong to call it “the Fifth Gospel”

The Gospel is slightly gnostic in nature, it contains no birth or death narrative and reads mainly as a book of 112 sayings of Jesus, however, many of the sayings have parallels in the book of Matthew. And for all intent likely pre-dates Matthew. It begins with the following; “these are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke and are written down by Didymus Judas Thomas. The one who finds meanings in these words will not taste death”

Who was Didymus Judas Thomas ? Both “Didymus” and “Thomas” are words that simply mean “twin” “Didymus” is Greek and Thomas is Semitic, therefore his proper name is Judas, and he is a twin. In the ancient Syrian Book “acts of Thomas” we are told he is a blood relation of Jesus, the one mentioned in the NT Gospel of Mark 6:3, to cut a long story short, Didymus Judas Thomas is likely the twin brother of Jesus.

In the “acts of Thomas” Jesus is at pains several times to point out that he must not be confused with “Judas Thomas”, it is also clear even in the NT that “Judas Thomas” or “Thomas” as he is more commonly referred to is a close confidante of Jesus. Has the Gospel been excluded primarily to prevent a parallel being drawn between Jesus and a possible twin brother in direct opposition to orthodox belief ?

Can you just post the 112 sayings so we can read? Pls

urheme:



Can you just post the 112 sayings so we can read? Pls

Quite amazed you found this thread.

The Gospel of Thomas is unique in that it identifies it's author as Judas, brother of Jesus and presupposes no knowledge of the NT canons, it is drawn mainly from oral tradition. You can find the sayings here, http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gthlamb.html