The Gospel of Thomas
No Priests-No Ministers-No Church
"Know Thyself"
"The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved
early Christian,
non-canonical sayings-gospel which many scholars believe provides insight into the
Oral gospel traditions. It was discovered near
Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the
Nag Hammadi library. The Gospel of Thomas was found among a collection of fifty-two writings that included, in addition to an excerpt from
Plato's Republic, gospels claiming to have been written by Jesus' disciple
Philip. Scholars have speculated that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop
Athanasius who for the first time declared a strict
canon of Christian scripture.
[1]
The
Coptic language text, the second of seven contained in what modern-day scholars have designated as Codex II, is composed of 114 sayings attributed to
Jesus.
[2] Almost half of these sayings resemble those found in the
Canonical Gospels, while it is speculated that the other sayings were added from
Gnostic tradition.
[3] Its place of origin may have been
Syria, where Thomasine traditions were strong.
[4]"
The 114 Sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
― Gospel of Thomas
“Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, '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 of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”
― Gospel of Thomas
The Gospels we have in Mark, Matthew, Luke and John are not the only ones written. The were the chosen ones and came on the scene in the mid second century of the Christian era. They are not eyewitness accounts and were not written by the men whose names were later added to give them credibility. They were anonymous works to begin with. But they were the ones chosen and many many others, such as the Gospel of Thomas were not. It should be plain to see why The Gospel of Thomas was not chosen. While containing many of the same sayings of Jesus found in the Gospels , these two quotes, along with others were never going to make it into the organized Church canon. The debate still rages over which came first, the Gospel of Thomas or the New Testament Gospels. That each contained parts of the other is clear.
How different the truth of Thomas than the Gospels. Salvation came from within and it came from "knowing yourself". Nothing here about blood sacrifices without which there can be no forgiveness. Ever ask just why without the shedding of blood there is NO forgiveness of sins. What's wrong with just saying, "I forgive you."? Thomas is speaking of the inner work that is the spirituality organized religion hates.
Spiritual human beings are not prone to membership. The religious love it. Spiritual humans don't follow all the rules being told "Trust and obey for the is NO OTHER WAY to be happy in Jesus...but to trust and obey!" Their spiritual journey is inward. They don't tend to take the rantings of priests and ministers too seriously. They probably hold on to their money with a bit more wisdom and only pull the big triggers they choose. Pulling big triggers may not even be a part of their vocabulary. In short, they can't be controlled, coerced and they aren't compliant to the organization and certainly not to the Priests and Ministry as if they get the final say. Today you get to know what your church tells you to know. Today people sit and listen to others tell them how it all is. You know, Greetings-three hymns-opening prayer-sermonette-hymn-announcements-hymn-sermon-hymn-closing prayer. You sit, you listen and others pour into you what you are expected to be, do and think. You are told what "we" believe , when to meet so we can all believe it together and how much to give.
How many sermons and rituals have you ever sat through just hoping it would end sooner than you knew it would? Going within to find the Kingdom is simply never going to cut it with organized religion. When Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is within you" in the Gospels, The Gospel of Thomas proves he did not mean he, Jesus, as representing the Kingdom was among them. It means it is WITHIN you. The Gospel of Thomas tells it's readers to go in and know yourself which is the hard work of a truly spiritual person. And this was some of the most early teachings and beliefs of many of the earliest Christians. The literalism and organization with it's some Apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some teachers and some helps...etc, came much later.
“Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, '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." In other words, the birds are already in the kingdom ahead of you if you think it is in the sky and the fish are too if you think it is in the sea. No...it is inside you and knowing yourself is a huge part of what the Kingdom is to Jesus of this gospel rejected.
From my experience, most are afraid to go within and know themselves. Mostly we don't know how to go about it. It is much easier to let the Church tell you all about yourself. Poor, miserable, blind and naked come to mind and certainly with a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.....needing priests to do sacrifice for you back then, or ministers and "the Church" in our times.
"In the Thomas gospel, Jesus is presented as a spiritual guide whose words (when properly understood) bring eternal life (Saying 1). Readers of these sayings are advised to continue seeking until they find what will enable them to become rulers of their own lives (Saying 2) and thus to know themselves (Saying 3) and their legacy of being the children of "the living Father" (Saying 3). These goals are presented in the image of "entering the Kingdom" by the methodology of insight that goes beyond duality. (Saying 22). The Gospel of Thomas shows little or no concern for orthodox religious concepts and doctrines. Scholars have traditionally understood the Gospel of Thomas as a Gnostic text because it was found amongst other gnostic texts, was understood as being prone to a Gnostic interpretation by the early Church, and emphasized knowledge as the key to salvation, particularly in Saying 1. "
The Gospel of Thomas emphasizes direct and unmediated experience. In Thomas saying 108, Jesus says, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become as I am; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." Furthermore,
salvation is personal and found through spiritual (psychological) introspection. In Thomas saying 70, Jesus says, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not bring it forth, what you do not have within you will kill you." As such,
this form of salvation is idiosyncratic and without literal explanation unless read from a psychological perspective related to Self vs. ego. (Some ministerial egos certainly need to be checked at the door before services)
What a different experience personal spirituality would be without the literalism and hierarchy of Church organization , ministry that must be obeyed and respected because they say to and the occasional rant on sending it in and pulling big triggers when in your heart you know just how stupid and foolish that would be. The "Edifice Complex" as seen in Gerald Flurry and Dave Pack would be replaced by the much more rewarding inner work of the individual. Instead of reaching the world with literalism and religion, we'd reach inward with a spirituality . It is not a selfish thing, it is simply learning who you are and not having others decide who you need to be to please them. How different would one's spirituality be as opposed to their religious fears and compliance if the Gospel of Thomas had made it into the New Testament. It would have changed everything.
"The teaching of salvation (i.e., entering the Kingdom of Heaven) that is found in The Gospel of Thomas is neither that of "works" nor of "grace" as the dichotomy is found in the canonical gospels, but what might be called a third way, that of insight. The overriding concern of The Gospel of Thomas is to find the light within in order to be a light unto the world."
The modern version of The Gospel of Thomas
Instead of being asked "Do you know Jesus?", we would have been asked by Jesus and those given to a kinder more gentle spirituality, "Do you know yourself?" The ministry would have been both real helpers of your joy and facilitators of just how one might go about it instead of mere Title Takers to be obeyed as if they knew and you couldn't understand anything without them. Yourself is that part of you that you give up and lose when you allow priests, ministers and organizations that no Jesus of either Thomas or the Gospels probably ever intended to be what they have become today.*
Just sayin'...
*(PS "I will build my church.." was probably added to the text when the physical Church needed to be built long after Jesus did not actually return shortly)
