The Gospel Of Thomas

By Barbara Thomas, Samuel Zinner, Didymos Judas Thomas, et al.

Book Overview

The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is an extra-canonical sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as AD 60 and as late as AD 250. Thomas the Apostle also called Didymus (""twin"") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as ""Doubting Thomas"" because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told of it (as related in the Gospel of John alone); later, he confessed his faith (""My Lord and my God"") on seeing Jesus' crucifixion wounds. According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of modern-day Kerala in India, Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as the Malabar Coast which is in modern-day Kerala State, India. According to their tradition, Thomas reached Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in Kerala State, India) in AD 52. In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona, in Abruzzo, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. He is often regarded as the patron saint of India among its Christian adherents, and the name Thomas remains quite popular among the Saint Thomas Christians of India.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DMY6BKT7
• ISBN13: 9791223084151
• Release Date: November 2024
• Publisher: Passerino
• Length: 62 Pages
• Weight: 0.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

I love the gospel of thomas but

I love the Gospel of Thomas and often find wisdom in the teachings. I wish the copy that I got simply had the verse on each page, perhaps with some insight from an editor. This copy has abstract illustrations that take up the page and poorly printed text on top of the changing illustrations.

Lots of understanding comes through!

People can relate to this book to help one grow and challenge oneself. The spiritual is the most important aspect of ourselves and Jesus constantly reminded us in this Gospel. Thank you for your additions and the translation then interpretation being so clear! I would like to read more by these interpreters and commentators in the future. 10 star book and then triple that to infinity!

Engrossing

I find it very interesting that most people don't know the history of the Bible and how it came to be. Most Christians simply accept the four gospels with no questioning of any sort. I would imagine that other religious doctrines share much of a not exactly linear history like the Bible does. Aren't all religions essentially historical mythology? Most believers will accept the Bible at face value and never even think outside the pages of the book. Little do Christians know that there is much more to the story than we know or so it seems. There are many more than just four accounts of Jesus' life. Why aren't these in the Bible? Who had the authority or rather the audacity to lay into a manifest only 4 gospels? I found this book to be quite an intriguing read. Much more mystical and less fire and brimstone that the Bible tends to be. I found this book to be quite an inpirational read. Wonderful to see a Christ that was as human as all of us. And that's just the point Christ was trying to make. We are no different than he is, we are not apart from him. We are all the same, all children of God or Energy or the Universe, whatever you want to call it. This gospel was a refreshing read and one the mirrors other books or articles I have read on Buddha, Judaism and Hinduism. I don't believe in the supernatural part of Christianity I was exposed to. Well at least not any more. Most religion is mythological and metaphorical and has much to teach us but we all know that most of us get "caught in the metaphor" as Joseph Campbell put it. The purpose I now believe is to transcend the metaphor. I would never have the conceit to say one religion should reign over another because there is so much similarity between all the world religions (all religions for that matter) that it amazes me how we still compartmentalize this religion versus that religion. But that's a much bigger issue than my little ole review here. I give the book four stars because I felt that the author's interpretation could have been a little more detailed. Some of the logions in the book are interpreted by a mere paragraph and I am sure there is much more history there than just one paragraph. Nonetheless, this book is a wonderful read! I highly recommend it!

G of T

This is a welcome addition to anyone's library who is trying to reconstruct the historical Jesus. Written around 120 c.e.( though , in its original form, it was probably written before Mark), its a semi gnostic work. It presents sayings of Jesus that are in some instances recognizable to orthodox christians and some that are not. In one instance the same saying occurs four times, each one more gnostic than before. but on the whole, the translation is excellent and the intro is superb.

Gospel of Thomas tr. Mayer/Review

This is a lucid, fluent, plain-English translation. Few readers will use the Coptic source text, but there it is for those who can appreciate such things. Book design & presentation aid reader access. A valuable book for historians, religious scholars & wise general readers.

The complete unearthing story!

". It contains a very complete story of the finding of GThomas and follows the ms to initial publication. There are photographs and a couple of maps in this first section. The text is done very much in the same style as Borgs recent "The Lost Gospel Q" and it features a few notes by J. D. Crossan. Also by Crossan, a five page commentary at the end called "Paradise Regained", where his emphasis is on the protology of and asceticism in GThomas. This is packaged for the general public but is worth the price for the 8 photographs, 2 small maps, and the complete "unearthing" story.