BIBLIOLOGYClass 10: NT CANON

Maranatha Bible CollegeSpring Semester, 2015

Essential Definitions

• De Facto• literally, from

the fact

• in reality

• Actually

• Not government approved

• De Jure• by right

• As a matter of legal of right

• Government approved

• Ex

Cathedra• literally, from

the chair

• by virtue of or

in the exercise

of one's office

or position

How We REALLY Got Our New Testament Canon

Apostolic Period

AD 30-100

Persecuted

Church

AD 100-300

Imperial Church

AD 300-500

EX CATHEDRAAUTHORITY

DE FACTO

CANON

DE JURE

CANON

Authority

Recognized but

Canon Incomplete

Canon Complete

and Recognized in

Fact

Canon Complete

and Recognized in

Law

1. THE EX CATHEDRAAUTHORITY IN THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD30-100 AD

Ex Cathedra

• from the chair

• by virtue of or in the

exercise of one's office

or position

• Apostolic Authority

Paul Calls Luke/Acts Scripture

1 Tim. 5:18• “For the Scripture says, ‘YOU

SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING’ [Deut25:4], and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” [Luke 10:7].

Paul Calls His Own Writings the Word of God

• 1 Thes. 2:13

• “.. when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God.”

• 1 Corinthians 14:37

• … the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.

• Paul claimed his teaching was inspired of God (I Cor2:7-13)

Paul Calls His Own Letters the Lord’s Commandment

Paul Quote Gospels as Scripture

• Luke or Matthew quoted as Scripture by Paul.

• Matt 10:10, Luke 10:7 (I Tim 5:18)

Peter’s Self Testimony

• Peter wrote “these things” might remain “after his departure”

• (II Pet 1:15; 3:1-2)

Peter Calls Paul’s Letters Scriptures

• 2 Pet. 3:15-16

• “. . . just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures

The Self Testimony of John

• John claims Divine Inspiration for his Revelation (Rev 1:2)

The Rylands Fragment

John 18:31-33, 37 AD 130

J. I. PACKER

• “The church no more gave us the New Testament than Isaac Newton gave us gravity.”

2. De Facto Canon During the Period of Persecution

100 – 300 AD

De Facto CanonEvidenced by the Books the Church Fathers Quoted as Authority

How Do We Identify a De Facto Canon

• Agree on a list of Early Church Fathers

• Review their writings to see which books they considered to be Authoritative.

• We would not merely be looking for any sort of reference, but rather a reference to a book when the book is being quoted or mentioned in an authoritative way.

• Then we consider all the de facto lists created by each Church Father and we compile a consensus list (i.e., those books authoritatively cited by all.

c. 95 AD, Clement

John 7:32, 2nd Century Papyrus

• Cites

21/27ths Of The New

Testament

• wrote a single letter to

the Corinthians around

AD 96 and Quotes

from 21/27THS

100 AD, Polycarp

• Quotes from 15 of the

27 books

James Ch 1

110 AD Testimony of Papias "Mark having become theinterpreter of Peter, wrote downaccurately whatsoever heremembered. It was not, however,in exact order that he related thesayings or deeds of Christ. For heneither heard the Lord noraccompanied Him. But afterwards,as I said, he accompanied Peter,who accommodated hisinstructions to the necessities [ofhis hearers], but with no intentionof giving a regular narrative of theLord’s sayings. (as quoted by Eusebius)

Codex Sinaiticus 350 AD

Matthew 6:9-13 in Greek 2nd Cen Papyrus

c. 110 AD

Ignatius

• Quotes 9/27THS

c. 160 AD, Justin Martyr

• Quotes from 17 of the 27 books

c. 170 AD Irenaeus

• Quotes from 23 of the 27 books

c. 190 AD Tertullian

• He quoted from 22 books of the 27.

Hebrews 4:2, 2nd Century Papyrus

c. 240 AD, Origen

• Cites 27/27ths Of The New Testament

De Facto CanonEvidenced by Canon Lists of the Period of Persecution

180-200 AD Muratorian “Canon” 81% Of The NT

165 AD Testimony of Justin Martyr

• Martyred 165 A.D.

• cites all four Gospels and Revelation, Titus, others

"And on the day called Sunday, allwho live in cities or in the countrygather together to one place, and thememoirs of the apostles or thewritings of the prophets are read, aslong as time permits; then, when thereader has ceased, the presidentverbally instructs, and exhorts to theimitation of these good things."

c. 140 ADMarcion’s Heretical “Canon”

• Rejected the Old Testament

• Old Testament presents a violent/savage God

• Accepted:

• Paul’s letters

• Gospel of Luke (Gentile author)

Gospels according to Irenaeus

It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are.

- Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Chapter 3.11.8

"Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect,while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of theChurch. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did alsohand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, thecompanion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards,John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himselfpublish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus…”

405 ADOT translated from Origen’s

Hexapla (Gk)

So too our Lord Jesus Christ…sent his

apostles as priests carrying well-wrought

trumpets. First Matthew sounded the

priestly trumpet of his Gospel. Mark also,

and Luke, and John, each gave fourth a

strain on their priestly trumpets. Peter

moreover sounds with the two trumpets of

his Epistles; James also and Jude. Still the

number is incomplete, and John gives forth

the trumpet sound through his Epistles and

Apocalypse; and Luke, while describing

the deeds of the apostles. Latest of all,

moreover, that one comes who said, “I

think that God has set us forth as the

apostles last of all”, and thundering on the

fourteen trumpets of his Epistles he threw

down, …(Hom. In Jos. Vii, I). Circa AD

240 (near end of Origen’s life)

Origen’s “Canon” 250 AD

250 AD “Canon” of Origen

• 185 - 253/4 A.D.

• Cites all present N.T. books

• Had reservations about James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John"And Peter... has left one acknowledged

epistle; perhaps also a second, but this is doubtful...John, who has left us one Gospel...also the Apocalypse...He has left also an epistle of very few lines; perhaps also a second and third; but not all consider them genuine, and together they do not contain hundred lines."

James Ch 1

Diocletian persecutions (c. 302-305)

• caused the Christians to be more attentive to establishing the definite canon.

POxy 1780

3rd Cen AD

Jerome’s 4th Cen Latin Vulgate

• Jerome commissioned in 382 by Bishop Damasus to translate whole Bible to Latin

• “Latin Vulgate” Became the official text for the Roman church

• The pseudographia “Epistle to the Laeodicians” appears in more than 100 manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate, including the oldest surviving manuscript the Codex

Fuldensis 546 AD.

“Vulgate” (from the Latin editio vulgata meaning "common version")

Jerome

100% NT “Canon” of Athanasius, c. 367 AD

• Writes “Easter Letter” in 367 A.D.

• Same 27 books that are in today’s New Testament

Athanasius’ 39th Festal Letter 367 A.D.

I also, having been urged by true brethren and

having investigated the matter from the beginning, have decided to set forth in order the writings that have been put in the canon, that have been handed down and confirmed as divine, in order that every one who has been led astray may condemn his seducers, and that every one who has remained stainless may rejoice, being again reminded of that.

...there are also other books besides these, which have not indeed been put in the canon, but have been appointed by the Fathers as reading-matter for those who have just come forward and which to be instructed in the doctrine of piety: the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobias, the so-called Teaching [Didache] of the Apostles, and the Shepherd.

Papyrus of the Acts,

found at Oxyrrhynchus,

Egypt. 3rd century AD.

Papyrus Fragment of

Gospel of Mark. 3rd

century AD

37

4th Cen. “Canon” of Eusebius of Caesarea

• 260 - 340 A.D

• The Father of Church History

• Head of the library in Caesarea

• Classifies all writings into four categories based on the record of ancient witnesses

• Recognized - 4 Gospels, Acts, Epistles of Paul, 1 John, 1 Peter, Revelation

• Disputed - James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John

• Spurious - the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd, the Apocalypse of Peter; the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, the Gospel of the Hebrews

• Heretical - The Gospels of Peter, Thomas, Matthias, The Acts of Andrew and John and the Other Disciples

Third Century Combined “Canon”

Polycarp

100 AD

Justin Martyr

150 AD

Origen

250 AD

Combined Testimony as of AD 200: 25 of 27 plus 2 “doubtful” books

Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn, Acts, Rom, 1/2Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, 1/2Thes, 1/2 Tim, Titus, Philemon, Heb, James, 1 Peter, [2 Peter], 1Jn, 2Jn, [3Jn], Jude, Revelation

Regions Represented: Rome, Greece, Macedonia, Asia, Syria

POxy 1780 3rd

Cen AD

3. THE DE JURECANON OF THE IMPERIAL CHURCH

De Jure• by law

• With government approval

Final Impetus for Finalizing the Canon

“I have thought it expedient to instruct your Prudence to order 50 copies of the Sacred Scriptures, the provision and use of which you know to be the most needful for the instruction of the church, to be written on prepared parchment, in a legible manner, and in a commodious and portable form, by transcribers thoroughly practiced in their art.”

Constantine

Two Church Councils Make De Facto Canon De Jure Canon

• 393 AD, Synod of Hippo

• 397, AD, Council of Carthage

Canon Criteria

Council Criteria: Non-Contradiction

• Did it contradict known Scripture?

• Consistent with OT• Consistent with

Paul?

Council Criteria: Antiquity

• When was it written?

• must belong to the first century.

• Writings of later date, whatever their merit, could not be included among the canonical books.

Council Criteria: Apostolic Authority

• Was it written by an apostle or one closely acquainted with an apostle?

Council Criteria: Universality

• Was the book widely accepted by the Church?

• The writings must be accepted universally.

• They often began with merely local acceptance, such as epistles to the churches, but gained widespread recognition.

Council Criteria: Continuity

•Was the book in use by the churches from the earliest period?

Council Criteria: Inspiration

• Does it have a self-authenticating nature?• There must be evidence of

activity of the Holy Spirit contained within the context of the writings.

• Had the book evidenced power in the lives of believers?

50

Timeline for Recognition of NT Canon

• Most of NT widely recognized as inspired by 150 AD

• Entire NT of today recognized as scripture by 200 AD

• Stable from then to today, in spite of sporadic challenges

• “Officially” codified in 397 AD, Council of Carthage

• Rapidity of “canonization” : ~10 years for 2/3 of whole

• Precludes the “oral tradition” modernist view of legendary christianity

• Instills high confidence in a NT directly connected to Christ’s authority Jerome

BB Warfield On NT Canon• The Canon of the New Testament was completed when the

last authoritative book was given to any church by the apostles, and that was when John wrote the Apocalypse, about A.D. 98. Whether the church of Ephesus, however, had a completed Canon when it received the Apocalypse, or not, would depend on whether there was any epistle, say that of Jude, which had not yet reached it with authenticating proof of its apostolicity. …the whole Canon was not universally received by the churches till somewhat later. The Latin church of the second and third centuries did not quite know what to do with the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Syrian churches for some centuries may have lacked the lesser of the Catholic Epistles and Revelation. But from the time of Ireanaeus down, the church at large had the whole Canon as we now possess it.

• Formation of the New Testament Canon

•

FALSE GOSPELS

Discussion of the

Books that Didn’t Make

the Cut

• 17 NT apocrypha books

• ~280 pseudopigrapha

• Edwin Yamauchi, Professor of Ancient History at Miami University

“ (they) ... are all patently secondary and legendary or obviously slanted. ... The extra-canonical literature, taken as a whole, manifests a surprising poverty. The bulk of it is legendary, and bears the clear mark of forgery. Only here and there, amid a mass of worthless rubbish, do we come across a priceless jewel.”

Edwin Yamauchi

Discussion of the

Books that Didn’t Make the Cut

• 17 NT apocrypha books

• ~280 pseudopigrapha

• Edwin Yamauchi

“ (they) ... are all patently secondary and legendary or obviously slanted. ... The extra-canonical literature, taken as a whole, manifests a surprising poverty. The bulk of it is legendary, and bears the clear mark of forgery. Only here and there, amid a mass of worthless rubbish, do we come across a priceless jewel.”

Testimony of Eusebius on Heretical Books

To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of ecclesiastical writers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious.

I know a certain gospel which is called the ‘Gospel according to Thomas’ and a ‘Gospel according to Matthias,’ and many others have we read – lest we should in any way be considered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these. Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted.

- Origen, from a homily on Luke 1:1

“These are photocopies of the Nag

Hammadi and Dead Sea Scrolls, … the earliest Christian records. Troublingly, they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible.”

Da Vinci Code

Allegation of

Excluded Books

“Nag Hammadi Library”

Lost Gospels?

Secret Gospels

Lost and Hidden Gospels

Hidden, Secret and Lost Sayings of Jesus!

Bart Ehrman, Prof., UNC

The early Christian

Church was a chaos of

contending beliefs. Some

groups of Christians

claimed that there was not

one God but two or twelve

or thirty.

•Professor of Religion,

•University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bart D. Ehrman

Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene170 AD

The Gospel of Mary

Magdalene

• Mary tells the revelations she received from Jesus, who loved her above all other women.

• how the soul passes through the planetary spheres, and how the soul is to speak with the hostile powers guarding each sphere.

Gospel of Mary Magdalen

• . . . Will matter then be destroyed or

not?

• 22) The Savior said, All nature, all

formations, all creatures exist in

and with one another, and they will

be resolved again into their own

roots.

• 23) For the nature of matter is

resolved into the roots of its own

nature alone.

• 25) Peter said to him, Since you have

explained everything to us, tell us this also:

What is the sin of the world?

• 26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it

is you who make sin when you do the

things that are like the nature of adultery,

which is called sin.

• 27) That is why the Good came into your

midst, to the essence of every nature in

order to restore it to its root.

• 28) Then He continued and said, That is

why you become sick and die, for you are

deprived of the one who can heal you.

66

Gospel of Mary Magdalen

• 5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest

of woman.

• 6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we

do not, nor have we heard them.

• 7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.

67

Gospel of Mary Magdalen

• 18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power,

which took seven forms.

• 19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement

of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh

is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.

• 20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going,

conqueror of space?

• 21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has

been overcome,

• 22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.

• 23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of

oblivion which is transient.

• 24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.

68

Gospel of Mary Magdalen

• 1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had

spoken with her.

• 2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what

she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings

are strange ideas.

• 3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things. 4) He questioned them about

the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn

about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

• 5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think

that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

• 6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered. 7) Now I

see you contending against the woman like the adversaries. 8) But if the Savior made her

worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. 9) That is

why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and

separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or

other law beyond what the Savior said.69

Gospel Of Peter150 AD

• Discovered in the winter of 1886/7 in Egypt• Written in Syria in the early 2nd century• Details the passion story with embellishments• Blames the Jews and exonerates Pilate• Close parallels with Matthew• Includes scene of Jesus’ actual resurrection

Gospel of Peter

• [39] And while they were relating what they had seen, again they see three males who have come out from they sepulcher, with the two supporting the other one, and a cross following them,

• [40] and the head of the two reaching unto heaven, but that of the one being led out by a hand by them going beyond the heavens.

• [41] And they were hearing a voice from the heavens saying, 'Have you made proclamation to the fallen-asleep?'

• [42] And an obeisance was heard from the cross, 'Yes.' [43]

GOSPEL OF PETER

DOCETIST

72

F. F. Bruce writes (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p.

93):

The docetic note in this narrative appears in the statement that Jesus,

while being crucified, 'remained silent, as though he felt no pain', and in

the account of his death. It carefully avoids saying that he died,

preferring to say that he 'was taken up', as though he - or at least his

soul or spiritual self - was 'assumed' direct from the cross to the

presence of God. (We shall see an echo of this idea in the Qur'an.)

Then the cry of dereliction is reproduced in a form which suggests that,

at that moment, his divine power left the bodily shell in which it had

taken up temporary residence.

GOSPEL OF PETER

ANTI SEMITIC• F. F. Bruce continues (op. cit.):

• Apart from its docetic tendency, the most striking feature of the narrative is its

complete exoneration of Pilate from alll responsibility for the crucifixion of

Jesus. Pilate is here well on the way to the goal of canonisation which he

was to attain in the Coptic Church. He withdraws from the trial after washing

his hands, and Herod Antipas takes over from him, assuming the

responsibility which, in Luke's passion narrative, he declined to accept.

Roman soldiers play no part until they are sent by Pilate, at the request of the

Jewish authorities, to provide the guard at the tomb of Jesus. The villians of

the piece throughout are 'the Jews' - more particularly, the chief priests and

the scribes. It is they who condemn Jesus to death and abuse him; it is they

who crucify him and share out his clothes among themselves.

73

So-called Judas Gospel

Gospel of Judas280 AD COPTIC FROM 150 AD AD GREEK

• Does not claim Judas as its author.

• the human form is a spiritual prison

• Judas thus served Christ by helping to release Christ's spirit from its physical constraints.

• The Gospel of Judas does not claim that the other disciples knew gnostic teachings. On the contrary, it asserts that the disciples had not learned the true Gospel, which Jesus taught only to Judas Iscariot.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS

1. “And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, ‘Let an angel come into being as my attendant.’ “A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, [48] ‘Let […] come into being […],’ and it came into being […]. And he [created] the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve [him],’ and myriads without number came into being. He said, ‘[Let] an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being. He created the second luminary [to] reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS

1. “Adamas was in the first luminous cloud that no angel has ever seen among all those called ‘God.’ He [49] […] that […] the image […] and after the likeness of [this] angel. He made the incorruptible [generation] of Seth appear […] the twelve […] the twentyfour […]. He made seventy-two luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit. The seventy-two luminaries themselves made three hundred sixty luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit, that their number should be five for each. “The twelve aeons of the twelve luminaries constitute their father, with six heavens for each aeon, so that there are seventy-two heavens for the seventy-two luminaries, and for each [50] [of them five] firmaments, [for a total of] three hundred sixty [firmaments …]. They were given authority and a [great] host of angels [without number], for glory and adoration, [and after that also] virgin spirits, for glory and [adoration] of all the aeons and the heavens and their firmaments.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS

1. THE COSMOS, CHAOS, AND THE UNDERWORLD 2. “The multitude of those immortals is called the cosmos— that is, perdition—by

the Father and the seventy-two luminaries who are with the Self-Generated and his seventytwo aeons. In him the first human appeared with his incorruptible powers. And the aeon that appeared with his generation, the aeon in whom are the cloud of knowledge and the angel, is called [51] El. […] aeon […] after that […] said, ‘Let twelve angels come into being [to] rule over chaos and the [underworld].’ And look, from the cloud there appeared an [angel] whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means ‘rebel’; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created six angels—as well as Saklas—to be assistants, and these produced twelve angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS

• THE RULERS AND ANGELS

• “The twelve rulers spoke with the twelve angels: ‘Let each of you [52] […] and let them […] generation [—one line lost—] angels’: The first is [S]eth, who is called Christ. The [second] is Harmathoth, who is […]. The [third] is Galila. The fourth is Yobel. The fifth [is] Adonaios. These are the five who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos.

GOSPEL OF JUDAS

• THE CREATION OF HUMANITY

• “Then Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe. For by this name all the generations seek the man, and each of them calls the woman by these names.”

The Acts of John170 AD

• Written by Leucius a companion of John

• Obvious Docetist theology

• Jesus appears in many forms

• Contains popular stories that have been “Christianized”

”... Sometimes when I meant to touch him [Jesus], I met with a material and solid body; but at other times when I felt him, his substance was immaterial and incorporeal, as if it did not exist at all ... And I often wished, as I walked with him, to see his footprint, whether it appeared on the ground (for I saw him as it were raised up from the earth), and I never saw it. “

“The disciples said to Jesus: We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader? Jesus said to them: Wherever you are, you are to go to James the

Righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

The Gospel of Thomas400 AD COPTIC FORM 170 AD GREEK

• Gnostic teachings.

• Discovered at Nag Hammadi, 20th

cen.

• 114 sayings of Jesus in the form of proverbs, parables & prophecies

• 79 sayings parallel the Canonical Gospels

• Jesus as wisdom sage, not savior

The Gospel of Thomas

• "These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which DidymosJudas Thomas wrote down.

The Gospel of Thomas

re Death

• And he said, Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.

• Jesus said, Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over all."

The Gospel of ThomasRe: Advice

• 11 Jesus said, • "This heaven will pass away, and the one above

it will pass away. • The dead are not alive, and the living will not

die.• During the days when you ate what is dead,

you made it come alive. • When you are in the light, what will you do? • On the day when you were one, you became

two. • But when you become two, what will you do?"

Gospel of Thomas

re: Jesus

• Verse 15: Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."

Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger.”

The Gospel of ThomasRe: JESUS

• 30 Jesus said, "Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one.“

The Gospel of ThomasRe: JESUS

• 77 Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

The Gospel of ThomasRe: Kingdom of Heavevn

• 98 Jesus said, The Father's kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one.

Gospel of Thomas:

Kingdom of Heaven

• Jesus said: "The kingdom of the [Father] is like a certain woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking [on the] road, still some distance from home, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her [on] the road. She did not realize it; she had noticed no accident. When she reached her house, she set the jar down and found it empty".

The Gospel of ThomasRe: Advice

• Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

• 19 Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being.

• Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is.

The Gospel of ThomasRe: Belly Buttons?

• Jesus said to them, • "When you make the two into one, and when you

make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and

• when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female,

• when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

The Gospel of ThomasRe: Nudes

37 …Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid."

Gospel of Thomas:Gender

• Verse 114:

• Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."

Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Thomas Dating Circular Logic

Thomas Doesn’t Assert

Divinity of Christ

Thomas Is Very early

and more trustworthy

Original Jesus Was a Man.

Church made him

Son of God, Later

DATING

THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS

100 AD 200 AD 300 AD

Origen Rejects ItDate Of Thomas

Manuscript

Iraneaus

Refutes It

Last Date of

John’s Gospel

MT, Mk

& LK dates

COPTIC

TRANSLATION

GREEK

ORIGINAL