What’s Real?
The 11th Saying in the Gospel of Thomas is another one of those passages that both comforts and confounds. As odd as this might sound, I like the confounding aspect as much as the comforting one. The Blatz interpretation reads:
This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away; and those who are dead are not alive, and those who are living will not die. In the days when you ate of what is dead, you made of it what is living. When you come to be light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you have become two, what will you do?
The Layton interpretation is slightly different and that slight difference is enlightening because of the word ‘element’. Here is how it reads:
“This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. And the dead (elements) are not alive, and the living (elements) will not die. In the days when you (plur.) used to ingest dead (elements), you made them alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day that you were one, you made two. And when you are two, what will you do?”
Of course there are other differences between the two interpretations, but I thought the addition of the word ‘elements’ changes the passage considerably. One more interpretation, this time by Doresse:
“This heaven will pass away, and the heaven which is above it will pass: but those who are dead will not live, and those who live will not die! Today you eat dead things and make them into something living: <but> when you will be in Light, what will you do then? For then you will become two instead of one; and when you become two, what will you do then?”
I’ve highlighted the two major differences in Doresse from the other interpreters because the way the passage is now stated a lot of the meaning has change. The statement now reads you will be in the Light (note that Doresse capitalizes Light) and that you don’t become two (from one) until you are in the Light.
These three interpretations treat the subject of light differently:
Blatz: you come to be light
Layton: you are in the light
Doresse: when you will be in Light
So, where am I going with this? I am proving the validity of my earlier assertion on confusion and confounding. If we had read the statements in Saying 11 without trying to understand the implication of what the differences between the three ways ‘light’ is treated would we have grown any intellectually? Would we have spent any time today to ponder on life after life?