No newly discovered writing from the early Christian era has generated more controversy and prompted more (or renewed) examination by scholars, philosophers, churches leaders and laymen than the Gospel of Thomas. As a guess, a good many folk who have given up on formal religious creeds have eagerly approached the work in the hope that a new promise in the Christian tradition would be found.
Most have come away without becoming appreciably enlightened. Not that they lacked in determination or faith, but rather the work seems to be a paradox: extremely esoteric while at the same time saying (or leading to) nothing. More than a few scholars have stated that they believe that the organization of the volume has been intentionally scrambled and that the sayings are deliberately puzzling. A great many believe that this intentional obscuring is designed to introduce mystery where none would otherwise exist. I disagree.
Lets take a look at three adjacent sayings 6,7,8. They are apparently completely discontinuous. Or are they? This is going to get tricky, so see if you can follow along (or perhaps more properly stated, lets see if I can explain my thoughts).
One of my favorite sayings in the Gospel of Thomas is Saying 7. The reason I like it is because it should be easily understood, yet is not. It seems that this gospel provides no shortcut to understanding either man or God. Which is not to say that the sayings are not (to coin an oft used phrase) pregnant with meaning. Whether I can express that meaning remains to be seen.
Here is Saying 7
Blessed is the lion which the man eats, and the lion will become man;
and cursed is the man whom the lion eats, and the lion will become man.
Now, here is 6
His disciples asked him (and) said to him: Do you want us to fast? And how shall we pray (and) give alms? What diet should we observe? Jesus said: Do not lie, and what you abhor, do not do; for all things are manifest in the sight of heaven; for there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered which will remain without being uncovered.
But, as you may recall from one of my earlier posts, I believe that the second half of Saying 6 is ‘polluted’. The original second half of Saying 6 is found in Saying 14. It reads:
If you fast, you will put a sin to your charge; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your inner spirits. And if you go into any land and walk about in the regions, if they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you; but what comes out of your mouth, that is what will defile you.
We will leave the second half of 6 alone for right now, you can add it back to 6 once we understand what 6 means and how 7 and 8 relate to 6.
Here is Saying 8:
And he said: Man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea; he drew it up from the sea full of small fish; among them he found a large good fish, the wise fisherman; he threw all the small fish into the sea, he chose the large fish without difficulty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Here is a link to what all of the smart folk think about Saying 6. The other sayings can be accessed from the navigation section (upper right) of the linked page.
Now here is what I believe is being said (in part). In the first half of 6 the only possible reason that the apostles could have for asking about diet, alms, and fasting is because they have either been told or have come to believe that the old ways (Jewish beliefs and rituals) have passed away. The old law has been laid aside. If for them that was not the case, then why the question?
Now for 7: The lion represents the old laws and the old leaders. The old beliefs and systems have served mankind well, but now, with a foundation laid, they support the future, not define it.
Finally, 8: The saying can be read several ways, each of which reinforces its position in the three saying sequence as it reinforces the relationship between the kingdom of heaven and mankind. Click on the link above and navigate to Saying 8 and read the expert commentary on this saying. Most experts agree that this saying appears in other works. When it does, it does not begin ” Man is like a wise fisherman”, rather it begins: “The Kingdom of God is like a wise fisherman”. Let us note that in that day and age that this was written no one is referencing the Kingdom of God except the followers of Christ and no one is looking for a path to heaven except those that have been exposed to him. I’ll also note that the “Man is like…” and the “Kingdom of God is like….” is a difference without a distinction to those that take to heart Saying 3 (But the kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you).
Well, all of this has sort of pushed out some ‘meaning’ of what is in the sayings. That’s OK given the poor odds that three in sequence obscure sayings in a text intentionally scrambled actually produced a coherent message. Here is what I’ve learned
- Moving the last half of saying 6 to 14 alerted us to the need to explore the text more closely/thoroughly.
- Understanding Saying 8 required understanding Saying 3 and the line in Saying 3 is pretty much an empty statement without Saying 8 as an exemplar.
- Saying 6 was not idle chatter about the mundane but rather an exclamation about the new world and new way. It shouts.
- Sayings 6,7,8 definitely belong together
- Sayings 3,4,5 prepare us for 6,7,8
- Saying 9 tells us to go back to and do some more work if none of this makes sense thus far.
Finally, let me suggest two important ideas. The first is that none of meaning of the Gospel of Thomas is lost because of the several different ways the text can be translated. The second is that I don’t believe that the Gospel of Thomas needed to be understood in order for man to find a path to the Kingdom of Heaven; if it had been required it would mean that no one has made that journey in the last 2000 years.