Confusion (Verses versus Verses)
I’ve always thought that there is/was an upside to confusion. Being confused usually tells us that a piece of information that we have is wrong or doesn’t fit. I suppose the scribe that worked on transcribing Thomas’ work ran into a real head scratching moment when he got to the 5th, 6th and 14th sayings. Go here for the ‘as written’ texts along with how I think they should have been compiled.
The Cave
In book VII of ‘The Republic’ Plato crafts a narrative between Socrates and Plato’s brother, Glaucon. It’s a thought provoking piece that, written roughly 400 years before the birth of Christ, is commonly referred to as ‘The Allegory of the Cave’. A paraphrase of the Cave and an caffeine induced correlation to Christ on the cross– here
The Elephant
The Blind Men and the Elephant is a famous Indian fable that tells the story of six blind sojourners that come across different parts of an elephant in their life journeys. In turn, each blind man creates his own version of reality from that limited experience and perspective.
I thought the fable was particularly emblematic of why Christs disciples may have had trouble defining him. More here.