The Gospels of Thomas were found at Nagi Hammadi Egypt in 1945, they had been hidden for nearly 2000 years, they found many others but the scholars thought these were the most important. Some of the verses matched the oldest known piece of written gospel ever found, When Eusebius put together the new testament for Emperor Constantine, he ignored it along with many others, why? in verse 23 it says you will be chosen one from a thousand and two from ten thousand!!! this is probaly were Matthew 22:14 comes from, many are called but few are chosen.
2007-11-28 12:31:41 · 15 answers · asked by TheAsender 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Gnostics? it means knowledge, they were the FIRST FOLLOWERS OF JESUS and they were cut from society by the sword, so the second set of followers, the ones with the swords, were did their knowledge come from, The Mithra religion!!
2007-11-28 22:47:12 · update #1
Yes I have read them -- and they gave me the key to the Bible, and to true salvation in Jesus Christ. If not for it, I may not have been graced with knowledge and understanding, and afterwards, my spontaneous Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
A wonderful book!
2007-11-28 12:38:36 · answer #1 · answered by Christine S 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are 2 major reasons why the Gospel of Thomas was excluded. The first is that - unlike some of the writings which actually made it into the canon - it was known from the very earliest times that this gospel did not originate with Thomas the disciple. The work is pseudonymous. Authorship was a key factor in the original selection of works for the canon of the New Testament, even if the early Church Fathers sometimes came to the wrong conclusions about who wrote what. At least with the Gospel of Thomas, they were right.
The more important factor is that, while most of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are probably authentic, and while it represents the best extant "sayings gospel", some of the sayings can be construed as disavowing the divinity of the Son. Since at the time the canon was being assembled, the major "heresy" which the church was guarding against was the Arian movement (which Constantine and many of the Roman elites were proponents of). Arians rejected the Divinity of Christ and the Trinity. That's probably not that big a deal nowadays, but at the time it was a hugely important controversy in defining what orthodox Christianity would look like. Whether the sayings of Thomas' gospel are authentic or not, the gospel gives no context which might disassociate them from any Arian interpretation. And so it could not stand as one of the canonical gospels.
But it remains, in my opinion, THE most important extra-biblical document regarding the teachings of Jesus.
Peace to you.
2007-11-28 21:33:39 · answer #2 · answered by Orpheus Rising 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look at all the Christians jumping up and down, having to answer a question that points out, indirectly, that their bibles have been censored and altered! You Protestants are defending the lies of Popes when you do that, you know?!
I'd take the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene as real long before I would the stuff that has been through the meat grinder of the Catholic hierarchy.
2007-11-28 21:01:00 · answer #3 · answered by Morgaine 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Thomas was Jesus half brother because Joseph was a widower who had children from a previous marriage. Thomas said, "Salvation comes by knowledge, not by the death and resurrection of Jesus". "If you don't know yourself, you live in poverty and become that poverty". Now you know why Early Church leaders choose to eliminate it from the Canon of the New Testament. It's a shame that Christians are never given the full story.
2007-11-28 20:46:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't know why this gospel or the Gospel of Mary Magdalene were dismissed. Rumor has it that Thomas was Jesus' brother, and that would mean that the Virgin Mary didn't remain a virgin throughout her life, something that is very important to the Catholic church.
2007-11-28 20:35:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
hidden..what lol...that's a lie...this book along with several others was put in a seperate book and had an explanation as to why it was not chosen for the Bible...actually because they traced the roots and it wasn't written by Thomas and no one used it
2007-11-28 20:37:04 · answer #6 · answered by notw777 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are only Four(4) Gospels in the New Testament:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John..
It's already written..
2007-11-28 20:37:10 · answer #7 · answered by ♠ jhun ♠ 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
good stuff in Thomas, but i preferred the Gospel of Mary
2007-11-28 20:34:39 · answer #8 · answered by grandfather raven 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have the book along with some others. I really enjoy reading *Thunder Perfect Mind*.
2007-11-28 20:44:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Which Biblical scholars? All the scholars I've heard have said that they are the gnostic writings and are not Scriptural.
2007-11-28 20:35:07 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan H 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋