THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS AND ITS PANTHEISTIC MYTHOLOGICAL JESUS

The gospel of Thomas found at Nag Hammadi is not a gospel in the New Testament style where you get stories about Jesus.  It gives mystical sayings from him.  It claims divine inspiration for it claims to be what the Living Jesus is saying.  The Living Jesus is essentially like a nature force, a pantheist one.

Jesus preaches in the gospel of Thomas that whoever works out the meaning of his sayings will not taste spiritual death. He is making this a message only for the literate, the scribe. This fundamentally differs from the traditional Jesus who does not require education in his disciples. Then the gospel says that the reader should search and search hard until they find and then they will eventually reign over all. This is only for somebody who does not work and who has the time. And they become divine and reign over all at the end of it! This is pure elitism.

Thomas has Jesus bemoaning how his hearers don’t seem to understand him at all and he expresses a wish that at least one will. “Let there be one among you who understands”.

That shows just how solipsist and narcissistic this “spirituality” is.

The tradition of Jesus as saviour is rejected. This Jesus says, “If you bring forth what is deep within you, this will save you.” He does not forgive sin and fix you. You have to fix yourself.  He is completely contrary to the Bible version where we are told that Jesus is called Jesus meaning saviour for he will save his people from their sins.

Jesus in Thomas speaks with wonder how a dead body when eaten becomes alive again for it becomes part of you, “Those who are dead are not alive. Eating flesh that is dead makes it live again.” This poetry is clearly arguing that the dead cannot come to life unless they are eaten so it denies bodily resurrection. I think assuming it is referring to an occult notion where eating an animal or person passes on their magic energy to you is unnecessary.

Saying 22 which argues that if you can make two into one, erase male and female and make eyes in the place of eyes – ie restore missing eyeballs - then you will enter the kingdom. I would take that as saying that you will never enter any heavenly or earthly kingdom of God. It is rather a spiritual kingdom. It is no wonder in saying 51 he tells the disciples looking for the kingdom that it is already here and they need to realise that.

Interestingly, the metaphor “until you put eyes where they are missing”, alludes to miracles including healing ones. Jesus here is calling miracles impossible. If a dead eye cannot be replaced neither can anyone rise from the dead.

Saying 37 wants us to abandon clothing. The historical Jesus if there was one certainly did not go about nude! However some argue that clothing means the body. If so, he wants you to be just soul and maybe even starve to death.

Saying 114 says that no woman can be saved unless she can become male. That could be irony. “No woman will become male and no woman will be saved for only males are saved.”

The core teaching of this work does not recognise the New Testament authority at all.