# Is the Gospel of Thomas Actually Gnostic?



## tellville (Mar 16, 2007)

I am having a discussion with a person from my church right now whether the Gospel of Thomas is actually Gnostic. He is reading this book right now:

The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Wisdom by Stevan Davies
Amazon.com: The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Wisdom: Books: Stevan, L Davies

Here are my friends claims:

"The dating of the Gospel of Thomas is hotly debated by biblical scholars. Some date it to the middle of the 1st century, others to the mid- to late-2nd century. I've started reading the book The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Wisdom by Stevan Davies, who argues for an early date for the Gospel of Thomas. It seems (my information is incomplete) that a date of not later than 140 was originally proposed before the more complete Gospel of Thomas manuscripts were uncovered in the 1940's, and scholars got in the habit of dating Thomas to about 140, sometimes even later. The main reason that Thomas is dated to the mid- to late-2nd century is because of gnostic elements identified in Thomas, but Davies argues that these gnostic elements are not really there, but only imagined by scholars who expect the Gospel of Thomas to be Gnostic. I'm not going to rush to judgment about the dating of Thomas, but I can honestly say that Davies makes scholars who think Thomas is Gnostic look like idiots. If you read the Gospel of Thomas, you don't find a complex gnostic cosmology, and, depending on how you interpret them, many (most?) of the sayings could fit very well with what we learn about Jesus in the New Testament."

I have never even heard it suggested that the Gospel of Thomas is not Gnostic, so this claim has thrown me for a loop. Personally I find many of the passages in the GoT very heretical, but I guess that doesn't mean they are Gnostic. Can anybody shed some light on this or point me to resources that do?


----------



## ChristopherPaul (Mar 16, 2007)

This may help:

*The Gnostic Gospels: Part Two, Are They Authentic? by Douglas Groothuis*


----------



## ChristopherPaul (Mar 16, 2007)

ChristopherPaul said:


> This may help:
> 
> *The Gnostic Gospels: Part Two, Are They Authentic? by Douglas Groothuis*



From the above paper:



> *THOMAS ON TRIAL *
> 
> The Nag Hammadi text that has provoked the most historical scrutiny is the Gospel of Thomas. Because of its reputation as the lost "fifth Gospel" and its frequently esoteric and mystical cast, it is frequently quoted in New Age circles. A recent book by Robert Winterhalter is entitled, The Fifth Gospel: A Verse-by-Verse New Age Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas. He claims Thomas knows "the Christ both as the Self, and the foundation of individual life."[31] Some sayings in Thomas do seem to teach this. But is this what the historical Jesus taught?
> 
> ...


----------



## tellville (Mar 16, 2007)

Thanks Chris, this is some good stuff.


----------

