Position Paper Three:
Thomas
If the Gospel of Thomas is not dependent on the Synoptics and John--a position that appears to be gaining support--the issue of whether or not Thomas should be considered another important source for reconstructing the teachings of the historical Jesus is more interesting than ever. Your task in this assignment is to begin forming an opinion on this issue. But first, some preliminaries.
Traditional Christians often come to Thomas with a pre-formed negative opinion of it because several of the scholars who have championed its value see it as an important support for their radical reinterpretations of Jesus and early Christianity. But here's something to think about. A strong argument can be made that the Gospel of John was largely ignored by proto-Orthodox Christians throughout much of the second century since it was so popular among proto-Gnostic Christians. Indeed, it appears that the first commentary on any New Testament book was written on John around 170 C.E. by Heracleon, a Gnostic teacher. It is only in the very late second century that proto-Orthodox Christian writers began to use John extensively after they decided it was more compatible with their ideas than those of the Gnostics.
Is it possible that history is repeating itself? Is it possible that Thomas offers a more "traditional" Jesus than radical interpreters would lead one to believe? Is it possible that Thomas on the whole stands closer to the Synoptics in its presentation of Jesus' teaching than John does on the whole? Or that Thomas stands somewhere in between John and the Synoptics' presentations of Jesus, and could be used to support an argument that early oral traditions had both a Synoptic and Johannine flavor?
1) Go to Dennis Bratcher's web page on The Gospel of Thomas. Read his introduction, but be aware that his discussion of manuscript evidence is misleading (Dr. Hedrick is much more competent and trustworthy on dating), and that his royal declaration that Thomas is "clearly Gnostic" is his opinion, not a proven fact.
2) Read the Gospel of Thomas in the two left columns of his chart and observe Bratcher's parallels to the New Testament (NT) carefully as you go. Most are from the Gospels, of course, although a few are parallels to passages in other NT sources such as the letters of Paul. Think about the similarities and differences between Thomas's and NT Gospels' sayings. It is interesting to speculate about which form of each saying sounds more authentic, although you will not be writing on this subject. Remember that in many cases the saying appears in two or more canonical Gospels so that if Bratcher had printed them all in parallel we would be seeing differences between their wording as well.
3) As you will see, there are about fifty sayings in Thomas that supposedly have no parallel in the New Testament. These are the ones you will focus on it this assignment. Make three lists. You will turn the lists in with your paper. List one is for Thomas sayings for which you think you can find an overlooked parallel in the NT. You may not be able to find any obvious word for word parallels. That is what Bratcher--and others--have already documented. You are more likely to find something that seems to express essentially the same idea but in different words. List two is for Thomas saying you consider compatible with things said by Jesus in the canonical Gospels or by other NT writers. This list is different from list one in that its sayings are not even remotely parallel to anything in the NT, but neither do the seem incompatible with anything in the NT either. List three is for sayings that your consider to be incompatible with things said by Jesus in the canonical Gospels or by other NT writers. These are sayings Jesus just could not have said, judging by canonical standards.
4) Now write a three page typed double-spaced paper giving your reasons for your decisions. You will not be able to discuss all the sayings in your lists in a short paper. Prioritize the lists this way. Discuss all the saying in list one since it is likely to be a short list. You may not have room to discuss all the sayings in list two, and you will almost certainly not be able to discuss all the sayings in list three. Discuss as many of the sayings you found most interesting in lists two and three as space will allow. Conclude with a brief statement of your opinion of the value of Thomas based on your findings.