The bottom line is that we do not know who wrote the gospel of thomas and we cannot be sure which judas mentioned in the new testament also was nicknamed thomas. Gospel of john aims to discredit evangel thomas, scholar says. The gospel of thomas opens by saying didymus judas thomas recorded all the sayings that the living jesus spoke. This video contains a mindblowing revelation of your own. The first act, when he went into india with abbanes the merchant. I, jesus, the son of joseph the carpenter, acknowledge that i have sold my slave, judas by name, unto thee abbanes, a merchant of gundaphorus, king of the indians. It was about a century prior to that time that a commentary had last appeared on this work for that reason i had to go into a. Klijn the title of this contribution supposes a previous visit to the acts of tlomns. Philip now presented thomas as his nominee for apostleship and nathaniel presented judas iscariot, the judean, for similar honors.
The acts of judas thomas and the hymn of the soul analecta. Pdf the hymn of the pearl the hymn of the pearl also hymn of the soul, hymn of the robe of glory or hymn of judas thomas the apostle is a passage from the apocryphal acts of thomas. The gospel of thomas was written in 340 in coptic, but the foundations are earlier oral traditions. Unfortunately, and actually, there is far more information about thomas revealed, in the last twenty years of his life, than is revealed about the life of jesus. Download the gospel of thomas download the free pdf. It is not clear either from the gospels, written at the end of the 1st century, or from the acts of thomas, from the 2nd century, just whose twin thomas was meant to be, but there are several references in classical sources that suggest that he was the brother either of the apostle jude son of james or of jesus himself. Thomas, recorded, arrived in india in the year 52 ad. In the preparation of this versi the following six translations have been consulted, in addition to to published by messrs. Nowhere in the new testament is there any connection of the names of judas and thomas. One way to find out would be to combine them all into a single work and.
To find orientation in the alienated world means 1 to know the sayings of jesus and 2. Lambdin these are the secret sayings which the living jesus spoke and which didymos judas thomas wrote down. Introduction this is the only one of the five primary romances which we possess in its entirety. Thomas became the first person to explicitly acknowledge the divinity of jesus. These are the hidden teachings which jesus spoke and didymus judas thomas wrote down known as the gospel of thomas.
Incipit the secret account of the revelation that jesus spoke in conversation with judas iscariot. Like other apocryphal acts combining popular legend and religious propaganda. Acts 1 new international version niv jesus taken up into heaven. Whoever finds the meaning of these words will not taste death. Simon peter, andrew, james, his brother john, phillip, thomas, matthew, james the son of alpheus, thaddeus, simon, judas, and bartholomew. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. In the gospel of philip, a christian gnostic instruction manual of the third century c. Thomas said to them, if i tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you. These are the hidden words that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas thomas wrote them down.
In the midfifties i was appointed as a lecturer in new testament studies at the university of utrecht. A lost, secret vision of jesus earl richard loyola university yamauchi lecture october 17, 1993 the recent discovery and current interest in the gospel of thomas have elicited considerable popular and scholarly attention, a phenomenon which shows no indication of coming to an end. The hymn of the pearl is one of the earliest documents we have on edessan. The acts of the apostles, abbreviation acts, fifth book of the new testament, a valuable history of the early christian church. Acts of thomas is a series of episodic acts latin passio that occurred during the evangelistic mission of judas thomas judas the twin to india. Also, in the catholic abgar legend from edessa, thomas is called iudas ho kai thomas. The gospel of thomas its meaning, secrets, and power youtube. The gospel of thomass 114 sayings of jesus biblical. We know this man, that he is the son of joseph the carpenter, begotten of mary, and he saith that he is the son of god and a king. Acts of judas thomas this short history was presented as part of the exhibition during the fremont celebrations connected with the 50th indian independence by professor m.
The revised and updated translation of sacred gnostic texts complete in one volume, ed. The gospel according to thomas also known as codex ii was found in egypt in 1945. Some have speculated that he became known as thomas after judas iscariots betrayal. Tune of bringing in the sheaves there were twelve disciples jesus called to help him. Their names were peter, andrew, james, john, philip, bartholomew, thomas, matthew, james son of alphaeus, jude, simon the zealot, and judas iscariot. Extracted from burkitts book early eastern christianity. The latest of the five major apocryphal acts, and the only one that has survived complete, the acts of thomas is extant in gr. Of nicodemus formerly called the acts of pontius pilate. In the apocryphal acts of thomas, originally composed in syriac, he allegedly visited the court of the indoparthian king gondophernes, who put him in charge of building a royal palace he was reportedly a carpenter. This is the second edition of a work published as long ago as 1962. Philip now presented thomas as his nominee for apostleship and nathaniel presented judas iscariot the judean, for similar honors. If you wish, you may download a pdf version of the gospel of thomas in its entirety on to find davids ebook on this website, all you have to do is search for capps and follow the instructions on the download page. Pseudepigraphic text which relates the adventures of the apostle judas thomas as he preaches an ascetical or encratite form of christianity on the way to and.
University of groningen the apocryphal acts of thomas. Why is the gospel of thomas considered heretical by nicene. Apostle thomas amazing bible timeline with world history. Thomas the fisherman and judas the wanderer met jesus and the apostles at the fisherboat landing at tarichea, and thomas led the party to his nearby home. Interestingly, both thomas hebrew and didymus greek mean twin, which is more of a title than a name. The gospel of thomas the following is a fresh translation, made from the coptic text published by messrs. It was about a century prior to that time that a commentary had last appeared on this work for that reason i had to go into a great variety of subjects. See below the painters manual of dionysius of fourna. Thomas said to him, master, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like.
The acts of judas thomas or, the twin, the apostle. Paterson brown, who is affiliated with the ecumenical coptic project in athens, greece. Acts of the holy apostle thomas, when he came into india, and built the palace in the heavens and when the apostle came into the cities of india, with abbanes the merchant, abbanes went away to salute gundaphoros the king, and reported to him about the carpenter whom he had brought with him. Here it is in the two most significant and widespread english translations as free pdf ebooks of the text that never made it to the official christian bible. The acts of thomas, then, is really about judas, who was one of the original apostles. The internet is full of information regarding the life and death of thomas. Gospel of judas edited by rodolphe kasser, marvin meyer, and gregor wurst the gospel of judas is a gnostic gospel whose content consists of conversations between the disciple judas iscariot and jesus christ. Thomas was also one of the disciples to whom jesus appeared on the shore of galilee. Timeline of the disciples apostles the mark monitor watchman newsletter monitoring the advancement of the nwo and the mark of the beast. And when judas had entered into the realm of india with the merchant habban, habban went to salute gudnaphar, the king of india, and he told him of the artificer whom he had brought for him. The acts of thomas from the apocryphal new testament m. His christian evaluation of this text demonstrates that it is a later work written in the fourth century after christ and inconsistent with the original first century writings. Jesus later presented himself to the apostles and invited thomas to inspect his wounds. I, jesus, the son of joseph the carpenter, acknowledge that i have sold my slave, judas by name, to you abbanes.
After this, thomas virtually disappeared from biblical history except in other historical records and gnostic textsmost of which were unverifiable. When told by the others, we have seen the lord, thomas replied that he would not believe it unless he could actually touch jesus wounds. And when the deed was finished, the saviour took judas thomas and. In this work, originally written in syriac, the apostle thomas sings the anthem while praying for him and other prisoners. Margarets lectures for 1904, the contents of this booklet are focused on aspects of the syriacspeaking church.
Did judas iscariot, after betraying christ, hang himself or just swell up and burst open we should first understand that god had his word recorded in such a way that it could be misunderstood. The manuscripts end the acts of judas thomas the apostle are completed, which he did in. It was discovered near nag hammadi, egypt, in december 1945 among a group of books known as the nag hammadi library. At that season all we the apostles were at jerusalem, simon which is called peter and andrew his brother, james the son of zebedee and john his brother, philip and bartholomew, thomas and matthew the publican. Love in the gospel of thomas and early traditions chapter 29. This is the second edition of the acts of thomas introduction textcommentary, in. Nov 27, 2015 the secret revelation contained in this unusual video cannot be found anywhere else including the internet except in this special video. The acts of judas thomas and the hymn of the soul analecta gorgiana f. King abgar of edessa 5 thus does the later document combine the legends of both the portrait and the.
Despite all this, there is much disagreement about his identity. Acts 1 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, as set of 17 volumes on the new testament, the result of barclays dedicated work. The apostle thomas, also known as didymus the twin, was a fisherman, but scripture does not reveal who his twin was. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. The gospel of thomas and christian origins andre gagne. The gospel of thomas begins with the following statement. There are several passages with christian content, but these are assumed to come from christian redaction of an originally jewish document. Reading it, he declared, what was written concerned that which was engraved on my heart acts of thomas 111 7. The text of the gospel of thomas from the scholars version translation published in the complete gospels prologue these are the secret sayings that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas thomas recorded. According to the acts of judas thomas, the apostle and his new master first touched land in a city called andrapolis. The phrase doubting thomas was coined for his lack of faith.
Through one of the prophets, we find that the bible is written here a little, and there a little isaiah 28. The calling of thomas and judas iscariot truthbook. The apostle thomas biography, doubting, life and death. And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. Information on the testaments of the twelve patriarchs. The two centuries that lapsed between the life of the apostle and the recording of this work cast doubt on their authenticity. First of all i would like to tell how this first visit came about.
Like other apocryphal acts combining popular legend and religious propaganda, the work attempts to entertain and instruct. The apostle thomas was not present when the risen jesus first appeared to the disciples. The second act, when thomas the apostle entered into india, and built a palace for the king in heaven. The main source is the apocryphal acts of thomas, sometimes called by its full name the acts of judas thomas, written circa 180230 adce, these are generally regarded by various christian religions as apocryphal, or even heretical. Early syrian traditions also relate the apostles full name as judas thomas. Some have seen in the acts of thomas written in east syria in the early 3rd century, or perhaps as early as the first half of the 2nd century an identification of saint thomas with the apostle judas, son of james, better known in english as jude. Some people have wrongly assumed that matthew and luke the author of acts are contradictory in their account of judas. I have read the text, it seemed quite interesting to me, shares much of the material from other gospel texts and as the form is a sayings gospel leaves much to interpretation. The acts of judas thomas, probably originated in a milieu of. The 12 apostles were jesus christs closest followers. I, jesus, the son of joseph the carpenter, acknowledge that i have sold my slave, judas by name, to you abbanes, a merchant of gundaphorus, king of the indians. The gospel according to thomas these are the secret sayings that the living jesus spoke and didymos judas thomas recorded.
It may be termed the primitive manual of catechism of the church. When thomas came back to his friends, they asked him, what did j say to you. The first act of judas thomas the apostle, when he sold him to the merchant habban, that he might go down and convert india. Although this version is known as the acts of thomas, the hero is oftentimes referred to as judas. Within these teachings from jesus, it explains manifestation, consciousness. The gospel of thomas a christian evaluation don closson looks at the gospel of thomas, considering its relationship to the four gospels included in the new testament. And when the deed was finished, the saviour took judas thomas and led him away to abbanes the merchant, and when abbanes saw him he said unto him. Thomas is famous for having doubted the resurrection of jesus and for demanding physical proof of the wounds of christs crucifixion. Pseudepigraphic text which relates the adventures of the apostle judas thomas as he preaches an ascetical or encratite form of christianity on the way to and from india. The third through the sixth acts in the story of judas thomas take place after the apostle has left the court of gundaphorus. In his book about the acts of thomas he tried to demonstrate that this work cannot be reckoned among the gnostic writings but belongs to the early syriac or rather eastern christian. The acts of thomas say he was the apostle and the brother of jesus.
Thomas tells the king that he has built him a palace in heaven, and the king arrests thomas and the merchant 2. A royal message commanded everyone in town, citizen and foreigner alike, high or low, to take part. Acta thomae, the apocryphal book is historically dated around end of first century soon after the martyrdom of st. This secret sayings gospel does not tell the story of jesus life, but rather is a list of over 100 of his sayings, some of which are familiar to readers of the new testament.
Philip and thomas, bartholomew and matthew, james the son of alphaeus and simon the zealot and judas the son of james were there. The general of india approaches thomas that he might help his wife and daughter whom a violent man attacked 6. The very interesting thing is that the book contains direct citations of jesus christ in 114 verses. Portions of greek versions of the gospel of thomas were found in oxyrhynchus egypt about one hundred years ago and these can be dated to about 170.
Internal evidence found in the text indicates that he was jesus twin. Primary sources gospel of thomas from jesus to christ. Judas, levi and nepthalim, alexander and jairus and the rest of the jews, and came unto pilate accusing jesus for many deeds, saying. In gnostic texts jesus appears as a little child acts of john 88, or gnostic. It is believed to have been written by gnostic followers of jesus, rather than by judas himself, and probably dates from no. Thaddaeus thaddaeus judas son of james judas son of james thomas thomas thomas thomas andrew andrew, the brother of simon peter, was a galilean fisherman. Macdonald jesus and dionysian polymorphism in the acts of john. Acts niv jesus taken up into heaven in my bible gateway. The early 3rdcentury text called acts of thomas is one of the new testament apocrypha.
Even though judas showed remorse later, his name became a symbol for traitors and turncoats throughout history. Acts 1 commentary william barclays daily study bible. I dont think it would be difficult for even pretty stringently orthodox people to interpret it to their satisfaction. Thomas afar off, and agreed with him for three litrae of silver unstamped, and wrote a deed of sale, saying. Free pdfs downloads all of the apocryphal books of the king james. Early references about the apostolate of saint thomas in india.