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Title: Gospel of Thomas : The Hidden Sayings of Jesus by Marvin Meyer ISBN: 0-06-065581-X Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 13 November, 1992 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (37 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Worth buying, worth reading, and worth recommending.
Comment: The Gospel of Thomas was found in 1945 along with the Nag Hammadi Library near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. It's text dates back some 1600 years. The gospel contains many sayings which are found in the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). However, it also includes many sayings never found before. Unlike the other gospels, "The Gospel of Thomas" has no story line but instead focuses on the specific sayings of Jesus Christ. There are 114 sayings, spoken by Jesus and recorded by Judas Thomas the twin. Many have come to know this man as Thomas the disciple or "doubting Thomas". Either way the fact that it was written by one of the twelve disiples adds credibility to the text. As far as the translation goes; in the preface, Marvin Meyer explains his careful use of coptic text to translate the document. Nothing is added, nor is anything taken out. What a relief for christians seeking the truth! I highly recommend this book, however, I would advise skipping the reading by Harold Bloom.
Rating: 4
Summary: 114 Sayings attributed by the Gnostic Christians to Jesus
Comment: In 1945 a couple of Egyptians digging in the Nile River valley found a sealed storage jar that contained a collection of fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which were devoted to the teachings of Gnosticism, early Christians who believed that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through "gnosis" (the Greek word for "knowledge"). The Gnostic inner quest for spiritual understanding put them at odds with the authority of the Church in the first, formative centuries of Christianity. It is not surprising that the Gnostic writings were suppressed by the early Church and were really only known to us through the writings of their opponents. The discovery of these manuscripts allows us to read what these early Christians were thinking and to judge for ourselves the value of their beliefs.
Marvin W. Meyer has provided new English translations of several of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts. Of these, the Gospel of Thomas is the most interesting. Biblical scholars have long maintained that one of the source documents for the Gospels was a collection of sayings that was integrated with the Gospel of Mark to produce the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of Thomas is an example of such a collection, providing dozens of sayings attributed to Jesus. For example, Saying 75: "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: all came forth from me, and all attained to me. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Pick up a stone, and you will find me there." The words might be different, but certainly the idea is recognizable, which is true of the vast majority of 144 Sayings collected in the Gospel of Thomas. These sayings are not a radical depature from what we have in Scripture and at the very least we can accept them as being accurate representations of early Christian beliefs. Certainly they are more familiar than the other Gnostic writings Meyer has translated. You will have to judge for yourself how compatable they are with the New Testament. But I think they are definitely worth thinging about.
Rating: 5
Summary: This Book Infoms Us to Go Beyond Christian Fundamentalism
Comment: Christians must look beyond the Bible to seek truths about Jesus Christ. The New Testament and this book on the Gospel of Thomas tell us that the teachings of Jesus are not simple as Christian fundamentalists teach. Meyer has done a great job. And, Bloom's reading is a wonderful addition to this book.
My analysis of the New Testament concludes that some of Jesus' teachings are simple. But, the New Testament has at least two other classes of sayings that are not simple. These other classes deal with the development of the human mind and the development of God's kingdom. Thus, unless one is trained with today's scientific literature on the mind and modern creation theories, one will understand only about one-third of Jesus' sayings in the New Testament and in the Gospel of Thomas. Clearly, Christians untrained in science and mathematics are making too many guesses relative the truths about the sayings of Jesus.
The Gospel of Thomas, like the New Testament and the Hubble telescope,is more proof that Nature has no apocalyptic end. Thus, the only new world that people can expect after death is the world that Nature's law of reincarnation gives them.
The Gospel of Thomas is an excellent addition to the New Testament because they have many simularities and can thus be compared. This is a good book to have in any home.
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Title: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves Leloup, Joseph Rowe, Jacob Needleman ISBN: 0892819111 Publisher: Inner Traditions Intl Ltd Pub. Date: 30 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels by MARVIN MEYER ISBN: 0394744330 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 May, 1986 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels ISBN: 0679724532 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 19 September, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Lost Books of the Bible by Rh Value Publishing ISBN: 0517277956 Publisher: Testament Pub. Date: 08 June, 1988 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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Title: Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels ISBN: 0375501568 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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