Did Jesus have a Twin Brother?

http://home.epix.net/~miser17/faq.html What is the Gospel of Thomas? The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of sayings attributed 2 Jesus of Nazareth. Unless it is merely a collection of materials that mainly were drawn out of the Biblical gospels, as seems unlikely 4 most if not all of Thomas' sayings, then Thomas is the most important historical source 4 knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth that exists outside of the Bible. It is the most significant manuscript ever found the history of earliest Christianity. When was the Gospel of Thomas written? This is a question hotly debated by scholars. Many scholars say that it was written at about the same time, even perhaps somewhat before, the gospels in the bible. Their argument is that most of the sayings in Thomas show no signs of having any dependence on, or knowledge of, the Biblical gospels and so Thomas' sayings derive from oral tradition and not from written Biblical texts. This doesn't seem 2 have been possible after the end of the first century when the Biblical texts began 2 be authoritative in Christianity. Other scholars find bits of evidence that indicate that Thomas was indeed dependent, in part, on Biblical texts, and surmise that the author of Thomas must have edited out almost all indications of the particular styles and ideas of the Biblical authors. Those scholars date Thomas in the mid second century A.D. Who wrote the Gospel of Thomas? No one knows. The four canonical gospels and Thomas and other gospels such as the Gospel of Philip (found at Nag Hammadi) were given their names some time in the second century. Scholars of the New Testament generally agree that none of the gospels were written by people who had ever met Jesus of Nazareth during his lifetime. But at a later date names were assigned 2 them that were associated with famous individuals in the earliest church. The name of the person who supposedly wrote the Gospel of Thomas is given in the first lines of the text as "didymos Judas thomas." The word "didymos" is Greek 4 twin and the word "thomas" is Aramaic for twin. The individual's name was Judas, and his nickname "the twin" is given in two languages. The canonical gospels mention a man named Thomas and John calls him didymos thomas. There R also several individuals named Judas mentioned in the canonical gospels in addition 2 Judas called Iscariot. 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. Where was the Gospel of Thomas found? Portions of three Greek copies of the Gospel of Thomas were found in Oxyrhynchus Egypt about one hundred years ago. They R known as Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 1 (Oxy P 1) probably written not much later than the year 200, Oxy P 654, which can be dated 2 the middle or end of the third century, and Oxy P 655 dated not later than A. D. 250 (dating according to Grenfell and Hunt). A complete version in Coptic (the native Egyptian language written in an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet) was found in Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945. That version can be dated 2 about 340 A.D. The Coptic version is a translation of the Greek version. Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Thomas was originally written in Syria in the Greek language. Is the Gospel of Thomas Gnostic? It all depends on what U mean by Gnostic. If U mean by Gnostic the belief that people have a divine capacity within themselves and that they can come 2 understand that the Kingdom of GoD is already upon the earth if they can come 2 perceive the world that way then Thomas is Gnostic. But if U mean by Gnostic the religion upon which the Nag Hammadi texts are based, a religion that differentiates the god of this world (who is the Jewish god) from a higher more abstract GoD, a religion that regards this world as the creation of a series of evil archons/powers who wish 2 keep the human soul trapped in an evil physical body then no, Thomas is not Gnostic. This differentiation is very important, because some scholars reason that if Thomas is Gnostic (in the first sense) then it is Gnostic (in the second sense) and, as they believe,Gnosticism (in the second sense) is a second or third century heresy, they conclude that the Gospel of Thomas is heretical, late in date, and without very much historical value in regard 2 Jesus of Nazareth. What is the basic perspective of the Gospel of Thomas? It is that the Kingdom of GoD is spread out upon the earth now, if people can just come 2 see it; and that there is divine light within all people, a light that can enable them 2 see the Kingdom of GoD upon the earth. Further, the perspective of Thomas is that the Image of GoD in the beginning (Genesis chapter One) still exists and people can assume that identity, an identity that is neither male nor female. The image of GoD is differentiated from the fallen Adam of Genesis chapter Two. The Gospel of Thomas advocates that people should restore their identities as the image of GoD now, and see the Kingdom of GoD on earth now. Thomas reads the first two chapters of Genesis in a straightforward way, there were two separate creations of mankind; the first is perfect, the second flawed. Rather than waiting for a future end-time Kingdom 2 come, Thomas urges people 2 return 2 the perfect Kingdom conditions of Genesis chapter one. 4 Thomas Endzeit (the final culmination of things) already existed in the Urzeit (the primordial creative time of the past). Does the Gospel of Thomas reflect the views of Jesus? Maybe. There was once a Q gospel and a Mark gospel. These were revised and combined into a Matthew gospel and a Luke gospel. So there were four interrelated texts that testify 2 a single view of Jesus; that he was a man who predicted the early end of this world and its violent replacement by a future Kingdom of GoD. If these texts have it right, then Thomas is divergent from Jesus' own perspectives. But there is also a John gospel testifying 2 the present reality of God's Kingdom and the presence of the divine in the world. John's gospel, like Thomas' gospel, focuses on the actuality of the divine in the present. So one must decide 4 oneself whether the John/Thomas perspective reflects Jesus' own ideas or whether Q/Mark and then subsequently the revised versions called Matthew and Luke do so. What is Q and what does it have to do with Thomas? If U realize that Matthew and Luke are revised versions of Mark U will see that an extended set of sayings R in Matthew and Luke that do not occur in Mark. Those sayings, it is generally agreed in scholarship, were taken by both Matthew and Luke from a mid-first century document that consisted of a list of Jesus' sayings. That document, which German scholars called "Quelle," has come to be known as Q. It does not exist any longer, but it can be recovered by analysis of Matthew and Luke (simply put, Q was the written list of sayings that we find both in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark). Q was nothing more than a list of sayings. The Gospel of Thomas is also nothing more than a list of sayings. Many of the sayings R the same, but most of the sayings in Thomas are not in Q. Thomas is the same sort of thing as Q was but Thomas is not Q. Probably Thomas and Q circulated separately in the middle or the later part of the first century. Their points of view R quite different, Thomas stresses the presence of the Kingdom of GoD now. Q insists that the Kingdom of GoD will arrive at some future time[/b]. How Many of the Sayings in the Gospel of Thomas come from Jesus? Who knows for sure? If you take the set of sayings that are in Thomas and that R also in the gospels of Mark or Matthew or Luke (no sayings in Thomas R also in John) then you have a set of sayings that rather reliably come from Jesus. Scholars commonly are so influenced by biblical texts that they assume that any sayings in Thomas that don't sound like sayings in Matthew/Mark/Luke R therefore not sayings of Jesus. However, it is quite possible that Thomas retains sayings that the biblical gospels don't retain and, indeed, that Thomas is more reliable as a guide 2 the sort of thing Jesus said than the biblical gospels R. Matthew/Mark/Luke give by and large the same point of view regarding Jesus as a teacher. Thomas (and 2 some extent John) gives a somewhat different point of view. Perhaps Thomas' point of view derives from Jesus himself. Or, perhaps, not. Why isn't the Gospel of Thomas in the bible? We don't know how the texts in the bible were chosen. Whatever happened occurred principally in the middle of the second century. However the choices were made, it could well have been that Thomas was unknown 2 those who made them. Or there might have been elements of Thomas that were distasteful 2 them. Or, given a preference 4 narrative biographical gospels, Thomas might have been thought irrelevant. We know hardly anything about the process of canonical gospel choice. Will the Gospel of Thomas be added 2 the bible? No. The biblical canon is not open 4 debate, it is a closed entity. A church that adds Thomas 2 its collection of scriptures would move outside the margins of orthodox Christianity and no well-known denomination has the slightest intention of adding Thomas 2 its scriptures [i] Thomas ~~~~ Now It all makes Sense! ;0) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's No Secret that the Stars R Fallin' from the Sky, like a Fly on the Wall, It's no Secret at All... __________________ Jesus said, "Blessed R the solitary and elect, 4 U will find the Kingdom. For you R from it, and 2 it you will return." __________________ Jesus said, "There was a rich man who had much money. He said: I will use my money that I may sow and reap and plant and fill my storehouses with fruit, so that I lack nothing. This was what he thought in his heart. And that night he died. Whoever has ears let him hear." see what happens 2 greedy ****ers? ;0) __________________ The Meaninglessness of the Gospel of Thomas __________________ jesus was a jewish rabbi __________________ Quote: Originally posted by Y2J jesus was a jewish rabbi And A Stoner as well Don't U forget It! ;0) __________________ The simplicity of Christ is foolishness to those who perish. Mavi forum