"Gospel" of Thomas?

[Guest Guest]

What arguments can be made against the "gospel" of Thomas? Was it even written by St. Thomas? A non-Christian, new ager teacher I have believes this book to be true. What basic facts can show how this so called "gospel" is invalid and shouldn't be taken seriously?

Thanks

[Adeodatus]

The "gospel" of Thomas is:
1. not a gospel. It is a collection of sayings.
2. purportedly written down by Judas Didymus Thomas, copying what was dictated by Jesus.
3. The sayings are said to be the "secret words" of Jesus.
4. This work dates from around the late second century and early third century.

The emphasis on "secret words" gives the game away. This is a Gnostic work, with its emphasis on 'secret knowledge' as salvific. Having said that, many of the sayings in Thomas have parallels in our Gospels. Some of the sayings are pure Gnosticism, about women being saved men they become men, etc.

But some sayings in this work sound like they might have been said by Jesus, with a little Gnostic tweaking here and there. It may be that early Christians had texts with Jesus's sayings, before some of these were written up as Gospels before people forgot the context of these sayings. Some of these may have fallen into Gnostic hands, and the so-called Gospel of Thomas is such an example.

But to put things into perspective: we have the canonical gospels because the Church wrote and collected them, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If say tomorrow some archaeologist shoul dig up ancient codices which turn out to be the personal and private memoirs of St Paul, or a Gospel written by Our Lady herself, and these are authenticated, and are completely orthodox----we, the Catholic Church, would not accept them into the Bible. They'd be interesting writings, but they would not add to or change our Faith.

The current obsession with so-called Gospels of Thomas, Mary Magdalene etc. is bizarre because the same people who empty the real Gospels of significance attach such importance to these obscure, Gnostic writings. It seems to lend credence to their fantasy of am 'alternative Christianity' which was suppressed by the Catholic Church. Frankly Gnosticism was a different religion altogether, and the only common gorund was the figure of Christ in their system as a bringer of secret liberating knowledge.

Your teacher may believe in the Gospel of Thomas, but that is a little like taking a fantasy novel written now about Abraham Lincoln as truth, and to discount the near contemporary accounts we have about Lincoln.