Definition of Gospel of Thomas

In the New Testament There are four accounts of the life of Jesus and they are known as the canonical gospels (that of Mark, Luke, John and Matthew). In parallel, there are a series of gospels that were not integrated into the New Will, since the official Christian church understood that they were not inspired by God.

These accounts are known as apocryphal gospels, one of them being the gospel of Thomas. This disparity in the accounts of Jesus of Nazareth highlights manifest A fact: the first Christians had very different criteria about the figure of their teacher.

A significant example of these currents is that of the Judaic Christians, who believed that Jesus he was an exceptional man, but they did not share the virgin birth and rejected the idea of resurrection.

The discovery of the Gospel of Thomas provided new information about early Christianity

In 1945 in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi near Luxor, 13 Coptic codices were found and one of them was precisely the Gospel according to Thomas. These texts are believed to have been hidden around the 4th century AD. C in order to avoid its destruction.

At the same time, experts consider that they were written by Christian Gnostics, who believed that all beings human carried within him a divine part and through a process of knowledge it was possible to reach the Resurrection. The movement Gnostic was harshly persecuted by the official church and his followers ended up being heretics.

In the Gospel of Thomas there is a short prologue accompanied by 114 sentences, all attributed to the Messiah of the Christians.

In this apocryphal gospel there is abundant information about the doctrine broadcast by Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, statements related to his contempt for enrichment are attributed to him and reflections appear on the search for truth, the forgiveness of sins or the kingdom of God. The experts emphasize one aspect: in these manuscripts there is no information about the resurrection of Jesus, the crucifixion of him or the miracles of him.

However, from the doctrinal point of view the contents of the Gospel of Thomas does not imply a break with the canonical gospels.

Biblists and researchers consider that this story It is important because through it it is possible to better understand the historical context of the first Christian communities. Lastly, call the attention that Thomas presents himself as the main disciple of Jesus, an element that contradicts the rest of the canonical gospels.

Fotolia photos: Jorisvo / Jaroslav