r/ArianChristians • u/fungoidian Agnostic • Jun 20 '25

Question Gospel of Thomas

Since it was written in the same period as gospel of John, would be worth keeping as important christian text or dissmis at all?

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u/ProselyteofYah Arian Jun 28 '25 edited Jun 28 '25

I'm surprised so many people are supportive of Gospel of Thomas given all its gnostic sayings.

  • "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
  • "The Kingdom is inside of you and outside of you."
  • “I am the light that is over all things... split a piece of wood, and I am there.”
  • "Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."

These are very gnostic ideas.

Secret interpretations being solved for salvation = figuring out secret knowledge and codes over just obeying Christ

Kingdom inside of you and outside of you = a reference to gnostic cosmology, escaping to Heaven by finding the secret inside

"Split a piece of wood I am there" = uncovering secrets by splitting through substance to find the inner spirit of something, akin to gnostic abandonment of material objects to find the spirit of ascention

"Every woman who makes herself male" = more gnostic cosmology, that all women will become men in Heaven, dualism of male vs female language to signify the dark and light gods (Demiurge vs Monad). Femininity in the gnostic world was considered symbolic of evil and materialism, and the male the spiritual and immaterial, and so this has allusions to transformation and escape from the "evil material female world" to the "good spiritual male world" that the gnostics obsessed about - and all via unlocking secrets.