A mere 147 pages. And the Gospel itself is only 27 of them.
Day 1 (DDRD 2,733) April 24, 2025 (Which is also Day 9 of DDR: Thy Will Be Done, btw.)
Read to page 30. Not as good as it seems, since the G of St. T is Coptic on the left and English on the right, but I'm still claiming it.
Day 2 (DDRD 2,734) April 25, 2025
Read to page 60.
Thought about it, and it's -27 for the Coptic pages. After all.... So 120 pages, then.
"A medieval author, Petrus Alphonsi, preserves a saying...in his Clerical Instruction: 'This world is, as it were, a bridge. Therefore, pass over it, only do not lodge there.'"
Day 3 (DDRD 2,735) April 26, 2025
Read to page 147, The End.
Section 105 reads, "Jesus said, 'Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore.'" (61) Puzzling, to say the least. One of the (several) explanations in the End Notes reads, "Origen cites the tradition that Jesus was the illegitimate child of Mary, who 'bore a child from a certain soldier named Panthera.'" (120) I don't like that. And I don't like it that it reminds me that Chester Brown, in his book Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus, suggests that the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1 lists the names of several women who were "sexually suspect" to indicate that Mary, who is also named, was a prostitute.
Section 113: 1 'His followers said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" 2 "It will not come by watching for it. 3 It will not be said, 'Look, here it is,' or 'Look, there it is.' 'Rather, the father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it."
This seems to be a consistent theme throughout the Gospel of Thomas. The focus is on knowing oneself--specifically the inner self--and in, essentially, cleansing the doors of perception so that you can see "Reality."
Here's one for the transgender phobic folks of America: "For every female who makes herself male will enter heaven's kingdom." (63)
"The Jesus of The Gospel of Thomas calls us to knowledge and not to belief, for faith need not lead to wisdom; and this Jesus is a wisdom teacher, gnomic and wandering, rather than a proclaimer of finalities. You cannot be a minister of this gospel, nor found a church upon it." (126)
And if you're as ignorant as I am, here's what media made star has to say about GNOMIC:
gnomic
adjective
gno·mic ˈnō-mik
1: characterized by aphorism
gnomic utterances
2: given to the composition of gnomic writing
a gnomic poet
Did you know?
A gnome is an aphorism—that is, an observation or sentiment reduced to the form of a saying. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word gnome in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their gnome on the verb gignōskein, meaning "to know." (The other gnome—referring to the dwarf of folklore—comes from New Latin and is unrelated to the aphoristic gnome.) We began using gnomic, the adjective form of gnome, in the late 18th century. It describes a style of writing, or sometimes speech, characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gnomic
There was a reference to an essay by Meyer entitled "Making Mary Male
I tried to track it down on JSTOR and by Googling around, but without success. Then I found out that it had been included in the collection SECRET GOSPELS: ESSAYS ON THOMAS AND THE SECRET GOSPEL OF MARK. Library? Nope. Internet Library? Only the first few pages. Ah, but eBay has a copy for about $15. Hmmm. Like I need another book, right?
In his post-textual essay, Harold Bloom says, "The Gospel of Thomas speaks to me, and to many others, Gentile and Jewish, in ways that Matthew, Luke, and John certainly do not." (128) Unfortunately, Bloom does not elaborate on this statement. I would like to know what he means by the statement that this gospel speaks to him...and what it says to him.
Well...he does. Bloom is drawn to the Gospel of Thomas because it presents a more intellectual Jesus...A Jesus that is close to Jewish mysticism...and a Jesus who dies not due in the cross, and who is not miraculously resurrected. That last seems like bullshit, though, as to my knowledge the Gnostic Jesus is indeed crucified. (Albeit He also hovers above his crucified bidt, laughing.)
At any rate, very interesting book. I think I will re-read the actual text of the gospel again before I move on.
Addendum:
Yep. Sure did.
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