Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus: The Discovery and Text of the Gospel of Thomas 1569750955, 9781569750957

Citation preview

JOHN DOMINIC CROSSAN

Commentary by

JESUS

of

The Discovery and Text of The Gospel of Thomas

JOHN DART & RAY RIEGERT

III

JWtefr

AiikTd**

it*

$17.00 U.S. £11.99 U.K.

THE TIME

IS

The place

JUST AFTER is

Upper Egypt

from the pyramids. drivers embroiled is

WORLD WAR

II.

not far

A group of camel

in

a deadly blood feud

secretly digging for fertilizer along the

Nile River near their enemies' village

when they uncover an earthenware jar. Believing

it

evil spirits,

is

filled

either with gold or

one of them smashes open

the ancient vessel. Unwittingly, he has discovered

the greatest collection of apocryphal Christian

documents ever found. Among

these fourth-century papyrus books

is

The Gospel of Thomas, an unusual

manuscript purportedly dictated by Jesus to "doubting Thomas." During the next

years,

few

shadowy antiquities dealers will

smuggle the priceless manuscripts out of

Egypt for sale on the black market and

scholars as the

will

proclaim them as significant

Dead Sea

Scrolls.

The dramatic narrative history

combined with

is

a special translation of this

spiritually enlightening text.

Jesus that emerges

is

The image

of

strikingly different

continued on back flap

Unearthing

The

Lost Words of

JESUS

Unearthing

The

Lost Words of

JESUS

The Discovery and Text of The Gospel of Thomas

John Dart and Ray Riegert Commentary John Dominic Crossan

jeastone

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

Copyright

©

1998 Ulysses

Press.

Gospel of Tliomas Copyright

Apocryphal

New

©

Oxford University

Press 1993. Reprinted

from

Tlie

Testament edited by J.K. Elliott by permission of Oxford University

Press. All rights reserved

under International and Pan-American Copyright Con-

ventions, including the right to reproduce this

book or

portions thereof in any form

whatsoever, except for use by a reviewer in connection with a review.

Published by:

Seastone, an imprint of Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440 Berkeley,

CA

94703-3440

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dart, John, 1936-

Unearthing the

lost

words of Jesus

the Gospel of Thomas / authors

introduction by John

the discovery and text of

:

John

Dart,

Ray

Riegert

;

Dominic Crossan.

cm.

p.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-56975-095-5 1. Nag Hammadi codices. Egypt— Cairo. I.

3.

Riegert, Ray. 1947-

III.

II,

2.

2.

Manuscripts, Coptic-

Gospel of Thomas— Criticism, interpretation, II.

Gospel of Thomas.

etc.

English.

Title.

BS2860.T52D37

1998

98-4422

229'.8—dc21

CIP ISBN: 1-56975-095-5 Printed in the

10

USA

987654

Book

by R.R. Donnelley 3

&

Sons

21

Design: Sarah Levin, Leslie Henriques

Editonal and production

staff:

Steven Zah Schwartz, David Wells,

Aaron Newey

Cover photograph: The Image Bank/Guido Alberto Rossi Insert photographs:

Photographs of Muhammed

Ali, cliff face

ofjabal al-Tant.

and The Gospel of Thomas courtesy of Bastiaan Van Elderen. All remaining photographs courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity in Claremont, California.

Distributed in the United States by Publishers

Books, and

in

Group West,

in

Canada by Raincoast

Great Britain and Europe by World Leisure Marketing.

Table of Contents

part

i

The Discovery

1

ONE Blood Feud

3

TWO The Frenchman

in

the

Museum

10

THREE Hamrah

Dum

15

FOUR Smuggling the Sacred

20

FIVE

The Jesus Curse 24 six Rabies and Revolution

part

ii

31

The Gospel of Thomas

part

iii

A Commentary

by John Dominic Crossan

Bibliography

103

About the Authors 106

93

37

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2011

http://www.archive.org/details/unearthinglostwoOOdart

PART ONE

The Discovery

UPPER EGYPT MEDITERRA XEA X

ISRAEL

r

r-\*

'(West

SEA Jerg^alewi

Alexandria

'Deadly Sea

EGYPT

>X;

SINAI

PENINiULA

-

Oxyrhynchi

RED SEA Nag Hammadi Valley

100 miles

'-'

of the,

^* \

J....

CHAPTER ONE

Blood Feud

December along the

upper nile river

time to dig for sabakh.

The

gone and the

more

valley soil

devastating

the ideal

is

summer

pliable than

it is

heat

is

in the dry

season.

December 1945 was

War

had ended four months before. Egypt was enjoying

a

II

welcome

the

particularly auspicious. World

between the ravages of

hiatus

coming war over the new

state

had descended upon the Middle

But the camel cliff

Rommel

of Israel.

A

rare

and

peace

East.

drivers digging in the sloping base

of a

near the river had a personal war to worry over. There

were seven of them, including his brothers. fertilizer,

The

not

far

unknowing eye

area

from

safe

where they hunted the

east to west.

and two of nitrate-rich

their native village, appears to the

and unassuming. Located three hun-

dred miles south of Cairo,

from

Muhammed Ali

The

it is

a spot

where the Nile flows

small village of

Nag Hammadi

near a bend in the river just a few miles away.

lies

— here that a railroad track marked

It is

menacing

Muhammed Ali

to

the sand that had separated

of the

Allies.

South of the

and

his

German

a

band

borderline as

as

the line in

tanks from the forces

tracks, inside the river

the territory of Ali's clan. To the north lay

bend, was

Hamrah Dum,

the fortified village of a warring clan that had already killed Ali's father.

The

seven sabakh diggers were in

no-man's

a

land between the secure embrace of their village and a

region of certain death.

The Hawwaris of Hamrah

Dum

claimed to be a noble race of Arabs descended from the

Prophet himself. hated

Ali's

One

people with

certain: They

blood passion.

a

brother was the one

Ali's

them was

thing about

who

discovered the

jar.

al-Majd, a lad of fifteen, was working with the older

along a level area near the

ward neath

a

honeycombed

a

Abu was

at

It

was two

the top. The

picking in the

soil

when he unearthed

feet

men

angled up to-

talus slope that

barrel-shaped boulder

reddish-hued urn. handles

cliff.

Abu

be-

a large

high and had four small

mouth was covered by

a

bowl and

sealed with bitumen.

Muhammed All older brother

immediately took charge. At

—though

a

seasoned

man of

first

the

twenty-six

was too frightened to break open the mysterious container. It

was the type of vessel

spirit that

could appear in

ercise supernatural ally

that

overcame

fear.

might contain

human

a jinn,

an

evil

or animal form and ex-

powers over people. But greed eventuAli reasoned that,

more

likely

than the

dark

home

raised his

a

demon, the

mattock and smashed

Thirty years It

clay jar could

full

of gold.

still

feared that spot.

was September 1975 when an American scholar

caught up with the elusive vealed something far tall,

He

it.

Muhammed Ali

later

be

finally

mattock had

villager. Ali's

more astounding than

and

a jinn,

rethis

angular professor wanted to unravel the mystery sur-

rounding the discovery. Though the

site

was within

five

miles of All's village, the Egyptian had not returned to

it

for three decades.

James M. Robinson was

a singularly

with an intense demeanor and

He

man

Southern drawl.

had graduated with honors from the Columbia Theo-

logical

Seminary around the time Ali was wielding

ging tool.

Now

had determined

his

his heart inflicted

he would

man whose

he had found the academic

by

his dig-

discovery

career.

But Ali was adamant. Even

that

a slight

determined

after revealing a scar

a rival clan

kill his assailant,

member and

above

boasting

Ali refused to lead

Rob-

inson back along the Nile River. Robinson tried bribery

and eventually challenged the

villager's

courage before Ali

relented.

Even then Ali's conditions were a

Keystone Cops comedy.

can clothes and

Russian-made serve as shield:

sit

like

He would be

something out of dressed in

Ameri-

next to Robinson in the back of a

jeep. In case of gunfire,

on the way

Robinson would

out, the scholar

would

sit

on

Hamrah Dum, then

the side nearest

would switch

seats

for the ride back, Ali

with him so that Robinson would

ways be positioned between the Egyptian and the village.

The day chosen was during

Ramadan,

a

the Islamic

go during the

afternoon

late

rival

month of

period of fasting. To further ensure

Ali suggested they

al-

his safety,

when hun-

ger and thirst would keep his enemies indoors. The driver

was

to ride past the

cliffs

without stopping. Ali would point

out the place of discovery.

As the party drove along the rockface Ali directed

them

to a

tomb. Robinson

later returned,

nervous camel driver, and excavated the

without the

site for five days,

coming up with nothing. Another guided be necessary. This time Ali stepped from the

search car,

would

marched

forward without hesitation to the barrel-shaped boulder

and began digging

in the earth, proclaiming

told of how his camel

He

been

afraid the

dream was

seven

later,

Ali admitted

him

to

that finally drove

the ancient ceramic shattered, his

all

men had

rock would collapse on them.

Describing the scene years

image of gold

the spot.

had been tethered on the south

of the boulder and recalled that

side

it

fulfilled: tiny

it

it

was an

smash the jar. When

seemed

for a

yellow flakes

moment

filled

the

air.

that

The

Egyptian villager had either conjured an amber-colored jinn or struck In fact,

an

it

rich.

what he found was

illiterate field

hand

priceless.

who would

Muhammed Ali,

never afterward be able

to

remember

one of the

exactly

when

the event occurred, had

greatest archaeological discoveries

tieth century.

Those gilded

flecks

ments of papyrus ;Ali's treasure was

books containing over

them

fifty

were

made

of the twen-

actually tiny frag-

a collection

of thirteen

many of

ancient manuscripts,

Christian, dating to the fourth century.

Among them

was

Tlie

Gospel of Thomas, a collection

of over one hundred sayings of Jesus purportedly written

down by

the "doubting Thomas." Historians had long

known about

the gospel from references in the writings

of early church a

fathers,

but in almost two thousand years

complete copy had never been located. While some of

the sayings could be found in the

were unique. They portrayed Jesus at times.

One

some of them were

New Testament

wise man, Zen-like

world called

would

closer to the historical Jesus

itself.

person's trash, as they

Muhammed as

as a

In the years that followed, biblical scholars

claim that

than the

New Testament, many

say, is

another's treasure.

What

the

a precious historical discovery, the villager

saw

Ali

was

a

very disappointed man.

pottery shards and a stack of old leather-bound scraps

of papyrus. tent Ali,

He

began tearing the ancient codices

apart, in-

on sharing them with the other men. Perhaps and considering

to take them.

fearing

his offer insincere, the others refused

So Ali unwound

his turban, spread

out the

headdress and stacked the books inside. Swinging the load

over one shoulder, he unhobbled his camel and headed

back home. There, in the room where he housed mals and feed, Ali

dumped

the load.

During the next decade, officials alike

began

as

government

experts and

realizing that this

humble camel

cache was the largest collection of

ver's

his ani-

dri-

unknown apoc-

ryphal Christian writings ever found, antiquities dealers

would

offer

them on

the

open market from Cairo

York, and the question of access to "the brary" would

flare into

mother, in

s

a

some of

fire.

Later the family tried to

pick up

li-

an international struggle ultimately

search of kindling for her outdoor clay oven, cast into the

New

Nag Hammadi

involving the United Nations. That night Ali

them

to

the books, hoping to

sell

few Egyptian pounds.

No

one was buying. They

bartered a few for oranges and cigarettes. Various accounts also

mention them receiving

sugar. At

a little tea

some point Ali learned

and

a

supply of

the documents were writ-

ten in Coptic, an ancient language used by Christians in

Egypt.

This meant they probably belonged to the church,

which could be trouble uities

was

a

crime, and

watched by the

for Ali. Possession

Muhammed Ali

was already being

authorities. In fact, the police

ing his house every night for weapons.

than a year since his father, an intruder village

of such antiq-

who

a

It

were search-

had been

less

night watchman, had killed

turned out unfortunately to be from the

of Hamrah

Dum. Within

hours

Ali's

father

was

murdered, shot through the head and

body of the man he had grief long

enough

dumped

mother overcame her

killed. Ali's

to instruct her seven sons to

mattocks sharpened. This was the situation

med Ali

father's

Someone

dirt road, a

later the fears

ran to the Ali

murderer had

when Muham-

of the police were

home

fallen asleep

to

nearby

tell

—he

jug of sugarcane molasses by

tocks,

Muhammed

fell

on the

Ali:

it

lay

their

along

a

James

after inter-

sons grabbed their mat-

hapless person before he could flee,

hacked him up, cut open them, ate

"The

them

his side.

Robinson recounted the horrendous scene viewing

keep their

unearthed the manuscripts.

About one month realized.

next to the

his heart,

and dividing

it

among

raw, the ultimate act of blood vengeance."

CHAPTER TWO

The Frenchman

in

the

Museum

WlTHHIS BROODING EYEBROWS AND THIN MUSTACHE, Jean Doresse cut

a striking profile.

sharply parted to one side, lay that lent a maturity

was

His thick dark

combed

and elegance

in a long

hair,

sweep

to his boyish face.

He

when he and

his

a thirty-year-old graduate student

wife arrived in Cairo in September 1947.

Doresse had spent the previous years studying and lecturing in Paris, steeping himself in the history of early Christianity in Egypt.

Now

the French Institute of Ar-

chaeology in Cairo had invited him to spend three months exploring for Christian remains in miles south of the

city.

a

region three hundred

Well trained in the language and

culture of the area, Doresse was exhilarated with the pros-

pect of visiting ancient monasteries that were the oldest in

Christendom. Christianity had put

Egypt.

Long

down some of its

earliest roots in

before the Muslims arrived in the seventh

10

century, Christian

monks under

Pachomius launched

St.

a

building campaign that developed countless monasteries

Red

and convents along the Upper Nile and

Sea. Several

were located along the northern shores of the bend Nile River that ends

At

first

Nag Hammadi.

at

local conditions frustrated Jean Doresse's plan

to visit the monasteries.

A cholera

epidemic swept through

Egypt during autumn 1947. Within

a

month

thousand people, primarily in the Nile

five

ment pone give

in the

had

it

delta.

killed

Govern-

health measures forced the eager Parisian to posthis trip to

him time

of the

to explore

and

city

Upper Egypt.

Cairo, the

Here

a

would

most ancient part

neighborhood strongly linked

a

tianity in Egypt.

Old

In any case, the delay

town had grown up

to Chris-

in the sixth

century B.C. around a fortress that guarded the canal be-

tween the Nile and the nearby church

rests

Red

where

Sea.

Legend has

Jesus' parents

took him

they fled from King Herod. Other stories place here in 45

A.D.,

founding the

Egypt and making

first

it

St.

that a

when Mark

Christian church in

his first convert, a

Jewish shoemaker

from Alexandria.

The Frenchman wandered through ter,

past a

huddle of dark churches. This, he

the center of Coptic Christianity.

of the religion, capitals

the ancient quar-

as

Rome

realized,

During the

was

early years

and Constantinople became the

of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches,

different

a

brand of Christianity developed here. Today over

six million people, fully ten

are

percent of Egypt's population,

Coptic Orthodox Christians. They share

culture with their

Muslim compatriots but maintain

arate spiritual identity.

Some

a sep-

claim that the crosses they

wear around the neck or tattooed on

their wrists, similar

in design to Egyptian ankhs, represent the ers

a national

first crosses.

Oth-

point out that the Bible was translated into Coptic, the

local language

of the time,

before

appeared in Latin.

it

Doresse walked along cobbled

shadows of twin

circular towers, past a water gate

when

structed in the days

foundation of the old

with

its

streets that lay in the

con-

the Nile River lapped at the

fortress, past the

marble pulpit and ivory

altars.

Hanging Church

He

saw high-walled

houses and medieval churches flanked by cemeteries. But there was a

was going

A about

method

to

to the

five feet five inches,

man with

of forty-one, Mina stood slightly

emphasized the difference

and six-foot

tall

Doresse. The two

decade apart in age, but Mina,

the Frenchman's wife

men were

who

they were studying

Marianne

at

suffered older.

between him only about

a

from diabetes

He

had known

years before in Paris

when

the Ecole des Hautes Etudes and

had even proposed marriage

Museum,

stooped shoulders

in height

and other ailments, appeared much

Now

He

meet Togo Mina.

dark-complexioned

that only

Frenchman's meandering.

to her.

the former suitor was director of the Coptic a

major repository of

12

relics

from the Coptic

period in Egyptian history. Jean Doresse,

Egyptology

at

academy two

the same

who

had studied

years later,

knew of

Mina's scholarly reputation from his wife and professors at

the school. Before leaving Marseilles in September, "I

wrote and received the most friendly answer," Doresse recalled.

"He was

later

anxious to see me, but he would not

write why."

Doresse entered

contemporary yellow stucco struc-

a

ture that contrasted sharply with the antique buildings

and

Roman ruins

of Old Cairo.

He

passed through an en-

closed courtyard that displayed marble columns and statues.

The museum's two

and stained

glass

wings, with their carved ceilings

domes, enclosed peaceful gardens.

Mina wasted no time ested in Doresse

took out

a

s visit.

"He opened

why a

he was so inter-

drawer of his desk, in a

book

filled

with

voluminous packet, and showed me,

cover of soft leather, large fine

revealing

some pages of papyrus

Coptic writing." Mina suggested the documents

might date from the third or fourth century. Then he asked Doresse

if

he could identify the contents of the papyrus

pages.

After reading only "the

man

realized the text

had been written by an ancient

Christian sect, the Gnostics.

century the Gnostics

few words," the French-

first

He knew

—who saw

Jesus

that

by the fourth

more

as a spiritual

guide than the Messiah and believed self-knowledge led to godliness

—were under

attack

13

by mainstream

Christians.

Only

later

Thomas; that

did Doresse cast his eyes

first

text

went on

of

day he saw a manuscript entitled Hie

Gospel of the Egyptians,

name cannot be

on The Gospel

which spoke of the "Father whose

uttered."

to speak

The

neatly written, ragged-edged

of the "powers" and "lights" of the

heavens. Another text, attributed to the disciple John, described an appearance by Jesus after his resurrection.

Doresse warmly congratulated Mina on the extraordinary discovery. Where, he asked the ing find been made?

14

official,

had

this

amaz-

CHAPTER THREE

Hamrah

He had

Dum

purchased the texts, mina told doresse,

the year before the

shown them

to a

Frenchman

arrived.

Someone had

member of the museum's board who had

an interest in Coptic, and he had sent the

man on

to

Togo

Mina. Since then, Mina continued, he had located other manuscripts, held by a Belgian antiquities dealer

named

Albert Eid. Eid had a shop in a section of the city called

Khan

Khalil. Would

Doresse be interested in seeing them?

The Frenchman responded jumped

into Mina's car,

sunglasses he always

enough

to let

me

eagerly,

Mina switching

wore when

look

at

and the two

men

to the dark-tinted

driving. "Eid

was good

the manuscripts he had bought,"

Doresse recalled. In appearance and content they resembled the museum's papyri, though the pages were in poorer condition.

Mina and Doresse departed find out

where the two

sets

the shop determined to

of manuscripts had been

15

dis-

more

covered. Perhaps there were

be found

to

at

the

source.

But

inquiries along the antiquities grapevine

yielded

little.

"They spoke mysteriously of a

manuscripts having been rah

Dum, well

made near

returned to Eid's shop, and

Museum wanted

the dealer that the Coptic

manuscripts. Then he

documents out of Egypt. Eid be

sure,

they

made him

said

said.

Mina

told

buy the

to

warned the Belgian not

of

Ham-

hamlet called

of Luxor," Doresse

to the north

The two men

a

large find

to take the

he understood. Just to

agree to supply photographs of

the fragile papyrus leaves to Doresse. If the pages

left

the

country or mysteriously disappeared, the photos would be

handed over

to the

museum

at

no

cost.

Eid further tantalized them. There was

he

said, that

still

more

a possibility,

codices (the leather-bond papyrus

"books") could be found in Cairo.

He

was unclear of

where they were or who held them, however. So Mina concluded, according to Doresse, "that

legend of fabulous discoveries aimed

it

was one more

at

increasing the

price of Eid's codex." Still,

there was that

Dum. The

rumor about

place, coincidentally,

area Doresse

had been headed

a find at

was located

when he

Hamrah

in the very

first

arrived in

Egypt. Railway service remained suspended because of the cholera epidemic, but the

Frenchman could

fly to

Upper

Egypt. His tour of the monasteries, once a reward for years

16

of study in

Paris,

was about to become

a

mere cover

story

disguising Doresse's true mission.

He

rambled around the Coptic ruins of the Upper

Nile and explored the remains of Egypt's earlier greatness, the

monuments of the

pharaohs,

all

the while hoping to

hear stories of a large papyrus discovery. Inquiring openly

could drive up the price of any codices

"The

still

circulating.

silence that invariably hides the real circumstances

surrounding great

might break," he

Unknown significance

finds,

said,

and which

we had thought we

"was again impenetrable."

to Doresse, or to the rest

of the world, the

of another historic discovery was coming to

light in Jerusalem.

The Dead Sea

Scrolls,

discovered by

Bedouin tribesmen about

a year before in caves

Qumran, were

by an

identified

priceless antiquities at the

around Hamrah

trip to the

same time Doresse was poking

failed to find

Luxor region

assignment nearly

December

archaeologist as

Israeli

Dum.

The Frenchman His

around

at

any more manuscripts.

a bust,

and

his

three-month

an end, Doresse returned to Cairo in

1947. "Togo

Mina was now

definitely per-

suaded that there was nothing more to be discovered," he said.

Cairo newspapers reported the museum's acquisition

the following month, but "it caused

no

great

stir

country so inured to archaeological marvels." Back in

Doresse collaborated with

his professor

on

in a Paris,

a report for

the scholarly world that aroused a "moderate" degree of

17

interest.

Le Monde, the leading newspaper in

Paris,

gave

it

three sentences. Just a

few months

later,

Doresse received

a

packet in

the mail from Cairo rilled with photographs of more un-

known the

papyrus

texts.

He

appealed for travel funds from

academy and by October 1948 was on

to the

Middle

named Maria lector.

East.

his

The photos had come from

Dattari, the daughter

of

a

way back

woman

a

noted coin col-

She was, she claimed, the owner of the manuscripts.

Together with her "business manager," an antiquities dealer

from Cyprus named Phocian to inspect the cache. Doresse

J.

Tano, she invited Doresse

had actually met Tano the

year prior, just before leaving Egypt. Hinting that there

were more documents around the urged him to ing through a acter

known

stay.

As

it

the dealer had

turned out, the Cypriot was work-

man named as

city,

Bahij Ali, a questionable char-

"the one-eyed outlaw."

of shrewd maneuvers and

a trip

Through

a series

out to the discovery

area,

Tano had bought up most of the manuscripts.

When

he scanned the Dattari-Tano codices, Doresse

found himself gazing

at

hundreds of papyrus pages held

together in the now-familiar soft leather bindings.

magnitude of the collection was overwhelming. his eyes

and

fingers over four times as

previously seen.

Most were

many

texts as

He

The ran

he had

treasures never before avail-

able to historians. In all,Tano

had eight codices and

four others.

18

parts

of

"I called,

went from

surprise to astonishment," Doresse re-

encountering "sensationally

was Hie

Letter of Peter to Philip,

attractive titles."

purportedly written by

Saint Peter himself, as well as Hie Revelation ofAdam

Son

which the

first

in this pile

was

Seth, in

him.

And

began reading Gospel."

fifth

unknown

to

a text that

Among

man

describes

how God

Tlie Gospel oflliomas.

it

to

Doresse as

contained were

"the

many

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. "These

the secret words,"

it

His

created

would become known

the sayings

There

are

recorded, "that the living Jesus spoke."

Doresse saw very few of those secret words, or of the other manuscripts either. "I was allowed to

make no more

than a rapid inspection of them," he recalled. Maria Dattari

and PhocianTano guarded

their possession jealously.

tuating their suspicions were the air raid signals,

blared at tion,

what seemed

announcing

that

Punc-

which

to Doresse the slightest provoca-

Egypt was

at

war with

Israel

and

cutting short the few evenings he was permitted to peruse

the manuscripts.

19

CHAPTER FOUR

Smuggling the Sacred

War in

the middle east

of

the year before

Israel

—ignited

by

the creation

—was only one of

the problems

confronting

Mina and Doresse when they began

icate matter

of negotiating for the Dattari-Tano collection.

the del-

Complicating the situation was the Egyptian government,

which ing a

liked to confiscate historical treasures instead of pay-

fair price.

The

practice forced antiquities

owners to

go underground, slipping goods out of the country and selling

them on

the black market.

Despite these a

difficulties,

the

promise of government funds.

coming war and government stage for

museum

It

was

chicanery,

one of the most important

of the century. The Coptic

a

director secured

major coup; over-

Mina had

set

the

antiquities purchases

Museum would

possess the

only complete collection of sayings by Jesus ever found.

But Mina's coup could not match the strophe that

fell

on December

20

political cata-

28, 1948. That day a

mem-

Muslim Brotherhood

ber of the radical

assassinated the

Egyptian prime minister, creating havoc in the

Coptic a

Museum would

capital.

The

have to wait for the formation of

new government. While

it

waited, another set of ancient texts slipped

from the museum's

grasp. Albert

Mina and Doresse about

Eid had once bragged to

plans to smuggle his manuscripts

out of the country, past "completely inefficient" govern-

ment As he

agents. That winter left

he carried through on the boast.

the country, the Belgian

showed the

department an assortment of carved other items he intended to thorities

would want

sell

offering

figures, coins

abroad

—nothing

to retain in Egypt.

show them, and what eluded

in the

known

for

its

didn't

he was soon

United

States.

asked $20,000 from the University of Michigan institution

and

the au-

What he

their oversight,

on the open market

antiquities

Eid

library,

an

papyrus collections, but they

considered his price too steep. In

New York,

with The

Gospel of Truth and other texts in hand, he approached the

Paul Mellon-funded Bollingen Foundation, dropping his price to $12,000.

Frustrated by the foundation's refusal even to keep

the manuscripts in

he put

its safe,

he departed for Brussels, where

his pages in a safety deposit

box.

By

the next year,

Eid was dead and, according to one authority,

known where

the codex was to be found."

21

"It

was not

Meanwhile, Maria Dattari was stopped airport while trying to

the Cairo

at

remove her papyri from Egypt. She

was headed for Rome, according to one

report, to present

The Egyptian

the collection to the Pope!

minister of edu-

cation informed her she could not export the codices and offered to

buy

The

authorities seized the

woman

and her business man-

each. Dattari politely declined. collection, telling the Italian

ager that Doresse

appeared the

hundred Egyptian pounds

eight for three

all

would

assay the collection.

new government would

For

pay them a

a

time

it

fair price,

thousand Egyptian pounds perhaps. But on July 25,

fifty

1949

that

regime

The next

also collapsed.

melodrama seems drawn from

act in this

the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In that movie,

archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones has survived filled

with poisonous snakes, been dragged behind

army truck and escaped risked death and

a

supernatural firestorm.

dismemberment

to recover the

a

a pit

Nazi

He

has

Ark of the

Covenant, the 4000-year-old sacred chest that Moses carried out of Egypt. Acting in patriotic fashion, Indiana presents his find to the U.S.

of announcing

up the Ark,

Army. The government, instead

this historic

discovery to the world, crates

assigns an inventory

number and

buries

deep within the bowels of a storage warehouse. As the nal credits roll, eral

more

it

appears the

Ark may

millennia.

•22-

rest

it

fi-

unseen for sev-

Road Road

Paved Dirt

Railroad -

Change

Cliffi

the crate to a piece of luggage, reduce the

time lapse to seven years, and

we

are

back to the story of

The Gospel of TJtomas. The book, together with the other parts

of Muhammed

Ali's

discovery that had been confis-

cated by the Egyptian government, was packed away by the

Department of Antiquities

In the ensuing years,

and

as

"a temporary measure."

Tano and Dattari fought

futile legal battle to

a lengthy

have the documents returned,

only to see them ultimately declared national property. In the interim,

most of the Nag Hammadi

library,

startling insights into the historical identity

the nature of early Christianity, sat

from 1949

to 1956.

•23-

unopened

with

its

of Jesus and in a suitcase

CHAPTER

FIVE

The

Jesus Curse qfo

The

year 1949 was particularly hard on togo

Mina.The museum

and

tional smugglers

more

director was caught

often than the

a

government

between interna-

that

changed hands

documents he was pursuing.

He was

simultaneously negotiating with shadowy antiquities dealers

and unreliable

Hammadi

library

officials

while trying to keep the

from being scattered

This shuttle diplomacy was health collapsed as well.

He

doomed

was

all

over the world.

to failure.

sick for several

then, because of conditions Doresse claimed

ened by anguish and

frustration,

Mina died

Nag

at

Soon

his

months and

were heightthe early age

of forty-three. In Doresse's

mind,

it

was

political assassination; the fall

a strange series

of events:

a

of the government; Mina's

demise; the disappearance of a set of manuscripts from

Europe; the sealing of a suitcase

Was

it,

filled

with priceless

he wondered, simply greed and

24

texts.

political instabil-

ity?

Or

could

it

selves that told

also

of

be the warnings in the gospels them-

terrible

consequences to "anyone gain-

ing unlawful knowledge" of them.

works described themselves

Several of the

and "hidden" mysteries. One, The a curse. The text

ally

contained

and

his disciples.

teachings

is

Secret

a

put them in

"Anyone who exchanges

"secret"

Book ofJohn, actu-

dialogue between Jesus

Near the end, Jesus

down and

as

tells

John

to write his

a safe place.

Then he

these things for a

gift,

or for food and drink, or clothing, or for anything

else,

cautions,

will

be cursed." Doresse

knew

that

Upper Egypt,

the

site

of the

covery, was also the scene of the pharaoh's curse. In

ial

across the Nile

chamber contained

filled

with gold and

1922

tomb of King

archaeologists uncovered the 3000-year-old

Tutankhamen

dis-

River from Luxor. The bur-

several secret

silver treasures.

compartments, each

They

also yielded a

torrent of international publicity; and thousands of visi-

were soon trekking through the Valley of the Kings

tors

every month.

During the next decade, more than twenty people putedly connected with the unsealing of King Tut's died.

The

tion,

Lord Carnarvon,

first

three-week

re-

tomb

"victim" was the supervisor of the expedi-

illness

who succumbed

caused by a mosquito

in

1923

after a

bite.

News

reports

began describing "the third victim," "the fourth victim" and so on. Some deaths appeared quite unusual, others

25

were unremarkable, but

talk

of the curse

told of an inscription that read, to those

who

"Death

persisted.

Rumor

come

will

swiftly

disturb the rest of the Pharaoh."

some "victims" were

Egyptologists, pointing out that entirely unrelated to the

tomb and having never found

the inscription at the

soon debunked the

Since the

site,

Nag Hammadi-related

and Mina, the "curse of Jesus"

much

entire story.

deaths ended with Eid

also

proved

Of

irrelevant.

greater interest to historians, and to Jean Doresse in

particular,

was the suggestion in

put the writings in a

safe place.

Tlie Secret

The

Book ofJohn to

advice had been well

heeded; the papyri had rested undiscovered in the desert for centuries. a

But where? Had the

library

been hidden

And

tomb, or within the walls of a monastery perhaps?

why? What were

the circumstances surrounding

its

in

burial?

Archaeologists in Israel were asking similar questions

about the Dead Sea scrolls

Scrolls.

A cave

was found sixteen miles

overlooking the

Dead

Sea.

containing some of the

of Jerusalem in

east

cliffs

Nearby was Khirbet Qumran,

Arabic for "the ruins of Qumran."

By 1949

the

site

had

been explored but systematic excavating not yet begun.

on

Doresse, working scrolls, didn't

The

even

discovery

situation in

know site

made two

a find

yet the location of its source.

remained cloudy but the

Egypt was beginning to

the moderate

Wafd

tional election.

Its

years before the

party

won

leader, the

a

clear. In early

huge majority

new prime

26

political

1950

in the na-

minister,

was soon

Muhammed AH, in front

the discoverer of the

of a cave atjabal

al-Tarif.

Nag Hammadi

Library,

Left:

The

cliff

face of

Jabal al-Tarif The

Nag Hammadi codices was made somewhere in front discovery of the

of this promontory.

Below: Jabal al-Tarif cave inscription in Greek.

w

^x

-

':%&*

-«H»'

Phocian

J.

Tano, the Cypriot

Togo Mina

from Egypt

and Jean

to

New

Nag

Hammadi

manuscripts at

the Coptic

Museum.

Albert Eid, the Belgian antiquities dealer scripts

(left)

Doresse study the

antiquities dealer.

who

took one of the manu-

York, then to Belgium.

King

driving through the streets of Cairo with Egypt's

Farouk to open the Parliament. Speaking from the rotund

monarch pledged

his throne,

his country's loyalty to

both

the Arab people and the United Nations and promised to

improve

social conditions.

In this atmosphere Doresse left Cairo to find the an-

swers that lay in

Upper Egypt.

found near Hamrah site

along the

the ruins of

cliffs

St.

Dum,

of Jabal

a

his

papyrus books were

would

place the discovery

al-Tarif, just a

few miles

east

of

Pachomius' ancient monastery. Dressed in

pith helmet, white scarf

by

that

If the

and sport

coat,

and accompanied

wife Marianne, the Frenchman evoked the aura of

European adventurer. They worked

their

w ay

along the

T

eastern face of Jabal al-Tarif, feigning "deepest curiosity" in several caves that served as

tombs

for pharaohs

from the

Sixth Dynasty.

had long since stripped the caves of

Pillagers

relics,

but in one grotto the explorers found the opening passages of Psalms 5

1

and 93 recorded on

writings of a Christian

appeared on another.

a wall, possibly the

monk. Greek invocations

Then

the peasant guides

to

Zeus

who were

leading the couple pointed out a strip of barren, sandy

ground

just

below the

ported, "they

one of these ging for

showed

caves.

us a

At the

row of

far

end, Doresse re-

shapeless cavities." In

holes, the guides explained, local peasants dig-

fertilizer

had found

a large jar filled

papyrus bound together like books.

27

with leaves of

It

would be twenty-five

ican professor James

Amer-

years before the noted

Robinson

finally

unraveled the his-

tory of this discovery, but the French graduate student was

picking up the early threads. His guides told priest

had been summoned from

a

him

a

Coptic

nearby village to study

the manuscripts. Doresse heard tales of laborers burning

pages to heat their tea and selling their treasure for three

Egyptian pounds to middlemen tiquities

market in Cairo.

He

who

offered

on the an-

it

also learned the jar

was found

around 1945.

Now

Doresse understood that local Egyptians had

unearthed the library and covery, but the first

trail

when

they had

to the people

who

made buried

their disit

in the

place was cold with the lapse of centuries. Using his

knowledge of ancient Christianity and Egypt's asteries,

Doresse began uncovering

early

mon-

faint tracks that led

He knew

who

back sixteen hundred

years.

compiled the

had eventually struggled with the

region's

library

the Gnostics

mainstream Christians. Biographies of the

astery builder

Pachomius,

who

mon-

died in 348 ad., did not

mention problems with Gnostics. But two decades his death, St.

Pachomius' successor, Theodorus, ordered that

a letter listing

the official books in the Bible be read in

the monasteries. The letter emphatically ical

books

after

like

all

denounced heret-

The Gospel of Thomas. Issued by Bishop

Athanasius of Alexandria, one of the most famous figures in early Christianity, this

was strong

28

stuff.

It

could have provided the opening monastery leaders

had long sought to destroy

all

unorthodox books. Doresse

theorized that Pachomius' follower was the same

dorus

who had

Book ofJohn,

once attacked and

as sinful

Theo-

work, probably Hie

a

Secret

The Frenchman's

heretical.

re-

construction was only a possible scenario, but other evi-

dence supports

his ideas. Scraps

of papyrus used to

stiffen

the covers of the books contained receipts dating from

333

348

to

would

a.d. This

place the binding of the

books around 350 A.D. The crackdown came two decades and the burial of the

later

jar

would have followed soon

afterwards.

The

gospels themselves are

ars date parts

of

century a.d. Just

and

before the

lated

rest

few decades

a

Some

schol-

middle of the

after Jesus' crucifixion

writing of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

of the

Nag Hammadi

library,

was trans-

it

from Greek into Coptic. For Jean Doresse,

had photographs of the possible discovery tant,

older.

Tlie Gospel of Thomas to the

first

Like the

much

site,

lofty,

who now

rugged Jabal al-Tarif and the

the find was extraordinarily impor-

one of the most voluminous and precious

libraries

papyrus writings ever found. As he explained in an written for Archaeology magazine, "The

of

article

number of codices,

the care given to their binding and in particular the ancient techniques of these bindings, different

library

hands establish

we

it

as

and the beauty

of the

the most remarkable ancient

possess."

29-

The

craftsmanship displayed in TJiomas and the other

"books" represented an entirely scribes

had written on lengthy

ones found near the

Dead

developing the codex,

a

Sea.

new

genre. For centuries

scrolls

But

of papyrus

like the

early Christians

began

forerunner to the modern-day

book, by cutting papyrus sheets into rectangles, punching holes along the side loose-leaf script

with hide and binding

style, it

thongs. The leather covers from the are

among

manu-

together with leather

Nag Hammadi

the oldest ever to survive.

30-

covering the

library

CHAPTER

SIX

Rabies and Revolution

Anxious to return to cairo and what he now knew about the

route back from

fast

style conscious,

he had driven out in

custom

lini's

built

to share

discovery, Jean Doresse in-

quired about a

car

paris

during World

War

generals and later captured

Upper Egypt. Ever a

canvas-top Italian

for

II

by the

one of Musso-

British.

But the

route was long and circuitous, following the winding east

bank of the

Nile.

There was, he learned, along the other side of the

river. They

ten miles of flat desert at a point it

could be done.

"We

he remembered. At

a

their

new

the pharaohs passage

route

at

would be

would have

that led to cross

where the road ended, but lunch without

haste,"

hamlet near the stretch of

desert,

started after

they picked up a peasant guide

them

one

a shorter route,

would

Dandara.

who

happily informed

lead to the ancient temple of

The guide

easy.

31

also

promised the

"Yes, recalled,

of a

ities

it

would have been

easy with a camel," Doresse

man had no

idea of the limited possibil-

"but the

We

car.

parable to a

bombed

pump began ceed

through something com-

started driving

one hour before the petrol

field for

leaking." Doresse

would

fix the

pump

again,

a little farther, repair the

pump, pro-

move

slowly

forward again, and then work on the car once more, until darkness finally

made

it

impossible to fix the leaks. Edging

across the desert this way, the trail blazers eventually

came

within sight of the Dandara temple. At that point, "We the car and proceeded

my wife tered a

on

with

and the so-called guide."

Bedouin

village

drawing blood in

where

On the way, he

pack of dogs

now

was impossible

confronted

set

upon him,

a larger

it

problem

month-long

se-

a

Frenchman connected the dog

the Jesus curse, he soon dismissed the notion bies inoculations led to

make

he

of daily shots with "a medicine that looked

butter." If the

encoun-

to have the dogs tested, so

returned immediately to Cairo to begin ries

running ahead of

fuel supply allowed the car to

into camp, but Doresse rabies. It

a

me

several places.

A jerry-rigged

—

foot,

left

nothing more than

like tepid

attack with

when

the ra-

a severe case

of itching and actually provided an excuse to enjoy "the intellectual, artistic

and gastronomical" delights

Progress on gaining access to the

brary

moved with

several years.

of Cairo.

Nag Hammadi

li-

frustrating slowness during the next

Togo Mina was dead and Doresse watched

32

helplessly as these remarkable manuscripts, buried for six-

teen centuries, remained hidden from view.

The

suitcase

containing The Gospel of Thomas and the

rest

of the

Dattari-Tano collection was transferred from the Anti-

Department

quities

Six weeks

later,

Coptic

to the

army

officers led

new

in

June 1952.

by Colonel Abdel Nasser

monarchy and

staged a coup, overthrowing the a

Museum

regime. The Department of Antiquities,

instituting

which had

been under French direction since Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, was reorganized. The luggage would have to wait. Finally in 1956, photographs

of the pages of Thomas

were published; the Egyptian government made

payment

Tano

to

for the confiscated manuscripts;

committee was appointed of the entire

a

library.

But

token

and

a

to publish a standardized edition

in

October of that

year,

an inter-

national dispute over the Suez Canal escalated into war. Israel,

France and England invaded Egypt only to be turned

back by

political pressure

from the United

Soviet Union. The committee

Long

after the

Suez

crisis,

access to the manuscripts

By

would have the battle

and the right

States

and the

to wait. still

raged over

to translate

them.

then the struggle had escalated into an international

among scholars from

the United States,

Europe and

the Middle East, forcing the intervention of

UNESCO.

dispute

But the United Nations' committee

that never

first

act

was

completed

to

form

a translation

a single translation. TJie

Gospel of Thomas was finally published in 1959, but

33-

as late

as

1970, a quarter century after the discovery, only one-

fifth

of the

Nag Hammadi

of the

rest

had been

library

translated into English.

period, James Robinson, a

member of the

committee, began exploring the

Nag Hammadi

During

UNESCO

this

countryside in the quest that eventually brought to face

Muhammed AH. He

with

Museum,

face

probed the Coptic

also

asking to see manuscripts. Sorry, he was in-

UNESCO

formed, they were under turned to

him

UNESCO,

which claimed

He

control.

this

then

was untrue. "In

other words," he recalled, "I was getting the runaround."

The lanky Southerner was to the

Nag Hammadi

fighting for public access

manuscripts.

Through

1966 he obtained about seventy sheets tographs of manuscript pages.

have them for

got so that

up

all

transcribing the pages," he said. "I

traveled to

I

years later, a

him

photograph collection over son half the documents

"No

as

to

America

official in Paris

surprised

texts."

UNESCO

the professor by lending

come back

could

with otherwise inaccessible

atives.

West Germany, where he

night copying another manuscript. "I was

knocking myself out so

Two

spent three days and two

could do about four pages an hour." Later

Robinson

that year

stayed

I

room

with pho-

filled

Knowing he could only

a short period, "I

nights in a dingy

a contact in

a

the agency's

weekend.

glossy prints

Nag Hammadi

He

and the

doubt," Robinson surmised, "so

34

gave Robinrest as I

neg-

could not

abscond with

found

a

of

file

Meanwhile, Robinson

floor

camera." all

complete

The American

laid the glossy prints

my

and "clicked away with

out

simple tourist

On Monday morning, a smiling scholar returned

the originals to the guileless

Through

tact, stealth

copied the entire

tually

prints."

photography shop willing to quickly develop 600

negatives.

on the

a

the cover

when

Tlie

official.

and persistence, Robinson evenlibrary. It

his

name on

Library, the

complete

would be

Nag Hammadi

English translation, was finally published in 1977. For the last

three decades, he has

been director of the

Antiquity and Christianity

at

Institute for

Claremont Graduate Uni-

versity7 in California.

Jean Doresse's story did not end with such a flourish.

When

he returned to Europe in the early 1950s, he

dis-

him

at a

covered that his

status as a

graduate student put

pronounced disadvantage among European

own

professor isolated

team and

his collection

teriously disappeared.

him from

scholars. His

the French translation

of manuscript photographs mys-

Looking back

years later,

stood that the Jesus curse was actually

many

he under-

curses

which

came, he realized, not in the form of death, but in the greed, jealousy and betrayal that had touched almost every

one of the scholars

antiquities dealers,

who

government

officials

and

had ever had contact with the discover y

Muhammed Ali.

35

ot

PART

TWO

The Gospel of Thomas

Of the many gospels and other writings that Muhammed Ali unearthed near Nag Hammadi in 1945, the most remarkable was a collection of Jesus' sayings.

was

a

common

It

practice in antiquity to gather together

the wise remarks and spiritual utterances of a teacher. The

books of Proverbs and are part

Ecclesiastes in the

of this long tradition of wisdom

Old Testament

literature.

So

it is

not surprising that followers of Jesus combined over one

hundred of his teachings into

a

book they

called

The Gos-

pel of Thomas.

Historians have actually determined that

Luke used pels.

a similar

document when they wrote

this sayings

a the-

source must have existed since the

authors of Matthew and Luke,

as

their gos-

Beginning in the 19th century, they developed

ory that

tical

Matthew and

who

never met, used iden-

quotes ofJesus. This mysterious source became

known

"the lost Gospel Q." Until the discovery of Thomas noth-

ing similar had ever been located.

support to the

Q

The

theory, particularly

find lent strong

when

scholars real-

ized that over one third of the sayings in Thomas are similar

to those probably contained in the

39

Gospel Q.

Many

mysteries surround both books.

A central

ques-

tion of The Gospel of Thomas relates to the identity of the author.

Though

Thomas" of the ably never be

one of the

the

book

is

attributed to the "doubting

New Testament, the

known. Claiming

disciples

was

a

a

writer will prob-

real

gospel was written by

frequent technique used by early

Christians to enhance the book's standing

among

other

followers.

Most

biblical scholars in the

United

States believe

Thomas represents one of the many independent schools of Christianity that developed early in the history of the religion.

the as

Some

date the original

Greek version from which

Nag Hammadi Coptic document was

the second half of the

first

century, a

translated as early

few decades

the crucifixion. Such an early date could

written before the

New Testament

fore closer to the source

When

mean

gospels and

and more

is

after

it

was

there-

historically accurate.

the Jesus Seminar, an international group of bibli-

cal authorities,

sources, they

debated the

reliability

of various historical

determined that of the nine

New Testament

parables thought to be stories actually told by Jesus, the

Thomas version was

To

specialists

Jesus, the

as

seeking

Nag Hammadi

believers revered

not

closest to the original in six cases.

him

a clear picture

of the

historical

gospel demonstrates that early

primarily

as a

teacher of wisdom,

an apocalyptic prophet or messiah. For the modern-

day reader,

this

is

the most important aspect of The

40

(

hspel

of Thomas.

It

Unlike the about wise

book

a

is

New

Testament gospels,

his birth or

man

with the wisdom of Jesus.

filled

it

death but presents

contains nothing

him

as a teacher, a

speaking directly to people about their

Jesus provides advice

on getting along

in the

lives.

world and

the importance of being true to ourselves. The message

is

strongly countercultural: he shuns materialism and directs the reader toward the simple are parables

about people

life,

who

and immediately relinquish

all

a spiritual existence. There

discover their true identity their riches.

He

shows

how

they free themselves from the demands of a workaday existence to pursue

Jesus here

is

what

is

truly important in their lives.

not the messiah but a social

ing listeners to reject society's

phony

values of the business world.

He

radical, tell-

piety and the hollow

promises that the reader

has the potential of returning to "the light," a heavenly

removed from the

realm

far

like a

Zen

earth.

master, particularly

"kingdom of God" being reader beware: this

is

At

times, Jesus sounds

when he

talks

about the

right here, right now. Let the

not the Jesus taught in Sunday school

and worshiped

in glass cathedrals. In

we meet Jesus

before he was Christ, before the centuries

of infighting and

ecclesiastical

today's semi-mythical figure.

The Gospel of Thomas

embellishment that created

Here

is

Jesus as a sage, the per-

sonification of Wisdom, cast in the tradition of

mon

or Buddha,

a

humble man with

41

a

King Solo-

powerful message.

I

HESE ARE THE SECRET

Jesus spoke and

WORDS that the

living

Didymus Judas Thomas wrote

down. >

1

Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death. This saying,

like

the majority of the sayings

Thomas, begin with "Jesus

said."

To

in

The Gospel of

avoid redundancy, these

troductory phrases have been eliminated.

LET WHOEVER

SEEKS not cease from

seeking until he finds. troubled.

When

will reign

over

he

is

When

he finds, he

troubled, he

all.

42

will

his

will

be

marvel and

in-

I

F

THOSE

kingdom

is

in

precede you. fish will

WHO

LEAD YOU

heaven," then the birds of heaven If

they

say, "It

will

the

in

is

sea,"

will

know you

children of the living father. But

you

live in

is

within

When you know yourselves,

be known, and you

yourselves,

will

then the

precede you. Rather, the kingdom

you and outside you.

you

SAY, "Look, the

if

are

you do not know

poverty and you yourselves

are the poverty. These words of wisdom are

similar to the

advice of Eastern

sages to "be here now."

1

HE PERSON

ADVANCED

IN

DAYS

will

not

hesitate to ask an infant of seven days about the

place of

who

life,

and that person

are first will be last

will live.

and they

will

For

many

become

a

single one.

The theme of becoming one

is

common

in

ancient literature,

often referring to finding one's center and sometimes to sexual intercourse.

43

KECOGNIZE what what is

is

concealed

will

nothing hidden that

M fast?

diet

IS

front of your face, and

in

is

be revealed to you. For there will

not be disclosed.

DISCIPLES ASKED HIM, "Do you want us to

How shall we

shall

we

pray? Shall

we give

alms?

What

keep?"

Jesus said, hate, because

"Do not all

lie

and do not do what you

things are revealed

heaven. For nothing

is

revealed, and nothing

hidden that is

in

will

covered that

the sight of

not be

will

remain

covered." Saying 14 closely parallels this passage, answering each question

the disciples ask.

44.

DLESSED that the

THE LION that the man

IS

lion will

man whom the

shall eat,

become human. Cursed and the

lion shall eat,

is

so

the

lion will

become human. Some soul

scholars believe this saying

was part human and part

part to

tame

its

is

net into the sea.

of small

them

fish.

a large,

based on It

like a

wise fisherman

He drew

it

This passage

of heaven

is

who

said the

who

out of the sea

cast full

The wise fisherman found among good

fish.

He threw

back into the sea and chose the hesitation.

Plato,

was the duty of the human

bestial side.

M UMANKIND his

is

lion.

Whoever

all

the small

large fish

fish

without

has ears to hear, let him hear.

similar to Matthew 13:47, in which the kingdom compared to the net and the fish are likened to

is

souls that are saved.

•45

7

I

HE SOWER

sowed.

Some

WENT OUT,

seeds

fell

Others

fell

seeds and

in

fell

on the rock and did

the earth and did not produce.

among thorns; the thorns choked the

worms ate them. But others

ground and brought forth good sixty per

hand and

on the road; birds came and

gathered them up. Others

not take root

filled his

fruit.

fell

on good

These yielded

measure and one hundred and twenty

measures.

10

I

HAVE CAST

guarding The

"fire"

it

FIRE

on the world and,

until it blazes.

may

refer to Jesus' teachings.

46

look,

I

am

I

is

HIS

above

and the

what

is

HEAVEN WILL PASS AWAY and that which pass away.

it will

living will

dead, you

into the light,

not

die. In

made

what

The dead

will

are not alive

the days when you ate

it alive.

When you come

you do?

On

the day when

you were one, you became two. But when you have

become two, what

will

you do?

This saying promises a third heaven as the ultimate goal, to be

reached after

"this

The quote

pear.

to the passage

in

is

heaven" and "that which also interesting

because

Mark and Matthew

"heaven and earth

in

pass away, but

will

it

is

above

it"

disap-

sounds very similar

which Jesus explains that

my words

will

not pass

away."

1

will

HE DISCIPLES SAID TOjESUS, "We know you

go away from

us.

Who will

be our leader?"

Jesus said, "Wherever you are, Just;

go to James the

heaven and earth came into being for him."

James was the brother of Jesus and head of the Jerusalem church.

He became

Christianity during the

a

major figure

in

the

development of

decades immediately following the

fixion.

M

cruci-

12

TO HIS DISCIPLES, "Compare me to tell me whom am like."

J ESUS SAID

13

someone and

I

Simon Peter

said

to him, "You are

like a

righteous angel."

Matthew

said

to him, "You are

like a

wise

philosopher."

Thomas

to him, "Master,

said

incapable of saying Jesus said,

"I

whom

my mouth

you are

am not your

is

like."

master. Because you

drank, you are drunk from the bubbling spring that I

measured out."

And

he took Thomas and drew him aside and

spoke three words to him.

When Thomas

returned to

his

companions they

asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"

Thomas

said

to them,

"If

words he spoke to me, you

throw them

at me.

And

I

tell

will

you one of the

pick up stones and

fire will

come from the

stones and burn you up." Thomas

is

presented as the disciple most

one favored with the secret knowledge.

48

in

awe of Jesus and the

J

ESUS SAID

bring sin

evil

"If

you

upon yourselves, and

condemn do

TO THEM,

yourselves, and

to your

if

fast,

you

14

will

you

pray,

you

will

you give

alms,

you

will

if

spirits.

"When you enter any

land and walk through

regions, if they receive you, eat

before you. Heal the sick

which enters your mouth

whatever they set

among them. will

its

For that

not defile you, but

that which comes out of your mouth

will defile

you.

When YOU SEE THE ONE who was not born of woman, one

is

fall

on your faces and worship him. That

your father.

Similar to saying this

I

I,

this

passage promises a heavenly vision,

case a being not born of

woman.

•49

in

15

People think

16

it is

peace have come to I

impose on the world, but they do not know dissension

I

have

come to

sword, war. For there will

will

it is

cast on the earth:

be five

in a

fire,

house: Three

be against two and two against three, the

father against the son and the son against the father,

17

I

and they

shall

stand alone.

SHALL GIVE YOU what no eye

has seen,

what

no ear has heard and no hand has touched, and

what St.

has not

come

into the

Paul also spoke of going

This image, widespread

in

human

heart.

beyond what can be seen and heard.

antiquity, referred to visions

enly secrets.

50

and heav-

I

HE DISCIPLES SAID

our end

will

TO JESUS,

"Tell US

how

come."

Jesus said, "Have you discovered the beginning,

that you search for the end?

the beginning

who

will

end and

there the end

the place where will be.

stand at the beginning: He will

If

IS

he

know the

you become my disciples and hear my

in

knows them

shall

serve you. For there are

paradise that

or winter and

whose

shall

do not change

leaves

do not

fall.

in

summer

Whoever

not taste death.

Unlike the familiar quotes that surround in

will

is

HE who existed before he was

words, these stones five trees

Blessed

not taste death."

ULESSED created.

is,

In

origin.

51

it,

this saying

is

Gnostic

19

20

The

the kingdom of heaven

He

to Jesus,

disciples said

said

to them,

seed, smaller than

cultivated ground,

all

"It

what

is

like?" is

like a

grain

seeds. But

it

"Tell us,

puts forth

of mustard

when

it falls

a large

on

branch and

provides a shelter for the birds of heaven." For centuries, Jewish prophets compared the kingdom of heaven to the famed cedars of Lebanon, which were used to build the

temple of Solomon

in

Jerusalem. So Jesus

ence by likening the kingdom to

grows

into a scraggly plant

a tiny

is

shocking

most farmers considered

52

his audi-

mustard seed, which a

weed.

Mary said to Jesus, "What are your

21

disciples like?"

He

that

a field

field

said,

"They are is

not

come, they

back.'

The

theirs.

will say,

"Therefore is

When

I

naked

field

say, if

coming, he

children dwelling

in

the owners of the

'Let us have our field

disciples strip

owners and give the

a thief

like little

in

front of the

back to them.

the owner of a house knows

will

stay awake and will not let

the thief break into the house and carry away

his

goods.

"You must keep watch against the world. yourselves with great

way to come upon expect

power

lest

Arm

the robbers find

a

you, because the difficulty you

will materialize.

Let there be

a

man of

understanding among you. "After the crop ripened, the owner quickly with his sickle

Whoever In

in his

came

hand and reaped

it.

has ears to hear, let him hear."

ancient culture, disciples and other followers

ferred to as "babes" or "children."

53

were often

re-

22

ESUS

J

to

said

who

SAW SOME INFANTS

his disciples,

being nursed and

"These children are

those

like

enter the kingdom."

They

said

to him,

"If

we

we

are children shall

enter the kingdom?"

"When you make the two

Jesus said to them,

one, and

when you make the

and the outer lower,

like

the

inner,

inner

like

the outer

and the upper

like

the

and when you make the male and the female

into a single one, so that the male

is

not male and

the female not female, when you make eyes place of an eye, a hand

in

place of a hand,

place of a foot, and an image

then you

shall

Fall.

foot

in

place of an image,

enter the kingdom."

According to Jewish wisdom before the

in

a

in

When men

literature,

and

women

Adam was androgynous finally

regain this earlier

state of perfection, they will lose their sexual differences

come androgynous once more.

54-

and be-

I

WILL

CHOOSE YOU, one from

a

thousand, and

two from ten thousand, and they will stand

23

as a

single one.

M

where you

He him

said

hear.

are, for

There

shine, there the

line

is

is

light

in

within

a

man of light and it

let it

does not

darkness." ears

...

"

sounds

familiar, that's

because

it

Matthew, Mark, Luke and even Revelation.

LOVE YOUR BROTHER like

it."

whole world. When

"He who has

also occurs

we must seek

24

place

to them, "Whoever has ears to hear

illuminates the

If

"SHOW US the

DISCIPLES SAID,

IS

like

the apple of your eye.

55-

your

soul;

guard him

25

You SEE THE SPLINTER in your brother's eye

26

but you do not see the plank

When you splinter

I

F

own

eye.

will

own

be able to see and remove the

from your brother's eye.

This famous

27

your

have taken the plank out of your

then you

eye,

in

sermon

also appears

in

Matthew and

YOU DO NOT FAST with

respect to the

world, you will not find the kingdom.

keep the sabbath

as sabbath,

Luke.

you

will

If

you do not

not see the

father.

Fasting

from the world means giving up material things and pur-

suing a spiritual

life.

56

STOOD

I

IN

THE MIDST of the world and

appeared to them drunk, but

the

flesh.

I

found

all

of them

did not find any of them thirsty.

I

My

ached for humanity's children because they are

soul

blind

in

their hearts.

came empty

When

They do not see that they

into the world; and they seek to

empty out of the

will

in

28

go

Now they are drunk.

world.

they have shaken off their wine, then they

repent.

Jesus speaks here as a heaven-sent redeemer, an image

monly used

I

F

among

but

a miracle

if spirit

exists

of miracles.

wealth established

I

itself

amid

how

seems almost bewildered

spirit

could be linked to something as

57

it

such great

this poverty.

Jesus

at

how

29

it is a

because of the body,

marvel at

com-

Gnostics.

THE FLESH EXISTS because of spirit,

miracle; is

the Gospel of John and

in

a state as

mundane

pure as the

as the flesh.

Where there are three gods, they are

30

gods.

Where there

are

two

or one,

I

am with

him.

^^r>

No PROPHET

31

VIIllage;

a physician

IS

ACCEPTABLE

in his

does not heal those

own

who know

him. This saying and the three that follow also appear

in

the

New

Testament gospels. Conservative scholars believe Thomas was

dependent on Mark, Matthew and Luke whereas ans contend

32

it

r\ CITY fortified

liberal histori-

was written independently.

built

cannot

on

fall,

a high

mountain and well-

nor can

58-

it

remain hidden.

What you

hear with your

ear,

preach

one

others' ears from your housetops. For no a

lamp and puts

it

under

a bushel,

lampstand so that everyone

lights

it

on

who comes

a

in

and out

can see

its light.

Lamps

the time of Jesus were small terra-cotta lanterns that

in

burned

oil

33

nor does he put

hidden place. Instead, he sets

it in a

in

and were often the only source of

light

inside the

windowless houses of the region.

I

A BLIND

F

them

will fall

It

is

MAN

leads a blind man, both of

into a ditch.

impossible for

anyone to

house of a strong man and take first

binding

pillage

34

his

hands.

it

Then one

the strong mans house.

^^r>

59

enter the

by force without

will

be able to

35

Do NOT BE ANXIOUS, from morning to

36

evening and from evening to morning, about what

you

will

H

37

IS

wear.

DISCIPLES ASKED, "When

revealed to us and Jesus said,

when

will

will

you be

we see you?"

"When you undress without

being

ashamed, and take your clothes and put them

under your feet the way

little

trample on them, then you living

Some

one and you

I

will

not be

do and

see the son of the

afraid."

scholars believe that the undressing mentioned here re-

lates to the

38

will

children

ceremony of baptism.

MANY TIMES you

have desired to hear these

words speak to you, and you have had no one I

from

you

whom

will

to hear them. The days

seek

me and you

will

60

will

else

come when

not find me.

The

Pharisees

and the

scribes have

39

received the keys of knowledge and have hidden

them. They did not enter and they did not allow those

who wanted to

enter to do

so.

But you

should be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

A VINE WAS PLANTED without the because

it

did not

uprooted and

become strong

receive more; and he

he has

but

40

be

will rot.

M E WHO HAS SOMETHING little

it will

father,

will

who

in his

hand

will

has nothing, even the

be taken away from him.

61

41

UECOME B

42

Another possible the itinerant

H

43

IS

PASSERSBY. translation

lifestyle

is

"become wanderers,"

of Jesus and

DISCIPLES SAID

referring to

his disciples.

TO

HIM,

"Who

are you

that you should say these things to us?" "In spite

who

I

of what

am. You have

I

become

love the tree but hate

but hate the

say to you, you like

its fruit;

do not know

the Jews: They

they love the

fruit

tree."

Whoever blasphemes against the father will

44

be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son

will

be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes

against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either

on earth or

in

heaven.

62

\D RAPES ARE NOT GATHERED from figs

from

thistles;

they do not give

person brings forth good from person brings forth heart,

evil

and he speaks

of his heart, he produces Sayings collections

like

evil

bad

treasure

For out of the

45

A good

his treasure; a

from the

evil.

fruit.

thorns nor

in his

abundance

evil.

Thomas grew out of the wisdom

litera-

ture of the Middle East, which contained proverbs that pre-

sented simple truths about the individual and the world.

Prom Adam toJohn the those born of women no one

the Baptist. But

becomes

I

said that

as a child will

is

Baptist,

among

greater than John

anyone among you who

know the kingdom and

be superior to John.

63

will

46

47

IT

IS

horses or

two

IMPOSSIBLE for

a

draw two bows.

man to mount two

A servant cannot serve

masters; he will honor the one and scorn the

other.

No one

drinks vintage

wants to drink new wine.

wine and immediately

New wine

is

not put into

old wine skins, for they might burst; and vintage

wine

is

might

not poured into new wine

spoil.

No one sews

garment, for

48

1

F

TWO MAKE

moved!" and

49

because

an old patch on to a

it

new

tear.

it will

same house, they

skins,

PEACE with one another

will

it will

in

the

say to the mountain, "Be

be moved.

ULESSED ARE THE SOLITARY and the chosen, for you will find the kingdom. Because you have

come from

it,

you

will

go there

64

again.

I

F

THEY SAY TO YOU, "Where

come

did you

from?" say to them, "We have come from the

the place where the its

own accord and

light

came

light,

into existence of

revealed itself

in

their image/' If

they say to you, "Who are you?" say to them, "We are his sons

and

we

are the chosen of the living

father." If they ask you,

father

who

is

in

movement and

"What

is

the

you?" say to them,

sign

"It

is

of your a

a repose."'

The questioners might be

referring to the heavenly

guard the passages back to the

light,

powers that

images often used

in

gnos-

tic texts.

H

IS

DISCIPLES SAID

TO

HIM, "On

what day will

the repose of the dead occur and when does the

new world come?" He

said

to them, "That repose you look for has

come, but you have not recognized

65

it."

51

M

52

IS

TO

DISCIPLES SAID

prophets spoke

in Israel

and

HIM, "Twenty-four all

of them spoke of

you."

He Living

said

One

to them, "You have neglected the in

your presence and have spoken only

about the dead."

H

53

IS

TO

DISCIPLES SAID

HIM,

"Is

circumcision

worthwhile or not?"

He

said

to them,

father would beget

"If it

them

were worthwhile,

already circumcised from

their mother. Rather, true circumcision

has In

become completely

the

New

Testament,

St.

their

in

the

spirit

useful."

Paul

is

portrayed as the

first

Christian

to oppose the circumcision of Gentiles, but here Jesus himself criticizing

54

the custom.

DLESSED ARE THE POOR for yours kingdom of heaven.

66

is

the

is

M

E

WHO

DOES NOT HATE

mother cannot be my not hate take up

A

his

his

disciple,

brothers and

cross as

I

have

his

father and

and he

his sisters will

55

his

who does

and does not

not be worthy of me.

strong element of social radicalism pervades Jesus' sayings,

even to the point of rejecting

family.

H E WHO HAS COME to understand the world has found a corpse; and the world

him

who

is

not worthy of

has found a corpse.

The expression "of him who has found Jewish literature to praise someone.

67

a corpse"

was used

in

56

57

HE

I

KINGDOM OF THE FATHER

who had good

seed. His

not do so because when you go to

they

will

will

ULESSED found

IS

THE MAN who

"Do

up the it."

On the

be conspicuous;

plant called darnel that

has labored; he has

life.

Look upon the

59

pull

said,

man

be pulled up and burned.

The "weed" referred to may be a toxic plagues wheat fields in the Middle East.

58

He

up the wheat along with

day of the harvest the weeds

night and

seed. But the

did not let anyone pull up the weed.

pull

man

like a

enemy came by

sowed weeds among the good

weed you

is

live, lest

living

ONE

as long as

you

you die and seek to see him but cannot

see.

•68

I

hey saw A Samaritan carrying

was going to Judea. He

said

to

a

lamb as he

his disciples,

"Why

does he carry the lamb?"

They

said

to him, "That he may

kill it

and eat

it.

He

said

not eat

it;

to them, "As long

only

if

he has

as

it is

alive

killed it

and

it

he

has

will

become

a corpse."

They

He

said,

said

"Otherwise he cannot eat

it."

to them, "You yourselves must seek

place for repose, or you might

be eaten."

69

a

become corpses and

60

61

J

one

ESUS SAID, "Two

will die,

Salome

the other

said,

be resting on

will

"Who

a

couch;

will live."

are you,

man? You have

mounted my bed and have eaten from my table." Jesus said to her,

being from the one things of

my father

Salome

said,

"I

"I

am the one who

who

is

undifferentiated.

divided Salome

be

will

is

will

am your disciple."

filled

be

The

have been given to me."

Jesus said to her, "Therefore,

united

derives his

with

filled

light,

I

say,

whoever

but whoever

is

is

with darkness."

not being suggestive here: dinner guests

in

the early

Mediterranean world normally reclined on couches placed near the table. Also of interest

is

that Salome, a

woman,

calls

herself

a disciple of Jesus.

62

I

TELL

MY MYSTERIES

of my mysteries.

what your

right

Do

not

hand

is

to those

let

are

worthy

your left hand know

doing.

70

who

I

HERE

WAS A

RICH

considerable wealth.

He

MAN who said,

with fruit so that

I

will lack

will

"I

to sew and reap and plant and

him

nothing."

Such were

Whoever

life

is

a

theme

vital

he had prepared

first

and

The man

said

a

receiving visitors.

banquet he sent

will

"Money

went to

owed me by some

is

come to me

must go and give them

orders.

I

this evening;

I

beg to be excused

dinner."

The servant went to another and

"My master

said

to him,

has invited you."

The second man a

his

to him, "My master invites you."

replied,

merchants. They

from the

has

Thomas and

in

servant to invite the guests. The servant

the

his

Jesus' teachings.

A MAN HAD THE HABIT of When

my money

hear.

The tenuous nature of throughout

use

63

my warehouses

fill

intentions, but that night he died. ears, let

had

said

to him,

house and am needed for

71

"I

a day.

I

have just bought have no time."

64

The servant went to another and

"My master

to him,

invites you."

That man married and will

said

said,

"My friend

have to prepare

I

not be able to come.

is

a

about to be

wedding

feast;

I

beg to be excused from

I

the dinner."

The servant went to another and

"My master He

to him,

invites you."

to the servant,

said

said

"I

have bought

and am on my way to collect the able to come.

I

rent.

a village

beg to be excused from the

The servant returned and

said

to

not be

will

I

his

dinner."

master,

"Those you invited asked to be excused from the dinner."

The master

said

to

the streets and bring

his

in

servant,

those

"Go out

whom

into

you find so

that they may dine." Buyers and merchants

of my

not enter the places

father.

This parable also appears differently, with

has led

will

some

in

Matthew and Luke, where

embellishments that are

is

told

political in nature.

This

scholars to claim that the version

est to the actual story told by Jesus.

72

in

it

Thomas

is

clos-

A GOOD MAN had some farmers

a vineyard.

He

leased

would cultivate

so that they

it

it

65

and

He sent

he would receive the fruit from them.

to

his

servant so that the tenants would give him the fruit

of the vineyard. They seized

him and almost

and told

his

killed him.

The tenants beat him

He

servant, beat

The servant returned

master. His master said, "Perhaps they

did not recognize him."

his son.

his

said,

He sent another

also.

servant.

Then the master sent

"Perhaps they

will

The tenants, knowing he was the

respect heir

my

son."

to the

vineyard, seized the son and killed him.

Whoever

has ears, let him hear.

OHOW ME THE STONE that the builders rejected. In

That

is

the cornerstone.

early Christian imagery, the "rejected stone"

Jesus.

73

is

symbolic of

66

He WHO KNOWS ALL but fails to know himself

67

lacks everything.

DLESSED ARE YOU when you

68

are hated

and

persecuted, and where you have been persecuted

they This

will

may

find no place.

69

from the Roman persecu-

refer to finding a place free

tion of Christians and Jews

in

the

first

ULESSED are they who

are persecuted

their heart; these are the ones

known the

century A.D.

father. Blessed are

who

those

have truly

who

hungry, for the belly of the needy will be

74

in

are filled.

When you bring forth what you have in

In

you

will

will

kill

is

in

you,

what

70

save you. That which you do not have

you

if

you do not know

other words, salvation comes

when the

it

within you.

spiritual life

is

fully

de-

veloped.

SHALL DESTROY THIS HOUSE and no one

I

be able to build In

New

the

temple

in

it

He

Testament gospels, Jesus

my father's said

One

"I

talks

about destroying the

Jerusalem.

divider?"

them,

71

again.

A MAN SAID TO JESUS, divide

will

"Tell

He turned to

interpretation

matic and that Jesus

is

who made me

his disciples

a divider,

is

brothers to

possessions with me."

to the man, "O man,

am not

my

am

and

said

a

to

I?"

that "divider" actually refers to a schis-

denying he

75

is

a heretic.

72

73

I

HE HARVEST

IS

GREAT but the

laborers are

few, so pray to the Lord to send laborers to the harvest.

74

LORD, THERE ARE MANY standing around the drinking trough, but there

75

is

nothing

in

the

well.

Many are standing at the door, but those who

are alone are the ones

bridal

chamber.

76

who

will

enter the

KINGDOM OF THE FATHER merchant who had goods and found I

HE

is

76

like a

a pearl.

This

merchant was wise. He sold the goods and bought the one pearl for himself. You also must seek the enduring treasure that does not perish, where no

moth enters to eat and no worm Countercultural tray

in

their

destroys.

wisdom, several parables

people discovering their true

identities

in

Thomas por-

and immediately

considering the material world irrelevant.

I

all; all

AM THE

LIGHT that

is

above everything,

came forth from me and

me. Split the

wood and am

stone and you

I

will

find

me

77

all

am

has returned to

there. Lift

there.

I

up the

77

Why DID YOU COME OUT to the country?

78

Was a

it

to see

reed shaken by the wind?

a

man clothed

in

fine

garments

Or to

see

your kings and

like

great ones? They are clothed with fine raiment and

they do not know the truth. The version of

this

remark that appears

in

the

New

Testament

refers to John the Baptist; but here, mysteriously, John

is

not

mentioned.

A WOMAN

79

"Blessed are the

THE

IN

CROWD said to

womb that

him,

bore you and the

breasts that fed you.''

He

said

to

her,

"Blessed are those

who

have

heard the word of the father and have truly kept it.

For the days will

'Blessed

is

the

come when you

womb that

has not conceived and

the breasts that have not given This

is

will say.

milk.

both a plea to focus on the message rather than the man

and an assertion that the natural family family.

78

is

inferior to the spiritual

Whoever has known the world

has found

80

the body; but of whoever has found the body, the

world In

not worthy.

is

Gnosticism the world

is

often equated with death, something

that the individual seeker must transcend.

Let HIM WHO HAS become and

let

him

who

has

Whoever is whoever There

is

far

is

is

power renounce

NEAR ME

from me

a very similar

near Zeus

rich

is

is

far

near

79

king.

81

it.

fire,

but

82

from the kingdom.

Greek proverb that

near the thunderbolt."

become

begins,

"Whoever

is

83

I

the

HE IMAGES ARE MANIFEST to the man, but

light in

them

father

s light.

image

is

He

is

hidden

will

hidden by

in

be revealed

some

himself,

but

his

his light.

Because of the confusing messages that follow,

the image of the

in

scholars believe that

this all

saying and the

two

three were added to

the original text of Thomas at a later time.

84

When you SEE YOUR LIKENESS, you rejoice. But when you see images of you that came into being before you, which do not die and are not

made

manifest,

how much

will

you bear?

Gnostics believed that each individual possesses a

new "body"

or "image" that can be realized by transcending one's physical

body and achieving the heavenly realm, where the new body waiting.

80

is

Adam CAME INTO EXISTENCE from great

85

power and great wealth and yet was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, he

would not have

tasted death.