The time is just after World War II. The place is Upper Egypt not far from the pyramids. A group of camel drivers embroi
497 101 11MB
English Pages 105 [124] Year 1998
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.