Editing Gospel of Thomas (section)

==Importance and author==
[[File:P. Oxy. 655.jpg|thumb|P. Oxy. 655]]
Considered by some as one of the earliest accounts of the teachings of Jesus, the Gospel of Thomas is regarded by some scholars as one of the most important texts in understanding [[early Christianity]] outside the [[New Testament]].{{sfnp|Funk|Hoover|1993|p=15}} In terms of faith, however, no major Christian group accepts this gospel as canonical or authoritative. It is an important work for scholars working on the Q document, which itself is thought to be a collection of sayings or teachings upon which the gospels of Matthew and Luke are partly based. Although no copy of Q has ever been discovered, the fact that Thomas is similarly a "sayings" gospel is viewed by some scholars as an indication that the early Christians did write collections of the sayings of Jesus, bolstering the Q hypothesis.{{sfnp|Ehrman|2003b|pp=57–58}}

Modern scholars do not consider Thomas the Apostle the author of this document and the author remains unknown. J. Menard produced a summary of the academic consensus in the mid-1970s that stated that the gospel was probably a very late text written by a Gnostic author, thus having very little relevance to the study of the early development of Christianity. Scholarly views of Gnosticism and the Gospel of Thomas have since become more nuanced and diverse.{{sfnp|DeConick|2006|pp=2–3}} Paterson Brown, for example, has argued forcefully that the three Coptic Gospels of Thomas, [[Gospel of Philip|Philip]] and [[Gospel of Truth|Truth]] are demonstrably not Gnostic writings, since all three explicitly affirm the basic reality and sanctity of incarnate life, which Gnosticism by definition considers illusory and evil.{{sfnp|Paterson Brown|n.d.}}

In the 4th century [[Cyril of Jerusalem]] considered the author a disciple of [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] who was also called Thomas.{{sfnp|Schneemelcher|2006|p=111}} Cyril stated:
{{blockquote|Mani had three disciples: Thomas, Baddas and Hermas. Let no one read the Gospel according to Thomas. For he is not one of the twelve apostles but one of the three wicked disciples of Mani.{{sfnp|Layton|1989|p=106}} }}

Many scholars consider the Gospel of Thomas to be a gnostic text, since it was found in a library among others, it contains Gnostic themes, and perhaps presupposes a Gnostic worldview.{{sfnp|Ehrman|2003b|pp=59ff}} Others reject this interpretation, because Thomas lacks the full-blown mythology of Gnosticism as described by [[Irenaeus of Lyons]] ({{c.|185}}), and because Gnostics frequently appropriated and used a large "range of scripture from Genesis to the Psalms to Homer, from the Synoptics to John to the letters of Paul."{{sfnp|Davies|1983b|pp=6–8}} The mysticism of the Gospel of Thomas also lacks many themes found in second century Gnosticism,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foster |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqgSDAAAQBAJ&dq=Thomasines+christology&pg=PA39 |title=The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction |date=2009-02-26 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-923694-7 |language=en}}</ref> including any allusion to a fallen [[Sophia (Gnosticism)|Sophia]] or an evil [[Demiurge]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=van den Broek |first1=Roelof |title=Gnostic Religion in Antiquity |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=38}}</ref> According to David W. Kim, the association of the Thomasines and Gnosticism is anachronistic and the book seems to predate the Gnostic movements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=David W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F6ouEAAAQBAJ&dq=Thomasines+ascetism&pg=PA86 |title=The Words of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas: The Genesis of a Wisdom Tradition |date=2021-07-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-37762-0 |language=en}}</ref>