Simon & Schuster The Gospel of Thomas: The Gnostic Wisdom of Jesus

Jean-Yves Leloup is exactly the right man to be walking you through this. As much as I love the stand-alone gospels (esp. Mary), they only make up a mere fraction of the book. I'm always dubious about the accompanying hack-job analyses and interpretations one tends to find in these kinds of publications, but trust me, Leloup is the man and I even fail to see how the original source texts would carry the same kind of strength without his insights, which somehow remain as accessible as they are genuinely profound.

The Gospel of Thomas is the book that didn’t quite make the cut into the New Testament canon. It seems to be close to Q, the hypothesized source for Mark, Matthew, and Luke; as a collection of aphorisms and not a coherent narrative, it’s understandable why one might exclude it on literary grounds. In addition, Thomas sometimes leans in the direction of greater mysticism (or gnosticism), though I think that can easily be exaggerated. It's also more hopeful than some guilt-focused western traditions. This book includes several parts that will be more or less interesting to you depending on what brings you here. The foreword by Jack Needleman and the introduction from the editor and translator, Jean-Yves LeLoup, are pretty conventional introductions to the Gospel of Thomas in the context of other gospels. Next comes the text in Coptic, with a facing translation into English. These 50 pages will only be useful for those who read Coptic or who have begun to study it. (I am not among that group.) After that comes the logia, each a section of text in the Gospel of Thomas. Each is about a paragraph or so long. LeLoup provides references to canonical scripture for comparison and further study. For example, in Logion 3 he refers to Matt 24:26-27, Mark 13:5-7; Luke 17:21; Deut 30: 11-14; and Rom 10:6-8. These cross-references are valuable indeed as a study guide. Each logion comes with LeLoup’s commentary. Some of his commentaries are insightful, while I think others miss the mark. They reflect his own spiritualism (and gnosticism) more than a scholarly exegesis. As a result, he tends to exaggerate the difference between Thomas and the synoptic gospels. You can judge those questions for yourself. In its perspective, Thomas differs from the synoptic gospels less than John does. Because it’s a bit older than the others, I found many of its logia providing a striking glimpse into why the disciples found Jesus a compelling teacher. The Gospel of Thomas offers a fresh perspective on Jesus, and the most compelling (and most nearly “orthodox”) of the Nag Hammadi texts.

I like his interpretations and translations. Also how Jean Luc explained each logion in detail. He highlighted important points I had missed when I read other versions if you are interested in this gospel which is part of the Nag Hammadi finds read this version.

Possibly the oldest gospel about the words of Jesus. All other gospels we read in new Testament dates after the pagan emperor Constantine did his infamous editing, deleting and mixing up of fables to the scriptures. Go for it. Good translation and commentary.

This version of the Gospel of Thomas is excellent. From what I have discovered about this gospel, Thomas is source material for the Synoptic gospels. It was compiled prior to the death of Jame the Just (the brother of Jesus) in 62 CE, earlier than Mark (65-70 CE). This collection of 114 logia (sayings) served as an outline and resource, not a narrative, for the writers of the Synoptic gospels. Scholars knew this gospel existed because of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri found in Egypt the late 19th century. These papyri contained only portions of sayings. However, thankfully in 1945 the complete gospel was discovered as part of the Nag Hammadi Library. If you think you have never read this gospel, you are wrong; 62% of Thomas is found in Matthew and Luke, where 14% is used in Mark. John does not contain any of the sayings from Thomas. I use Thomas weekly in my Sunday School class. Much more than just a curiosity, the Gospel of Thomas is the closest to the original teachings of Jesus than anything else. This edition also contains insightful commentary by Jean-Yves Leloup to help you understand some of the more esoteric sayings. If you are serious about you broadening your spiritual knowledge of God and your knowledge of New Testament scripture, you NEED this book.