Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas, a collection of Jesus’s sayings discovered in Egypt in 1945, contains 114 teachings. Some are long. Some are paradoxical. Some require extensive commentary. And then there’s Saying 42: “Be passers-by.” That’s it. Two words. The shortest teaching in the collection. It might also be the most radical. What Does It Mean? The Coptic original can be translated literally as “Become yourselves, passing by.” Other scholars render it “Come into being as you pass away.” ...

If you’re reading this alone, without a spiritual community, without a tradition that holds you, without others who understand your seeking, you might feel like something is wrong. Everyone else seems to have a church, a sangha, a group. You have books and silence. Here’s what the Gospel of Thomas says about that: “Blessed are those who are solitary and superior, for you will find the kingdom; for since you come from it you shall return to it.” (Saying 49) ...

You can’t make it to the meditation retreat. You don’t have time for the spiritual workshop. Your days are filled with work, with chores, with the endless repetition of ordinary life. Where is the sacred in all of this? The Gospel of Thomas records one of Jesus’s most expansive answers: “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: all came forth from me, and all attained to me. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.” ...

In December 1945, an Egyptian farmer named Muhammad Ali was digging for fertilizer near the town of Nag Hammadi when his mattock struck something solid. He’d found a sealed earthenware jar containing thirteen leather-bound codices. Inside those codices were texts that had been hidden for over sixteen centuries, including a document that would change how scholars understood early Christianity. It’s called the Gospel of Thomas. And it contains 114 sayings attributed to Jesus that don’t appear in the Bible. ...

When will things get better? When will God intervene? When will the kingdom come? These questions echo through religious history. People have waited for divine rescue, for cosmic transformation, for the moment when everything changes. Some have set dates. Some have sold their possessions. Some have spent their lives watching the sky. The Gospel of Thomas records a different answer. The disciples asked Jesus: “When will the kingdom come?” His response: ...

The Gospel of Thomas opens with a promise: “Whoever discovers the meaning of these sayings will not taste death.” Then it delivers its first teaching. And that teaching is a complete map of the spiritual journey in a single sentence: “Let one who seeks not stop seeking until one finds. When one finds, one will be troubled. When one is troubled, one will marvel, and will reign over all.” Some Greek fragments add a final stage: “Having reigned, one will rest.” ...