Gospel of Thomas

The Gnostic gospels have been the subject of much debate for centuries, especially regarding the Orthodox Church’s opposition to the validity of gospels outside of those canonized gospels of the New Testament. Author Elaine Pagels consolidated her research on this topic in the book titled The Gnostic Gospels. This text provides some insight into the struggles that helped shape beliefs of the Gnostics and the early Orthodox Church as they responded to attacks of heresy from one another. The…

Introduction There are various perceptions of salvation; including what it is and how it can be attained. In one of the most widely quoted passages of Acts, Luke lays out his belief of how salvation is found. He says: “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This research undertakes a critical analysis of this biblical verse with a view to understanding and showing what its author might have meant and the…

and Thomas: Two Tales of Salvation Attempting to reconstruct the life of Jesus through historical records is difficult, tedious, and often frustrating. The few writings and records that have survived the perilous 2,000 year journey into our hands can tell drastically different accounts of what really transpired all those years ago. The Gospels of Mark and Thomas are no exception, especially when tackling the topic of “salvation” or rather “How Does Jesus Save People?” The respective Gospels have…

growing up with a father, and growing up without a father. Both books include a character that leads to success, one book also has a character that has a fallout and ends up with the opposite of success. The two books are Losing My Cool written by Thomas Chatterton Williams and the second is The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. Having a father can give you someone to look up too, guide you, and help you throughout life. “What he hoped was that if he could somehow just make reading and studying…

1. How do each of the Gospel authors use parables to describe the Kingdom? One of the most common topics for Jesus in the Gospels is the Kingdom of God. Through allegories, analogies and parables, the Gospel authors try to explain the nature, timing, and requirements of the Kingdom of God. Matthew most often refers to the “Kingdom of Heaven,” perhaps because of the Jewish custom of not saying the name of God, although Matthew is not consistent in this practice, occasionally using the term…

this one appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but in two different narrative settings. Assuming that this saying originated in the life of Jesus, how might someone explain its journey from Jesus himself to the Gospels of Thomas, Matthew, and Luke, with reference to oral tradition, "Q," and the Two-Source Hypothesis? Sayings that may have occurred throughout Jesus’ life appear in many of the Gospels. The journey of these sayings from Jesus himself to the different Gospels can happen in…

Diversity existed in early Christian communities, and evidence, such as the portrait of Jesus in “the Fifth Gospel” of Thomas, supports the claim, that diversity existed in early Christian communities (Bethel, n.d.). Diversity existed in early Christian communities, due to the different issues, concerns, and crisis that plagued different communities (Harris, 2014, p. 16). However, the figure of Jesus, which was common to all the different Christian communities, and the interpretation of the…

religious motivations and virtues. The Last Supper: Why is this work religious or sacred? The Last Supper is openly known as both a religious and sacred piece of art work. The painting depicts The Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, as told in the gospel of John 13:21. The Last Supper is one of the most studied pieces of work, particularly because of the many hidden messages within the painting. Leonardo has depicted the consternation that occurred among the twelve disciples when Jesus…

The overall premise of Wheeler and Whaley’s The Great Commission to Worship is that worship and evangelism are not to be isolated from each other. Worship and evangelism go together and they impact how the believer is to live out the commandment of the Great Commission. Wheeler and Whaley make the assertion that evangelism and worship have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied, and offer suggestions to fix this problem. The ultimate purpose of the Christian, according to Wheeler…

gave us His keys, the gospel and He called every one of us to be the faithful steward of the Kingdom. We have a great privilege and responsibility to save lives to be part of building His Church by adding one stone at a time. In Closing, on Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit came down and through powerful preaching of Peter Sunday Church was born as Jesus promised. As Christians gather together on Sundays, they grew in faith and then went out to share the gospel of Christ. The…