Customer Reviews

The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus (Foundations & Facets)

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I have read most books in English written on the Gospel of Thomas, and I can say with condidence that Patterson's book The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus provides the best treatment of the critical issues surrounding the Gospel of Thomas. The first section of the book (about a hundred pages) provides the most comprehensive argument for the independence of the Gospel of Thomas from the canonical Four Gospels in a form accessible to the general reader. With this, Patterson refutes the claim that the Gospel of Thomas is a worthless second century Gnostic epitome that just put together a mish-mash of biblical quotes. Instead, Patterson argues, the Gospel of Thomas represents an autonomous tradition about Jesus, confirmatory and complementary of the synoptic tradition. The second part of the book deals with the setting of the Gospel of Thomas, which Patterson portrays as itinerant radicalism in Syria in the second half of the first century. The final chapter concerns the importance of the Gospel of Thomas for the historical Jesus. Patterson maintains that the Gospel of Thomas provides fresh evidence against the apocalyptic portrait of Jesus, because the Gospel of Thomas does not have any of the end-time speculation found in the synoptic Gospels. I recommend this book highly to any student of early Christianity.

This book was written by a professor and proves for me that the Gospel of Thomas was a separate tradition and not a gnostic corruption of the biblical gospels. Patterson goes into the linguistics of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas and the Greek biblical Gospels to show that Thomas stands alone in its own tradition.This book was intended more for the highly educated with Coptic and Greek interwoven with the text at the beginning of the book. I can read Koine Greek and I had a difficult time reading and understanding the first half of the book due to the Coptic. You are are curious about the Gospel of Thomas this book will educate you. I hope in the future Professor Patterson writes books more structured for the lay reader.