The Biblical Archaeologist - Vol.46, N.1

68 Pages·1983·7.95 MB·English

by  American Schools of Oriental Research

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Winter 1983 Volume 46 Number 1
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Thomas- The Fourth Synoptic Gospel
by StevanD avies
F. E. Peters: Hellenism and the Near East
William Hallo: The First Purim
An Invitation
to ProspectiveA uthors
The editors of Biblical Archaeologist are soliciting article proposals for four new
departments: "Enigmatic Bible Passages," "BA Guide to Artifacts," "BA Portrait," and
"The Museum Trail."T he first three have been inaugurated in this issue; we will introduce
"The Museum Trail" in an upcoming issue. Our goal is for each of these columns to
appear in every issue of BA. To achieve that goal, we need to have a steady flow of ideas,
proposals, and manuscripts coming in to our mailbox here in Durham.
The descriptions and guidelines furnished below are designed to give prospective
authors a good idea of what we're looking for. We welcome your suggestions
and comments on these new departments-and on any and all aspects of BA.
II ... "" If you wish to do an article for "Enigmatic
2.:%=1.6f~i4.Lt,?- ,~.. .? . .y ..-, ...b. 4 .o t,,i. Bveirbslee oPra pssaasgsaesg,e" yp oleua'vsee sderloepctu esd a. Sliunme. Tupel yl ouus rw hich
4 . I-" I 46 '" **.t.Io,v . d-o." 41 84 &0 pprroompopsteldyt troe laettm yeonut k inn oaw p awrhaegtrhaeprh ot hr etw toop. iWc ies' llr eply
'w'w .-otw suitable for BA.
ENIGMATIC BIBLE PASSAGES
This department will consist of one or, prefer-
ably,a pair of 750-2000 word essays, ideally one for
Old Testament and one for New Testament. The
author of each essay will discuss a biblical BA PORTRAIT
verse/passage/pericopet hat displays one or more
features likely to interest our readers. This department will comprise a brief biograph-
The passage may be one that has proved ical treatment of one of the deceased modern giants
notoriously difficult for commentators down the of Near Easterns tudies - archaeology,e xploration,
centuries to interpret. Or,i t might recount an historiographyb, iblical studies, intertestamental
incident, belief, practice, or ritual that seems studies, Assyriology, Egyptology,H ittitology,
bizarre,e ven incomprehensible, to us today.W e are Semitics, etc.-together with one or two illustra-
particularlyi nterested in units on which modern tions. The projectedl ength of each essay is 1000-
archaeological, epigraphic,o r manuscript discover- 2000 words.
ies have shed exciting new light. Scholars who were in some way pioneers or
It is imperative that each essay in this series exemplars are prime candidates for the "BAP ortrait."
be gearedt o the readerw ho lacks a knowledge of Profiles of 19th- and early 20th-century scholars
ancient languages and scripts. The author should are especially desirable.A nd we encouragea uthors
not attempt to elaboratet he passage'st heological to select interesting, colorful charactersa s their
message to modern believers. Rather,h e/she subjects.
should emphasize noteworthy insights that have "BAP ortrait"s hould be written in a lively
been achieved through the use of the historical- style and with a humanistic orientation. Explain
critical method and/or archaeology.( It would be why the person'sw ork was/is significant, but also
equally worthwhile, however,t o treat a knotty tell the readers omething about the human being
passage that has consistently resisted the best efforts behind the eminent scholar. A sprightly anecdote
of historical-critical methodology and stoutly or well-chosen quote drawnf rom a work by one of
refuses to yield up its meaning to scholars.)W e are the individual's contemporaries,f or example,
hoping to play up the "detective work" aspect of often says more than many pages of straightforward
good scholarship whenever possible. biographicald etail. Again, only deceased figures
It is unnecessary to use any kind of formal will be profiled in the "BAP ortrait."W e plan to use
referencesc iting scholarly literature.I f you like, you the ASOR Newsletter to salute our active peers.
may note up to six sources as "Suggestionsf or
FurtherR eading." (continued on inside back cover)
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Biblical,
chaeoo
Winter 1983 ,st Volume 46 Number 1
Page 19 Page4 1 Page4 3
6 THOMAS-THE FOURTH 33 HELLENISMA ND THE 54 CODEX SINAITICUS:A N
SYNOPTIC GOSPEL NEAR EAST HISTORICALO BSERVATION
StevanD avies E E. Peters Philip Mayerson
The four canonical gospels are What was Hellenism, and how did it A note on the famous manuscripta nd
Matthew,M ark,L uke,a nd John,b ut leave its mark on the Near East? the history of the Sinai peninsula.
the four synoptics are Matthew, An impressionistic portraito f a
Mark, Luke,a nd Thomas. Author fascinatingh istorical phenomenon. 57 MIDDLE BRONZE AGE
Davies explains why. EARTHWORKSA:
41 BA PORTRAIT
CONTEMPORARYE NGI-
10 HOW DID THE GOSPELO F George Smith (1840-1876): Pioneer
NEERING EVALUATION
THOMAS GET ITS NAME? Assyriologist
BarryH oberman BarryH oberman Ernest Pennells
GeorgeS mith was nervous, eccentric, We don'tn eed to posit visits from
15 A CYCLEO F JESUS'SP ARABLES foolhardy--and a genius. iamncpireensts aivsetrlyo snoapuhtisst oti caactceodu anctc foomr t-h e
Stevan Davies 43 EXPLORINGT HE MEDITER- plishments of ancient engineers.
19 THE FIRSTP URIM RANEAN BACKGROUNDO F
William W Hallo EARLYC HRISTIANITY DEPARTMENTS
A prominent Assyriologist looks at Enid Schmuch
the Book of Esthera nd the Jewish At Harvardp, articipantsi n an 2 INTRODUCING THE AUTHORS
holiday whose origins areb ound up ASOR-sponsoredp rogramb ringa n 3 FROM THE EDITOR'SD ESK
with it. enhanced appreciationo f archaeology 4 LETTERT O THE READERS
and material culture to the study of 63 BOOKR EVIEWS
30 ENIGMATICB IBLE the New Testament. T G. H. James,e d., Excavatingi n
PASSAGES Egypt: The EgyptianE xploration
I(Mt'sa trhke 1 4L:i1t7t-l2e1 T; hiLnugkse t 4h:1a-t1 C3;o unt 49 TBhAe SGtuUdIyD ofE F TauOna Al RRemTaIiFnAs CTS RSoecviieetwy,e1 d8b 8y2 A-1n9t8h2o ny J. Spalinger
Matthew 18:10-14) from Archaeological Sites 64 BOOKSR ECEIVED
Paul J. Achtemeier RichardH . Meadow
How a little word can make a big Animal bones and teeth may not be
differencei n biblical interpretation. the stuff of archaeologicalr omance, Cover:T heA postle Thomas.A rtist's
but they help archaeologistsr econ- renderingo f the mosaic portrait
struct the lifestyles of prehistorica nd founda t the Monasteryo f Saint Catherine,
ancient societies. Mount Sinai.A rtist: LydellJ ackson.
Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of Zion Research
Foundation, a nonsectarian foundation for the study of the Bible and the history of the
Christian Church.
BIBLICAAL RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTE1R98 3
the Authors
Introducing
Schmuch Hallo Achtemeier
StevanD avies is assistant professoro f religious studies at
College Misericordia,D allas, Pennsylvania.H is book,
The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Wisdom, will be
published by SeaburyP ress in 1983. Michael Davies, Davies and Davies
who appearsa long with his father in the abovep hoto, is
seen perusinga book on his favorites ubject, galactic
astrophysics.M ike's archaeologicali nterests lie more in BarryH obermani s ManagingE ditoro f BA. His articles
the productiono f sherds than their analysis, according on Near Easterna nd CentralA sian history appear
to Dad. regularly in Aramco World Magazine; he has also
contributed to Harvard Magazine, The Boston Phoenix,
William W.H allo is William M. LaffanP rofessoro f The Boston Journal, and The Lamp. Hoberman has a
Assyriology and BabylonianL iteraturea nd Curatoro f master's in Old Testament from HarvardD ivinity School
the BabylonianC ollection at Yale.H e is the authoro f and another in medieval history from IndianaU niversity.
Early Mesopotamian Royal Titles (American Oriental
Society, 1957), and, along with YaleE gyptologistW illiam Freelancew riter Enid Schmuch lives in Reading,
Kelly Simpson, co-author of The Ancient Near East: A Massachusetts. She has studied New Testament at
History (HarcourtB raceJ ovanovich,1 971).H allo's profes- HarvardD ivinity School, and serves on the planning
sional interests extend beyond Assyriology and biblical committee of the Divinity School's Theological Oppor-
studies-he translated The Star of Redemption, by the tunities Program.S he went to Greece in the springo f 1982
20th-century German Jewish philosopher FranzR osen- as a member of the ResearchT eamf or the Religion and
zweig, into English (Holt, Rineharta nd Winston, 1971). Culture of the Landso f the New Testament.
Paul J. Achtemeier is HerbertW ortha nd Annie H. Jackson RichardH . Meadow is head of the Zooarchaeology
Professoro f Biblical Interpretationa t Union Theological Laboratorya t the PeabodyM useum of Archaeologya nd
Seminaryi n Virginia.H e is the author of the volume on Ethnology,H arvardU niversity.H e has accumulated
Mark in the Proclamation Commentaries series extensive field experience on excavations in Irana nd
(Fortress,1 975),I nvitation to Mark (Doubleday,1 978),a nd Pakistan,a n areaf or which he has "been trying to
The Inspiration of Scripture: Problems and Proposals construct a picture of animal exploitation practices
(Westminster,1 980).A chtemeier, who has co-authored from c. 8000 B.c. to the present day."M eadow lives on a
three books with his wife Elizabeth (like her husband a horse farm outside of Boston along with his wife, two
well-known expert on biblical hermeneutics), enjoys children, four dogs, and one rabbit.
working with wood and sailing in his sparet ime.
Philip Mayerson,p rofessoro f classics at New York
FrancisE . Peters, historian, Arabist,c lassicist, is University,w as formerlyD ean of NYU's Washington
professoro f history and Near Easternl anguagesa nd SquareC ollege and University College. He has published
literaturesa t New YorkU niversity.H e has a B.A. in severala rticles on the history of the Negev and Sinai in
classics and an M.A. in Greek and philosophy from St. late antiquity.
Louis University; his Ph.D.-in Islamic studies--is
from Princeton. Peters serves as U.S. representativeo n the ErnestP ennells, a charterede ngineer in GreatB ritain,i s
InternationalC ommission for the Preservationo f the also an ordainedB aptist minister. He became interested
Monuments of Damascus. His books include The Harvest in archaeologyw hile pursuing theological studies at
of Hellenism: A History of the Near East from Oxford,a nd subsequently participatedi n the Hebrew
Alexander the Great to the Triumph of Christianity Union College excavations at Tel Dan. He now works as an
(Simon and Schuster, 1971) and Children of Abraham: engineering consultant, advising on-among other
Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Princeton University things -the design of structuresu sed in offshoreo il
Press, 1982). exploration.
2 BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983
From the Editor's Desk
in a comprehensible way the fruit of many years of
scholarly activity. Nor has it been a simple matter to
capturei n the printed word the kind of excitement
that propels the scholar of ancient texts and
monuments in his or her quest for knowledge of
the past. This issue of BA presents articles from the
hands of a number of such experts in the hopes
that their enthusiasm will arrestt he attention of our
readers,a nd stimulate them to explore furthert he
topics under discussion.
The success of a publication venture is hard to
measure, for "success" is not an easy word to
define. BA has its band of faithful readersw ho will
testify to its longstanding viability and usefulness.
The true test of a magazine or journalo f an academic
society and its measure of worth, however,i s not in
the number but the kind of people who readt he
With magazine. It is a fitting tribute to the foundera nd to
thep ublicatioonf thisi ssueo f all the past editors that BA remains one of the
Biblical Archaeologist, readersw ill basic staples of biblical scholarship and Near
note the completion of the transi- Easterna rchaeology to this day.I t is, moreover,a
tion period between the old and the vital organo f a majorA merican learned society
new editors, between Ann Arbora nd Durham. which has been aroundf or nearly a century-the
They will also note that the process has been American Schools of Oriental Research,n ow based
achieved with very little interruption. Hopefully, in Philadelphia. BA will continue to speak to a
our readersw ill recognize a genuine note of diverse mix of professionals and laymen, teachers
continuity not only with the immediate, past and students, and will continue to communicate
stewardshipo f this magazine but with the forty-five the state of the field of biblical studies and Near
volumes which precededt he present number. Easterna rchaeology- as these have emergedi n
After nearly a half-century of publication we may their uniquely American formulations- to readers
observe that the forces which led Ernest Wrightt o who demand the highest standardso f accuracya nd
found BA are still very much a part of the study of trustworthiness.
Bible and ancient Near East today. Biblical Archaeologist thus remains the oldest
Interest in the Bible and the biblical world in and most authoritative guide in its field. It will
contemporaryA merica is very much on the increase. continue to relate the results of several traditional
Decades after requiredB ible courses were abol- disciplines that are flourishing in American, Euro-
ished in most colleges and universities, students are pean, and non-Westerna cademic institutions today.
now flocking to introductory courses in Hebrew Over the coming years BA readersw ill be introduced
Bible and New Testament in recordn umbers. to a thriving new field of intellectual inquiry as
Similarly,t here seems to be an inexhaustible well: the study of the social world of ancient Israel.
supply of interested students of all ages and Associate EditorJ ames Flanagan,t he rest of my
backgroundsr eady to travel to the Middle East to fellow editors and editorial committee members,
work as volunteers on archaeological expeditions, and I assure you that we will do everything in our
on both sides of the JordanR iver and power to see to it that Biblical Archaeologist not
all over the MediterraneanB asin. ASOR in general, only maintains its ties with the scholarly tradi-
and Biblical Archaeologist in particular,h ave a tions of the past, but is also fully attuned to the
unique role to play in the educational process that important new intellectual currents of the future.
affects students and teachers alike. This magazine
has been and will continue to be a vehicle of
communication for scholars who can present the
results of their inquiries to both the specialist and
nonspecialist reader. Eric M. Meyers
It has never been an easy task to communicate Editor
BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983 3
Letter to the Readers
R
eaderso fB iblicaAl rchaeologimsta y dictionary definition of Hellenism-a dry account-
wonder how the editors acquirem aterial ing of historical traits-will be disappointeda nd are
for the magazine. The answer is that there advised to look elsewhere. Rather,t he author's
are a variety of routes which articles may purpose is to bring into focus the spirit, the essence,
take on their way to appearingi n print. I'd like to of that phenomenon which historians of the Near
discuss a few of these routes and, at the same time, East refert o as Hellenism-too often without
supply some backgroundo n two superbp ieces having given much thought to what "Hellenism"
found in this issue of BA. means. The last question has occupied FrankP eters
Perhapsl east common is the path of the for much of his scholarly career,a nd the editors of
unsolicited submission: a completed manuscript BA are privileged to present the fruits of his latest
arrivesu ninvited in our mailbox, manages to elicit reflections thereon.
smiles from our crusty,h ard-to-pleasee ditors, and is Soliciting specific articles from specific authors
judgedt o be publishable. Now, we like serendipity is the best way for editors to shape editorial
as much as anyone, but it's raret hat an unsolicited content and therebyi mpart a distinctive flavort o a
piece can cut the mustard. Most editors, myself magazine. Occasionally,h owever,w e ask an author
included, would prefert o see a one- or two-paragraph to write on a topic of his or her own choosing. For
query or article proposala s the initial step of the instance, we extended an open invitation to
submission process. That way,w e can offere ditorial Samuel Noah Kramer,t he great expert on the
advice and guidance from the outset--a procedure civilization of the Sumerians. ProfessorK ramer
that saves time and energy for authors and editors accepted graciously, and we will feature his
alike. (A few years ago I approacheda nother contribution, "The WeepingG oddess: Sumerian
magazine with the idea of doing a piece for them on Prototypes of the Mater Dolorosa," in our next issue.
Marco Polo's experiences in the Near East. It The featuredc over story in this issue is a
turned out that they had in their files a manuscript, fascinating article by Stevan Davies, entitled
slated for eventual publication, on that very topic. "Thomas-The Fourth Synoptic Gospel" (page6 ).
By querying in advance,I avoideda n enormous The piece is an enticing preview of the author's
amount of wasted effort, not to mention the book, The Gospel of Thomas and Christian
inevitable rejection slip.) Wisdom, which will be published by Seaburyl ater
Often, we at BA invite an author to write an this year.B ehind the present article, however,l ies
article on a specific subject. This was the case with the interesting story of how Steve Davies' byline
F E. Peters's plendid essay in the currenti ssue, came to appeari n BA.
"Hellenism and the Near East."P eters is a well- Last spring, the incoming editors- EricM eyers
known, supremely articulate authority on both of Duke University, Associate EditorJ amesF lana-
Hellenism and the broads weep of Near Eastern gan of the University of Montana, Book Review
history,a nd one would be hard pressed to think of a EditorP eterM achinist of the University of
more apt candidate to execute such a piece. Arizona, and myself-resolved to allot more space
Moreover,w e were looking not for a comprehen- than had been customary to the fields of New
sive analysis of Hellenism- no one can pull that off Testament and early Christianity.N one of us being a
in 15-20 typewritten pages-but for an impression- specialist in those areas,I wrote to Elaine Pagels,
istic overview that would convey the gist, the author of The Gnostic Gospels and now on the
texture, of Hellenism in the Near East. With that faculty at Princeton, asking her to recommend
addedc riterion in mind, BA EditorE ric Meyers scholars of New Testament and early Christianity
and I felt all the more strongly that Peters, whom we might contact for articles. I stressed that
who teaches at New YorkU niversity,w as the best- we wanted reliable authorities who could write for
qualified person for the task. an audience of educated nonspecialists. Elaine got
When we say,t hen, that his manuscript actually back to me with a nicely annotated list of potential
exceeded our expectations, we hope our readers authors that included one StevanD avies of College
will appreciatet he magnitude of the compliment Misericordia in Dallas, Pennsylvania. I had never
being offered.P eters'e ssay,w hich begins on page 33, heard of Davies but I had heard of Misericordia
is an absorbing,c hallenging, intellectually intoxicat- - one of my closest friends is a proud alumna. I
ing journey across centuries of Near Eastern made a mental note to find out more about the
history. Those who are looking for an expanded fellow from Ann's alma mater, and tucked Elaine's
4 BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983
letter into a file folder.
Some weeks later, Eric Meyers and I were
chatting in his office. He mentioned that he'd met Biblical (.
some of the young college teachers who had come to
Durham to participate in a National Endowment Archaeologist
for the Humanities summer seminar conducted by
W D. Davies, Duke's outstanding scholar of Editor
Christian origins. One of them, it seems, hailed Eric M. Meyers
from a school called Misericordia.I mmediately I Managing Editor
BarryH oberman
dug out Elaine's list. Wash is name StevanD avies, by
Associate Editor
any chance? It was, and within a few hours Eric JamesW Flanagan
and I were eagerly discussing article ideas with the Book Review Editor
younger Dr. Davies (no relation to his eminent Peter B. Machinist
seminar leader). Editorial Committee
That afternoon, we learned that Steve was a CaroleF ontaine
VolkmarF ritz
Temple Ph.D. who had graduatedf rom Duke in 1970
(which meant that he, Eric, and I had all been in DLaavwidr eMnc. eTG .u Gnner aty
Durham for the 1969-70 academic year,w hen Steve A. T Kraabel
was a senior, Eric a first-yearf aculty member, and I BaruchA . Levine
a lowly freshman).H is first book, The Revolt of the Carol L. Meyers
Widows: The Social Worldo f the ApocryphalA cts, John Wilkinson
Art Director
had been published by Southern Illinois University SusanL eeb
Press in 1980; he had just sent the manuscript on
Editorial Assistants
the Gospel of Thomas off to Seabury The more we Amy-Jill Levine
talked with Steve, the more anxious we were to JayG eller
have him write for BA. Befores ummer's end and his KarenS . Hoglund
return to College Misericordia,h e hand-delivered Subscriptions Manager
to us the manuscript of his article. In it, he further BarbarGa . Smiley
develops theories advancedb y Helmut Koestera nd Staff Assistants
KarenW Reeves
others, arguingp ersuasively that the Coptic Gospel LeslieE . Sladky
of Thomas ranks alongside Matthew, Mark, and Gay C. Trotter
Luke as a source of information on the life and AdvertisingS ales
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Doubting Thomases Allen E. Shubert Company
may dispute Steve'sc onclusions-he asks that 198 Allendale Road
skeptical scholars readh is forthcoming book King of Prussia, PA 19406
beforef raming a detailed rebuttal-but there is no 215-265-0648
doubt that his voice will be an important and Biblical Archaeologist is published quarterly (Winter,
Spring, Summer, Fall) by the American Schools of
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BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983 5
THOMAS
The Fourth Synoptic Gospel
The Coptic Gospel of
Thomas ranks alongside
Matthew, Mark, and
Luke of in-
as a source
formation the life and
on
teachings of Jesus.
by StevanD avies
The Source
Most of thec riticasl chol- miracles-just "Jesuss aid,...," "Jesus but entirely independent sayings
ars in the New Testa- said,...," "Jesuss aid,...."A lthough collection. Still, one of the reasons
ment field believe that there are still New Testament schol- for the importance of Thomas is
Matthew and Luke ars who for various reasons do not the fact that it providess uch strong
independently used a collection of accept the Q hypothesis, the main indirect corroborativee vidence that
Jesus'ss ayings in their revisions of objection in earlier decades was Q existed. It certainly shows that
Mark'sg ospel. The simplest defi- that no Q document had ever been written collections of the sayings
nition of this collection is that it found. Indeed, no document from of Jesus circulated in the early
comprises those sayings which early Christianity even resembling church.
occur in both Matthew and Luke, Q had ever been found.
but not in Mark. This common In 1945, a document very much Not EverythingN ew Is Gnostic
sayings source was called (not sur- like the hypothesized Q document The Gospel of Thomas has a great
prisingly) "source"b y German was discovered.I t bore the title "The many significant things to teach
scholars or, in German, "Quelle," Gospel of Thomas," and was a us about the origins of Christianity,
hence the abbreviationQ . Q was series of sayings attributedt o Jesus but beforet hese can be discussed
thought to be a document, since without narrative,w ithout a pas- seriously one prevalentm iscon-
lost, which simply preserved sion or birth story,w ithout accounts ception must be laid aside. The
sayings of Jesus (or,m ore precisely, of miracles; a series of 114 sayings Gospel of Thomas is quite fre-
sayings attributed to Jesus)w ith- introduced,f or the most part, by the quently said to be a gnostic docu-
out narrative,w ithout a passion or a phrase, "Jesuss aid...."T his Gospel ment. But the Gospel of Thomas is
birth story,w ithout accounts of of Thomas is not Q; it is a similar not a gnostic document.
6 BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983
The Nag Hammadi Librarya ssembled.
Codex II, containing the Gospel of Thomas,
lies atop the center,r ears tack of codices.
Photo by lean Doresse, courtesy of the
Institute for Antiquity and Christianity,
Claremont,C alifornia.
The fundamental reason that Into the lower world comes a been read as gnostic and was found
Thomas is thought to be gnostic is divine revealerw ho leads the way in a predominantly gnostic collec-
that it was discovereda s part of the through spheres of evil "archons" tion of texts, it is, therefore, a
Nag Hammadi find, a collection of back towardsG od. There are in gnostic text.
Coptic* texts buried in the late gnostic literaturee ndless variations These contentions are, when
fourth century,a ll of which are upon this myth, with wild and often presented so abruptly,r ather obvi-
thought to be translations of Greek incomprehensible generations of ously fallacious. Certainly Thomas
originals. The greatmajority of the queerly named divine and demonic can be read as a gnostic text, but so
texts found in 1945 at Nag Ham- beings multiplied endlessly. can any religious literature if you
madi, over 50 in all, fall into the The Gospel of Thomas has none tacitly assume beforehandt hat it
very general "gnostic" category.T hey of this. It lacks even an echo of this is "gnostic."G nostic exegetical texts
restate or presupposea myth of the mythology. Unfortunately, because (both those long known and those
fall of the divine sophia, "Wisdom" Thomas was found along with newly discovered)c over the rangeo f
(or,r arely,l ogos, "Word")a, nd the many gnostic texts, the assumption scripture from Genesis to the
subsequent entrapment of sophia in was made that it too must be Psalms to Homer, from the Synop-
a demonically createdl ower world. gnostic-for surely gnostics would tics to John to the letters of Paul.
Some, perhaps all, humans are have read it in a gnostic fashion. Irenaeus and Origen (to give but two
thought to be elements of a higher Books have been written to argue examples) complained repeatedly
world, a divine world, trappedb elow. that since Thomas could have about the use of canonical texts by
* Coptic is a late stage of the ancient Egyptian language, written, however, with a modified form of the Greek alphabet. Although no speakers of Coptic remain, it is
still used as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.
BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983 7
IPMA..M, ?i
.. . . i.. f lh.i religious excellence. Is "know thy-
self" ipso facto gnostic? Of course
All T's not. If Thomas's occasional devalu-
ZT-11
ation of the body in respect to the
W4 WR L li .... soul is gnostic, then Paul's thought
is even more so.
's OIL
kAi Occasionally it is arguedt hat
certain terms are inherently gnostic,
the two most commonly men-
tioned being "light" and "rest."B oth
of these terms occur with positive
connotations in Thomas, just as
they do throughout the New Testa-
ment. Johne quates Jesus with light
V;
(1:1-5) as does Thomas 77; Hebrews
4:1-11 regards" rest"a s the goal of
Christians in a more pronounced
l way than Thomas ever does. There
is a host of specialized words
found only in gnostic texts, as a
!:o Fift *moo ?W glance through the Nag Hammadi
`fM. W,, Q/ ltihbersaer eyvw eirll o cshcuorws, i bnu Tt nhootm oanse. of
w kf All"e Thomas uses words current through-
. ......... out the ancient world with conno-
24 tations not far removedf rom those
V. Or A: that obtain in a variety of New
f v Testament documents.
Thomas, then, is not gnostic.
W -Q, x 1. Aft It is arguablyl ess gnostic than the
5:5: C Gospel of John or Colossians,
although it is admittedly hazardous
to try to measure documents with
such an ephemeral yardstick.
!!:5-
Thomas is a quite ancient Christian
rk, Jil
collection of sayings attributed to
AL AM, Jesus. Some are his, some are not.
Some of those that are not his, do
sound rathero dd-but oddness is
No not gnosticism (although, goodness
knows, most of gnosticism is odd).
The openingp age of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. Photo courtesy of the Institute forA ntiquity
and Christianity Thomas Introduced
What can we know about the
various gnostic groups. The occa- of Thomas itself. Gospel of Thomas? To begin with,
sional gnostic use of the Gospel of Occasionally it is arguedt hat the usual number of sayings
Thomas is no differentt han the Thomas contains themes which accordedt o the text is 114. There
more frequent gnostic use of canoni- are "typically gnostic." The two are, however, quite a few more than
cal texts. most often mentioned are that in that, for sometimes two or three
Guilt by association is probably Thomas (on fewer than four occa- sayings are collected together as
a riskier mode of thought regard- sions), self-knowledge is said to one unit beginning with "Jesus
ing texts than it is regardingp eople. lead to salvation, and that in Thomas said...'."T he numbering system is
Had the Gospel of Matthew been the body is occasionally devalued an arbitrary but necessary conven-
found at Nag Hammadi we would in relation to the soul. Now, leaving tion of modern scholarship. Take,
not, I hope, have proclaimed it to aside the fact that these themes for example, 47:
be gnostic. It is interesting that are hardly predominanti n Thomas, Jesus said (A) "A man cannot
Thomas was found along with a virtually every religiously inclined mount two horses; he cannot
host of texts most of which are, in person in the ancient world would stretch two bows. (B)A servant
fact, gnostic-but that tells us have found those two themes cannot serve two masters;
nothing whatsoever about the origin congenial to, if not definitive of, either he will honor the one and
8 BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST/WINTER 1983