Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and its Growth

Description

This book explores the fascinating and enigmatic collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, the 'Gospel of Thomas' that was discovered in the sands of Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in the 1940's. Since its discovery, scholars and the public alike have been intrigued to know what the Gospel says and what light it sheds on the formation of early Christianity. Here, DeConick provides a new English translation of the entire Gospel of Thomas, which includes the original 'kernel' of the Gospel and all the sayings. A unique feature of this book is that translations to the parallels of the Gospel are also included.

April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University (Houston, Texas). She specializes in early Christian history and theology, noncanonical Gospels, and gnostic and mystical traditions. Her books include Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (1996); Voices of the Mystics: Early Christian Discourse in the Gospels of John and Thomas and Other Ancient Christian Literature (Sheffield Academic, 2001); Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and Its Growth (T. & T. Clark, 2005); and The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation, with Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel (T. & T. Clark, 2006) and The Thirteenth Apostle: what the Gospel of Judas really says (Continuum, 2007). She has also edited the collection of papers, Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (SBL, 2006).

"The value of this work is that it gives a clear presentation of one view of the Gospel of Thomas and its significance." -- Theological Book Review "No-one who wishes to do serious historical work on this gospel will be able to ignore them" ANVIL vol.24 no.4 2007 -- Andrew Gregory "DeConick's book is a new and fresh look at the Gospel of Thomas in light of recent scholarship with regard to oral traditions." -- Christian Marketplace "It's a well-written book...an interesting read for the serious biblical scholar." -- Christian Marketplace 'In welding new theories of orality and community memory to traditional historical criticism, April DeConick has produced a ground-breaking study of the Gospel of Thomas that convincingly overturns much of current scholarship. Rediscovering the Original Gospel of Thomas is the most important book on that gospel to appear in a very long time.' Birger A. Pearson, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. * Blurb from reviewer * "This reveals a Jesus remembered, not just as the author of timeless sayings (as is often thought to be the case both in Thomas and Q), but as a 'prophet-orator', giving warnings and instructions to a Christian community struggling to survive in the turbulent years of the late first century CE" -- Canon Anthony Harvey * Church Times *