The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation: With a Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel

Description

An enigmatic collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, the 'Gospel of Thomas' 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. In Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas, April DeConick argued that the gospel was a 'rolling corpus,' a book of sayings that grew over time, beginning as a simple written gospel containing oracles of the prophet Jesus. As the community faced various crises and constituency changes, including the delay of the Eschaton and the need to accommodate Gentiles within the group, its traditions were reinterpreted and the sayings in their gospel updated, accommodating the present experiences of the community. 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. Whilst most other translations are of the Coptic text with only occasional reference to the Greek fragment variants, this translation integrates the Greek and offers new solutions to complete the lacunae. A unique feature of this book is that translations to the parallels of the Gospel are also included. This is volume 287 in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement series and is part of the Early Christianity in Context series.

April D. DeConick is an Associate Professor of Religion at Illinois Wesleyan University. She is the author of 'Voices of the Mystics: Early Christian Discourse in the Gospels of John and' Thomas and Other Ancient Christian Literature'.

"DeConick's groundbreaking work should now be the starting point for all future work on the Gospel of Thomas." Birger A. Pearson, University of California, Santa Barbara, Religious Studies Review "The commentary, the bulk of the book, is itself very good. Each section, whether a few lines or a few paragraphs, begins with the authors own translation of the Coptic text...The clearly organized and (graphically) well-laid-out sections help the reader move efficiently to points of interest...Opposing viewpoints are given fair space, responses are made, and conclusions are drawn. Fresh insights regarding translational, interpretive, or text-critical issues are not uncommon...when it comes to writing a critical commentary on Thomas, one cannot hope to master it all. Deconick's book is worth having on the shelf because she comes as close as does anybody." -Nicholas Perrin, Bulletin for Biblical Research, 18. -- Nicholas Perrin "There is a wealth of information in this volume and the standard formatting makes it readily accessible. This is a very helpful discussion which will undoubtedly generate much focused and fruitful investigation of this enigmatic text." -- Paul Foster, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh * Expository Times * 'DeConick's approach is an instance of a relatively new paradigm for assessing intertextual relationships that might help scholars avoid some "dead ends" into which a purely literary paradigm sometimes leads... Her large-scale study of the Gospel of Thomas addresses some very important questions, and it is a particular pleasure to see her interpreting the Gospel of Thomas without the label "gnostic." This commentary on the Gospel of Thomas is a valuable tool with many important observations and easy access to related source material and scholarly discussion. Thus, apart from its standing as a scholarly study, it provides a most convenient starting point for further studies on the Gospel of Thomas. One need not agree with all of DeConick's conclusions, but even a more critical reader will be happy to consult this rich yet concise commentary' Stephan Witetschek, University of Cambridge, UK in RBL 05/2008 -- John Painter * Review of Biblical Literature *