Every week, the minister Michel Genton, comments for you, a saying new.
Logia is a term applied to collections of sayings credited to Jesus. The Greek word "logia" means "oracles, divine responses, utterances, or sayings.
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
About the gospel of Thomas
Open letter to certain Christians, amazed, angry, offensive or threatening.
Since I began to give a comment of the gospel of Thomas , I received any sorts of e-mails. That goes of the surprise to the insult.
I am anxious to clarify any things.
There are many Apocryphal papers. Apocryphal book not meaning doubtful, " but hidden ".
Many of these Apocryphal texts are false. But some are authentic. What persuades me that gospel of Thomas is authentic, it is its contents. But my sentence has value only for me. What urged me to share this conviction with those who indeed want to pass of time on revelationbible.com, it is that Paul quotes Thomas in his letter to the Corinthians.
1 cor 2/9
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. "
Logion 17. (of Thomas).
Jesus said,
"I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart."
Isaiah 64/3 says a thing which looks like a little it:
"When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence."
Paul does not quote the word for word, either of Isaiah, or Thomas.
But who does he quote? It seems to me that the words are more moved closer to those whom Thomas employs.
Some people will say that Luc quotes texts which are profane in his Book of the Acts of the apostles and that it does not make them holy. Acts 17/28.
It's true.It is not because Paul quotes gospel of Thomas that this gospel is also divine as four, which belong to the Biblical cannon.
Then, why I continue to comment on this hidden apocryphal writing?
1 °. Because this book says nothing which is against the Holy Scriptures
2 °. Because I have the right of it in this country of freedom
3 ° Because I have it enough to see this gospel got back by the gnostics.
4 ° Because the Christians, and in particular the evangelic Christians, always belong to the last ones as regards the discoveries. For example, you can find the papers inter testamentary of the Dead Sea in one of their bookshops? No. (There are even ministers who ignore their existence)
5 ° Because we live in a period when the knowledge increases and when I wish in no way to commit an intellectual suicide, or to hide what I discovered to those who look.
6 ° Because I am not afraid of announcing the another gospel. Because " gospel of Thomas " is not a new gospel!
Read, please, it!
Paul said;
" As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Gal 1/9
Know that the word gospel does not appoint four gospel of the Bible; it means: " good news ".
Paul announced Jesus Christ in perfect agreement with this good news announced by the other apostles. He said: " according to my gospel ". Rom 2/16.
( We could then say that there are 5 gospel: that of Matthieu, that of Marc, that of Luc, that of Jean and that of Paul. )
A gospel is not a book.
There is only a gospel, that is a good news. The one that Jesus Christ came to announce and to live.
There are not four gospel.
There are several persons who wrote texts speaking about this good news.
Four of these writings were retained by the religious experts and deposited in a book which we call: the Holy Bible.
It is the writings of Matthieu, Marc, Luc and Jean that tell in detail the life of Jesus. gospel of Paul, (Rom 2/16) for example, is deposited in letters which it sent to various churches as those of Rome, Corinth etc... We have these texts in our Bibles)
Nobody can say with certainties if four persons who wrote what we call four Gospel, are indeed the authors of these four writings.
The Christian tradition accept them because they perform various criteria and all came to an agreement to accept them as "been inspired" And it is very well so. Furthermore, put in the test of our faith in action by the obedience of what they teach, we notice that they are inspired by God.
Now, Thomas does not announce another gospel. Show me that Thomas announces a good news different from the one that we find in The whole Bible.
I am going to go up to the end of my thought. If you wrote a book which does not contradict the good news of Jesus Christ the only Son of God, I shall allow to make him known and to make it comments if need. Then, why I shall not make it for this writing awarded to Thomas?
A little of history.
Paul quotes Thomas in his letter to the Corinthians in the year 55 AD. It means that this Thomas's writing dated front 55.
Four gospel which we have in the Bible were written in the neighborhood of 80 - 100 AD. Thus, Paul quoted what he could quote. He could not quote one of our four gospel, for the simple reason that they did not still exist.
It is necessary to know that from the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ, it skipped in her of people who propagated opposite doctrines in the gospel (in the good news)) of Jesus. Paul writing his letters, fight ceaselessly against these people who try to deceive the ewes of the Lord.
There was only gospel of Thomas in this period. And these people used this writing the sense of which they deformed. As they also deformed the meaning of Paul's writings. 2 Pierre 3/16.
Matthieu, Marc, Luc and Jean wrote later their gospel and the gnostics did not accept them. They do not still accept them. But it does not return the gospel of doubtful Thomas. Everybody Christian used this gospel and Paul quoted it.
When the religious dignitaries adduced to classify definitively the business by choosing what we call the old and the New Testament, they rejected many books on which the first Christians were inspired. For example, they rejected the Book of Hénoch which Jude quotes nevertheless in his epistle. Jude 14 and 15. Jude was only taking back the text which Hénoch, the seventh since Adam, had written in its book in the chapter 1 verse 9.
It means well that Jude was in ownership of this Book of Hénoch.
According to you, was Jude careless to quote the Book of Hénoch or did he believe in the inspiration of this Book?
These things are in " The mystery of Lamb Lore revealed ", deliver that I wrote between the year 2000 and 2001.
I do not feel guilty of giving a comment of Thomas's Book.
I do not feel guilty either of quoting in my book "Oracle", in my sermons and in my private conversations, people who said or made formidable things. They are not maybe "saints" as you understand it, but, they said and makes things which are not opposite in the spirit of the love of Jesus for people.
If you do not believe in my spiritual honesty, believe at least because of the works that the Lord makes through this ministry.
For those who advance a revelation which would have been given to them, that the gospel of Thomas is only some fertilizer, I answer them energetically that their revelation impress me so much that the threats which they utter on my subject. I take into account only what results from the love shown tactfully and not of this so-called love which allows to be impolite and threatening.
Blessed Jesus, He does not curse. He told us not to judge. If you are of those who judge me, offend me and reject me, I forgive you and pray for you, because you need to know, a little less the doctrine and the false prophecy of lounge, but the person of Jesus Christ the Rescuer and Lord. Of the bottom of my heart I pray that God blesses you and makes you a little more humble.