WEBVTT

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Prof: One of the themes
of the course,

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maybe the main theme of the
course is the diversities of

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early Christianity.

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In fact, a lot of scholars like
to talk about not

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"Christianity"
in the first one hundred years

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but "Christianities."

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This is one of the themes also
of Bart Ehrman's textbook,

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so you should have picked up on
this.

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There's lot of different kinds
of Christianity and we're going

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to talk about those kinds.

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Today, we get to one of the
most interesting differences to

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most people, because most modern
people are not at all familiar

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with the Gospel of Thomas.

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The Gospel of Thomas is not in
our canon for several reasons,

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but we can talk about that at
some point at the end of the

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lecture if you want to know.

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The Gospel of Thomas has become
very famous,

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though, in the last part of the
twentieth century because it was

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rediscovered and published and
created something of a

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sensation.

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According to the tradition,
according to the Gospel of

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Thomas, Jesus had a twin brother
and his name was Didymus Judas

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Thomas.

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Now Didymus is simply
the Greek word for

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"twin,"
it's also used as the Greek

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word for "testicles"
for obvious reasons;

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there are usually two of them.

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Didymus is the Greek
word for "twin"

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and Thomas is from a
Semitic word,

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either Hebrew or Aramaic,
or Syriac,

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which are all three similar
languages,

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"Thomas"
would look like in

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"twin"
in those.

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The guy's name is Judas,
the Hebrew version would be

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Judah,
the Greek word would be Judas,

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and the English version is
Jude,

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so you sometimes see it in
English translations Didymus

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Jude Thomas but it's the same
word,

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Judah or Judas.

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His real name is Judah or Judas
and Didymus, and Thomas are his

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nicknames, one Greek and one
Semitic or Aramaic.

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He was the twin brother of
Jesus, according to early

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Christian tradition,
now just one strand of early

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Christian tradition that is
Thomasine Christianity,

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the forms of Christianity,
popular especially in Syria and

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the east which traced their
existence back to the Apostle

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Thomas.

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There really was an Apostle
Thomas among the 12 of Jesus'

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disciples and having the
nickname "twin."

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Traditional orthodox Christians
don't believe he was Jesus' twin

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brother,
they just believe that he had

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the nickname twin because he was
somebody else's twin brother.

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But in Thomasine Christianity
he was connected to Jesus

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himself as Jesus' twin.

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According to some forms of
eastern Christianity therefore,

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especially the early forms in
Syria,

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Mesopotamia,
and India--and yes there was

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very,
very early forms of

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Christianity in the west coast
of India.

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And if you meet an Indian
person who's from that part of

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India and who considers
themselves Christian,

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and they've been Christian for
generations they will tell you,

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yes, Thomas was the apostle who
brought the Gospel to India the

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first time.

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There are ancient traditions
about this and modern Indian

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Christians still trace their
church back to the Apostle

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Thomas.

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There are all kinds of Thomas
literature from the ancient

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world.

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It's not all alike,
it doesn't all represent one

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kind of Christianity or one
church, or even one region.

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Besides the Gospel of Thomas we
know of the infancy Gospel of

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Thomas,
this is a wonderful documentary

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if you took my historical Jesus
class you get to read the

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fragments of the infancy Gospel
of Thomas that we still have.

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It shows Jesus--everybody
wonders, well what was Jesus

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like as a kid?

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What games did he play?

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Did he play cops and robbers?

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Did he play with dolls?

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What did Jesus do as a kid?

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Well Thomas tells you,
it tells you for example,

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that he made a bunch of clay
pigeons,

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and when this Jew--it's kind of
anti-Jewish document,

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this Jew comes up and says,
you're not supposed to be doing

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that on the Sabbath,
so Jesus claps his hands and

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the pigeons all fly off,
the clay pigeons fly off.

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Or when one of his buddies
get--when he gets mad at one of

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his buddies so he strikes the
kid dead and then has to raise

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the kid up again.

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When one of his teachers
criticizes him,

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he says, what do you know you
bimbo?

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And strikes the teacher dumb
and blind or something.

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Jesus as a little kid in the
infancy Gospel of Thomas,

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is kind of a little rat but
that's the way people imagined

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him as a child.

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There's the Infancy Gospel of
Thomas, there's the Acts of

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Thomas which are very
interesting.

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Thomas comes across as very
anti-marriage,

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anti-family,
there's the Hymn of the Pearl

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or the Hymn,
as it's also called,

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the Hymn of Jude Thomas the
Apostle in the Country of the

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Indians;
same document.

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We tend to call it the Hymn of
the Pearl.

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There's the Book of Thomas the
Contender Writing to the

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Perfect.

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So all of these different texts
sprang up in early Christianity,

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most of them in the second
century.

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The second century was a time
of a lot of Christian literature

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arising in different places that
didn't make it into the Bible.

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Before the discovery though of
the Nag Hammadi codices,

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and you probably already know
how to spell Nag Hammadi because

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you've seen it in your textbook;
it's just the name of a village

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in modern Egypt.

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I don't remember how many i's,
and d's, and m's and d's it has

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but it's something like that.

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Is that right?

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Dylan, who is one of our
teaching assistants,

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he's an expert on all this
stuff, so he can correct me.

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Nag Hammadi is a village in
Egypt, and in 1945,

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while they were digging for
some clay and that sort of

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thing,
an Egyptian peasant found

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thirteen large books.

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Remember, the word codex or
codices I've talked about in one

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of the early lectures means the
kind of book that has the--

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has pages and sewn up on one
side to distinguish it from a

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book that's in a scroll form.

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By this time,
he found these books,

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they had been buried there
probably sometime in the fourth

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century,
so in the 300s,

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and they had probably been
hidden there because that's

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about the time that certain
forms of Christianity were being

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outlawed and declared heretical.

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There are thirteen of these big
books,

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and its right along the Nile
River,

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and we call these the Nag
Hammadi Library or the Nag

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Hammadi Corpus,
the Nag Hammadi Text,

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and that's just because the
modern village near where they

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were found is Nag Hammadi.

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Before this 1945 discovery,
and the Gospel of Thomas is one

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of many, many different texts
that were discovered in this

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library material.

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Before this,
we knew that there was a Gospel

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of Thomas because early
Christian writers would talk

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about it, usually to condemn it.

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We had a few papyrus fragments,
three papyrus fragments,

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that had Greek versions of just
parts of the Gospel of Thomas,

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just pieces of it from
Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.

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The Nag Hammadi discovery was
really very,

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very exciting because it
greatly increased our knowledge

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of some forms of Christianity
that the only thing we had known

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about them was by orthodox
writers condemning it.

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When one kind of writer is
condemning another bunch of

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people you can't necessarily
trust what they say.

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Orthodox writers,
for example,

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claim that Gnostics,
who they took to be these

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heretics that we--
we talk about Gnosticism in

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this lecture,
they said they have these wild

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sex orgies,
and they drink blood,

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and they have cannibalism.

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Regular Christians were accused
by their enemies of doing

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precisely the same thing.

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We don't believe everything,
but when we found these Nag

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Hammadi texts,
we had sort of firsthand text

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from these people who understood
Christianity differently then

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what would come to be orthodox
Christianity.

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Now the modern study of
Gnosticism,

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therefore, has been completely
revolutionized by this study

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because it brought to light a
complete version of the Gospel

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of Thomas,
although it was a Coptic

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translation of the Greek.

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It was originally written in
Greek, translated into Coptic

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which is an ancient Egyptian
language.

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It also brought to light all
these other texts,

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not all by the same people,
not all reflecting the same

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views.

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Some of them,
for example,

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are just pieces of Plato,
or parts of the Bible,

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and that sort of thing.

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These texts,
the texts we actually have,

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the Nag Hammadi codices,
were written around the time

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350.

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And we know this because the
cardboard that was used to bind

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these things was made out of
papyrus fragments and paper

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fragments, they were older.

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So by dating some of the pieces
of paper that were used to make

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the cardboard that bound these
things,

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we can tell when at least these
books were put together.

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We think that a lot of these
texts were actually written in

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the second century,
and the Gospel of Thomas most

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scholars would say is written
before the year 200.

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Some scholars believe that the
Gospel of Thomas goes all the

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way back to the first century
and may even be as early as Mark

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or Q or even earlier.

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I think probably the majority
of scholars don't believe that.

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I think the majority of us
believe that the Gospel of

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Thomas was probably first
written in Greek in the first

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half of the second century,
so between 100 and 150,

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but we don't really know.

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It's just a complete guess.

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Some of the sayings in the
Gospel of Thomas look actually

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older.

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Bart Ehrman talks about why you
would think a certain--a saying

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in one form might be older then
a saying in another form.

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That's debatable but some of
us, if we just compare the

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sayings side by side,
those in the Gospel of Thomas

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to some people would say,
well this actually looks like

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an older version of this saying
of Jesus,

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or an older version of a
parable of Jesus that we find in

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Matthew or Mark.

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And so some people have said,
even if the Gospel of Thomas

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itself comes from the second
century it may well contain what

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are more ancient versions of
sayings of Jesus.

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This is why when people do
historical Jesus research,

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that is, trying to figure out
from the multiple gospels that

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we have,
what did the historical Jesus

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really say and really do,
historically determined,

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people will use the Gospel of
Thomas sometimes to say,

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well this is actually more
likely what Jesus actually--

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close to what Jesus actually
said and the canonical gospel

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writers have edited it up a bit.

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It's very debatable about that
but that's part of the value of

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the Gospel of Thomas is that for
a lot of scholars we believe it

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takes us back at least close to
the time of Jesus in some of its

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sayings,
but necessarily in all of its

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sayings.

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There are 114 sayings,
as you by now know,

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in the Gospel of Thomas,
and as I said last time,

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scholars like to use two-bit
words when one-bit words would

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do just as well.

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Instead of calling these
sayings you will often see them

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called logia,
that's the plural,

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logion is the singular.

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Logion is just Greek for
a saying, so logia is

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just Greek for sayings.

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So often in scholarship and
your textbooks sometimes it'll

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say "logion 114 from the
Gospel of Thomas,"

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and that just means
"saying 114."

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There are 114 of them,
and in fact,

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they're introduced--the gospel
is introduced by just the words,

11:17.769 --> 11:19.779
"These are the
obscure"

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or "the hidden sayings
that the living Jesus uttered

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and which Didymus Jude Thomas
wrote down."

11:26.519 --> 11:29.549
It gives you sort of this
little title right there at the

11:29.549 --> 11:30.199
beginning.

11:30.200 --> 11:32.780
Notice, there's no passion
there, there's no description of

11:32.779 --> 11:35.219
the death of Jesus,
there's no resurrection,

11:35.215 --> 11:38.725
and actually most people think
that Jesus speaks as if he's

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already been resurrected.

11:40.428 --> 11:43.508
Does this author intend us to
think that this is the

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post-resurrection Jesus or did
he just assume that even before

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his death Jesus just talks this
way?

11:49.610 --> 11:52.070
You have to use your
imagination because the author

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doesn't really tell us much.

11:53.548 --> 11:55.778
Now comparisons with other
gospels;

11:55.779 --> 11:58.159
get out your text,
your Gospel of Thomas and read

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with me through some of these
things.

12:00.090 --> 12:03.120
Look at logion 9,
this is the parable of the

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sower:
Jesus said, "Listen,

12:05.491 --> 12:07.861
a sower came forth,
took a handful,

12:07.863 --> 12:08.703
and cast.

12:08.700 --> 12:12.090
Now some fell upon the pathway
and the birds came and picked

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them out.

12:12.720 --> 12:16.110
Others fell on a rock but they
did not root in the soil and did

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not send up ears.

12:17.149 --> 12:20.109
Others fell upon the thorns,
and they choked the seed;

12:20.110 --> 12:21.510
and the grubs devoured them.

12:21.509 --> 12:24.499
And others fell upon good soil,
and it sent up good crops and

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yielded sixty per measure and a
hundred and twenty per measure.

12:27.750 --> 12:31.880
That's actually an example of
when you have a saying that

12:31.876 --> 12:35.716
sounds more primitive,
perhaps, in this gospel because

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notice how that saying is
shorter and a bit simpler then

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the same parable would be in
either Matthew or Luke,

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an example of why some people
say well maybe it's more

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primitive.

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That one sounds very,
very much like what you've got

12:48.408 --> 12:51.508
already in the canonical Gospels
so it should sound familiar to

12:51.509 --> 12:51.909
you.

12:51.908 --> 12:54.028
Look at number eight right
above that:

12:54.029 --> 12:57.269
What human beings resemble is
an intelligent fisherman,

12:57.269 --> 13:00.749
who having cast his net into
the sea, pulled up the net out

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of the sea full of little fish.

13:02.850 --> 13:06.080
The intelligent fisherman,
upon finding among them a fine

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large fish,
threw all the little fish back

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into the sea,
choosing without any effort the

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big fish.

13:10.558 --> 13:12.868
Whoever has ears to hear should
listen!

13:12.870 --> 13:14.920
Now this translation,
I'm reading from Bentley

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Layton's translation,
he's a professor in our

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department,
he's very famous as one of the

13:19.556 --> 13:22.826
top Coptologists in the world,
and so I'm using his

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translation of this.

13:23.970 --> 13:28.060
But that "whoever has ears
to hear should listen!"

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even though the translation
makes it sound slightly

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different that's just exactly
the same thing as you see in the

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Gospels,
"Let him who have ears to

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hear, hear."

13:34.710 --> 13:37.760
Layton just decided to
translate it in a big more

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colloquial English version.

13:39.610 --> 13:42.470
That's just like what you
would, practically,

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in the other Gospels.

13:43.970 --> 13:51.850
Look in 30, saying 30:
Jesus said, "Where there

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are three divine beings they are
divine.

13:54.639 --> 13:57.939
Where there are two or one,
I myself dwell with that

13:57.938 --> 13:58.908
person."

13:58.908 --> 14:02.828
That sounds a bit more odd,
doesn't it?

14:02.830 --> 14:05.290
It sounds a bit like a saying
of Jesus in the Gospels that

14:05.293 --> 14:07.113
says,
"Wherever two or three are

14:07.105 --> 14:09.795
gathered together I am there in
the midst of them."

14:09.798 --> 14:12.408
What is this about divine
beings?

14:12.408 --> 14:14.998
"Where there are three
divine beings they are divine.

14:15.000 --> 14:17.740
Where there are two or one,
I myself dwell with that

14:17.743 --> 14:18.553
person."

14:18.549 --> 14:20.889
It's a puzzle.

14:20.889 --> 14:24.669
You can tell how it's similar
but not exactly like the

14:24.673 --> 14:26.033
synoptic Gospels.

14:26.029 --> 14:30.019
Look at saying 48:
Jesus said, "If two make

14:30.018 --> 14:32.768
peace with one another within a
single house,

14:32.769 --> 14:35.809
they will say to a mountain,
'go elsewhere,' and it will go

14:35.807 --> 14:36.747
elsewhere."

14:36.750 --> 14:41.200
Does anybody remember what the
synoptic version of that saying

14:41.198 --> 14:41.708
says?

14:41.710 --> 14:45.150
Anybody know your Bible well
enough?

14:45.149 --> 14:46.749
Yes sir.

14:46.750 --> 14:49.710
Student:
>

14:49.710 --> 14:50.480
Prof: That's right.

14:50.480 --> 14:53.330
If you have faith the size of a
mustard seed you can tell a

14:53.327 --> 14:55.337
mountain to remove itself and
it'll go.

14:55.340 --> 14:58.480
It's--in this thing about two
making peace,

14:58.476 --> 15:03.026
again with one another within a
house, so it's the peacemaking

15:03.033 --> 15:05.503
that seems to give the power.

15:05.500 --> 15:08.650
Look at 86:

15:08.649 --> 15:16.749


15:16.750 --> 15:20.620
Jesus said, "Foxes have
their dens and birds have their

15:20.615 --> 15:21.135
nests.

15:21.139 --> 15:25.169
But the son of man has nowhere
to lay his head and gain

15:25.169 --> 15:26.289
repose."

15:26.289 --> 15:28.229
Now that sounds funny.

15:28.230 --> 15:31.390
Up until the last couple of
words it sounded just like the

15:31.390 --> 15:34.560
synoptic Gospels but this--
at least Layton has translated

15:34.562 --> 15:37.012
it doesn't just say "and
get rest"--

15:37.009 --> 15:38.549
"lay his head and
rest."

15:38.548 --> 15:42.368
Professor Layton has for some
reason translated to sound a bit

15:42.368 --> 15:44.558
odd: "and gain
repose."

15:44.558 --> 15:48.468
I think what that means is he's
trying to signal that these last

15:48.471 --> 15:52.071
two words have some kind of
special meaning for this author

15:52.073 --> 15:53.133
in this text.

15:53.129 --> 15:55.069
What kind of special meaning
would that be?

15:55.070 --> 15:58.310
Then 113, these are just
examples of sayings that look

15:58.307 --> 16:01.547
very much like what we already
have seen in the Bible,

16:01.547 --> 16:03.947
"
His disciples said to him,

16:03.947 --> 16:07.067
"When is the kingdom going
to come?"

16:07.070 --> 16:09.880
[Now we've got this in Gospels
also in the Bible]

16:09.879 --> 16:13.219
Jesus said, "It is not by
being waited for that it is

16:13.216 --> 16:14.266
going to come.

16:14.269 --> 16:16.189
They are not going to say,
"Here it is,"

16:16.192 --> 16:17.332
or "There it is."

16:17.330 --> 16:20.120
Rather, the kingdom of the
Father is spread out over the

16:20.123 --> 16:21.803
earth and people do not see it.

16:21.798 --> 16:26.998
This is not the kingdom coming
in the future as we've seen it

16:27.004 --> 16:28.344
in Mark,
and Matthew,

16:28.344 --> 16:30.304
and Luke, this is the kingdom
is already here on the earth,

16:30.298 --> 16:33.558
and if you don't know that it's
just because you aren't

16:33.562 --> 16:34.592
recognizing it.

16:34.590 --> 16:38.250
There are really interesting
peculiarities of the Gospel of

16:38.249 --> 16:40.899
Thomas, and let's look at some
of those.

16:40.899 --> 16:44.529
First look at 13,
these are some sayings that

16:44.533 --> 16:46.353
look more odd to us.

16:46.350 --> 16:49.140
Jesus said to his disciples,
"Compare me to something

16:49.144 --> 16:50.914
and tell me what I
resemble."

16:50.908 --> 16:55.018
[This is starting off sounding
like what we've seen already.]

16:55.024 --> 16:58.254
Simon Peter said,
"A just angel is whom you

16:58.246 --> 16:59.546
resemble."

16:59.548 --> 17:01.818
Matthew said to him,
"An intelligent

17:01.821 --> 17:04.151
philosopher is what you
resemble."

17:04.150 --> 17:05.800
Thomas said to him,
"Teacher,

17:05.803 --> 17:08.963
my mouth utterly will not let
me say what you resemble."

17:08.960 --> 17:12.480
Jesus said "I am not your
teacher, for you ..."

17:12.480 --> 17:15.320
Now notice Layton's letting you
know--are you using the same

17:15.316 --> 17:16.466
translation that I am?

17:16.470 --> 17:18.130
That's right,
I thought I gave you the same

17:18.134 --> 17:18.694
translation.

17:18.690 --> 17:20.680
Layton let's you know,
because you can't tell in

17:20.682 --> 17:22.552
English whether that "your
teacher"

17:22.548 --> 17:24.798
is singular "you"
or plural "you,"

17:24.797 --> 17:26.957
and he tells you it's singular
in the Coptic.

17:26.960 --> 17:28.600
"'I am not your
teacher,'"

17:28.596 --> 17:31.216
so Jesus is directing this not
to all the apostles but to

17:31.215 --> 17:32.895
Thomas in particular right here.

17:32.900 --> 17:35.690
"For you have drunk and
become intoxicated from the

17:35.685 --> 17:38.925
bubbling wellspring that I have
personally measured out."

17:38.930 --> 17:41.190
[Well what the hell does that
mean?]

17:41.185 --> 17:43.375
He took him,
[that is took Thomas,]

17:43.377 --> 17:46.147
withdrew, and said three things
to him.

17:46.150 --> 17:48.570
Now when Thomas came to his
companions they asked him,

17:48.566 --> 17:50.386
"What did Jesus say to
you?"

17:50.390 --> 17:53.600
Thomas said to them,
"If I say to you [plural]

17:53.601 --> 17:56.171
one of the things that he said
to me,

17:56.170 --> 17:58.640
you will take stones and stone
me, and fire will come out of

17:58.643 --> 17:59.863
the stones and burn you up.

17:59.858 --> 18:05.498
Sort of an ancient version of
I'd tell you but then I'd have

18:05.500 --> 18:06.840
to kill you.

18:06.839 --> 18:13.739
Look at 29:
Jesus said, "It is amazing

18:13.740 --> 18:17.310
if it was for the spirit that
flesh came into existence.

18:17.308 --> 18:20.658
And it is amazing indeed if
spirit (came into existence) for

18:20.662 --> 18:21.972
the sake of the body.

18:21.970 --> 18:26.030
But as for me I am amazed at
how this great wealth has come

18:26.028 --> 18:28.338
to dwell in this poverty."

18:28.339 --> 18:30.279
What does that mean?

18:30.279 --> 18:31.939
Look at the very last saying.

18:31.940 --> 18:34.040
I hope some of you noticed this
when you were reading over this

18:34.042 --> 18:34.962
before you came to class.

18:34.960 --> 18:37.780
Simon Peter said to them,
"Mary should leave

18:37.779 --> 18:40.889
us," [he's talking about
Mary Magdalene probably]

18:40.894 --> 18:43.544
for females are not worthy of
life."

18:43.538 --> 18:47.148
Jesus said, "See,
I am going to attract her to

18:47.150 --> 18:51.270
make her male so that she too
might become a living spirit

18:51.266 --> 18:53.356
that resembles you males.

18:53.358 --> 18:57.138
For every female that makes
itself male will enter the

18:57.135 --> 18:59.055
kingdom of heavens."

18:59.059 --> 19:02.689
Okay ...

19:02.690 --> 19:07.310
Look at 24;
I'm just picking out some

19:07.314 --> 19:11.184
sayings that are rather
mysterious.

19:11.180 --> 19:13.570
His disciples said,
"Show us the place where

19:13.567 --> 19:15.407
you are, for we must seek
it."

19:15.410 --> 19:17.720
He said to them,
"Whoever has ears should

19:17.718 --> 19:18.178
listen!

19:18.180 --> 19:20.670
There is light existing within
a person of light.

19:20.670 --> 19:23.900
And it enlightens the whole
world: if it does not enlighten,

19:23.897 --> 19:25.647
that person is darkness."

19:25.650 --> 19:29.940
The previous saying had this
duality of male and female that

19:29.942 --> 19:33.512
was somehow significant in some
mysterious way.

19:33.509 --> 19:37.389
This one shows us there's also
a duality, of concern to this

19:37.386 --> 19:39.486
author, of light and darkness.

19:39.490 --> 19:42.620
There's dualisms,
and especially a light/darkness

19:42.618 --> 19:46.138
dualism male/female dualism and
a soul/body dualism;

19:46.140 --> 19:47.160
we've already seen that.

19:47.160 --> 19:50.440
There's also this word that
Layton translates as the

19:50.442 --> 19:53.532
"entirety"
and some modern translations

19:53.534 --> 19:56.424
will just leave it--
they'll just transliterate the

19:56.421 --> 19:58.411
Greek that it's from,
pleroma.

19:58.410 --> 20:01.280
Pleroma is a Greek word
that becomes important in some

20:01.280 --> 20:04.010
philosophy in the ancient world
and some intellectual,

20:04.009 --> 20:05.699
and it just means "the
all" or "the

20:05.701 --> 20:06.291
fullness."

20:06.288 --> 20:08.638
It's an abstract word meaning
"full"

20:08.640 --> 20:11.510
or "fullness,"
but it comes to be some kind of

20:11.511 --> 20:14.511
technical term that refers to,
all of existence,

20:14.509 --> 20:18.499
or the fullness of being or
think of German philosophy with

20:18.500 --> 20:20.800
fullness with--
Being with a capital

20:20.797 --> 20:22.907
"B"
or Existence with a capital

20:22.911 --> 20:23.811
"E."

20:23.808 --> 20:27.378
So that word often occurs here,
and when you see the word

20:27.375 --> 20:30.425
"entirety"
in Layton's translation he's

20:30.432 --> 20:32.982
translated that word
pleroma.

20:32.980 --> 20:36.510
Jesus said, and this is 67,
"If anyone should become

20:36.506 --> 20:39.526
acquainted with the entirety
[the pleroma]

20:39.529 --> 20:43.619
and should fall short,
at all that person falls short

20:43.615 --> 20:44.805
utterly."

20:44.808 --> 20:48.158
Several other places,
saying 77 has another reference

20:48.163 --> 20:48.813
to that.

20:48.808 --> 20:51.918
Notice we've already seen that
this text does not take the

20:51.919 --> 20:54.809
kingdom of God as something
existing in the future.

20:54.808 --> 20:58.698
In fact, this text is not at
all eschatological.

20:58.700 --> 21:01.120
Remember we encountered this
word in a previous lecture which

21:01.115 --> 21:03.125
just means something having to
do with the end,

21:03.130 --> 21:05.300
eschaton in Greek
meaning the end.

21:05.298 --> 21:07.908
This author is not
eschatological.

21:07.910 --> 21:10.330
He doesn't think Christianity,
he doesn't think Jesus'

21:10.328 --> 21:12.838
teaching are about the future at
all, they're about now,

21:12.839 --> 21:14.209
they're about the present.

21:14.210 --> 21:16.360
There are several sayings in
Thomas,

21:16.358 --> 21:20.058
unlike the sayings in the
Gospels and the canon,

21:20.058 --> 21:23.788
that are not eschatological,
they very much point to the

21:23.790 --> 21:24.470
present.

21:24.470 --> 21:28.430
There's also something else one
of these--this author is

21:28.430 --> 21:31.670
concerned about something like
integration.

21:31.670 --> 21:35.560
Look at saying 61:
Jesus said, "Two will

21:35.557 --> 21:38.317
repose on a couch:
one will die,

21:38.319 --> 21:40.369
one will live."

21:40.368 --> 21:43.048
Salome said,
"Who are you,

21:43.046 --> 21:43.756
O man?

21:43.759 --> 21:46.979
Like a stranger you have gotten
up on my couch and you have

21:46.976 --> 21:48.526
eaten from my table."

21:48.529 --> 21:51.809
Jesus said to her,
"It is I who come from

21:51.806 --> 21:56.026
that which is integrated [I come
from that which is one;

21:56.029 --> 21:58.079
I come from that which is not
divided]

21:58.075 --> 22:00.945
I was given some of the things
of my Father."

22:00.950 --> 22:03.780
She is apparently--there's a
lot of holes in the text where

22:03.778 --> 22:06.698
you see these dot-dot-dot's and
that's showing that there are

22:06.704 --> 22:09.544
lacunae,
that is, just holes in the

22:09.541 --> 22:12.931
actual document that we get this
from,

22:12.930 --> 22:14.890
so there are gaps in the text.

22:14.890 --> 22:17.000
"I am your female
disciple,"

22:16.996 --> 22:20.346
she seems to say to him at some
point and then eventually he

22:20.354 --> 22:23.314
seems to answer,
"Therefore I say that such

22:23.306 --> 22:26.306
a person once integrated will
become full of light,

22:26.308 --> 22:29.388
but such a person once divided
will become full of

22:29.391 --> 22:30.461
darkness."

22:30.460 --> 22:33.780
So there's a divided integrated
dualism that's going on in this

22:33.777 --> 22:34.417
text also.

22:34.420 --> 22:37.630
The kingdom is invisible;
I think I've already pointed

22:37.634 --> 22:38.024
this out.

22:38.019 --> 22:40.119
The idea is that the kingdom is
not something you say,

22:40.116 --> 22:41.776
look it's over there,
or look it's here.

22:41.779 --> 22:45.729
Look at 113,
I've already read that,

22:45.730 --> 22:47.960
"The kingdom of the Father
is spread out over the earth,

22:47.960 --> 22:49.180
but most people don't see
it."

22:49.180 --> 22:51.940
Then look at saying 3,
right at the very beginning:

22:51.940 --> 22:55.410
Jesus said, "If those who
lead you say to you,

22:55.407 --> 22:59.567
'See, the kingdom is in heaven,
then the birds of heaven will

22:59.569 --> 23:00.679
precede you.

23:00.680 --> 23:03.540
If they say to you,
'It is in the sea,' then the

23:03.538 --> 23:04.998
fish will precede you.

23:05.000 --> 23:09.890
But the kingdom is inside of
you and it is outside of you.

23:09.890 --> 23:12.760
When you become acquainted with
yourselves ..."

23:12.759 --> 23:14.579
Now the word
"acquainted"

23:14.582 --> 23:17.422
here means when you become
really knowledgeable and it

23:17.422 --> 23:19.292
comes from--
the Greek word here is

23:19.287 --> 23:21.827
gnosis,
where we get the term Gnostics.

23:21.829 --> 23:25.189


23:25.190 --> 23:28.560
That Greek word means gnosis
but it doesn't--

23:28.558 --> 23:31.758
it means gnosis in some
kinds--a technical way in these

23:31.757 --> 23:34.037
documents which is,
it's not something you just

23:34.039 --> 23:36.749
know with your head,
it's something you really,

23:36.752 --> 23:37.712
really know.

23:37.710 --> 23:40.150
To express that Professor
Layton usually translate this

23:40.152 --> 23:42.872
word as "acquaintance"
or "becoming acquainted

23:42.865 --> 23:43.675
with it."

23:43.680 --> 23:47.680
When you become acquainted with
yourselves, then you will be

23:47.678 --> 23:48.558
recognized.

23:48.558 --> 23:51.978
And you will understand that it
is you who are children of the

23:51.981 --> 23:52.881
living father.

23:52.880 --> 23:56.480
But if you do not become
acquainted with yourself [if you

23:56.476 --> 23:58.786
don't have gnosis of
yourself]

23:58.787 --> 24:03.237
then you are in poverty,
and it is you who are the

24:03.244 --> 24:04.184
poverty.

24:04.180 --> 24:06.420
What is all this going on?

24:06.420 --> 24:08.680
These things are things that
sound a bit familiar,

24:08.679 --> 24:11.259
and we might be able to figure
them out because these are

24:11.261 --> 24:11.771
themes.

24:11.769 --> 24:13.709
You can tell that they are
themes of light and darkness,

24:13.710 --> 24:15.890
poor and riches,
inside and out,

24:15.885 --> 24:18.055
soul and body,
spirit and body,

24:18.057 --> 24:20.927
male and female,
but there are some sayings that

24:20.926 --> 24:22.816
are just really inscrutable.

24:22.819 --> 24:25.969
Look at saying 7:
Jesus said.

24:25.970 --> 24:30.500
"Blessed is the lion that
the human being will devour so

24:30.496 --> 24:32.756
that the lion becomes human.

24:32.759 --> 24:38.299
And cursed is the human being
that the lion devours and the

24:38.298 --> 24:41.258
lion will become human."

24:41.259 --> 24:44.159
What does that mean?

24:44.160 --> 24:49.460
I have no clue,
and that's really honest.

24:49.460 --> 24:58.290
Look at 15:
Jesus said, "When you [and

24:58.286 --> 24:59.956
here's a plural
"you,"]

24:59.963 --> 25:02.223
see one who has not been born
of woman,

25:02.220 --> 25:05.890
fall upon your faces and
prostrate yourselves before that

25:05.888 --> 25:08.968
one: it is that one who is your
father."

25:08.970 --> 25:13.670
Someone not born of women is
your father.

25:13.670 --> 25:19.080
Look at 97, now you see aren't
you glad that I didn't make you

25:19.080 --> 25:22.630
do an exegesis paper of these
sayings?

25:22.630 --> 25:26.470
Jesus said, "What the
kingdom of the father resembles

25:26.469 --> 25:29.769
is a woman who is conveying a
jar full of meal.

25:29.769 --> 25:32.759
When she had traveled far along
the road, the handle of the jar

25:32.756 --> 25:35.546
broke and the meal spilled out
after her along the road.

25:35.549 --> 25:38.659
She was not aware of the fact;
she had not understood how to

25:38.660 --> 25:38.950
toil.

25:38.950 --> 25:43.880
When she reached home she put
down the jar and found it

25:43.881 --> 25:45.161
empty."

25:45.160 --> 25:49.780
How profound,
Jesus, she lost her meal and

25:49.776 --> 25:54.726
she found her jar empty when she
got home.

25:54.730 --> 25:59.190
Look at 98 right below that:
Jesus said, "What the

25:59.185 --> 26:02.315
kingdom of the father resembles
is a man who wanted to

26:02.318 --> 26:04.268
assassinate a member of court.

26:04.269 --> 26:07.809
At home he drew the dagger and
stabbed it into the wall in

26:07.809 --> 26:10.729
order to know whether his hand
would be firm.

26:10.730 --> 26:14.680
Next he murdered the member of
court."

26:14.680 --> 26:17.500
That's what the kingdom is like.

26:17.500 --> 26:21.540
Now you know exactly what the
kingdom is like,

26:21.540 --> 26:22.260
right?

26:22.259 --> 26:27.219
Look at 105:
Jesus said, "Whoever is

26:27.222 --> 26:31.572
acquainted with the father and
the mother will be called the

26:31.570 --> 26:33.930
offspring a prostitute."

26:33.930 --> 26:37.510
What's going on here?

26:37.509 --> 26:40.229
This document has caused,
and still causes,

26:40.231 --> 26:42.631
all kinds of debate among
scholars.

26:42.630 --> 26:46.750
You could go online right now
and you will see tons and tons,

26:46.746 --> 26:50.516
and tons of stuff written about
the Gospel of Thomas.

26:50.519 --> 26:53.049
Some by real scholars and
intelligent,

26:53.048 --> 26:55.078
wise people like me,
although I've actually never

26:55.079 --> 26:57.489
written about the Gospel of
Thomas because I don't want to

26:57.491 --> 26:59.861
go get in that mess,
but I have good scholarly

26:59.863 --> 27:02.963
friends who have published on
the Gospel of Thomas and argue

27:02.961 --> 27:05.521
their theories,
others by just absolute kooks

27:05.516 --> 27:08.146
who are using the Gospel of
Thomas for all kind of

27:08.146 --> 27:10.696
experimental,
spirituality,

27:10.701 --> 27:14.491
and religion,
and mind stuff.

27:14.490 --> 27:17.540
I'm trying to watch my language.

27:17.538 --> 27:21.258
Then you'll also have,
even if you took very reputable

27:21.258 --> 27:24.228
scholars,
you will have wide differences

27:24.233 --> 27:26.223
of opinion,
and one of the big differences

27:26.223 --> 27:28.493
of opinion right now--
when the Gospel of Thomas first

27:28.487 --> 27:31.337
became published people sort of
talked about it as though this

27:31.336 --> 27:32.406
is a Gnostic gospel.

27:32.410 --> 27:35.260
It represents a form of
Gnosticism, which I'll explain

27:35.257 --> 27:36.007
in a moment.

27:36.009 --> 27:38.049
Other people have said,
no, it's not Gnostic,

27:38.045 --> 27:40.585
it doesn't have all the main
things that we look for;

27:40.588 --> 27:42.988
in fact, they've even said we
shouldn't even use this term

27:42.990 --> 27:45.560
Gnosticism anymore because it
doesn't refer to anything we can

27:45.561 --> 27:47.291
actually locate in the ancient
world.

27:47.288 --> 27:49.358
It refers to a whole bunch of
different things,

27:49.358 --> 27:52.188
and nobody could come up with a
good definition of Gnosticism or

27:52.193 --> 27:53.233
the Gnostic church.

27:53.230 --> 27:55.560
Scholars right now,
some scholars will say,

27:55.558 --> 27:57.748
let's get rid of the term
entirely and call it something

27:57.750 --> 27:59.560
else,
whatever it is that this thing

27:59.556 --> 28:01.386
is, others continue to use the
term.

28:01.390 --> 28:03.370
Bart Ehrman,
wrote your textbook,

28:03.368 --> 28:06.698
if you all noticed,
he goes ahead and sort of takes

28:06.698 --> 28:09.748
the Gospel of Thomas as
representing some kind of

28:09.746 --> 28:13.806
Gnosticism but maybe not all of
whatever we call Gnosticism,

28:13.808 --> 28:16.358
and he admits that there is a
big debate.

28:16.358 --> 28:18.188
Now I'm going to--a little bit
of terminology.

28:18.190 --> 28:20.940
I've already told you what the
term Gnostic comes from this

28:20.936 --> 28:23.366
word gnosis,
and the word gnostikos

28:23.365 --> 28:25.985
was used by some people in the
ancient world to refer to

28:25.992 --> 28:28.042
themselves,
but they didn't necessarily

28:28.040 --> 28:31.150
mean by that they were in some
kind of sect called Gnosticism.

28:31.150 --> 28:32.990
For example,
Clement of Alexandria,

28:32.990 --> 28:36.520
who wrote around the year 200,
a very famous early Christian

28:36.516 --> 28:39.796
scholar considered by later
Christianity to be perfectly

28:39.803 --> 28:41.713
orthodox,
he talked about Gnostic

28:41.713 --> 28:44.143
Christians and thought he was
himself a "Gnostic

28:44.142 --> 28:45.032
Christian."

28:45.029 --> 28:46.689
What he meant by that
apparently was just that he was

28:46.686 --> 28:48.906
one of the more knowledgeable,
he was one of the more wise

28:48.906 --> 28:50.316
Christians,
he was in the know,

28:50.321 --> 28:52.831
and he seems also to have had
an idea that there were two

28:52.834 --> 28:54.274
kinds of Christian knowledge.

28:54.269 --> 28:56.449
There's public knowledge that
all Christians have and then

28:56.450 --> 28:58.210
there's a special kind of hidden
knowledge,

28:58.210 --> 29:00.450
esoteric knowledge that only
certain kinds of Christians

29:00.453 --> 29:00.743
have.

29:00.740 --> 29:04.470
This idea that you have
esoteric knowledge would be

29:04.465 --> 29:06.995
called a Gnostic kind of notion.

29:07.000 --> 29:09.630
There are even orthodox
Christians who might use the

29:09.628 --> 29:12.208
term Gnostic in the second
century to refer even to

29:12.205 --> 29:12.975
themselves.

29:12.980 --> 29:16.810
That's just what that word
Gnostic often meant.

29:16.808 --> 29:20.148
They would have looked at weird
to an ancient Greek speaker but

29:20.153 --> 29:22.853
it would have been
understandable as simply "a

29:22.851 --> 29:24.201
knowing person."

29:24.200 --> 29:27.660
There are other terms though
that I want to talk about.

29:27.660 --> 29:31.960
I've already I mentioned I
believe the term proto-Orthodox.

29:31.960 --> 29:37.510


29:37.509 --> 29:38.989
The word "orthodox"
of course just means

29:38.989 --> 29:40.679
"right thinking,"
"right opinion."

29:40.680 --> 29:41.990
Ortho from Greek
"right,"

29:41.993 --> 29:43.373
or "true,"
or "correct,"

29:43.372 --> 29:44.712
or "straight;"
doxa meaning

29:44.711 --> 29:46.441
"opinion,"
or "thoughts"--

29:46.440 --> 29:49.060
and it comes to mean
"doctrine"

29:49.057 --> 29:49.447
too.

29:49.450 --> 29:54.170
The problem with using the word
orthodox is that the opposite of

29:54.167 --> 29:56.337
orthodox is usually heresy.

29:56.338 --> 30:01.998
Eventually through different
church councils in the fourth,

30:02.000 --> 30:04.780
and fifth, and sixth centuries
what counted as Orthodox

30:04.781 --> 30:07.051
Christianity became more clearly
defined,

30:07.048 --> 30:10.068
and then anything that wasn't
that could be labeled heretical

30:10.073 --> 30:12.213
Christianity,
and it was even outlawed at

30:12.211 --> 30:13.941
different times in late
antiquity.

30:13.940 --> 30:15.440
For example,
the Nicene Creed,

30:15.441 --> 30:18.241
that proclaims that the
doctrine of the Trinity becomes

30:18.236 --> 30:18.906
orthodox.

30:18.910 --> 30:21.730
Doctrines that say that the
Trinity is not true or that

30:21.734 --> 30:23.884
there's not the Holy Spirit and
Jesus,

30:23.880 --> 30:26.930
and the Father are not
orthodox, they're heretical or

30:26.928 --> 30:29.388
sometimes you'll see the term
heterodox.

30:29.390 --> 30:33.230


30:33.230 --> 30:35.780
Hetero just means
"other,"

30:35.775 --> 30:38.135
so it's not ortho,
it's other.

30:38.140 --> 30:41.250
Orthodox though--the problem is
we can't retroject that term

30:41.248 --> 30:44.198
easily back into the second
century because in the second

30:44.199 --> 30:47.199
century there are tons of
different Christians and tons of

30:47.202 --> 30:50.522
different churches that had many
different views and they didn't

30:50.520 --> 30:51.470
all agree.

30:51.470 --> 30:53.710
Some people had started
experimenting with the doctrine

30:53.709 --> 30:55.819
of the Trinity but a lot of
Christians wouldn't have

30:55.824 --> 30:58.524
recognized the doctrine of the
Trinity in the second century.

30:58.519 --> 31:01.329
Some people believe that Jesus
was fully divine,

31:01.328 --> 31:04.028
other people believed,
no, he was fully human but not

31:04.029 --> 31:05.499
divine,
some people believed he was

31:05.502 --> 31:07.412
both, some people believed he
was a mixture of both,

31:07.410 --> 31:08.510
some believed sometimes he was
one,

31:08.509 --> 31:10.269
sometimes he was the other.

31:10.269 --> 31:14.249
We'll come back to this issue
of what did people believe Jesus

31:14.246 --> 31:17.176
was and that's the doctrine of
Christology.

31:17.180 --> 31:18.530
What do you believe about
Christ?

31:18.528 --> 31:22.618
Right now I'm just going to
tell you that we call Christians

31:22.622 --> 31:26.582
in the second century and the
first century proto-orthodox

31:26.575 --> 31:29.835
because we know that calling
them orthodox is an

31:29.835 --> 31:33.855
anachronistic in this time
because there wasn't two clearly

31:33.857 --> 31:38.087
delineable orthodox and
heretical groups or churches.

31:38.088 --> 31:40.168
Proto just means
"early"

31:40.170 --> 31:43.030
then or the "first,"
so a lot of scholars,

31:43.029 --> 31:46.309
Bart Ehrman is one of them,
uses this term proto-orthodox,

31:46.308 --> 31:50.058
and all it means is those
Christians living in the first

31:50.055 --> 31:54.205
or second century whose views
happen to win out eventually.

31:54.210 --> 31:58.020
They happen to hold views that
would eventually be the winners

31:58.019 --> 32:01.519
in the fight between orthodoxy
and heresy and be declared

32:01.518 --> 32:03.828
orthodox or correct
Christianity.

32:03.828 --> 32:06.008
Proto-orthodox,
there was no Christian running

32:06.005 --> 32:08.895
around in the second century
calling himself a proto-orthodox

32:08.903 --> 32:11.823
Christian,
they didn't know they were

32:11.818 --> 32:16.448
proto-Orthodox yet but their
views eventually won out.

32:16.450 --> 32:20.250
These different terms will come
over and over again,

32:20.250 --> 32:23.970
proto-orthodox just means
someone who sort of had correct

32:23.967 --> 32:26.667
christological views,
that is correct by later

32:26.665 --> 32:29.085
standards,
but they held them before these

32:29.093 --> 32:31.333
standards had won out in the
debate.

32:31.328 --> 32:34.338
Ancient Gnosticism,
if you want to call it that,

32:34.338 --> 32:36.898
does not seem to have been one
church.

32:36.900 --> 32:39.510
What I'm going to call
Gnosticism is an intellectual

32:39.511 --> 32:42.691
movement that seems to have been
around beginning in the second

32:42.686 --> 32:45.656
century certainly and becomes
important through the second,

32:45.657 --> 32:47.397
third, and fourth centuries.

32:47.400 --> 32:51.010
It's not a church or an
institution in the sense that we

32:51.011 --> 32:55.221
doubt that you could have walked
into say the town of Antioch and

32:55.215 --> 32:57.445
looked for the Gnostic church.

32:57.450 --> 32:59.860
It seems like the people who
wrote these documents and

32:59.855 --> 33:02.615
collected these materials that
we find in the Nag Hammadi text

33:02.623 --> 33:05.153
in the Gospel of Thomas,
they seem to have been

33:05.153 --> 33:07.693
intellectuals who were impressed
with Jesus,

33:07.690 --> 33:11.090
impressed with the Jewish
scripture in a lot of cases,

33:11.088 --> 33:13.598
impressed with a lot of the
teachings of Christianity,

33:13.598 --> 33:16.818
but they interpreted them
through the eyes of a certain

33:16.820 --> 33:18.730
popular Platonism at the time.

33:18.730 --> 33:21.210
That is, they seemed to have
been influenced by different

33:21.210 --> 33:23.650
philosophical views and also
just different intellectual

33:23.646 --> 33:24.086
views.

33:24.088 --> 33:26.618
When they read the book of
Genesis,

33:26.618 --> 33:28.438
for example,
they would read the book of

33:28.444 --> 33:31.354
Genesis but read it as if they
were reading it through the eyes

33:31.347 --> 33:34.867
of Plato's Timaeus,
the great platonic dialogue in

33:34.869 --> 33:38.939
which Plato puts forth his own
sort of cosmology and his own

33:38.942 --> 33:41.292
view of the gods and the world.

33:41.288 --> 33:44.848
So some of their writings sound
like they were reading basically

33:44.848 --> 33:48.008
good scripture but reading it
through the eyes of certain

33:48.012 --> 33:49.372
kinds of philosophy.

33:49.369 --> 33:52.469


33:52.470 --> 33:56.270
What we have come to call
Gnosticism in the ancient world

33:56.270 --> 34:00.210
is a range of ideas that may
have been actually embodied in

34:00.208 --> 34:02.808
particular people,
or it may have been that some

34:02.811 --> 34:05.001
of these intellectuals were just
playing around with ideas and

34:05.003 --> 34:06.913
writing about the books and
having reading clubs,

34:06.910 --> 34:10.290
where they got together every
Monday night and drank some beer

34:10.289 --> 34:12.449
and talked about their Gnostic
ideas.

34:12.449 --> 34:16.339
Platonism itself might be
called proto-Gnostic,

34:16.342 --> 34:19.732
that is, Gnosticism before
Gnosticism.

34:19.730 --> 34:21.680
For example,
in Platonism,

34:21.681 --> 34:25.971
especially of this time,
you have a strong emphasis of a

34:25.972 --> 34:29.722
dualism of body and soul or body
and spirit.

34:29.719 --> 34:32.509
In that dualism,
often the body or the

34:32.509 --> 34:35.419
materiality,
the fleshly existence that

34:35.422 --> 34:38.442
harder matter of things becomes
less good,

34:38.440 --> 34:41.800
sometimes even probably
borderline evil in some people's

34:41.797 --> 34:44.537
thoughts,
and spirit or the soul or the

34:44.543 --> 34:46.213
mind is the good thing.

34:46.210 --> 34:50.350
So you have a mind/body
dualism, a body and soul dualism

34:50.351 --> 34:54.121
and often there's the
deprecation of the body and a

34:54.115 --> 34:57.575
deprecation of matter as morally
inferior.

34:57.579 --> 35:01.599
Now why would matter be
considered inferior to

35:01.603 --> 35:03.843
non-material substance?

35:03.840 --> 35:08.050
Because what happens to your
body eventually?

35:08.050 --> 35:11.480
You all have gorgeous bodies
now, but eventually you're going

35:11.481 --> 35:14.381
to look like me,
your hair's going to fall out,

35:14.382 --> 35:16.682
your ear's are going to get too
big,

35:16.679 --> 35:20.639
your nose won't stop growing,
and then eventually you'll even

35:20.644 --> 35:23.854
get beyond me and you'll die,
and you'll rot,

35:23.849 --> 35:25.449
and you'll disappear.

35:25.449 --> 35:30.229
The body is material and the
ancient thinkers all knew that

35:30.228 --> 35:31.958
matter passes away.

35:31.960 --> 35:36.250
Anything that is material is
going to pass away and be

35:36.253 --> 35:40.053
destroyed and be gone,
but things that are not

35:40.052 --> 35:44.182
material like ideas--
the great thing about an idea

35:44.177 --> 35:46.437
is that it never need die.

35:46.440 --> 35:50.350
The spirit or the soul in
platonic theory was superior to

35:50.347 --> 35:54.467
material stuff because--and it
was the only thing that could

35:54.465 --> 35:56.555
live forever,
be infinite.

35:56.559 --> 35:59.889
They also sometimes you see,
especially in later Platonism,

35:59.889 --> 36:02.819
the idea that not only is the
body temporary,

36:02.820 --> 36:08.150
not eternal and passing away,
but the body is also a prison

36:08.153 --> 36:10.923
because your spirit,
they believed,

36:10.922 --> 36:12.322
wants to get out of the body.

36:12.320 --> 36:15.760
Aren't you frustrated that you
can't just escape your body and

36:15.759 --> 36:19.139
go off and go someplace else for
a while and zoom out of your

36:19.141 --> 36:21.681
body and go to Argentina for the
weekend?

36:21.679 --> 36:25.409
Not have to pay for
airfare--the idea was that the

36:25.411 --> 36:30.061
body imprisons your spirit and
your soul, and this comes to be

36:30.057 --> 36:32.797
a part of Platonism at the time.

36:32.800 --> 36:36.990
What scholars will call basic
Gnosticism includes some basic

36:36.992 --> 36:39.412
themes that they hold in common.

36:39.409 --> 36:45.809
First, the world itself which
is material is evil.

36:45.809 --> 36:48.529
Salvation, therefore,
from the world,

36:48.530 --> 36:52.610
must be escaped from this
physical world into something

36:52.610 --> 36:53.290
else.

36:53.289 --> 36:59.659
Gross materiality is not only
temporary in some texts but even

36:59.663 --> 37:01.443
bad, it's evil.

37:01.440 --> 37:05.220
Salvation, therefore,
must be the knowledge of how

37:05.219 --> 37:06.909
you,
that is the real you,

37:06.909 --> 37:09.559
your brain--not your brain,
your mind or your soul,

37:09.563 --> 37:11.353
or your spirit,
not your body,

37:11.351 --> 37:15.791
that real you is this thing in
this material body but salvation

37:15.786 --> 37:19.786
will be if it can learn how to
escape the body and escape

37:19.793 --> 37:21.013
materiality.

37:21.010 --> 37:25.010
Salvation will come by
knowledge and that knowledge is

37:25.010 --> 37:29.390
a secret, not everybody knows
it, so only a few people know

37:29.391 --> 37:29.921
it.

37:29.920 --> 37:35.260
The content of this knowledge
is related to human origins and

37:35.255 --> 37:36.495
destination.

37:36.500 --> 37:39.630
So sometimes you get these
elaborate myths developed in

37:39.632 --> 37:40.912
some of these texts.

37:40.909 --> 37:43.589
Let's say that the supreme,
supreme,

37:43.590 --> 37:47.600
supreme, supreme god is in fact
has no name,

37:47.599 --> 37:50.129
is not a particular thing,
it's this thought,

37:50.130 --> 37:52.170
it's just thinking,
it's just abstract thinking.

37:52.170 --> 37:55.330
That thinking thinks,
well what does a thinking thing

37:55.333 --> 37:55.823
think?

37:55.820 --> 37:58.020
The thinking thinks thoughts.

37:58.018 --> 38:01.758
Those thoughts start becoming
emanations out of the thinking,

38:01.760 --> 38:05.500
and then those emanations think
and emanate, and those become

38:05.503 --> 38:07.003
lesser beings still.

38:07.000 --> 38:09.590
The different divine beings,
there are lots of divine beings

38:09.590 --> 38:13.100
in the existing universe,
and by thinking and being they

38:13.099 --> 38:16.899
emanate inferior forms of being
after themselves.

38:16.900 --> 38:21.060
Eventually what happened is
those inferior forms of being

38:21.059 --> 38:25.069
get less good and less like the
most ultimate being.

38:25.070 --> 38:27.010
One of them,
according to one myth,

38:27.010 --> 38:30.200
Sophia which means wisdom,
it's a female name but it also

38:30.204 --> 38:31.864
means "wisdom."

38:31.860 --> 38:35.300
Sophia decides she wants to
emanate,

38:35.300 --> 38:38.940
and she supposed to do that
with a male consort because by

38:38.943 --> 38:43.103
this these beings have male and
female versions of themselves,

38:43.099 --> 38:47.229
she's supposed to only emanate
or procreate by doing so with

38:47.230 --> 38:48.560
her male consort.

38:48.559 --> 38:52.249
She decides she wants to be
like the supreme god and be able

38:52.248 --> 38:55.498
to emanate on her own,
so she puts out a being on her

38:55.498 --> 38:55.998
own.

38:56.000 --> 38:58.810
In other words,
she sort of gives birth without

38:58.811 --> 39:01.321
needing a man,
just to be on principle.

39:01.320 --> 39:03.440
Well, of course when you do
that you end up with a monster.

39:03.440 --> 39:07.510
The being that came out of
Sophia ended up being a clumsy,

39:07.510 --> 39:11.390
maybe evil god,
all of these are divine beings,

39:11.389 --> 39:15.039
that god decided at some point
he wanted to create things and

39:15.038 --> 39:17.408
so he didn't really do it very
well,

39:17.409 --> 39:20.589
so he made our earth,
he made the world as we know

39:20.585 --> 39:20.905
it.

39:20.909 --> 39:23.649
He made little human beings
like you just out of dirt and

39:23.648 --> 39:25.978
clay,
and that's why--we were all

39:25.978 --> 39:28.008
creation,
not of the supreme God who

39:28.012 --> 39:31.732
would do nothing imperfect,
but of some stumbling or evil,

39:31.730 --> 39:35.650
at least clumsy god,
who made us.

39:35.650 --> 39:38.190
That explains why things go
wrong.

39:38.190 --> 39:40.710
Why is it that my arthritis
acts up all the time?

39:40.710 --> 39:44.290
Couldn't God have made a human
body that didn't have arthritis?

39:44.289 --> 39:46.949
Well, that's because the
supreme God didn't make this

39:46.949 --> 39:49.099
body, the evil clumsy god made
the body.

39:49.099 --> 39:52.429
This happened--and so the world
that we created,

39:52.429 --> 39:54.869
when you read in Genesis,
it says God created the world,

39:54.869 --> 39:58.309
that's not the highest God,
that's some clumsy god down

39:58.307 --> 40:02.127
further on the hierarchy of
divine beings in the universe.

40:02.130 --> 40:04.350
That god created what we are.

40:04.349 --> 40:06.359
Now what happened was at some
point,

40:06.360 --> 40:07.880
either Sophia or some other
beings,

40:07.880 --> 40:12.970
they got sorry for all us
claylike mud people and somehow

40:12.969 --> 40:18.059
a little spark of the divine
itself either fell down,

40:18.059 --> 40:19.839
or got cut up or put in our
bodies,

40:19.840 --> 40:22.330
or God placed in our bodies,
or blew it into our bodies,

40:22.329 --> 40:24.829
but at least some human beings,
not all human beings,

40:24.829 --> 40:26.739
in fact human beings are in
different categories.

40:26.739 --> 40:30.469
There's the really low human
beings like undergraduates,

40:30.469 --> 40:33.949
then there are beings who are a
little bit higher like graduate

40:33.954 --> 40:36.494
students,
and then you have the supreme

40:36.492 --> 40:39.942
beings,
Gnostics, like professors.

40:39.940 --> 40:42.090
The true Gnostics,
it's not really like

40:42.088 --> 40:45.308
undergraduates and graduates,
because some of you could be

40:45.313 --> 40:46.053
Gnostics.

40:46.050 --> 40:48.530
You would be the ones who
really have a real spark in you,

40:48.534 --> 40:49.584
a spark of the divine.

40:49.579 --> 40:54.299
That spark of the divine wants
to escape the mud body that it's

40:54.302 --> 40:56.782
trapped in,
but you probably don't even

40:56.775 --> 40:59.795
know that you're really a spark
trapped in a mud body until

40:59.797 --> 41:01.827
somebody comes along and tells
you,

41:01.829 --> 41:04.319
and that's the job of the
redeemer.

41:04.320 --> 41:07.660
That's what Jesus did:
Jesus was a redeemer from the

41:07.655 --> 41:11.835
supreme God who comes in to find
those people who have a spark of

41:11.840 --> 41:14.830
the divine in them,
to blow on that spark,

41:14.829 --> 41:17.489
to get it going,
and to get you to remember

41:17.494 --> 41:18.714
where you came from.

41:18.710 --> 41:20.710
You're not a mud body after all.

41:20.710 --> 41:24.530
The real you came from Godself,
God's very self,

41:24.527 --> 41:25.987
the supreme God.

41:25.989 --> 41:27.909
The true message of
Christianity,

41:27.909 --> 41:30.999
according to these guys,
is to learn who you are,

41:30.996 --> 41:33.316
where you came from,
to see if you're going to

41:33.320 --> 41:35.320
escape the body and get back to
your true origin,

41:35.320 --> 41:37.800
that is, you will become one
with God again.

41:37.800 --> 41:42.020
This was expressed in a poem by
Theodotus, it went like this:

41:42.019 --> 41:45.019
Who we were,
what we have become,

41:45.019 --> 41:48.619
where we were,
whither we were thrown,

41:48.619 --> 41:51.999
whither we are hastening,
from what we are redeemed,

41:52.000 --> 41:55.210
what birth is,
what rebirth is.

41:55.210 --> 41:57.830
You answer the riddle,
the poem riddle.

41:57.829 --> 41:59.559
"Who we were?"

41:59.559 --> 42:02.369
If you're a Gnostic who were
you?

42:02.369 --> 42:03.649
Answer?

42:03.650 --> 42:04.540
Student:  Divine being.

42:04.539 --> 42:05.469
Prof: Divine being,
thank you.

42:05.469 --> 42:06.129
See, it's not hard.

42:06.130 --> 42:08.370
I'm not asking questions--I'm
just trying--you will remember

42:08.373 --> 42:09.443
this better if you answer.

42:09.440 --> 42:11.230
What have you become?

42:11.230 --> 42:16.060
Mud, entrapped in a dead body,
trapped in materiality.

42:16.059 --> 42:19.509
Where were you?

42:19.510 --> 42:24.080
Heaven, with the divine Father,
with God?

42:24.079 --> 42:25.459
Prof: Whither we were
thrown,"

42:25.456 --> 42:26.426
where have you been thrown?

42:26.429 --> 42:27.489
Student:  Into the earth.

42:27.489 --> 42:29.569
Prof: Into the earth,
into the world,

42:29.570 --> 42:30.490
into materiality.

42:30.489 --> 42:33.259
Where are you hastening,
where are you going in a

42:33.264 --> 42:34.714
hurry--in such a hurry?

42:34.710 --> 42:35.700
Student:  Back to the
divine.

42:35.699 --> 42:36.999
Prof: Back to the divine
God.

42:37.000 --> 42:38.720
What are you redeemed from?

42:38.719 --> 42:41.749
Student:
>

42:41.750 --> 42:43.300
Prof: You're redeemed
from Jesus?

42:43.300 --> 42:44.380
Student:
>

42:44.380 --> 42:45.550
Prof: The material world.

42:45.550 --> 42:50.710
You're redeemed from being
embodied.

42:50.710 --> 42:54.670
"What is birth?"

42:54.670 --> 42:56.120
In this system what is birth?

42:56.119 --> 42:57.189
Student:
>

42:57.190 --> 42:59.140
Prof: Damnation, death.

42:59.139 --> 43:01.919
When you're born,
your spark is entrapped in your

43:01.918 --> 43:03.768
body, that's not a good thing.

43:03.768 --> 43:06.238
You shouldn't be celebrating
your birthday for crying out

43:06.239 --> 43:09.019
loud, that's like celebrating
when you were thrown in prison.

43:09.019 --> 43:11.569
"What is rebirth?"

43:11.570 --> 43:13.420
Student:
>

43:13.420 --> 43:15.700
Prof: Death or learning
your true self,

43:15.704 --> 43:17.944
learning that the true self
won't die at all,

43:17.940 --> 43:19.820
so this learning is your
rebirth.

43:19.820 --> 43:24.510
So the little poem is a riddle
that contains these doctrines

43:24.507 --> 43:25.777
within itself.

43:25.780 --> 43:29.340
Here's a true self,
the spark of life is trapped in

43:29.342 --> 43:32.622
an alien body with all its
sensual passions.

43:32.619 --> 43:34.389
Sex, therefore,
sensual desire,

43:34.394 --> 43:37.444
erotic desire is a bad thing;
it's an evil thing because

43:37.443 --> 43:40.103
that--you're just trying to trap
more sparks into more mud

43:40.103 --> 43:40.573
bodies.

43:40.570 --> 43:43.830
You're just creating more
sparks trapped in mud bodies

43:43.829 --> 43:45.059
when you have sex.

43:45.059 --> 43:48.699
Evil powers exist--all the
different gods that were

43:48.704 --> 43:51.084
emanated,
a bunch of those are evil,

43:51.079 --> 43:54.659
and they fly around the sky in
the heavens and they try to keep

43:54.659 --> 43:58.119
the true self asleep or drunk in
order to keep the evil world

43:58.121 --> 43:58.931
together.

43:58.929 --> 44:01.009
In other words,
they don't want you to learn

44:01.012 --> 44:03.872
and they don't want your spark
to be able to fly through.

44:03.869 --> 44:08.589
But really wise guys like me,
we have the secrets and I can

44:08.585 --> 44:12.835
give you words,
clues, secrets that if you know

44:12.842 --> 44:18.432
those things you can use these
secrets to unlock the gates that

44:18.427 --> 44:20.227
lead back to God.

44:20.230 --> 44:24.160
This is kind of a common
storyline or myth,

44:24.159 --> 44:26.569
there's the Hymn of the Pearl,
that I mentioned before,

44:26.570 --> 44:29.750
which basically tells
this--that a king of the east

44:29.751 --> 44:32.821
sends a royal prince,
by way of the region of

44:32.822 --> 44:36.382
Mycenae, to Egypt in order to
get a precious pearl,

44:36.380 --> 44:39.590
which is being guarded by a
fierce dragon,

44:39.590 --> 44:41.220
it's like a videogame.

44:41.219 --> 44:44.959
The prince is poisoned,
or actually drugged would be a

44:44.963 --> 44:48.853
better accurate translation,
and made intoxicated by the

44:48.849 --> 44:49.839
Egyptians.

44:49.840 --> 44:53.250
But he, the prince,
is awakened by a message from

44:53.248 --> 44:54.028
the king.

44:54.030 --> 44:56.930
He, the prince,
takes the pearl by defeating

44:56.932 --> 45:01.052
the dragon with the name of his
father and returns to the east

45:01.052 --> 45:03.892
where he puts on a robe of
knowledge,

45:03.889 --> 45:05.699
gnosis,
and ascends to the king's

45:05.704 --> 45:07.864
palace,
entering the realm of peace and

45:07.862 --> 45:09.502
living happily forever after.

45:09.500 --> 45:13.200
It's a nice little fable about
a prince who goes to a foreign

45:13.197 --> 45:16.897
land, finds the thing of value,
defeats the evil purposes and

45:16.896 --> 45:17.756
goes back.

45:17.760 --> 45:21.760
So some people,
therefore, have read the Gospel

45:21.762 --> 45:25.682
of Thomas as being precisely
this kind of--

45:25.679 --> 45:29.999
that some of the sayings of the
Gospel of Thomas makes sense if

45:29.998 --> 45:33.268
you presuppose these
mythological structures and

45:33.273 --> 45:33.973
ideas.

45:33.969 --> 45:37.049
Again, some scholars would say,
well you're just putting

45:37.050 --> 45:40.470
together as a modern scholar a
bunch of disparate kind of text

45:40.469 --> 45:42.689
and ideas,
and putting them in a system.

45:42.690 --> 45:45.340
Well, yes, that's where I
disagree with some people

45:45.338 --> 45:47.988
because I want to say I believe
that there's enough

45:47.985 --> 45:51.055
commonalities between enough
documents that we can say that

45:51.057 --> 45:54.287
there were people who had these
kinds of common ideas,

45:54.289 --> 45:56.559
and this basic structure that
I've called the Gnostic

45:56.561 --> 45:57.891
structure,
the Gnostic myth,

45:57.885 --> 46:00.505
certainly influenced ancient
writings of some sort and there

46:00.505 --> 46:03.215
was some kinds of Christianity
that were heavily influenced by

46:03.215 --> 46:03.655
this.

46:03.659 --> 46:06.009
For example,
look at--back to Thomas for our

46:06.010 --> 46:09.350
last closing minutes and let's
read some of these sayings that

46:09.347 --> 46:12.357
sound puzzling to us,
and if we assume this myth

46:12.364 --> 46:14.514
maybe we'll read them
differently.

46:14.510 --> 46:18.470
Look at 21:
Mary said to Jesus,

46:18.467 --> 46:20.947
"What do your disciples
resemble?

46:20.949 --> 46:23.779
He said, "What they
resemble is children living in a

46:23.780 --> 46:25.500
plot of land that is not theirs.

46:25.500 --> 46:27.740
When the owners of the land
come they will say,

46:27.744 --> 46:29.164
'Surrender our land to us.'

46:29.159 --> 46:32.519
They, for their part stripped
naked in their presence,

46:32.523 --> 46:36.083
in order to give it back to
them, and they give them back

46:36.077 --> 46:37.407
their land."

46:37.409 --> 46:38.889
It could be an allegory.

46:38.889 --> 46:39.909
Who are the owners of the land?

46:39.909 --> 46:42.289
The evil powers that rule the
earth.

46:42.289 --> 46:44.909
Who are the children,
who are the real disciples of

46:44.909 --> 46:45.329
Jesus?

46:45.329 --> 46:47.079
Those people who know enough to
say,

46:47.079 --> 46:49.999
when the earth is demanded of
you, when your body is demanded

46:50.000 --> 46:53.400
of you by these evil powers,
give it up, just give it up,

46:53.396 --> 46:55.146
it's not valuable anyway.

46:55.150 --> 46:58.980
Look at 24:

46:58.980 --> 47:03.510


47:03.510 --> 47:05.450
His disciples said,
"Show us the place where

47:05.445 --> 47:06.935
you are, for we must seek
it."

47:06.940 --> 47:08.640
He said to them,
"Whoever has ears should

47:08.639 --> 47:08.979
listen!

47:08.980 --> 47:11.350
There is a light existing
within a person of light,

47:11.353 --> 47:13.113
that it enlightens the whole
world.

47:13.110 --> 47:15.430
If it does not enlighten,
that person is darkness."

47:15.429 --> 47:18.869
Remember how I said some people
are just dark people,

47:18.869 --> 47:22.109
they're just mud people,
but some people have a light in

47:22.108 --> 47:24.518
them,
and what it means to become a

47:24.519 --> 47:28.669
true Gnostic is to learn that
you are one who has that light.

47:28.670 --> 47:36.790
Look at 37:
His disciples said,

47:36.789 --> 47:39.269
"When will you be shown
forth to us, and when shall we

47:39.266 --> 47:40.116
behold you?"

47:40.119 --> 47:42.699
Jesus said, "When you
strip naked without being

47:42.699 --> 47:45.629
ashamed and take your garments
and put them under your feet

47:45.632 --> 47:47.912
like little children and tread
upon them.

47:47.909 --> 47:50.399
Then you will see the child of
the living and you will not be

47:50.398 --> 47:51.018
afraid."

47:51.018 --> 47:54.468
What's the Gnostic
interpretation of that?

47:54.469 --> 47:57.489
Student:
>

47:57.489 --> 48:00.189
Prof: Stripping the
material world off yourself.

48:00.190 --> 48:04.780
When you strip your soul,
your spark of the body,

48:04.780 --> 48:07.660
when you realize that it's not
the real you and you come to

48:07.657 --> 48:11.447
know the real you,
that's what's going to happen.

48:11.449 --> 48:16.319
Look at 56:
Jesus said, "Whoever has

48:16.322 --> 48:19.052
become acquainted with the world
has found a corpse,

48:19.050 --> 48:20.720
and the world is not worthy of
the one who has found the

48:20.722 --> 48:21.182
corpse."

48:21.179 --> 48:28.189
The world is just a dead body,
so several of these sayings,

48:28.190 --> 48:30.500
if you go back through the
Gospel of Thomas with some of

48:30.496 --> 48:33.176
this background information I've
given you of these ancient myths

48:33.179 --> 48:35.499
and ideas,
some of these sayings seem to

48:35.500 --> 48:37.540
fit that myth and fit that
notion.

48:37.539 --> 48:39.729
There are other things though
about what I've just told you

48:39.731 --> 48:41.511
that you don't find in the
Gospel of Thomas,

48:41.510 --> 48:43.960
and those are the things
emphasized by people who say the

48:43.961 --> 48:45.891
Gospel of Thomas shouldn't
called Gnostic.

48:45.889 --> 48:48.049
For example,
there's no mention in here of

48:48.054 --> 48:51.174
an evil god that creates the
world, like you find in some of

48:51.170 --> 48:52.650
these Nag Hammadi texts.

48:52.650 --> 48:55.840
You have the Father,
you have apparently the good

48:55.844 --> 48:58.974
guy, you have Jesus,
but tthere's no emphasis on

48:58.972 --> 49:01.572
creation here as being a bad
thing.

49:01.570 --> 49:05.020
Some people said that's one of
the fundamental things about the

49:05.021 --> 49:08.031
Gnostic myths and it's not in
the Gospel of Thomas,

49:08.030 --> 49:11.360
therefore the Gospel of Thomas
is not Gnostic.

49:11.360 --> 49:15.680
There are also simply no string
of myths and evil gods' names

49:15.684 --> 49:19.364
which you often find in the
texts of Nag Hammadi.

49:19.360 --> 49:22.030
Some scholars would say the
Gospel of Thomas may have some

49:22.028 --> 49:24.228
things in common with Platonism
of the time,

49:24.230 --> 49:25.840
maybe something in common with
certain Gnostics,

49:25.840 --> 49:26.980
but that it itself is not.

49:26.980 --> 49:29.380
If you take the Gospel of
Thomas as representing those

49:29.382 --> 49:31.232
ideas,
then Jesus comes across--the

49:31.228 --> 49:33.898
Christology of the Gospel of
Thomas becomes something

49:33.902 --> 49:36.682
different from the Christology
of the other texts,

49:36.679 --> 49:38.359
or least Matthew, Mark and Luke.

49:38.360 --> 49:40.750
As we'll see,
the Gospel of John looks a lot

49:40.753 --> 49:43.373
more like this than the Synoptic
Gospels did.

49:43.369 --> 49:46.949
Jesus becomes this redeemer
figure,

49:46.949 --> 49:49.939
this Gnostic redeemer figure
who comes into the world of

49:49.943 --> 49:53.323
materiality in order to find
those who have sparks of life,

49:53.320 --> 49:55.870
to blow on their sparks of
live, to transmit hidden

49:55.869 --> 49:58.809
knowledge to them,
so they can get back.

49:58.809 --> 50:01.419
If you'll stay with me the rest
of the semester,

50:01.418 --> 50:04.578
maybe I can give you those
secrets and you can escape your

50:04.583 --> 50:05.643
mud bodies too.

50:05.639 --> 50:11.149
You have your sections this
week, by tomorrow they'll be up

50:11.150 --> 50:15.810
online at the classes server,
and the different instructions

50:15.811 --> 50:18.841
for the rest of the sections,
and you'll need to look at that

50:18.840 --> 50:21.280
because at your section on
Thursday or Friday you'll need

50:21.278 --> 50:24.108
to choose which day and which
topic you'll do your paper for,

50:24.110 --> 50:25.800
so that will be online by
tomorrow morning.

50:25.800 --> 50:27.550
Thank you, see you next time.

50:27.550 --> 50:34.000