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Gospel of Thomas Parallels
Many sayings in the Gospel of Thomas resonate with other Christian, Jewish, Hellenistic and Gnostic writings of the time. Parallels between the Gospel of Thomas and the synoptic gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, are often clear and are well-documented, and for the most part I have omitted them. Here I present some of the more unusual similarities, whether they are close resemblances or just similarities of idea or expression. Some of these are perhaps coincidental; some are due to a common culture, whether Christian or otherwise. Some probably show the influence of the Gospel of Thomas on later writings, others perhaps have influenced the sayings within Thomas. Perhaps some illustrate an esoteric language common to Thomas and other writings. Others are not parallels at all, but help to fill out some of the background to the material. These similarities are presented without comment as food for thought.
| 1. |
1. These are the esoteric sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas the twin wrote down. And he said, “Whoever finds the inner meaning of these sayings shall not taste death.” |
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word,
he will never see death." |
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| 2. |
Jesus said, “The seeker should not stop searching until he finds, and when he finds he will suffer, and when he suffers he will be astonished and will be king over everything, and having become king he will find rest.” |
"Watch and pray that you not come to be in the
flesh, but rather that you come forth from the bondage of the bitterness
of this life. And as you pray, you will find rest, for you have
left behind the suffering and the disgrace. For when you come forth
from the sufferings and passions of the body, you will receive rest
from the good one, and you will reign with the king, you joined
with him and he with you, from now on, for ever and ever, Amen."
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| 3. |
Jesus said, “If those who lead you should say to you, ‘Look, the kingdom is in the air,’ then the birds of the air will be first, coming before you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish of the sea will be first, coming before you. But the kingdom is within you and outside of you. When you know yourselves then you will be known and will find it, and you will discover that you are sons of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves then you are impoverished and you are poverty.”. |
“It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will
go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it
and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who
will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear
it and do it?' But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart, so that you can do it.” |
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| 4. |
Jesus said, “The old man should not delay in asking a little seven days child about the place of Life, and then that man will be alive. For the many who are first shall be last, and the last first, and they shall become a unity.”
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John 3:4: Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man
be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born?" |
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| 7. |
Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion that the man consumes, and the lion becomes man. And cursed is the man that the lion consumes, and the man becomes lion.”. |
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| 9. |
Jesus said, “Look, the sower came out, filled his hand and cast the seed. Some seed fell against the road; the birds came and gathered them. Others fell onto rock, and did not send roots down to earth or ears rising up to heaven. And others fell on thorns that choked the seed, and worms ate them. And some others fell upon good earth and gave good grain up to heaven; it came up sixty and one hundred and twenty per measure.”
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“ "For just as the farmer sows many seeds upon
the ground and plants a multitude of seedlings, and yet not all
that have been sown will come up in due season, and not all that
were planted will take root; so also those who have been sown in
the world will not all be saved." I answered and said, "If
I have found favor before thee, let me speak. For if the farmer's
seed does not come up, because it has not received thy rain in due
season, or if it has been ruined by too much rain, it perishes.
But man, who has been formed by thy hands and is called thy own
image because he is made like thee, and for whose sake thou hast
formed all things -- hast thou also made him like the farmer's seed?”
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| 11. |
Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away and the one above it will pass away. Those who are dead do not live and those who are living will not die. When you consumed what is dead you made it alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? When you were a unity, you split into two; now you are two, what will you do?”
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“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was
caught up to the third heaven -- whether in the body or out of the
body I do not know, God knows.” |
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| 12. |
His students said to Jesus, “We know that you will leave us. Which of us will become great?” Jesus said to them, “Wherever you have come from, go to James the Righteous, for whom heaven and earth came to be.” |
“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit
Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the
other apostles except James the Lord's brother. “ |
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| 13. |
Jesus said, “Compare me to someone, and tell me who I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are a righteous angel.” Matthew said to him, “You are a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth will not allow me to say what you are.” Jesus said, “I am not your master; because you drank from the bubbling spring that I have poured out, you have become intoxicated.” And he took him, withdrew, and spoke three things to him. When Thomas came back to his companions they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” He said to them, “If I tell you one of the things he told me, you will take up stones and throw them at me, and fire will come out of the stones and burn you.”
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“ And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages
of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who
do men say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist;
and others say, Eli'jah; and others one of the prophets."
And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter
answered him, "You are the Christ." And he charged them
to tell no one about him.” |
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| 15. |
Jesus said, “When you look upon the one who was not born of woman, throw yourself on your face and worship him, for he is your father.”
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“The Lord said, "Whatever is born of truth does
not die. Whatever is born of woman dies."” |
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| 17. |
Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has looked upon and no ear has listened to, what no hand has touched, and what has not been revealed to the heart of man.”.
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“But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen,
nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared
for those who love him,"” |
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| 18. |
His students said to Jesus, “Tell us of our end, how will it be?” Jesus said, “Have you found the beginning so that you are searching for the end? For the end will be in the same place as the beginning. Blessed is he who will rise up in the beginning, and he will know the end, and he will not taste death.”
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“From the beginning until the end I received His knowledge.”
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| 19. |
Jesus said, “Blessed is he who exists from the beginning before he comes to be. If you are my students and listen to my words, these stones will become your servants. For you have five trees in Paradise, which do not move in summer or in winter, and their leaves do not fall down. Whoever knows them will not taste death.” |
“The Lord said, "Blessed is he who is before
he came into being. For he who is, has been and shall be."”
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| 22. |
Jesus looked at some little ones taking milk. He said to his students, “These little ones taking milk are like those who go in to the kingdom.” They said to him, “Then will we, as little ones, go into the kingdom?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and female into a unity, so that the male is not male and the female is not female; when you make some eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will go in to the kingdom.”
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“ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon
the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them.” |
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| 24. |
His students said, “Show us the place from which you live, for we need to seek it.” He said to them, “Whoever has ears, let him listen. Light exists within a man of light and he becomes light for the whole world; if he does not become light, he is darkness.”
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“And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may
be also. And you know the way where I am going." |
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| 29. |
Jesus said, “If the flesh was created because of the spirit, it is a wonder; but if spirit is produced because of the body it is a wonder of wonders. I myself marvel how this great wealth was placed within this poverty.”
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That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. |
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| 30. |
Jesus said, “Where there are three gods they divine. Where there is one alone, I myself am with him Split the wood and I am there; pick up the stone and you will find me there.”
|
The laws of incest may not be expounded before three
persons, nor the Account of the Creation before two, nor the Chariot
before one unless the person is wise and able to understand on his
own. |
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| 37. |
His students said, “When will you be revealed to us, and when will we look upon you?” Jesus said, “When you strip yourselves naked without being ashamed, and you take off your clothing and put it under your feet, like small children, and you trample on it, then you will look upon the son of the living one and you will not be afraid.”. |
“And the man and his wife were both naked, and were
not ashamed.” |
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| 53. |
His students said to him, “Is circumcision of benefit to us or not?” He said to them, “If it were of benefit, their father would have them born from their mother already circumcised. Rather, it is the true circumcision in spirit that is worth something.” |
“For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor
is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew
who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart,
spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.”
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| 55. |
Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot be a student of mine; and whoever does not love his brothers and sisters, and take up his cross in my way, will not be worthy of me.”
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“For if you wish to be crucified, wait and the cross
will |
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| 58. |
Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who suffers, for he has found life.”
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“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he
has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has
promised to those who love him.” |
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| 61. |
Jesus said, “Two will rest on a couch. One will die, one will live.” Salome said, “Who are you, man, that as if you come from unity, you climbed on my couch and ate off my table?” Jesus said to her, “I am the one who lives from unity. I received that which is my father’s.” She said, “I am your student.” Jesus said, “Because of this I say, ‘Whoever is unified will be full of light; whoever is divided is full of darkness.’”
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Salome said, 'I have done well, then, in not bearing
children?' the Lord answers and said: “Eat every plant, but do not
eat that which has bitterness.” |
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| 67. |
Jesus said, “Whoever knows everything but lacks himself, lacks a place within himself.”
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“ For he who has not known himself has known nothing,
but he who has known himself has at the same time already achieved
knowledge about the depth of the all.” "Now "place" has a three-fold meaning,
firstly that of a space filled by a material form, secondly that
of the Divine Word, which God Himself has completely filled throughout
the incorporeal potencies.... There is a third signification, in
keeping with which God Himself is called a place, by reason of His
containing things, |
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| 68. |
Jesus said, “You are blessed when you are hated and persecuted, and you are not found within the place where you are persecuted.”
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“More grievous and painful is this persecution, which
arises from within, which is ever with a man, and which the persecuted
cannot escape; for he carries the enemy about everywhere in himself.” |
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| 75. |
Jesus said, “There are many standing at the door. But the single ones will go into the bridal chamber.” |
"If the woman had not separated from the man,
she should not die with the man. His separation became the beginning
of death. Because of this, Christ came to repair the separation,
which was from the beginning, and again unite the two, and to give
life to those who died as a result of the separation, and unite
them. But the woman is united to her husband in the bridal chamber.
Indeed, those who have united in the bridal chamber will no longer
be separated. Thus Eve separated from Adam because it was not in
the bridal chamber that she united with him." |
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| 76. |
Jesus said, “The kingdom of the father is like a merchant with a consignment. He found a pearl. He was a wise merchant, so he gave the goods back and bought that single pearl for himself. You yourselves must search for the enduring treasure that does not perish, in that place where moths do not consume nor worms destroy.”
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"Then my Parents made a covenant with me, writing
it in my heart so that I would not forget it. If you go down to
Egypt and bring back the priceless pearl which is in the sea, in
the home of the fire breathing serpent, you will again wear these
Garments of Light covered by the Red Coat. You will find perfect
peace and happiness, and you will be a joint-heir with your Elder
Brother, possessing all that we have." |
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| 77. |
Jesus said, “I am the light that is above everything. I am everything, everything has come out of me and split itself open to me. Split the wood and I am there; pick up the stone and you will find me there.”
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"God is nearer to me than I am to my own self,
my life depends upon God's being near me. He is also present in
a stone, or a log of wood, only they do not know it." |
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| 79. |
A woman in the crowd said, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and blessed are the breasts that fed you.” He said to her, “Blessed are those who have listened to the words of the father and watched over him in truth. For the days will come when you will say, ‘Blessed is the womb that hasn’t conceived, and blessed are the breasts that haven’t given any milk.’”
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The Lord said to Salome when she inquired: How long
shall death prevail? 'As long as ye women bear children', |
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| 83. |
Jesus said, “The images are revealed to man, and the light within them is hidden in the image of the light of the father. He will be revealed, and his image hidden because of his light.”
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Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came
in types and images. The world will not receive truth in any other
way. There is a rebirth and an image of rebirth. It is certainly
necessary to be born again through the image. Which one? Resurrection.
The image must rise again through the image. The bridal chamber
and the image must enter through the image into the truth: this
is the restoration. |
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| 84. |
Jesus said, “When you look upon your likeness you are happy. When, however, you look upon your images, which came to be from the beginning, which neither die, nor are they yet revealed, how much will you bear?”
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"We recognise two varieties of spirit, one of
which is called the soul (psyche), but the other is greater than
the soul, an image and likeness of God: both existed in the first
men, that in one sense they might be material, and in another superior
to matter." |
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| 101 |
Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother in my way cannot be my student; and whoever does not love his father and mother in my way cannot be my student. For my mother gave birth to me, but my true mother gave me life.”
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“A disciple asked the Lord one day for something of
this world. He said to him, "Ask your mother, and she will
give you of the things which are another's."” |
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| 106. |
Jesus said, “When you make the two into one, you will become the sons of man, and if you should say, ‘mountain, move away,’ it will move.” |
“Thought is like a mirror. One looking at it sees his
image inside and thinks that there are two images; but the two are
really one.” |
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| 108. |
Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will be like me. I myself will become him, and what was hidden will be revealed to him.” |
“And speaking waters touched my lips from the fountain
of the Lord generously. And so I drank and became intoxicated, from
the living water that does not die. And my intoxication did not
cause ignorance, but I abandoned vanity, And turned toward the Most
High, my God, and was enriched by His favours.”
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| 114. |
Simon Peter said to them, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “Look, I myself will lead her, so that I may make her male and she might also become a living spirit like you males. For any woman who makes herself male will go into the kingdom.” |
"There are two kinds of souls, just as there are two
genders among humans. The one is a male soul, belonging to men;
the other a female soul, as found in women. The male soul devotes
itself to God alone, as the father and creator of the universe and
the cause of all things that exist. But the female soul depends
upon all the things which are created, those things liable to destruction.
And it puts forth, as it were, the hand of its power so that in
a blind way it may lay hold of whatever it comes across, clinging
to a generation which has an innumerable quantity of changes and
variations, when it ought to cling to the unchangeable, honourable,
and esteemed divine nature." "And the companion of the Lord was Mary Magdalene.
He loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her on
her mouth more often than the rest of the disciples. They said to
him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour
answered and said to them ,"Why do I not love you like
her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness,
they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then
he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain
in darkness." |
Quotations from the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha are from the RSV.
Plato translated by Benjamin Jowett. Quotations from Church Fathers are usually from of out of copyright translations, e.g. Ante-Nicene Fathers series.
Quotations from other Nag Hammadi texts are from The Nag Hammadi Library in English.
Some of these parallels are pointed out by Marvin Meyer in The Gospel of Thomas.
The
Gospel of Thomas: A New Version Based on the Inner Meaning, by Andrew
Phillip Smith, is published by Ulysses
Books and is available through Amazon.com
Gospel
of Thomas Material:
Sayings and
Interpretation
From the
Introduction
Intriguing
Parallels to Gospel of Thomas Sayings
Short Essays
On Difficult and Obscure Sayings
Reviews of the Other
Translations of the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas Online Resources
Gospel of Thomas Home
Esoteric
Christianity Material:
Beryl Pogson on
the Gospel of Thomas in 1959
P.D.
Ouspensky on Christianity and The New Testament
Gurdjieff,
Ouspensky, Nicoll, and Many Others:
an Online Anthology of Fourth Way Writings On Esoteric Christianity
Esoteric
Christianity Online Resources