The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas: Early Church Fathers and the Early Church
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In our hands we hold a text that has challenged the Church since its earliest days - the Gospel of Thomas. This collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus Christ presents us with an opportunity to witness how the great Fathers of the Church confronted writings that claimed apostolic authority yet stood outside our canonical tradition.

When the complete Coptic text emerged from the sands of Egypt at Nag Hammadi in 1945, scholars experienced anew what Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Cyril of Jerusalem had faced centuries before: How shall we understand these words? What truth might they contain? Where do they lead the faithful astray?

The present volume provides what has long been absent from scholarly discourse - a thorough examination of how the Church Fathers themselves engaged with the Thomas tradition. While modern academics have produced countless studies on this text, few have systematically gathered and analyzed the patristic response to its teachings.
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Excerpts from the foreword by:

Most Reverend Thomas Augustine D.D., S.T.D.

Archbishop of Boston,

Professor Emeritus of Patristic Studies,

Pontifical Gregorian University