Does the Gospel of Thomas support the view that Jesus used the divine name?

by slimboyfat 25 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Most of the apocryphal gospels are dismissed by scholars as being too late to tell us anything useful about the historical Jesus, but the Gospel of Thomas may be an exception. When the Jesus Seminar (a group of around 200 scholars who study the historical Jesus) debated which sayings attributed to Jesus in the gospels were most likely authentic, they concluded that none of sayings in John's gospel were certainly authentic, but that three sayings in the Gospel of Thomas were unquestionably authentic.

    This is the passage, from saying 13 in the Gospel of Thomas, that suggests Jesus used the divine name:

    And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
    Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.

    Given the sanction of stoning mentioned here, many scholars think the reference is to Jesus using the divine name, perhaps alluding to Exodus 3:14 where three words are used to explain the one name. So this may be a relatively clear case of the divine name on the lips of Jesus Christ from a relatively early source. But given it is found in an apocryphal gospel I doubt the Watchtower Society will be quoting it any time soon!

  • Jaime l de Aragon
    Jaime l de Aragon

    Nowhere in the New Testament use any name for the Creator, I want to stress that he never gave a name, Jehovah is an invention of the 12th century and the Tetragrammaton is a fraud

    The unpronounceable name, unpronounceable name ever! gave no name! and never told any name Moises, unpronounceable, what he said is a expression of who he was, not a name

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/235520/1/Who-is-Jehovah

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    The New Testament talks about God's name in many places. I can't think of anywhere where it says "that he never gave a name".

    Check out "The Divine Name in Ante-Nicene Theology" by Charles A. Gieschen (available online) that details the treatment of the divine name in the New Testament and other early Christian literature.

    I am less interested in the exact sound of the name to be honest, but I accept the point that Jehovah is just an English equivalent that may not be very close to how ancient native speakers vocalised the name.

  • Jaime l de Aragon
    Jaime l de Aragon

    In the New Testament used the expression Theos, is the only expression that was used in the original writings and not mean Jehovah or tetragramaton

  • Jaime l de Aragon
    Jaime l de Aragon

    The Hebrew names of the great patriarchs and high priests of the Hebrews begin with vowels, which is proof that the old and real Hebrew if he vocal.

    Adam, Eve, Abraam, Isaak, Iakob, Israel, Ishmael, Esau, Aaron, Iesous

  • Jaime l de Aragon
    Jaime l de Aragon

    "The Roman Catholic Inquisition" was commissioned to collect and burn all the Scriptures and their owners, destroying every witness, leaving the way clear for the BIBL-IAH Secret Societies.

    Bible

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    I think I've been hijacked.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Yeah Jaime is a master at that. I have some comments forthcoming.

  • EndofMysteries
    EndofMysteries

    Based on what I've finally learned and understand, first Jesus didn't say a name. What Jesus told him and what he meant, was if he told the others, it would be so shocking to them they would try to stone him to death.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    I was basing my comments mainly on what I read in the Very Short Introduction to the Apocryphal Gospels by Paul Foster (page 39) and what I found online in The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation: With a Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel by April D. DeConick, page 85.

    Firefox won't allow me to cut and paste. What is up with that!

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