The Gospel of Thomas is one of the most disputed and discussed book that is not in the current canonical Bible. It is theorized that this Gospel was written by Jesus’ twin brother. The book records 114 unique and secret teachings. There are many things that are different from the Gospels to the Gospel of Thomas. The Gospel of Thomas is not concerned with the resurrection but rather its main concern is with Jesus’ secret teachings. The secret teachings that the Gospel of Thomas records seem very obscure in around about way of thinking. For example “The one who finds the meaning of these words will not taste death” simply implying that if you find the meaning of Jesus’ sayings and teachings then you will have eternal life. The Gospel of Thomas states that the only way to gain eternal life is to follow the Gospel of Thomas and only the Gospel of Thomas. The teachings of the Gospel of Thomas to me are much more graphic and bring a more of a retribution idea of Jesus into play. “I have hurled fire on the world, and behold. I guard it until it burns.” Jesus also said according to Thomas is that he didn’t come to bring peace or love to the world but rather war, destruction, turmoil, and upheaval. This seems to go against other teachings that Jesus had where he said he would come to save, heal, and love everyone. This confuses me because why would Jesus contradict himself?

The Gospel of Thomas relies heavily on the idea that knowledge will grant anyone access to heaven. “He who drinks from my mouth will be as I am, and I will be he and the things are hidden will be revealed to him” (Saying 108).This makes people believe that the kingdom of heaven has to be found. This gospel plays with the idea that heaven is secret, hidden, and hard to find. In earlier gospels Jesus doesn’t portray heaven like this in my opinion but of course the idea that knowledge grants access is a Greek Philosophical idea. Overall the Gospel of Thomas is a very obscure book that teaches knowledge of salvation over faith. This plays into the Greek philosophical idea that knowledge will grant eternal life. I feel like Jesus would be contradicting himself in saying this.