The Big Question

the big question

with cynthia l. simmons

WWW.CLSIMMONS.COM

Q: I recently heard about Gospel of Thomas.Why isn’t it included in the Bible?

THIS QUESTION CONTAINSTWO PARTS. THE FIRST

QUESTIONS the validity of the Gospel of Thomas, while the second deals with how the New Testament was formed.

Let’s address the authenticity of the Gospel of Thomas. This book belongs to a group of writings called the Gnostic Gospels and contains no stories or record of the crucifixion. Instead, readers find a collection of confusing statements attributed to Christ. The Gnostic cult affected parts of the secondcentury church, and followers defined all material things as evil. For instance, as Christians, we believe Jesus inhabited a body and shed His blood for our sins. The Gnostics couldn’t accept the sacrificial death of Jesus since they believed both the body and blood would be sinful.

Next, I’ll tackle the canon of Scripture. Luke said that “many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us” (Luke 1:1, ESV), so we know others wrote about

Jesus. The Early Church chose certain tests to validate inspired writings. The word canon means “rule to judge.” Church fathers adopted three criteria a book must meet to be part of the New Testament.

First, the writer had to be an apostle or associated with an apostle. For instance, in the first Gospel written, Mark recorded the eyewitness account of Peter. Luke traveled with Paul and served as his physician. He wrote Luke and Acts.

Second, the book had to convey a sense of authority and claim to reveal God’s message. Consider the book of First Corinthians. Paul introduced himself as an apostle as he began writing and then addressed divisions in the Corinth church. Church members chose to identify with the minister who baptized them, so the church broke into segments. Paul said Jesus wasn’t divided and admonished believers to follow Christ rather than the preacher. Clearly, Paul knew he was conveying God’s revelation.

Third, the book must be recognized by the Early Church. That may seem an unusual standard, but first-century Christians agreed on most of the books in the New Testament. Scholars debated several for a time, but resolved their differences. When the first church council met in 397, they all agreed on the 27 books in the New Testament.

To summarize, the Gospel of Thomas taught Gnostic doctrine and it’s unlikely the Apostle Thomas penned it. Further the book did not convey authority and was not recognized by the Early Church. While many wrote about the life of Christ, the Early Church examined writings before recognizing them as part of Scripture. Based on the wisdom of the Early Church fathers, we can be certain we have all the revelation God gave mankind.