Seeking The Imperishable Treasure

This book tracks the use of a single saying of Jesus over time and among theologically divergent authors and communities and identifies six different versions of the saying in the canonical gospels and epistles, as well as the Gospel of Thomas and Q. After tracing the tradition and redaction history of this wisdom admonition, the author observes at least two distinctly different wisdom themes that are applied to the saying: the proper disposition of wealth and the search for knowledge, wisdom, or God. What he discovers is a saying of Jesus with roots in Jewish wisdom and pietistic traditions, as well as popular Greek philosophy that proved amazingly adaptable in its application to differing social and rhetorical contexts of the first century.

In Seeking the Imperishable Treasure, Johnson tracks the use of a single saying of Jesus over time and among theologically divergent authors and communities. He identifies six different versions of the saying in the canonical gospels and epistles (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, James, and Colossians), as well as the Gospel of Thomas and Q. After tracing the tradition and redaction history of this wisdom admonition, he observes at least two distinctly different wisdom themes that are applied to the saying: the proper disposition of wealth and the search for knowledge, wisdom, or God. What he discovers is a saying of Jesus--with roots in Jewish wisdom and pietistic traditions, as well as popular Greek philosophy--that proved amazingly adaptable in its application to differing social and rhetorical contexts of the first century. An important and very readable contribution to Q and Gospel of Thomas studies by an experienced member of the International Q Project. With a careful historical-critical approach, Johnson examines how early Christians adopted and updated a saying of Jesus. --Christoph Heil, Professor of New Testament, University of Graz, Austria, and Member of the International Q Project's Editorial Board ""With studies like Steve Johnson's, the study of the Gospel of Thomas is entering a new, more mature, phase, where careful, thorough analysis of particular texts can begin to make substantive contribution to our understanding of the Jesus tradition and its early history. An exemplary piece of critical scholarship."" --Stephen J. Patterson Professor of New Testament, Eden Theological Seminary Steven R. Johnson is Associate Professor of Religion at Lycoming College (Williamsport, Pennsylvania). He is a managing editor of the International Q Project and is the author and editor of Q 7:1-10: The Centurion's Faith in Jesus' Word and Q 12:33-34: Storing up Treasures in Heaven (forthcoming).

This groundbreaking study argues that the Gospel of Thomas was written in Greek and influenced by New Testament writings.

"Embedded in modern print culture, biblical scholars have been projecting the assumptions and concepts of print culture onto the texts they interpret. In the ancient world from which those texts originate, however, literacy was confined to only a small number of educated scribes. And, as recent research has shown, even the literate scribes learned texts by repeated recitation, while the nonliterate ordinary people had little if any direct contact with written scrolls. The texts that had taken distinctive form, moreover, were embedded in a broader and deeper cultural repertoire cultivated orally in village communities as well as in scribal circles. Only recently have some scholars struggled to appreciate texts that later became ""biblical"" in their own historical context of oral communication. Exploration of texts in oral performance--whether as scribal teachers' instruction to their protŽgŽs or as prophetic speeches of Jesus of Nazareth or as the performance of a whole Gospel story in a community of Jesus-loyalists--requires interpreters to relinquish their print-cultural assumptions. Widening exploration of texts in oral performance in other fields offers exciting new possibilities for allowing those texts to come alive again in their community contexts as they resonated with the cultural tradition in which they were embedded."

In this commentary, Simon Gathercole provides a detailed analysis of the most controversial of all early Christian apocrypha, the Gospel of Thomas.

This translation of the Gospel of Thomas represents a departure from the usual literal English of previous publications. It aims at providing a reader-friendly translation of the original Coptic language in contemporary idiomatic English, while remaining true to the complexities of the Coptic. The commentary seeks to clarify each saying as it likely would have been understood in the historical context of the Coptic language during the period of Thomas's popularity in Egypt. The sayings in Thomas in this period are no longer sayings of the Jewish man Jesus of Nazareth, but they have become sayings of a revelation bearer, the living Jesus, who announces a radical faith for a new age of the church. The historical matrix that best serves to inform the text is found in a continuation, albeit in a radical direction, of the traditional faiths represented in the earliest Christian literature.

In the wisdom of Jesus , immerse yourself in a historical and spiritual exploration of the original teachings of Yeshua, revealed through ancient and mysterious texts. This unique book reveals fresh perspectives on early Christianity, focusing not only on the Gospel of Thomas but also on the writings of James, Mary Magdalene, and Philip, as well as the fascinating Discourse of the Savior. Discover how these texts, including papyrus 87.5575, shed a different light on Jesus' words, often in contrast to the canonical versions. This book is an invitation to rediscover the teachings of Jesus, freeing them from established dogmas to reveal their deep and universal wisdom. The Wisdom of Jesus is not just a historical study; it is a guide for those searching for meaning, offering a renewed perspective on spirituality and human nature. A fascinating journey that transforms the perception of the teachings of Jesus, suitable for everyone, believers, sceptics or simply curious. Join this spiritual adventure to explore the timeless wisdom of one of humanity's greatest sages.

A comprehensive overview of recent scholarly research on the Gospel of Thomas.