Gospel of Thomas Simplified - Mysteries of Jesus Urnraveled

(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."

Being saved, by my perspective, is the gift of being born again. I view this as God granting us furtherance of life in a new body, either here on this planet of the fallen, or elsewhere in the kingdom of God (universe/heavens). We are currently souls living in a bio-mechanical suit to learn. Christians believe in life here and in a new body later. I see it as many more. "You must be born again" is not an option. John 3

(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

Seeing truth makes us confront our own pride. Even a theologian can have this pride, putting his faith in what he thinks he understands. Perceived contradictions are disturbing. When we see as a child, with no prideful blinders on, we can see the truth within and not by the astigmatism caused by the world's pride. Once we see clearly, we are astonished.

(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

The kingdom is you. It is us. It is out there in the universe. Your body is a kingdom you rule now, a living universe. When you see yourself as a reflection of God's kingdom, you see that we are all one in God and He in us. We are in His image through Him. We come out by being in Christ. Our essence (information) is saved and transported with Christ. If you separate yourself from the rule of love, you dwell in poverty by clinging to your selfish pride; by holding on to what you can take instead of what you can give to those who are also on the journey. The kingdom can be yours, or you can live here in poverty with the tiny substance you take. This becomes your reward. A kingdom divided against itself falls. Where are you now and why? Earth is a kingdom of those who are divided against God. The planet of refinement. The key out is love by defeating the adversary instead of following him.

(4) Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same."

If you have been working in the vineyard over many lifetimes or just a few, we all get paid a wage equally as we find our way home. Place yourself first in pride and you will leave last. Place yourself last in humility and love for God and others and go home first.

Matthew 20: 1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.......16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Read it all. The workers are you in each life.

(5) Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you . For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."

Seek, and you will find. Knock and the door opens. Test all things, but know what is worth holding. Truth is found by trials and by seeing in humility and not by pride in knowing, but by doing. Actions are glasses for the mind. Confucius: "I hear and I forget. I see and I understand. I do and I know."

(6) His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?"
Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered."

All you do is recorded. Actions speak your heart to God. It will all be seen by others. Do what you know is hypocritical to truth, but know it will be seen. The truth is written on your heart. No Bible needed. Romans 1. Psalms 33:13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; Psalm 44:21 For he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Jeremiah 16:17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

(7) Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."

The lion is the resource and bountifulness of the cosmos. Keep the resources from consuming you. It is not there to be taken, but to be respectfully used for the benefit of all. Virtue, not vice. Giving not taking. Altruism, not objectivism.

(8) And he said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

All you will learn by seeking is a net of small fish. The prize fish is the knowledge that leads you out of the boat and back on dry land. Study to show yourself approved. The waters of life baptize you into life everlasting. The big fish is being baptized into the inner spirit of the kingdom. You will be born again, either back into the water or into the inheritance of the universe through the spirit. Flesh and blood do not inherit the kingdom. This earth will pass into fire. Where will you be left if you refuse the message of escape?

(9) Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure."

Some souls will not listen. Truth seeds fail to germinate or express their essence to form. An acorn unfolds into the oak if it falls on good soil.

(10) Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes."

Trials are coming to test our faith. Be sure of this by watching the signs. God speaks to us from the circumstances of life. Learn to listen by showing mastery over the fire.

(11) Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?"

Heavens and earths pass away. The cycles of creation turn. This place is not your home. What will you do when it is all consumed? Some will enter the light with Christ, in His arms. Some will be on there own by choice.

Now that you know how to read with eyes to see, get the rest on your own through the eyes of Christ. He came to take you home.

Home will be unimaginable to your current ability to conceive. Love God and love others. The ticket is free to those who know the price. Know the truth and it will set you free.

Future bliss can neither be imagined, explained, or described. We know nothing of its nature, form, greatness, or beauty, its quantity or quality. This much one should know, the phrase עולם הבא, 'the world to come' does not imply that it is a world yet to be called into existence; it exists already, but the phrase is employed to describe the life into which those who are in the present stage of existence will be transposed when they throw off this mortal coil.--Tanchum. Vayikra.

Originally posted by SuperiorEd
(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."

guess since there are no immortals on earth, that must mean that they all, all christian religions that is, have gotten it wrong then.

This is the same message as the NT. Love God and love your brother. No law can be broken if this is followed. The NT is the main document and all the small fish mentioned in v. 8. The big fish is what it reveals. Christ is the big fish. He is the Living Word. All other words are only what you can get by casting the net. Everywhere you cast a net, you get a chance to find the big one. The Bible is the lake He swims in the most.

Originally posted by CaDreamer

Originally posted by SuperiorEd
(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."

guess since there are no immortals on earth, that must mean that they all, all christian religions that is, have gotten it wrong then.

Maybe im just ignorant but what does this have to do about the gospel of thomas??

And imho i believe the "being born again" for me has nothing to do with the body but rather its another way of saying becoming enlightened.

Each verse listed is from the Godpel of Thomas along with my commentary. Link. It is only my perspective. The GOT is a key to NT scripture. In Jesus day, Rabbi Hillel would have been the teacher of Paul and Simeon. He used 7 rules to rightly divide truth. We call this Hermeneutics. Thomas provides the third perspective of the 2D paradoxes in the New Testament. This gives us the key to using the seven rules to then rightly divide the mysteries using the other scriptures, both OT and NT. God expects us to work for truth by living and study. Bias halts the process.

Originally posted by MachiventaMelchizedek
Maybe im just ignorant but what does this have to do about the gospel of thomas??

And imho i believe the "being born again" for me has nothing to do with the body but rather its another way of saying becoming enlightened.

^^^ thanks for clarifying^^^ great insight

Originally posted by MachiventaMelchizedek
^^^ thanks for clarifying^^^ great insight

I will get to the rest in a second part when my broken wrist heals. One hand is not quick enough. I am also still studying it. Where I stopped is as far as I have gone. I mainly wanted to get the ball rolling for others. This will help you. Link

That was a good read. There will always be those that will not comprehend what we are meant to understand, and there will always be those that will blast what we as human beings cannot begin to comprehend. It's fear of the unknown. The Bible was was written as per God's/Jesus instruction. Man has continued to translate and edit without instruction. Men have not changed. You will always find 1 or more to come along and use the opportunity to manipulate the situation for the own personal gain. I heard the most recent translation is gender neutral. The Bible puts clear distinction between man and woman.
I'm sure that most are aware of the church and its iron handed rule in the name of christianity. The crusades to my knowledge, we're not because God told them to. it was because the church manipulated the Gospel into that interpretation. Jesus was clear that you will settle with him in the end, not the church beforehand unless dealing with repentence.

Originally posted by SuperiorEd

Originally posted by MachiventaMelchizedek
^^^ thanks for clarifying^^^ great insight

I will get to the rest in a second part when my broken wrist heals. One hand is not quick enough. I am also still studying it. Where I stopped is as far as I have gone. I mainly wanted to get the ball rolling for others. This will help you. Link

I love the GOT... probably was the closest of the "gnostic texts" to getting included in the canon....

I think this one is my favorite; His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
"It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

It just gives clarity to the within/among you found in the NT...

reply to post by Hillbilly123069


yes, the bible was assembled, not written... The "inspired" texts are individual... It was assembled by a council overseen by one of those iron fisted rulers you speak of... as you saysome may argue to forward an iron fisted agenda...

Hi, SuperiorEd.

Nice work on your thread, I can see that you worked hard to get that written.

I have always been fascinated by the Gospel of Thomas and I return to it many times a year to look it over in the hopes of gaining new insight.

I see you have taken it easy on the reader and you started at the beginning; you and I both know how strange and a little unsettling it gets as it goes along.

So after reading your OP I went back to take another look and this jumped out at me...

Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."

Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.'

"If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest."

The Gospel of Thomas 49-50

Source of sorts:www.gnosis.org...


Compare this to this excerpt from The First Apocalypse of James...

The Master said: James, behold, I shall reveal to you the path of your redemption. Whenever you are seized and you undergo death-pangs (mortal fear), a multitude of Archons may turn on you, thinking they can capture you. And in particular, three of them will seize you, those who pose as toll collectors. Not only do they demand toll, but they take away souls by theft.

Now, when you come under their power, one of them who is the overseer will say to you: "Who are you, and where are you from?"

You are then to say to him, "I am a child of humanity and I am from the Source."

He will then say to you, "What sort of child are you, and to what Source do you belong?"

You are to say to him, "I am from the pre-existent Source, and I am the offspring of the Source."

Then he will say to you, "Why were you sent out from the Source?"

Then you are to say to him, "I came from the Pre-existent One so that I might behold those of my kind and those who are alien."

And he will say to you, "What are these alien beings?"

You are to say to him: "They are not entirely alien, for they are from the Fallen Sophia (Achamoth), the female divinity who produced them when she brought the human race down from the Source, the realm of the Pre-Existent One. So they are not entirely alien, but they are our kin. They are indeed so because she who is their matrix, Sophia Achamoth, is from the Source. At the same time they are alien because Sophia did not combine with her like in the Source (her divine male counterpart), when she produced them." (Ed: It must be the Archons that are spoken of here; they and Yaldabaoth were created from a 'mistake' made by Sophia.)

When he also says to you, "Where will you go now?" You are to say to him, "To the place when I came, the Source, there shall I return." And if you respond in this manner, you will escape their attacks.

(NHC V, 3. 33 - 34: 1- 25. Translation from NHLE 1990, pp. 265-6 and Kurt Rudolf, Gnosis, p. 174-5.)

Source again:www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

For me, the quote from The Apocalypse of James causes me to wonder if the Gospel of Thomas may be fragmentary or at least may contain fragments or a sort of shorthand. I don't know. But I have always been fascinated by the Gnostics and their descriptions of the Archons and their activities.

There is much to be learned and much stimulation to be had from reading the Gospel of Thomas. I hope other members who have not read it will check it out.

Thanks for the OP and an opportunity to post on a supremely interesting subject.

reply to post by Hillbilly123069


You wrote:

["There will always be those that will not comprehend what we are meant to understand, and there will always be those that will blast what we as human beings cannot begin to comprehend."]

And eventually the groups can be divided into those who seek answers from facts and those who invent answers.

Quote: ["It's fear of the unknown."]

Which would place theists in the 'fear' category, because they prematurely try to turn the unknown into the known based on speculative mythology.

Quote: ["The Bible was was written as per God's/Jesus instruction."]

So it is said, from a "it's true, because it's true" perspective.

Quote: ["Men have not changed."]

We still have the invasive missionaries and the sheeple, but altogether some changes have taken place. E.g. is mankind better educated, live longer and don't accept mythology so passively any more.

Quote: ["You will always find 1 or more to come along and use the opportunity to manipulate the situation for the own personal gain."]

And for some reason, most of them claim to be the 'real' possessors of absolute truth.

Quote: ["I heard the most recent translation is gender neutral. The Bible puts clear distinction between man and woman."]

And is that bad or good? Christian doctrinalism often gets incomprehensible.

Quote: [" I'm sure that most are aware of the church and its iron handed rule in the name of christianity."]

Another 'true' christian?

Quote: ["The crusades to my knowledge, we're not because God told them to."]

That's usually difficult to decide on; not least considering the endless amount of optional answers to it.

reply to post by wearewatchingyouman

yes, the bible was assembled, not written... The "inspired" texts are individual...

Important point there. I just wanted to say that I agree with you and appreciate you making this important point. It really cannot be stressed enough and knowing this can help a person keep their head bolted on as they make their way through these texts. You gotta be clever; not smart. But smart doesn't hurt.

Every 2000 years, there is a new revelation. Each revelation comes off the heals of the ones before. We can see hints of the next. Christ returns, saves those who loved God and man, then reigns for 1000 years. The souls who are saved live on in new bodies with Him for 1000 years of peace and education based on the previous revelation. The veil is lifted--not just torn--and we see the true perspective.

Our letters here may be the next to be read by masses of future generations. This time, the letters will not be seen as what comes next, but how we moved toward truth by the guidance of God in history. It's the tipping point as Malcolm Gladwell says. Peace follows as light is rightly divided from darkness. I assume all the stars and planets are watching us. Ephesians talks of the families and rulers in heaven who we will witness to by our story. UFOs now seem more relevant than ever. The enemy now seems obvious, but hidden from our view by God's protection. Conjecture perhaps.

1 Corinthians

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Originally posted by Hillbilly123069
That was a good read. There will always be those that will not comprehend what we are meant to understand, and there will always be those that will blast what we as human beings cannot begin to comprehend. It's fear of the unknown. The Bible was was written as per God's/Jesus instruction. Man has continued to translate and edit without instruction. Men have not changed. You will always find 1 or more to come along and use the opportunity to manipulate the situation for the own personal gain. I heard the most recent translation is gender neutral. The Bible puts clear distinction between man and woman.
I'm sure that most are aware of the church and its iron handed rule in the name of christianity. The crusades to my knowledge, we're not because God told them to. it was because the church manipulated the Gospel into that interpretation. Jesus was clear that you will settle with him in the end, not the church beforehand unless dealing with repentence.

Yes. We're really pretty dense as intelligence goes. It's not until today that we can see clearly. We needed to create our own virtual world to realize what 'in' the image actually means. For me, the other truth is that Buddha knew the facts. He spoke of the ox pulling the cart as the wheel turns. This is our soul pulling the burden as we live our lives, not life. You must be born again to finally be saved. Truth must be experienced.

Dhammapada

1. Choices

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.

Originally posted by wearewatchingyouman

Originally posted by SuperiorEd

Originally posted by MachiventaMelchizedek
^^^ thanks for clarifying^^^ great insight

I will get to the rest in a second part when my broken wrist heals. One hand is not quick enough. I am also still studying it. Where I stopped is as far as I have gone. I mainly wanted to get the ball rolling for others. This will help you. Link

I love the GOT... probably was the closest of the "gnostic texts" to getting included in the canon....

I think this one is my favorite; His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
"It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

It just gives clarity to the within/among you found in the NT...

Be the change. Love God and love others. Take up the the cross and use the sword of truth. No violence or weapons needed.

Compare what I said in my commentary to this:

Also consider this:

God moved the Bible and printing press out of Europe and to America by a simple letter nailed to the door of churches. Both were misused by Rome to sell forgiveness for sin. When the Bible moved to the masses in English, this brought the industrial revolution, literacy to the masses and the technology to bring the truth to all eyes. Don't doubt for a second that the word is complete. The discovery of other ancient texts are not accidents. God is at work out-thinking a common enemy. He laughs as the enemy stumbles. Nothing is out of His hands. It is as much our work as His. All accomplished by design and for us to witness. Doubt fails us in the test.

God is the judge. Satan the enemy. We are the witnesses. Christ is our advocate. Try not to implicate yourself. The advocate can clear your record if you follow the law. Love God and others.

By 'you' i mean us all.

Originally posted by wearewatchingyouman
reply to post by Hillbilly123069

 

yes, the bible was assembled, not written... The "inspired" texts are individual... It was assembled by a council overseen by one of those iron fisted rulers you speak of... as you saysome may argue to forward an iron fisted agenda...

edit on 17-7-2011 by wearewatchingyouman because: clarity

reply to post by Frater210


I'm with you on this. I've read it before. We can't rightly divide it as truth because it lacks the preexisting reference to our experience. The seven rules of Hellil are worthless here, at least for me at this time. I may read something one day and it will hit me. There is no doubt that this was meant to be found.

In the coming 1000 year rest, this may be clarified. It is also possible the key is locked up and sealed for the return of Christ. If you really want something to read, go with the Odes of Solomon. 12 is all physics. I can post my commentary sometime if you want.

reply to post by SuperiorEd


Wow, thanks. I will be reading these with much attention. Check this out...

for the mouth of the Most High spake to them; and His explanation ran by means of it:
The Odes of Solomon; Ode 12.

This whole passage makes me think of computer languages and recursion.

These days I am deeply interested in Natural Computing and Biology so when I read that I would find physics in that ode I started looking for what you may have been seeing and immediately started having thoughts about how His Word makes everything tick right down to the infinitesimally small 3D printers in our cells which create us. It is His Word that makes the ATP Synthase turn.

I don't know if you read this or not? Link

Originally posted by Frater210
reply to post by SuperiorEd

 

Wow, thanks. I will be reading these with much attention. Check this out...

for the mouth of the Most High spake to them; and His explanation ran by means of it:
The Odes of Solomon; Ode 12.

This whole passage makes me think of computer languages and recursion.

These days I am deeply interested in Natural Computing and Biology so when I read that I would find physics in that ode I started looking for what you may have been seeing and immediately started having thoughts about how His Word makes everything tick right down to the infinitesimally small 3D printers in our cells which create us. It is His Word that makes the ATP Synthase turn.

edit on 17-7-2011 by Frater210 because: spelling