Coffee With Pierre

The communities of Q and the Gospel According to Thomas

By Shawn Taylor

Today, the search for the origins of true Christian tradition remains one the most ambiguous tasks of modern biblical scholarship. For centuries, scholars and historians offered countless hypotheses as to the origins of Christian doctrine along with the traditions and communities which derived from it. One such hypothesis speculated that verses contained in both the gospel of Mathew and the gospel of Luke, shared likeness to one anther and could be gathered together to form the teaching and sayings of Jesus, and would receive the name, lost gospel of Q. That was merely a hypothesis until discoveries found in Nag Hammadi in 1945 showed that there were numerous other writings besides the familiar synoptic gospels, which also depicted the life and death of a man called Jesus. Until this point, many scholars spent much of their time reconstructing the historical life of Jesus using only the four major New Testament gospels, and thought a sayings gospel did not exist as a genre of Christianity, and was not the foundation of an early Christian movement. Nevertheless, after close examination of all the newly discovered writings, a gospel by the name of Thomas proved to be the missing link between the Q hypothesis and a genuine Christian sayings gospel, simply because, nearly thirty-three percent of the passages that compose the gospel of Thomas had their root in lost book of Q. Scholars now had the tools necessary to conjecture what communities living, not by the synoptic gospels, but by a collection of sayings gospels, believed and how they interrupted the life of Jesus. Moreover, they were now able to create new hypotheses that could show how it shaped those communities which participated in Q and Thomas. Thus, the goal of this paper is to describe how a community living strictly from Burton Mack’s development of the original lost book of Q, compares to a community living strictly by the Gospel of Thomas found at Nag Hammadi.

Let us begin by focusing our attention on a community whose only ties to Jesus would only be through the original book of Q. One of the most fascinating things about a Q community is that they did not view Jesus as an Old Testament savior, fulfilling scripture, but rather a teacher, and did not require that anyone believe in him. This is apparent when Jesus, speaking to a man from the crowd, says, “Sir, who made me your judge or lawyer” showing that he his not viewed as a judger of the living and the dead, but is instead held in high regards (QS38). Contrary to Judaism, the Q community reached out in missionary like form to those outside of the cultural mainstream. Evidence of this can be seen when Jesus says, “The harvest is abundant and the workers are few” and “I send you out as lambs among wolves” (QS20). This is fallowed by detailed instruction of missionary activity. Moreover, judgment is not reserved for the end of life, instead a strong emphasis calling to live in the present can be seen when Jesus says, “Which one of you can add a single day to your life by worrying” (QS19, QS39). Death is something that this community would not fear because one should not “be afraid of those who can kill the body, but can’t kill the soul” (QS36). It can also be argued that even martyrdom plays a small but significant role in society (QS52).

As a group, the Q community, diverged from many social standards such as the concern or need for clothing. This is best observed when Jesus asks, “Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing” and “Why do you worry about clothing” (QS19). Economically, we see a community whose social status is equal and who is not indebted to anyone and holds no debt on anyone else. Members of the group wish to pardon their own debts, because they pardon everyone indebted to them (QS26). Wisdom and the analogical mind play a significant role in the life of a Q participant. Many of the passages within the original book of Q are written in the form of analogies, metaphors, similes and parables. One example is when Jesus answers, “The kingdom of god is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it leavened the whole mass” (QS46). This kind of writing requires a different type of mind to understand and therefore one could argue that the Q sayings may have come directly from older wisdom traditions. We can now combine all these ideals together to see that this community is one which is not led to believe in messiahs, does not consider a need for material wealth to be of any importance, will spread their sacred words and teachings like missionaries, and who do not live their lives in fear of their death.

Now let us focus our attention towards a community whose lifestyle is developed around the sayings found in the gospel of Thomas. In Thomas, Jesus denies the claim of being a teacher “I am not your teacher” (T13v5). Rather, Jesus claims, “I am the light that is over all things, I am all, from me all came forth, and to me all attained” (T77v1). Jesus is clearly viewed as omni-present and within all things. In Thomas, a leader is actually named, “James the just” (T12). This means the community has need of organization and may have possibly had some form of ecclesiastical positioning. Women get significant mention in Thomas’s gospel, and so we can only assume that they have a major role in the Thomas community (T21), (T64), (T79), (T114). It should be noted that the last saying of the entire gospel is about Mary, “Simon peter said to them, ‘let Mary leave us, for females are not worthy of life’. And Jesus said, ’behold, I shall guide her to make her male so that she too may be become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven”. This suggests that women are able to become spiritually equal to men. What the Thomas community should observe is most likely reflected in (T6), “His disciples asked him and said to him, ‘do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?’”. To this he merely responds, “Do not lie, and do not do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven”. Ritual observance, in the traditional sense, is obviously not recognized. However, there is strict observance of the Sabbath, “if you do not keep the Sabbath a Sabbath, you will not see the Father” (T27v2). But contrary to a Jewish understanding of the Sabbath, there is the denial of circumcision, “is circumcision useful or not? If it were useful then the father would have produced children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect” (T53).

Understanding the words of Jesus is most important to the Thomas community, as is evident in (T1v1), “whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death”. Just so, the gospel of Thomas is filled with parables of intense perplexity. The Thomas community has no evidence of a need for the passion narrative and there is direct warning against such apocalyptic interpretation. (T3-T18-T113). Indeed, passages (T3) and (T113) open and close the gospel, giving intensity to this credence. For Thomas participants, self knowledge is sought after and must be attained for proper spiritual purification, “When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and you are the poverty” (T3v4-5). This theme continues on as seen in (T26), (T-67), (T70v1), (T111v3). The gospel is very Gnostic in flavor, and views the world as a carcass (T56), (T60), (T80). (T110). Living in the moment is important for the Thomas community (T91), because life after death guarantees no salvation, “look to the living one as long as you live lest you die and try to the see the living one, and you will be unable to see” (T59). The Thomas community places emphasis on the search for the “kingdom of heaven”, the “kingdom of the father”, and just plainly the “kingdom” (T20), (T22), (27), (T46-49-57-54-76-82-113-97-98-109v3), (T114). Again, by combining the above ideals of Thomas, one could conjecture about how his community, viewed Jesus an omni-present being, believed that self knowledge was second to none, held women in higher regard, and began the formations of an ecclesiastic order.

Now that we are familiar with what Q and Thomas communities were like, we can now compare the two more adequately. First off, one of the major differences between the two gospels is their ideas of who Jesus was, and what he symbolized to the community. For instance, in Q, Jesus is viewed as a teacher, (QS38) (QS11) but in Thomas, Jesus denies this claim (T13). As for the Q community, Jesus gives prescriptions on a much more moral and social level, while the Jesus of Thomas is an omni present light on a Gnostic and heavily spiritual level (T37). Another major difference is that in Thomas, a leader is actually recognized, “James the just” (T12), where as the Q community has nothing to say about any successor. This leads us to speculate that the Thomas community, forming after the Q community, needed more instruction on issues such as leadership. This assumption provides evidence for an ecclesiastical structure in the Thomas church. In Q, Jesus says “whoever looses his life on account of me will preserve it” and therefore is suggestive of the

issue of martyrdom in the Q community (QS52), while in the gospel of Thomas, this suggestion is absent. (QS52) is an exact parallel with Thomas (T55) but the reference to martyrdom is intentionally left out, leading us to conclude that the author of Thomas did not condone martyrdom in his community. Further differences can be found in several passages throughout the two gospels. For example, Q leaves instruction for prayer, while the gospel of Thomas says, “if you pray, you will be condemned” (QS26), (T14v2) and (T14v3) “if you give alms, you will harm your spirits” which is in direct contrast to (QS40) which tells you to flagrantly give to charities. Furthermore, in a passage from Q, there is a “splinter in your brother eye” and a “stick in your own eye” (QS12). In Thomas there is a “Speck in your brother eye” and a “beam in your own eye”. (T26). The object in Thomas accentuates the idea to become aware of ones own problems before dealing with others. To know oneself is essential in the gospel of Thomas as we have stated (T111v3), (T3v4-v5), (T26), (T70v1), (T67). This echoes wisdom traditions as a whole in its reverence for self-knowledge. For example the commandment of Apollo as written on the temple of Delphi is “know thy self”. The importance of self-knowledge is not as significant and dwelt upon by the followers of the Q community.

There are, of course, some major similarities between the two gospels. Many scholars believe that whoever wrote the gospel of Thomas must have had some version of the original Q material in front of them. Because nearly thirty-three percent of the Thomas material is composed of Q, one could expect that there would be a great deal of ideas in Q that mimic those in Thomas. So many in fact, that numerous sayings of Q are literally a word-for-word copy in Thomas. Indeed Burton Mack says that, “When compared with [the complete] Q approximately one third of the saying in the gospel of Thomas have parallels in Q, and about sixty percent are from the original Q material. He speculates that a Thomas community must have made contact with Q, and must have had its roots in an the earliest Jesus movement. In addition, it should be noted that neither Q nor the gospel of Thomas contain any passion material (Kloppenburg p.105), and neither group gives any importance on making Jesus a historical figure. Both Q and Thomas place importance on the words and teachings versus Pauline Kerygma or historical importance (Kloppenburg p.104-105)

Based on the above descriptions and comparisons of Q and Thomas we can see that both of the communities are similar, but for some reason Thomas has a need to change what he has copied out of Q to be more applicable for his own community. Why would Thomas do this? One argument is that Thomas, because of his Gnostic background, would add and subtract various words and phrases. He can essentially mold Q so that it would fit better into his own gospel community, which is primarily built on wisdom traditions. If we assume each document to be a community, there are multiple non-passion Jesus movements that are not representative of modern orthodox Christianity. Moreover, Pauline Kerygma is absent, but what is interesting about Pauline Kerygma, is that it is absent of any teachings of Jesus except for two quotes, one of those not even being found in the gospels at all (1 Corinthians 11:24), (2 Corinthians 12:9). In fact, the words of Jesus are not found in any letters outside of Paul’s epistles, which find their way into the New Testament. Why are Jesus’ words ignored by his earliest missionaries? One would think the words of Jesus would be most essential and key for understanding the central Christian message as coming from Jesus himself. Finding the gospel of Thomas in complete form, and finding so much of the original book of Q contained in it, only helps to solidify the claim that the original Q is in fact the earliest form of Christian tradition and may be Jesus’ true words. Thomas neatly concentrates on just the areas that modern Q theorists said he would, if it was in fact the earliest reminisce of Jesus’ sayings. I think the direction that this study points to, contains enough validity, to be considered unavoidable by modern biblical scholars and theologians.

Additional notes:

The original Q community:

• The Q community reached out in missionary like form to those outside of the cultural mainstream which is directly contrary to Judaism. (QS20, QS35, QS20).

• Jesus is viewed as a teacher and not as “Judge or Lawyer” (QS38), (QS11).

• Members of the Q community diverged from social standards such as (QS9, QS9, and QS39).

• We can tell that it is made up of peoples with recent misfortunes and injustices (QS8)

• If judgment is not reserved for the end of life, then it’s a calling to live right now (QS19) and death is no worry (QS36, QS52).

• Social status is equal and debts are relinquished (QS26, QS9)

• A wisdom tradition for this community exists as evident in (QS13, QS35, QS38, QS46, and QS20). The search for the kingdom of god is important (QS46)

• Some of the sayings are strikingly cynic in style (QS52)

Community of Thomas followers:

• Questions regarding ritual, members of the Thomas community may have had are reflected in (T6v1). Jesus answer is simple, merely (T6v2-3)

• Figuring out the parables is the most important thing to the Thomas community (T1) indeed; one is asked who has ears to hear. (T8v4), (T21v10), (T63v4), (T65v8), (T96v3) (T23v2).

• There is evidence of the observance of the Sabbath (T27v2).

• The idea of opposites merging into one is a consistent theme as evident in (T47), (T48), (T22v4), (T11), (T106), and (T101)

• The Thomas community places emphasis on the search for the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the father, and the kingdom.(T20), (T22), (27), (T46-49-57-54-76-82-113-97-98-109v3), (T114)

• For the Thomas community, these saying have an element of secrecy (Prologue) (T62v1), (T38) but contrarily all things will be revealed (T5)

• Circumcision is of no importance to the community (T53)

• To the community the world is merely a carcass (T56), (T60), (T80). (T110)

• Self-knowledge was held in high regards to the Thomas community (T111v3), (T3v4-v5), (T26), (70v1), (T67)

• Judgment will not pass after death according to (T59)

• Women play a significant role in the gospel of Thomas and therefore can play significant roles in the Thomas community (T21), (T114), (T79), (T64), It should be noted that the role of women is dealt with in the last saying of the entire work

• Thomas has no apocalyptic appeals and denies that interoperation of Jesus. As was intentionally placed in the opening (T3) and the closer (t113) and also (T18).

Q and Thomas comparison

At first glace it is sticking to see that almost the entire original Q as hypothesized by Burton Mack, is contained within the gospel of Thomas with variants

The number on the left side of the table correspond the numbers below

1) Very similar very reminiscent of the same style or aphorism.

2) Very similar very reminiscent of the same style or aphorism.

3) Similar in language and context but not identical

4) Almost identical serving the same function analogically.

5) Almost identical serving the same function analogically.

6) Different in language, same function analogically

7) Exact same language, same functions analogically

8) Very similar in language, same function analogically; exactly the same and allows for the immediate opposite. (Absolved duality)

9) Completely different language and structure, same function analogically

10) Same rhetorical tool and function

11) Same function, Thomas being more particular

12) Thomas answers the Q’s parable.

13) Different language, same function

14) Exactly the same. Both language and function

15) Different in language, similar in function, Different object - Heavenly/unfailing

16) Exactly the same in language and function

17) Exactly the same in language and function

18) Thomas presents elements of a parabolic story, Q presents it as a complete allegory

19) Same function analogically, different language

20) Thomas presents elements of a parabolic story, Q presents it as a complete allegory

Q and Thomas comparison:

• In Q, Jesus is viewed as a teacher, (QS38) (QS11) but, in Thomas Jesus denies this claim (T13). Jesus is the light (T77) For the Q community, Jesus gives prescriptions on a much more moral and social level, while the Jesus of Thomas is an omni present light on a Gnostic and heavily spiritual level (T37)

• In Thomas, a leader is actually named “James the just” (T12), where as the Q community has nothing to say about any successor. This will lead us to see the Thomas community as forming after the Q community and needing more instruction on issues such as successorship. This could give bases for an eccliastical structure in the Thomas church community.

• In Q, Jesus says. “whoever looses his life on account of me will preserve it” and therefore is suggestive of the idea of martyrdom to a community. (QS52). In the gospel of Thomas, this suggestion is absent. QS52 is an exact parallel with Thomas (T55) up to this saying which is intentionally left out, leading us to conclude that the author of Thomas did not condone of martyrdom in his community.

• In Q, there is a “splinter in your brother eye” and a “stick in your own eye (QS12). In Thomas there is a “Speck in your brother eye” and a “beam in your own eye”. (T26). This of the object in Thomas accentuates the idea to become aware of one owns problems before dealing with others. To know oneself is essential in the gospel of Thomas as we have stated (T111v3), (T3v4-v5), (T26), (70v1), (67). This echoes wisdom traditions as a whole in its reverence for self-knowledge. For example the commandment of Apollo as written on the temple of Delphi is “know thy self”.

• The gospel of Q leaves instruction for prayer, while the gospel of Thomas says, “if you pray, you will be condemned” (QS26), (T14v2) and (T14v3) “if you give alms, you will harm your spirits” which is in direct contrast to (QS40) which tells you to flagrantly give to charities.

• Neither Q or the gospel of Thomas contain any passion material (Kloppenburg p.105)

• Both Q and Thomas place importance on the words and teachings versus Pauline Kerygma or historical importance (Kloppenburg p.104-105)

References

Kloppenborg, et al. Q Thomas Reader. 1990, Polebridge Press

Mack, Burton. The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins. 1994, HarperOne