Fwd: Re: Food for thought (is also Re: The Gospel of Thomas

[Doug Millison]

rj says, re the TV show he saw about the Gospel of Thomas, that  " it's
what was left out, or suppressed, (or reinterpreted), which is interesting"
and goes on to say:
>>The Jesus of Thomas's Gospel tells his followers, like the Cynics, to
>>live like the birds and the flowers (crows and ravens/larks and
>>blackbirds; anemones), and not to think of tomorrow. He tells them that
>>they can achieve their own salvation, that salvation (i.e. "God") is
>>*within* each individual, rather than endorsing its availability through
>>"the Church" and its bishops.

Don't believe everything you see and hear on TV.  This material has in no
way been suppressed -- all of this (and much more that would appear to
challenge many practices of the Church) is in the New Testament,  in fact
these are among the core sayings of the canonical gospels -- I can provide
chapter and verse if you wish.

>>IN *GR*, Slothrop's story is a living out of the path Thomas's Jesus
>>advocates, I think.

I didn't see the TV show rj refers to, but Crossan, in _The Birth of
Christianity_ paints a good picture (based on painstaking historical
research) of what "Christians" did in the early years after Jesus'
execution by the Romans, before the New Testament gospels were written.
They went from village to village, repeating the teachings of Jesus (those
Sayings), teaching people how to pray (the Lord's prayer), healing the sick
(through prayer and laying on of hands), and sharing the Eucharist
(sacramental breaking of bread and sharing of the cup) in table fellowship.
I'm not sure how Slothrop would parallels this in GR.

d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n
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