ON LOVE; PART XDIX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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The Gospel of Thomas

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.

(46) Jesus says: “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women there is no one who surpasses John the Baptist so that his (i.e., John’s) eyes need not be downcast.  But I have also said: ‘Whoever among you becomes little will know the kingdom, and will surpass John.’”

(47) Jesus says: “It is impossible for a person to mount two horses and to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters. Else he will honor the one and insult the other. No person drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, so that they do not burst; nor is old wine put into (a) new wineskin, so that it does not spoil it. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear will result.“

(48) Jesus says: “If two make peace with one another in one and the same house, (then) they will say to the mountain: ‘Move away,’ and it will move away.“

(49) Jesus says: “Blessed are the solitary ones, the elect. For you will find the kingdom.  For you come from it (and) will return to it.“

(50) Jesus says: “If they say to you: ‘Where do you come from?’ (then) say to them: ‘We have come from the light, the place where the light has come into being by itself, has established [itself] and has appeared in their image.’If they say to you: ‘Is it you?’ (then) say: ‘We are his children, and we are the elect of the living Father.’If they ask you: ‘What is the sign of your Father among you?’ (then) say to them: ‘It is movement and repose.’” ¹⁴

In the last essay we completed our remarks about the forty seventh saying from the Gospel of Thomas and we noted that while Thomas’ style and recollection vary from the synoptic writers on these matters, the same Truths are offered. If we should want to consider the words of this gospel as authentic, we could see Thomas thoughts and style regarding the Master’s sayings as differing from the synoptic writers much the same as they sometimes differ among themselves and yet not so different as the Gospel of John is differs from them. Both John and Thomas ARE the more extreme departures from the synoptic model but they differ in respect to the subject matter; Thomas puts his slant and style mostly into similar sayings as found in the synoptics while John departs from the synoptics almost entirely and often sees a much different perspective when the events or the sayings are similar. Neither John nor Thomas offers an historical perspective and both see the events and sayings from their time with the Master in their own way, they seem to value different ideas and they seem to present a vision of Jesus that we do not see in the synoptic versions. These are our thoughts as we approach the halfway mark in our journey through Thomas’ writings where we see the idea that these are authentic writings by the Apostle Thomas as a plausible one and we see Thomas versions of sayings vary from doctrinal thought in much the same way as our own. It is unfortunate that these texts were not discovered earlier, or better kept from being hidden in the first place, as if they had been subjected to the extra centuries of thought and the more ancient ways of the older translators, there could have been a clearer picture of what some of these words really mean. The early fathers, instead of embracing this and perhaps other texts as just different views of the Master’s words, relegated them to the ranks of heretical writings along with the whole of Gnostic thought in perhaps one of the first divisions of the church by those who assumed the authority to speak for God and the Christ.

Yet we do not KNOW that these ARE the authentic words of the apostle; we only know that there is a value in them that does not detract from any of the Master’s other recorded words and they show forth a reality that is beyond the limitations imposed by the doctrines of the Church Fathers, modified somewhat by the men of the Reformation, and still seen as the Truth today. In our own words we see a clearer and a deeper Truth and we see some of this same in the writings of the Gospel of Thomas. So too in the forty seventh saying; we noted that Thomas does not give us the same idea as Matthew and Luke in saying here “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24) and while this is for us an important saying as it cuts to the heart of the matter, it is also expressed in the other words from the synoptic versions and from Thomas that effectively say that “it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters“. Here Thomas adds the more Earthly reality that “it is impossible for a person to mount two horses and to stretch two bows” while the synoptics add the more clarifying saying that makes the choice of masters the things of God of the things of the self in the world. Thomas also reverses the order by saying that “An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment” while the synoptics tell us that “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment“; here the effect can be seen in much the same light.  In  the two comparisons regarding fabric we should see that the old traditions such as fasting and praying and alms giving CAN NOT be woven into the fabric of the new, they are out of place and, as Thomas tells us “a tear will result“. The synoptics say this same thing from the other perspective as one CAN NOT patch the old with the new and this can be seen in the same light; that ideas of the new dispensation CAN NOT be woven into the fabric of the old. The idea of both is the incompatibility of the old and the new and this is a lesson that has not yet been learned as the mainstream church continues to see the Old Testament as a part of the New Dispensation of the Christ. In our view, other than some quaint sayings, the beauty and timelessness of the Proverbs and some Psalms, and a pseudo lesson in history, there is naught of value to the Christian mind and there are many distractions some of which have led to church movements that are quite contrary to the Master’s teachings; the Prosperity Gospel Teachings ARE an example of this.

These differences along with Thomas’ inclusion of the opposite view of old wine in new bottles rather than the synoptic saying that new must be put in new, leave us with a set of Jesus’ sayings that give us the same understanding from a slightly different approach and which maintains our own view that while these ideas on the wine and the garment may reflect the idea of fasting in the synoptics, they are much more to the totality of the incompatibility of the old and the new; and this can perhaps be seen clearer in Thomas writing as it comes to us without the context of the Master’s words to the Jews on fasting.

This next saying that we began to look at should be seen it its relationship to the ideas presented by the synoptic writers about the much misunderstood idea of faith which we posted yesterday. We should note that in these sayings from Matthew, Luke and Mark, that there are significant differences in their approach and perhaps their recollection as they do not all use the idea of the mustard seed, they do not all state that reality of doubting nothing and they do not all put the mountain into the sea. In our view, which we have stated many time through this blog, the idea of faith as it is expressed here is KNOWING; it is a state of being where one simply KNOWS that what one spiritually puts into motion WILL happen; there IS NO doubt and here is the reference to the mustard seed. The seed does not think about anything….the seed KNOWS that it WILL become a tree. Of course this degree of faith or of KNOWING is impossible to the man in the world who thinks and feels his way around Life; this degree of KNOWING is limited to the disciple, the True disciple, who has pushed aside ALL things of Life in the world and who can stand with the Master and say “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). It is only the man in this state of being that could be trusted with the awesome spiritual power which comes not from the body, nor the personality, the mind and the emotions, but from the Soul, the Christ Within, which is divine and CAN NOT see things in a worldly view which is a view of and for the self in the world.

This faith is reserved for the man who lives the spiritual Life and it comes by degree as the KNOWING of the Truths of Life and, while one would not work toward this awesome power, it is the Way and it does come to a man in revelations and realizations. In the free flowing Love and Power of the Soul as expressed by the True disciple, one WILL realize the Truth of the Master’s words that “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40) and “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). These ideas are discounted by the church and their doctrines and this is largely because they do not understand the Truth of faith and of believing on the Master for which we use Vincent’s word that tell us that to believe on and to believe in has much spiritual depth as he says: to believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life ⁴. Much of this is of course doctrinally oriented but the gist of Vincent’s words is the reality of what we are saying in our idea of spiritual depth and it is encompassed for us in the bolded words that are the essence of KNOWING and that we follow His example and keep His words. This IS the Way of the disciple and anything less is the way of the man in the world.

And these words from Thomas’ Gospel do say these same things; without the mustard seed and without the statements on having no doubt. Thomas is showing that other side of this same reality, that it is when the Inner man and the Outer man come together, when the expression of the outer becomes the essence of the Inner, the Soul, this same KNOWING is accomplished. And this saying is parabolic, likely offered as a parable that is not picked up on by the other writers, and it is perhaps similar to that other parabolic saying that is referenced by the commentators cited in the last essay which in context says:

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:18-20).

We came upon these words in a previous saying from Thomas Gospel, saying thirty, which we discuss in In the Words of Jesus part 798 and while we did not at that time relate these words from Matthew to that saying: “Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him“, and we should remember that there ARE many translation variations to this saying from both the Coptic and the Greek making this a difficult saying to properly understand. This being said, perhaps there is a parabolic idea in this saying from Matthew that we have not before recognized; perhaps the two that agree can be the Soul and his expression coming together as one. Can we see that when this Soul and his expression in the world, the two, or with the addition of the third, the Spirit ARE together in His name, that the idea of His being the midst is a Truth as the Christ Within is what the focus of the Life becomes as well as the expression of the man in the world. This does today make more sense than our previous view where we said:

Can we see the idea here of the disciple; that in his own Power can he can accomplish great things, the greater things that the Master tells us of? Can we see that Jesus clarifies this to say as well that when they can act in full accord with each other as disciples, that what they deem as right IS right because it is based in the Wisdom from above and testified to by another? And can we see the reality of the last part where they are to realize that as Souls in form gathered together, they have the multiplied benefit of the Christ Within each of them….the same Christ acting within two or three? Now what things they should bind or loose is unclear as is those ideas upon which they would agree on and ask for. We should note here that this does not preclude the ability to act alone as we see in the first verse but, as we said, the Master likely includes these multiples as a way to overcome the confusion and the doubt that can come upon them as new disciples. 

Now there is likely truth to our previous view but in the more parabolic ideas of today there seems to be yet greater Truth and perhaps, like most ALL parabolic sayings by the Master, there are multiple layers of Truth. In this light we can see that when “two of you shall agree” and when “two make peace with one another in one and the same house” CAN be saying the same or very similar things but here in this saying from Thomas the greater point is the Unity, the ONENESS of the agreement. It is in this agreement, this ONENESS that the Soul and his expression in the world are the same and it IS in this state that the KNOWING IS accomplished as the man in the world is expressing the fullness of the Love and the Power of the Soul, the fullness of the Christ Within. It is in this state, the same state as KNOWING without doubt, the same state as KNOWING as the mustard seed which KNOWS without thinking what he IS, that the mountain can be moved, the sycamine tree planted in the sea or the fig tree withered.

Of course this Unity and the ONENESS, this making peace as Thomas calls it, and the agreeing on Earth as Matthew portrays it, can ALL be seen as the same things; this IS the expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul through Life in the world; this is the Way of the disciple and what we have called in the past the pinnacle of his spirituality from the perspective of a man in the world, which is the only perspective that we can have or understand at this time. Here in this saying from Thomas the context is in the saying itself and the Truth of the Master’s idea is found in the moving of the mountain; there can be no other explanation of these words and then too no other link necessary but to the ideas of faith and believing without doubt which IS that KNOWING that IS our objective and our goal. In closing today we are reminded that in the Life of the Apostle Peter, which we believe is detailed as the example of our journey from the man in the world to the fully accomplished disciple, we have the more applicable but less emphatic ideas of this final KNOWING. In the place of moving the mountain, or the sycamine tree or the fig tree we have this: “Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:15-20).

We should see this Truth of discipleship in these words from Thomas and from the synoptic ideas on KNOWING that we presented yesterday, as well as in the Life of the Apostle Peter that IS offered as our example.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

Values to Live By

A Love of Truth—essential
for a just, inclusive and progressive society;

A Sense of Justice—recognition
of the rights and needs, of all.

Spirit of Cooperation—based
on active goodwill and the principle of right human
relationships;

A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for
group, community and national affairs;

Serving the Common Good— through
the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all
is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

From a previous essay and Quote of the Day we reprise these words:  It is interesting to note that the ideas of the Quote of the Day embody much of the Master’s teachings and can set the stage for the beginning of each man’s revelation and realization of the Light of the Soul; that is, that by the intentional practice of these ‘rules’ of conduct one can put himself in the position of a follower of the Master and an keeper of His word and this regardless if he has ever heard of the Christ or wants to be affiliated with any ideas Christian. By keeping these sound principals of Life in mind and practicing them a man can lift himself up above and beyond the world of men and into the world of the Good, the Beautiful and the True as it exists for those in whom the Christ Within, the God Within, is awakened. Ponder on this.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/