The Gospel of Thomas
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Genre & Structure: A collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus, written in a style resembling wisdom literature or aphorisms rather than a narrative.
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Content: Lacks a passion narrative (no crucifixion or resurrection). Instead, it presents Jesus as a teacher of hidden knowledge (gnosis), emphasising self-discovery and enlightenment.
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Key Themes:
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The Kingdom of God is within you and all around you.
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Salvation comes from self-knowledge rather than faith in Jesus' death and resurrection.
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The material world is less important than the spiritual.
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Tone: Mystical, enigmatic, at times cryptic—Jesus sounds like a Zen master.
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Likely Audience: Early Christian groups with a Gnostic bent, more focused on direct mystical experience than adherence to church structures.
The Gospel of Mary
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Genre & Structure: A narrative text with some dialogue between Jesus and his disciples, including Mary Magdalene, who plays a key role.
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Content: The surviving fragments describe Mary Magdalene as a recipient of secret teachings from Jesus. After his departure, she attempts to teach the male disciples, but Peter and Andrew challenge her authority.
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Key Themes:
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Direct revelation is possible outside of the male apostolic tradition.
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Jesus’ teachings go beyond what was publicly recorded in the canonical Gospels.
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The body and material world are less important than spiritual understanding.
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Tone: Theological and confrontational—it presents an alternative vision of leadership in the early Christian movement, challenging patriarchal structures.
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Likely Audience: Christian groups sympathetic to the idea of female leadership and mystical knowledge.
Comparison
Final Thoughts
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The Gospel of Thomas is about inner enlightenment—less about Jesus as saviour, more about Jesus as a revealer of hidden truth.
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The Gospel of Mary is about spiritual authority—it’s a power struggle between different factions of early Christianity, particularly regarding Mary Magdalene’s role.
Both texts suggest that early Christianity was far from monolithic—there were competing interpretations of Jesus’ teachings, some of which were later excluded from orthodoxy.
When it comes to the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary, both seem much closer to Jesus than Paul, but in very different ways.
1. Gospel of Thomas: Closer to Jesus or Paul?
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Much closer to Jesus than Paul.
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Contains sayings attributed directly to Jesus with no mention of Paul’s key theological ideas (atonement, justification by faith, original sin).
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Emphasises self-knowledge and inner enlightenment, which is more in line with the wisdom tradition Jesus engaged in (like the parables) rather than Paul’s systematic theology.
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Jesus in Thomas does not talk about his death or resurrection as necessary for salvation—unlike Paul, who centres his whole theology on that.
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The Kingdom of God is not an apocalyptic event (as Paul sees it) but something already present if one has the eyes to see.
➡ Verdict: If you stripped away later Christian doctrine and just had Jesus as a wandering wisdom teacher, the Gospel of Thomas feels like something that could be quite close to him.
2. Gospel of Mary: Closer to Jesus or Paul?
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Again, closer to Jesus, but in a different way.
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Features post-resurrection teachings, which means it is already moving into the territory of early Christian theological reflection (though not Paul’s version).
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The conflict between Mary and Peter reflects tensions in the early church about who had authority to interpret Jesus’ teachings—Paul was also part of this fight, but this Gospel goes in a different direction.
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No emphasis on justification by faith, grace, or the law—which are Paul’s big themes.
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Strong focus on esoteric knowledge (gnosis), which is quite different from both Jesus’ parables and Paul’s letters.
➡ Verdict: Not as direct a link to the historical Jesus as Thomas, but still far from Paul. More like a Gnostic Jesus, where spiritual understanding matters more than church structures.
Jesus vs. Paul Summary
Final Take
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Gospel of Thomas: Probably the closest to the historical Jesus’ teaching style, but reinterpreted through a mystical lens. Paul would hate it—too much self-knowledge, not enough grace.
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Gospel of Mary: More about early Christian politics than direct sayings of Jesus, but still much closer to Jesus than Paul in its themes of revelation and leadership.
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