An Aberrant Gnostic

  From The Indianapolis New , Saturday, March 12, 1960, as presented by the Reverend John L. McKenzie... This article summarizes some first "thoughts" regarding the book titled, The Secret Sayings of Jesus , as written by Robert M. Grant with David Noel Freedman.  After reading this book, I went ahead and purchased a first edition, paperback version of this book.  More to come on that later...in the meantime... What does this article mention of interest?  A few points I thought worth mentioning here. The name Gnostic, from the Greek work gnosis, or knowledge, comes from a fundamental principle of this heresy: the principle of salvation was attained by knowledge rather than by virtue. This "knowledge" was prized as being secret, and as having more value than any knowledge shared in the New Testament. The author reviews Grant and Freedman's key takeaways regarding the Gospel of Thomas  The book, Secret Sa yings, is described as being an excellent introduction to ...

  For some reason, my brain keeps going back to the 1957 that was run in various newspapers in the United States that had the following screeching headline :   The article was one of the earliest known discussions regarding Professor Henri C. Puech and his preliminary analysis of The Gospel of Thomas.  In that article, written by Manuel Komroff, five "sayings" recorded by the doubting Thomas of Jesus were highlighted in the article.  One of the sayings that caught my eye was this, as displayed in the article : What exactly does that mean?  So, with curiosity in my head, I went back to Google's Gemini to ask some questions.  Here is what I discovered, per the assistance of AI... Q : What is the ancient Gnostic symbolic interpretation of the saying "Jesus said : He that is near Me is near the fire.  He is that is far from Me is far from the fire."?   A: Within early Gnostic circles, "fire" often symbolized divine knowledge, or gnosis. It r...

 In a republished The American Weekly article in the The San Francisco Examiner , published on April 07, 1957,  we get the first quotes of early translations from the lost "Fifth Gospel."  As the article states, the Apostle Thomas recorded these sayings while with Jesus and when Jesus spoke at Capernaum, on the Mount, by the shores of Galilee, in Bethany, and on the road to Jerusalem.  Quotes reference included:  Jesus said: He that is near Me is near the fire. He that is far from Me is far from the fire.  Jesus said: He that searcheth findeth.  He that findeth will be astonished. He that is astonished will be in admiration.  And he that knoweth admiration will reign over the world. And Jesus said: Man is like unto a clever fisherman who casts his net into the sea draws it up full of little fishes.  And among the little fishes he finds one good big fish.  And the wise fisherman takes the on big fish and throws back into the sea all the l...

    With things getting exciting in 1957 regarding the potential discovery of A long lost "Fifth Gospel," a Catholic Biblical researcher tells the public to slow down and "pump the breaks." By slow down, I mean discount the NHL discovery and the alleged Gospel of Thomas . Famed Dead Sea Scroll researcher, Msgr. Patrick W. Skehan felt it prudent to tell the public that to "label this work the Lost Fifth Gospel is to falsify its place in history."  How so? For starters, Skehan mentions that the preliminary work and reporting of Professor Henri C. Puech regarding the NHL has nothing to do with St. Thomas.  Instead, the 43 sayings are "old chestnuts," and were sayings quoted by third century writers Origen and Clement of Alexandria.  Old chestnut, for those curious, is defined by the Google machine as a "subject, idea, or joke that been discussed or repeated so often that it is not funny any more." Ouch. Skeban also discounts the NHL as be...

  Nothing can grab a newspaper reader's attention more so than mentioning the United States dollar.  In an article titled "Egyptian Scholars in Studies of Ancient Religious Scrolls," per the The Marion Star newspaper, dated December 26, 1956, the USD is mentioned straight away.  As are all the articles from this time period in respect to this news item regarding the NHL.  What's the number, you might ask?  I'll let the Associated Press speak to it... Eleven years ago an Egyptian peasant sold for nine dollars to the son of a Coptic priest a collection of musty, unimportant-looking documents discovered in an old earthenware jar while digging for fertilizer. They may be worth a fortune. Curious that the number 911 is tucked in here, and I'm sure I could go on and on about that possible red herring, but I'm going to skip it and call it coincidence.  I do find it fascinating that the unimportant looking documents containing the The Gospel According to Thomas ...

  Logia, according to the Google machine, is a word borrowed from Latin and Ancient Greek.  It it implies communications of divine origin. Maybe it originated from the abyss, or deities, gods, monsters, aliens...who knows, but logia is communicated to someone from something .  Curious, indeed. According to an article included in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa The Gazette, dated October 9, 1956, the Nag Hammadi library is known as "Logia."  Or even more acutely, the "Sayings of Jesus."  The article returns to an early hero of the NHL saga, Professor Henri Puech, and his identification of a"Fifth Gospel of Jesus."  The Gospel is of course the Gospel of Thomas...and Puech mentions the famous opening line of said Gospel, "These hidden words which Jesus the Living spoke..."   The article further mentions that this unique set of Logia is linked to the previously discovered Logia at Oxyrhynchus, circa 1897.   The article further mentions that that when...