Early writings raise questions for some modern Christians

Some scholars say the ancient texts of Thomas and Q hold a key to Christianity's 
origins.


The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - For the better part of 2,000 years, Christians have had four 
official sources on the life and words of Jesus: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, 
Luke and John in the New Testament.
	
But now, as Christianity approaches its third millennium, some scholars say the 
faithful 'should add two to the fist: the gospel of Thomas and the so-called 
gospel of "Q."

Both documents, whose texts date to Christianity's early days, contain many of 
Jesus' well-known sayings, but not much action, lacking mention of a virgin 
birth, crucifixion or resurrection.

 Evidence suggests "another kind of early Christianity back there," that 
eventually lost out to what became the mainstream faith, said Stephen Patterson, 
Professor of New Testament at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

The only full copy of Thomas ever found was discovered 50 years ago in an 
Egyptian village; it begins by saying it contains Jesus' "secret sayings." No Q 
manuscript has ever been found. Instead, Q is a reconstructed text, pieced 
together by scholars analyzing passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that 
appear highly similar.

CHRIST PORTRAYED AS SAGE

Some scholars say Q and, to a degree, Thomas help portray Jesus as a kind of 
wandering sage, telling parables about God's kingdom, concerned mainly about the
present day and not much interested in a Last Judgment - all in sharp contrast 
to the Christ who preaches of a coming apocalypse in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Most recently, the documents have been published in a book titled "The Lost 
Gospel" by New Testament scholar Burton Mack, which details a theory about Q,
and another book, The Five Gospels which places Thomas along side Matthew, Mark, 
Luke and John, written by a group of scholars called the Jesus Seminar.

SCHOLARS RIP FLASHY THEORY

In some academic circles, the response has been critical, particularly among 
scholars who say that Mack and the seminar want mainly to popularize flashy 
theories about early Christianity outside scholarship's mainstream.

Others raise another warning saying that what Jesus preached was settled over 
time long ago by church authorities, who decided what would go into the canon, 
the official books of the Bible.

"It seems to me the canon is the property of the church," not something scholars 
can challenge by asking equal time for other texts, said Cecil Robeck, associate
professor of church history at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Calif.

The Rev. Michael Duggan, a Gaithersburg priest who has taught adult Bible 
classes for 17 years, said Thomas and Q were not considered official gospels for
good reason: "They are not in the canon is they do not focus on the central 
event of the New Testament, the death and resurrection of Jesus."

Thomas' gospel contains no narrative, just 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Some 
are similar. But in Thomas, Jesus also tells his disciples to say they "come 
from the fight" and are "its children."

Odder still, he talks about teaching a female follower to be male in spirit: 
"For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven."

Scholars long knew of Thomas only through references in other Christian 
writings. But in 1945, a 1,600-year-old manuscript was found in Egypt. Jesus 
Seminar members say it may be based on an older version of the text, dating
to the mid-1st Century, making it one of the earliest Christian documents.

The process by which Q came to be known goes back 150 years when scholars began 
comparing similar passages in Matthew's and Luke's Gospels. Some, they decided, 
came from Mark's Gospel, usually considered the oldest of the New Testament 
Gospels, first written around 70 A.D.

But researchers also found shared passages in Matthew and Luke that did not 
appear in Mark. This material they named Quelle, German for "source," later 
shortened to Q. Some scholars (but by no means all) believe the Q material was a 
separate document that Matthew and Luke drew upon.

When it is presented as such - as the "Gospel of Q" - it is a quick read, 
familiar to anyone who knows Matthew and Luke.

DAYSPRING		MAY 1994 PAGE 5