Quote Originally Posted by BLBereans View Post
True. However, why does there exist a great insistence about the timing of the writing of the Thomas "gospel" by those who wish to assert its authority and inspiration as equal to the four canonical gospels? Doesn't that matter in regards to its claimed authenticity? The title in your post says it all, "These are the secret words which the Living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote". Really?

If that claim is proven untrue, then what of the rest of it? Also, the four Gospels have 4 key elements in common whereas these are either contradicted, diminished or ignored in the other non-canonical "gospels"...

(1) the apostolic preaching about Jesus, from the beginning, involved four key elements; (2) all four of the canonical gospels have these four elements in common; and (3) the extracanonical gospels do not, and in most cases do not clearly have any of them. These four key elements, identified by Paul in the mid fifties and clearly representing an even earlier tradition, are summarised in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: (i) the identity of Jesus as the Christ, anointed by the creator God of Israel, (ii) his fulfilment of the Jewish Scriptures, (iii) his effective atoning death on behalf of others, and (iv) his bodily resurrection from death.

source

If there exists contradictions in fundamental theology between the Four Gospels and the non-canonical "gospels", what do you hold as true?
For instance do we suppose that St. Paul was leading a doomsday suicide cult when we read the following or perhaps maybe he means something other than the literal words? I guess what I am getting at is once you know you don't need anyone to teach you.

2Co 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

I do not repose a certain confidence in literalism or formalism readings of Scriptures. For instance Jesus is said to be the lamb slain before the foundation of the world and then later said that the spiritual place of the crucifixion is Egypt and Sodom. The literalist would say He was slain outside of the city at a place call Golgotha [skull] or at Calvary [skull]. Nevertheless, all are true. But it only appears there is conflict until the light behind the symbol is revealed.

Therefore I come from the light as a child of the Father of lights.

It is as Jonah commanded his thoughts [men in the ship] to throw Me overboard!

Jonah 1:15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

A trust is reposed and established in one who makes a use of a reed established by others. Who established that reed [canon] and what were the uses and purposes? Why did they not tell the readers of the other books that were being cited within their reed? For if other books are being cited, then what of their reed?

I sit not as judge, we can eat what we can and be satisfied.

Shalom,
MJ