This gospel was known before its effective discovery, because many other antic writings referred to it. Hippolytus, in “Refutatio” (wrote between 226 – 235 A.C.) assigned this writing to a sect, and used one of its Logion to fight back their learning. In the first homily about Luke, Origen classifies the gospel as heterodox. In 323, Eusebius of Caesarea mentioned it as one of the works wrote by the heretics under the name of an Apostle. From this moment on, the Church will consider it as a heretic text.
The origin of the writing remains unknown. It seems clear that Logion were added during the centuries, between the second part of the first century and the end of the third century. The found manuscripts were written in Greek and Coptic, and the Coptic text had been transcript between 350 – 400 A.C. So the text results anyway previously wrote.
In the beginning of the book there is said: “These are the hidden words spoke by The Alive Jesus and wrote by Didim Juda Thomas”. Didim and Juda are actually synonyms, both meaning “twin” in Greek and Aramaic. The use of both names is specific for Syria, were Saint Thomas was very popular. So we can assume that the language in which the text was originally written was Syrian.
One of the controversies this gospel creates is the belonging to a certain religion. May it be considered Christian? May it be considered Gnostic or Judeo – Christian? Is it heretic? The Christian dogma was formed, as rules, ideas, only after the Council of Chalcedon, that took place in 451, so the books wrote before did not had a clarified dogma. So the different elements interfere, belonging to many religions of today. The message arrives codified, apparently addressed only to the initiated. The Bible stands for a “popular” meaning for the learning of Jesus, expressed in parables. But even in the Bible is mentioned a certain type of learning destined only to the Apostles, and the Orthodox steel keep during the sermon the formula: “The called ones, get out!”, addressed to the catechumen, the one without baptize. So the next part of the sermon speaks only for the baptized ones, meaning initiated in Christ.
The conclusion: certain parts of the Gospel can be easily considered Gnostic, or Judeo – Christian, or Christian, or other, but the book, globally, cannot be assigned to only one religion. One of the causes is the fact that it is not the work of one inspired writer, but a collection of sayings, surely inherited orally, for a few centuries. Regarding the heretical quality, in that period the Christian dogma was not clarified yet, so a wrong meaning can be discovered only if we judge it with the eyes of the Christian of today, without considering the historical period when it was wrote.
Biography:” Evanghelia după Toma”, ed Polirom, 2003, Romania
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