Acts of Thomas (Don't read section 4 and 7 or the lengthy "Hymn of the Soul")
http://www.gnosis.org/library/actthom.htm
Wikipedia has some useful background on this work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Thomas
Original language was Syriac or perhaps Greek for some parts
Culturally from the Near Eastern or Mesopotamian area
4th cent. AD or earlier
Author: supposedly Leucius Charinus but this is probably a fictional person derived from a character in the Gospel of Nicodemus.
Consider the question of genre again. These fictive Christian texts are usually called Acts (Latin "Acta") or Gospels (Latin and Greek "Euangelia"), but scholars sometimes refer to them by the modern title "romances". How does that title fit? Do they resemble the ancient romances that we have read? if so, how?
What themes, story patterns, and narrative styles or strategies do you see here that you have seen before?
Does this work seem more or less believable than the Gospel of Nicodemus? Why?
Can you think of any modern retellings of the story of Christ or any apostles or saints? How do they compare with The Gospel of Nicodemus and the Acts of Thomas?
Katie Burke
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the gospel mentioned that the Jews were Greeks. Is this important to the story? Did Greeks often adopt Judaism?
Sara Welish
ReplyDeleteWho is the narrator? Would Thomas really have refused to do something that Jesus told him to do? This makes it seem unbelievable.
Jordann Markowitz
ReplyDeleteDoes the amount of acts have any significance?
Katie,
ReplyDeleteWhere did it say that? Please make note so we can discuss. Some Jews spoke Greek in addition to or even instead of Hebrew/Aramaic. Some Jews had Greek names such as Nicodemus and Philo.
Sara,
When Thomas refuses Jesus' instructions it is showing his insecurity, he does not believe he can do it. The old testament prophets such as Jonah often display similar reluctance to follow God's commands. It does not seem unbelievable at all to me. Human nature often makes us doubt ourselves, and modern-day Christians also often speak of being unsure about following what God has told them.
As for the narrator, the account is almost entirely in 3rd person from the omniscient, unnamed narrator. However, the "we" in the opening paragraph makes one feel that the account is coming from one of the apostles or someone who was with them from the beginning--perhaps Judas Thomas himself??? What do you think?
Jordann,
I'm not sure. Did you have any thoughts about why the number might be important?
Erin Bradley
ReplyDeleteI don't understand where these accounts are coming from. Do they match up with biblical or historical stories from the time periods? Also, who is the narrator? It's clearly not Thomas but I can't tell who is telling his story.
Maeve Tischbein
ReplyDeleteIn 55. there are all these different pits of hell described and none of which are pleasant, or if not good neutral sounding at least. Are these descriptions linked to the modern 'horrible' views of hell American society pictures today?
Shannon Potts
ReplyDeleteIn the very beginning, Jesus has to sell Thomas to get him to go to India. Why would the author do this? I thought the disciples were really obedient?
Also, in I.8, after Thomas sings, "they saw his likeness had changed", could this be like the Greek epiphanies?
Steve Fusco
ReplyDeleteI noticed the prevalence of death in these acts. In the tenth act, 119, there is the idea that Mygdonia should rise up from the earth. The idea of a resurrection, except not actually rising from the dead but starting a new life over.
In 11.135, Mygdonia then basically prays for death. What is the significance/connotations of death being so heavily involved in the removal of sin?
Krysta Brown
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that Thomas refuted Jesus' request. It makes this fictive account seem more believable because that is a common theme in the bible. Naoh initially does not think he can build the arc, and it takes an angel to convince Joesph that Mary is having the son of god.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you it is hard to tell the source here. I have detected a couple more "we" or "us" pronouns at key places besides the one I mentioned above, but I believe this is a Christian "we" in reference to the community of all brethren. Overall I think the closest parallel is the omniscient narrator of The Ephesian Tale and The Gospel of Nicodemus. This is perhaps a good reason to call this a romance or novel. Many early modern and contemporary novels use such an omniscient narrator.
Maeve,
Yes, note that our text tells us that the account of Hell in the Acts of Thomas is derived from the Apocalypse of Peter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_of_Peter). The Apocalypse of the New Testament is only one of a huge mass of apocalyptic literature from the anicent and medieval worlds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalyptic_literature). Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic or Revelation Narratives abound. Many of them deal with revelations of Hell, Heaven, or religious mysteries, and others deal with prophecy about future events including "End Times". The Apocalpyse of Peter on which our Hell account is based is one of the most frighteningly graphic.
Shannon,
Was Judas obedient? What about Peter in the garden and when he denied Christ three times? Thomas' refusal is similar to the refusal of other holy men and prophets to trust God. Jonah is one striking example. Also the idea that Thomas is sold as a slave is not strange since much Christian literature emphasizes Christians' status as servants or even slaves to god. This is paradoxical given that Christianity like the cults of Dionysus and Osiris is a liberating or freeing religion. I think that the idea is that the paradox is apparent only and would be resolved if we raise to a higher level of spiritual understanding. By the way, Gnostic Christianity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic) emphasizes our status as slaves even more, and the Acts of Thomas shows Gnostic influence.
Doug Ritchey
ReplyDeleteOne common narrative theme that i noticed in the "Acts of Thomas" was how it was narrated entirely in the 3rd person. We also saw this in the Gospel of Nicodemus
Katie,
ReplyDeleteDid the Apostles really go to the different regions of the world? If so, was it to spread the word of Jesus and his teachings? Would they have really gone to India?
AR answers:
The New Testament does indicate that they were supposed to be missionaries to the people of the world, in fact, apostle is from the Greek meaning "person sent out" as if on a mission.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteGood point, the 3rd person account by an omniscient narrator is, as I said above, a common feature of romances/novels.
AR
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteAs to your second point, at several points in the narrative Thomas is shown to be somehow divine. The people he brings back from the dead often say that they saw him (as shiny figure) with another shiny figure (Christ) before they came back to life. Also note that Christ takes on the appearance of Thomas (or his twin) at one point, and at another place he is said to resemble Christ. It is almost as if by imitating Christ he is in fact becoming (a new) Christ. This is a heretical idea by most Christian standards but is not strange in Gnostic Christianity or in Christian mysticism.
Steve,
There are two kinds of death here: death of the body and death of the soul. The death of the body can be reversed by a miraculous resurrection through Christ or Thomas or some other saint. The death of the soul is implied in the account of Hell in this narrative. It seems that some people are so bad that their soul is effectively deleted or erased from existence. Others might simply undergo purging (as in Plato's Myth of Er) and then possibly be reborn (reincarnation is implied but not explicit here). This is not standard Christianity, but this view is similar to regular Christianity in that both understand the possibility of a spiritual rebirth, but in Gnostic and mystical Christianity, as here, that rebirth means that you then exist in a new spiritual body (the body of Thomas seen with Christ by the dead people before their resurrections). Many mainstream Christians believe in future resurrection in a new perfect, physical body, but Gnostic or mystical Christians often suggest an immortal existence as this new spirit being.
Krysta,
ReplyDeleteVery good point. Your parallels are excellent.
Zander
ReplyDeleteWhen Judas is addressing the young people he says "For fornication blindeth the mind and darkeneth the eyes of the soul, and is an impediment to the life (conversation) of the body, turning the whole man unto weakness and casting the whole body into sickness."
It seems like all of a sudden arround this time sex was starting to be viewed as a bad thing when before it was either indifferent of good. Why is there suddenly this change?