1. Although the Gospel of Thomas uses themes and characters, etc., found in the Biblical texts, it also shares elements – themes, motifs, expressions and concerns – from other sources, e.g. later Christian liturgical texts (for which, particularly see point 2 below), heterodox texts and non-Christian texts (see appendix 1 below). The use of later, developing theme, motifs, expressions and concerns places the composition of the Gospel of Thomas later rather than earlier – in fact, some of the themes, motifs, expressions and concerns are developments of the second century. Thus, the Gospel of Thomas‘ second century composition is too late for the Gospel to be an accurate or authentic record about the Lord Jesus.

2. The Gospel of Thomas depends on second century Christian traditions, particularly from Syria. This dependence demonstrates the Gospel of Thomas‘ second century date – to late for the Gospel to be apostolic. Examples of this dependence follow:

There is an evolution of texts here. (1) Matthew has ‘sword’; Luke ‘division’. (2) The Curetonian Old Syriac version of Matthew combines both words together in one text; the source of Syriac Recognitions does not use either ‘sword’ or ‘division’ but ‘war’ instead. (3) The Gospel of Thomas has all – ‘sword’, ‘division’ and ‘war’: it has combined the source of the Syriac translation and of Syriac Recognitions to make its text. The Gospel of Thomas is evidently at the end of a process, showing its dependence on sources that have already taken a step away from the original.

Another example:

Again, there is an evolution of texts here. (1) Matthew has the third person ‘the poor in spirit’ and ‘the kingdom of heaven’; Luke has second person ‘for yours is’. (2) The Syriac version of Matthew combines elements from both (‘the poor in spirit’ from Matthew; ‘for yours is’ from Luke; and back to Matthew for ‘the kingdom of heaven’) into one text. (3) The Gospel of Thomas follows the Syriac tradition of Matthew, omitting ‘in spirit’. The Gospel of Thomas is evidently at the end of a process, showing its dependence on sources that have already taken a step away from the original.¹

3. Later Gospels (e.g. According to Philip; According to Mary; of James) appropriated names of first century Christians – particularly of the Apostles – in an attempt to lend credence to themselves. The Gospel of Thomas is in this vein, betraying its apocryphal nature, and is in contrast to the Gospels of the first century: the four Gospels were known to have come from the apostolic circle and so did not need to state their authors within their text, the names of the authors having been passed down orally.

4. The Gospel of Thomas is a heretical, or even a non-Christian, text. It identifies its provenance as such by its themes, motifs, expressions and concerns which it shares with other heretical or non-Christian texts (see appendix 1 below). As a heretical or non-Christian text it cannot be relied upon to give a true or accurate account of the Lord Jesus.

5. The Gospel of Thomas also does not use language that it ought, if it were a genuine record of the Lord Jesus’ life. For example, the Gospel of Thomas never refers to the Apostles as ‘the twelve’ (cf. Mat. 26:14; Mark 4:10; Luke 8:1; John 6:67), it never refers to the ‘Christ’ (cf. Mat. 23:8; Mark 9:41; Luke 24:46; John 17:3) or the ‘Son of Man’ (cf. Mat. 8:20; Mark 2:10; Luke 6:5; John 1:25), and in it Jesus never refers directly to the Old Testament scriptures (cf. Mat. 22:31; Mark 2:25; Luke 10:26; John 10:35) – in fact, the only time in the Gospel of Thomas that Jesus comments on the Old Testament (logion 52) it is in a negative way, in stark contrast to Jesus’ respect, presented in the four Gospels, for the Old Testament (this is worth expanding: see point 6 below). The Gospel of Thomas also lacks the “apocalyptic”, which was often important in early Christian literature (e.g. Mat. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-27; John 5:28-29; 2Thess. 2:8, etc.). This shows the Gospel of Thomas is at a distance from the styles, concerns and happenings of first century Christianity. Most importantly, it shows that the Gospel of Thomas is not presenting a record of the real Jesus.

6. As highlighted in point 5 above, the Gospel of Thomas lacks any direct reference to the Old Testament – the Jewish – scriptures. Instead, the Gospel of Thomas has a negative attitude towards the Old Testament (logion 52) and presents a clean break from what has gone before. There is no reliance on tradition or past scripture. In contrast, in the four Gospels Jesus, as mentioned before, often referred to the Old Testament (e.g. Mat. 22:31; Mark 2:25; Luke 10:26; John 10:35) and even relied on it (Mat. 4:4);² he had a high regard (to say the least) for, and made appeals to, the Jewish scriptures, as did the other inspired people of the New Testament (e.g. Mat. 2:23; Mark 1:2; Luke 2:21-39; John 19:24; Acts 7:3; Eph. 6:2-3; Heb. 1:13; James 2:22; 1Peter 2:7; Jude 9). This shows a number of things:

6.1 The Gospel of Thomas is out of kilter with the works in the New Testament. It does not fit in because it does not have the same concerns; it is not from the same source.

6.2 The Gospel of Thomas is happy to present itself as breaking from the past – it separates itself from what has gone before.³ Thus, the Gospel of Thomas is not part of the flow of Old and New Testament scriptures.

6.3 The Jesus that the Gospel of Thomas presents is not the same Jesus that the four Gospels present. If the four Gospels are inspired and present the real Jesus, then the Gospel of Thomas does not – and is, therefore, not inspired, either.

7. The Gospel of Thomas lacks the signs of a genuine eye-witness account; thus, it demonstrates its distance from the actual events of the Lord Jesus’ life. For example, the Gospel of Thomas never refers to towns or regions; it does not refer to physical structures, to typological features, or historic events in the life of Jesus and his disciples. The four Gospels, on the other hand, demonstrate, by the language they use (incidental references to real, specific geography, figures, historical events, etc.),⁴ that they were written by people experiencing the events in and around the the Lord Jesus’ life.⁵

8. Even the form that the Gospel of Thomas takes, and the genre that it is in, highlight that the Gospel of Thomas is not part of Scripture. The Gospel of Thomas is in the more Hellenistic form of chreiai,⁶ which is incongruous, given that the usual Jewish form for writing about a champion was a “controversy-story” (e.g. the Old Testament Book of Daniel).⁷ In contrast to the Gospel of Thomas, the four Gospels show their Jewish colours by following the narrative style of the Jewish “controversy-stories”. In fact, the only texts in the first 200 years of Christianity to be in the form of cheriai are (the hypothetical) “Q” Source and the Gospel of Thomas⁸ – thanks to its form, the Gospel of Thomas demonstrates that it is a Hellenistic, not a Christian, work.⁷ Additionally, the genre of “sayings Gospels” also demonstrates that the Gospel of Thomas holds more of an affinity, not with the first century New Testament texts, but with second century texts such as The Sentences of Sextus, Dialogue of the Saviour, The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene, and The Apocryphon of James.

9. Some of the teachings in the Gospel of Thomas contradict Biblical teachings. For example:

• Logion 14 (‘Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits…’) contradicts the many teachings about giving (e.g. Matthew 6:1-4), prayer (v9-15) and fasting (v16-18), and even contradicts Jesus’ example (Mat. 4:2; Luke 11:1-4; John 13:29).
• Logion 114 (‘Simon Peter said to him, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven”‘) contradicts 1 Peter 3:7:

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

(See also: 1 Corinthians 9:5 & Galatians 3:28.)

• Logion 13 (‘…Thomas said to him [Jesus]: “Teacher, my mouth will not bear at all to say whom you are like.” Jesus said: “I am not your teacher.…’⁹) contradicts Jesus’ role as teacher throughout the New Testament (e.g. Mat. 23:8).
• Logion 51 (‘His disciples said to him, “When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?” He said to them, “What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.”) contradicts the New Testament’s insistence that the new world had not yet come (e.g. 2Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1)
• The Gospel of Thomas‘ veneration of the individual (Logia 49,75) contradicts the Bible’s teachings about community (e.g. Rom. 12:4-5; 1Cor. 12:12,20,25).
• Logion 3 (‘…the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. …’) is (1) counter to Jesus’ emphasis that we need to know God (John 17:3), and (2) contradicts the Bible’s teaching that humans are not inherently ‘sons of the living father’ (rather, we are naturally ‘children of wrath’ [Eph. 2:3], but become God’s children when we have faith in him and what he’s achieved through Jesus [Gal. 3:26]. Logion 70 is similar to logion 3 in this regard).

10. The Gospel of Thomas probably incorrectly attributes sayings to Jesus. For example, logion 17 attributes the following to Jesus:

…”I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”

This is taken from 1 Corinthians 2:9, where Paul writes:

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Here Paul is quoting – and adapting – a passage from the Old Testament (‘it is written’; specifically, in Isaiah 64:4), not from the words of the Lord Jesus. If Jesus had said something similar, it is reasonable to suppose that Paul would have attributed this adaptation of Isaiah 64:4 to him. As it happens, he doesn’t – so it probable that Jesus indeed never did say words similar to this. The Gospel of Thomas, then, uses Paul’s adaptation of Isaiah, further rewords it, and places it in the mouth of Jesus.¹⁰

At the least, this shows the Gospel of Thomas cannot be trusted as a reliable source of information. If it misattributed words to Jesus, we cannot trust it to have attributed the other sayings correctly.

11. The Gospel of Thomas contains some genuine but anachronistic Christian teachings. For example, the teachings in Christianity about the issue of circumcision came later in history (e.g. Acts 15:1f.), after the Lord Jesus had ascended to Heaven; it was not yet a concern in Jesus’ day, and yet the Gospel of Thomas anachronistically presents Jesus as teaching on it (logion 53). The concerns of the later church are retrospectively and anachronistically superimposed on the Lord Jesus (if Jesus had taught on it then you would have expected Paul, for example, in the later disputed to have appealed to Jesus’ teaching as authoritative – this doesn’t happen, demonstrating that Jesus infact did not teach about it). This demonstrates that some of the sayings, at least, are not genuinely from Jesus, and it brings the whole of the text of the Gospel of Thomas (except those things already mentioned in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) into disrepute.

12. Even the poor number of manuscripts (three second century fragments in the original Greek language, and one nearly complete Coptic manuscript from the fourth century) witnessing to the Gospel of Thomas highlight large textual variations. This means the Gospel of Thomas is unreliable: we cannot trust it to have accurately preserved the original words of the original text (let alone the original words of Jesus). Examples of the variants follow:

• Compare (a) Greek fragment pOxy. 654.5-9 with (b) Coptic logion 2:

(a) [Jesus said,] “Let the one seek[ing] not stop [seeking until] he finds. And when he find[s he will marvel, and mar]veling he will reign, an[d reigning] he will [rest.]”

(b) Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.”

• Compare (a) Greek fragment pOxy. 1.23-30 with (b) Coptic logion 30:

(a) [Jesus sa]id, ["Wh]ere there are [th]r[ee] t[hey ar]e [without] God. And [w]here there is only o[ne], I say, I am with hi[m]. Li[f]t the stone and there you will find me. Split the wood and I am there.”

(b) Jesus said, “Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him.”

• Compare (a) Greek fragment pOxy. 655i.1-17 with (b) Coptic logion 36:

(a) [Jesus said, "Do not worry f]rom early u[ntil late no]r from ev[ening until m]orning. Worry neither [for y]our [food,] what [you] will eat, [nor] for [your] c[lothes,] what you will wear. [You are] [mu]ch gr[ea]ter than the [lil]lies wh[ich n]either ca[r]d nor s[pi]n. When you have n[o c]lo[thing], what do [you wear]? Who can add to your time of life? H[e it is who w]ill give you your clothing.”

(b) Jesus said, “Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will wear.”

• Compare (a) Greek fragment pOxy. 655i.17-23 with (b) Coptic logion 37:

(a) His disciples said to him, “When will you be visible to us? And when will we see you?” He said, “When you undress and are not ashamed.”

(b) His disciples said, “When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see you?” Jesus said, “When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the son of the living one, and you will not be afraid”

• Additionally, one of the Greek fragment contains logia 26-30, 77, 31-33 in that order (out of sync with the later Coptic manuscript). This is particularly important in regard to the following point.

13. The large discrepancies, mentioned above (point 12), between the Greek fragments and the later Coptic translation shows the Gospel of Thomas underwent a process of editing and redraft. Editing and redrafting processes take time and develop as a community using the text develops their ideas: this is further evidence of a late date of final composition, making the Gospel of Thomas unrepresentative of the history of the first century (it makes the Gospel of Thomas useful for understanding the beliefs of these later centuries, however). It also makes the Gospel of Thomas too late to be apostolic.

14. The first mention we have of the Gospel of Thomas is in the third century, by Hippolytus (c. 170 – c. 236):

…they [a heretical sect, the Naasseni] hand down an explicit passage, occurring in the Gospel inscribed according to Thomas, expressing themselves thus: He who seeks me, will find me in children from seven years old; for there concealed, I shall in the fourteenth age be made manifest. This, however, is not (the teaching) of Christ … (Refutation of All Heresies 5.2)

The late date of this first mention is further cumulative evidence that the Gospel of Thomas was written far later than the four canonical Gospels, too late to be apostolic.¹¹

15. The Gospel of Thomas quote we have from Hippolytus (see point 14 above) is not found in the Gospel of Thomas as we currently have it. This is further evidence of a time-consuming editorial process, and it points to a later date of final composition.

16. The Gospel of Thomas uses material from both the Gospel According to the Hebrews and the Gospel According the the Egyptians, which were written during the second century. This is further evidence of date later than the first century.

Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c. 215 AD) quotes from the Gospel According to the Hebrews (as opposed to the Gospel of Thomas, which he could have referenced if it was in existence and held primacy [older and more authoritative]) twice:

…in the Gospel to the Hebrews it is written, He that wonders shall reign, and he that has reigned shall rest. (Stromata 2.9)

For those have equal power with these. He, who seeks, will not stop till he find; and having found, he will wonder; and wondering, he will reign; and reigning, he will rest. (Stromata 5.14)

Cf. logion 2. He quotes from the Gospel According to the Egyptians (as opposed to the Gospel of Thomas) as follows:

“When Salome asked when she would know the answer to her questions, the Lord said, When you trample on the robe of shame, and when the two shall be one, and the male with the female, and there is neither male nor female.” …In the first place we have not got the saying in the four Gospels that have been handed down to us, but in the Gospel according to the Egyptians. (Stromata 3.13.92-93)

Cf. Gospel of Thomas 22,37,106.

Hippolytus’ third century mention of the Gospel of Thomas places the Gospel of Thomas before 200 AD; and Clement’s quotes from the second century Gospels According to the Hebrews and the Egyptians – and then the Gospel of Thomas‘ subsequent use of both Gospels – places the Gospel of Thomas later than both the Gospel According to the Hebrews and the Gospel According to the Egyptians, i.e. also in the second century.

17. The Gospel of Thomas, as well as not being mentioned by anyone until the third century, was also never recognised as canonical, or even as ‘disputed’, with some people thinking it should be recognised as canonical, and others disagreeing – or even, for that matter, as non-canonical but still orthodox and useful for reading – by the early church.^12,13 There was – and remains – no tradition past down that would indicate the Gospel of Thomas was apostolic, and there was – and remains – no record of it having be used in the church anywhere, let alone universally; its content demonstrates it is outside of orthodoxy.¹⁴ Members of the early church were not stupid; the genuine New Testament texts were known to be from the apostolic circle; and those texts demonstrated their veracity: so we can trust the historical perspective that the Gospel of Thomas is not part of the Christian scriptures.

18. Following on from point 17 above, particularly condemning is the absence of the Gospel of Thomas from use in church circles in areas traditional thought to have been converted by the preaching of the apostle Thomas. Traditionally, Thomas is supposed to have travelled away from Israel to Syria and on even as far as India.¹⁵ If any groups of Christians would be in possession and make use of the Gospel of Thomas it would be these. However, the Gospel of Thomas is not used in these areas.¹⁶ Further, the Gospel of Thomas is not simply unused, it is also unmentioned – as in the rest of the Christian world of the time (see point 17 above), the Gospel of Thomas is not even a consideration in these areas.¹⁷ The evidence is that the Gospel of Thomas was never respected in the Syrian church, and not even available in India¹⁸ – which is rather odd, if the Gospel of Thomas really was written by Thomas. Of course, the best historical answer to this potential oddity is that the Gospel of Thomas was not written by Thomas, and thus is a fake (one of the pseudepigrapha).

Additionally, although in existence in Egypt (evidenced by its Coptic translation), the Gospel of Thomas was never considered part of the Christian scriptures in this area, either – even though the Copts were happy to include other books in their Bibles (i.e. some of the Old Testament apocrypha),¹⁹ and even though some of the most liberal (when it comes to regarding a text as inspired) Christians lived in this area (e.g. Clement of Alexandria²⁰).

19. Although the discussion within the early church about some of the canonical New Testament books continued for some time, the canonical status of the four Gospels was recognised very early on. This can be seen in the writings of Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.11.8), for example, as well as the Muratorian Canon (both late second century) and Titian’s Diatessaron (mid- to late second century), a harmony of the four Gospels (plus an occasional fifth source — not Thomas). The early recognition of the four Gospels, along with the Gospel of Thomas being a non-entity in any discussions of canonicity (see also point 17), further show that the Gospel of Thomas was never recognised as part of scripture (or even disputed as such). The simplest historical reason for this absence and exclusion is that the Gospel of Thomas wasn’t written early enough to even be worth mentioning in discussions on canonicity, had an obvious lack of apostolic connection, and was recognised as holding heretical teachings.

20. An extra point for people who believe in an almighty God (Luke 1:37), who is interested in humanity (John 3:16), communicates to humanity, and values his words of communication (Ps. 138:2; Isa. 55:11; 1Sam. 3:19): God has been careful to ensure all the information we need has been collected in the Bible. Anything outside of the Bible is, at least, extraneous.

Positive contribution of the Gospel of Thomas

Although the Gospel of Thomas is not an inspired text and is written in the second-century – and, thus, is rightly not included in the Bible – it does contribute helpfully to Christianity, and to the Bible particularly.

In some of its logia, the Gospel of Thomas holds a close resemblance to the canonical Gospels,²¹ and even to other New Testament books.²² Because the Gospel of Thomas is written after the four Gospels and is not inspired, we know that this resemblance is a dependence on the four Gospels.²² Thus the Gospel of Thomas becomes one of the many witnesses to both the early composition and the early recognition (even by heretical and/or non-Christian sects) of the four Canonicals (as well as other books of the New Testament).

1. I am indebted to Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus (Nottingham: IVP, 2007), p. 74-6 for this point. The Gospel of Thomas and Syriac translations in this point are also taken from him.

2. For a useful tabularization of Jesus’ use of the Old Testament, see R. T. France, Jesus and the Old Testament (London: Tyndale, 1971), p. 259-63.

3. The author of the Gospel of Thomas himself would not mind people saying his Gospel was disconnected from the works in both the Old and New Testaments! The Gospel of Thomas is quite happy to take this stance. Perhaps we should let it.

4. See Lorne Zelyck, ‘Are the ‘other’ gospels historical?’ (2010) on 4Gospels.com

<http://www.4gospels.com/Are%20the%20other%20gospels%20historical.html> (accessed 12/07/2010) for a compilation of the data.

5. I am grateful to Dr Peter Williams (‘Evidence of Eyewitnesses’ at The Authentic Gospels: New Evidence [London: Bible and Church, 12/06/2010]) for this point.

6.Risto Uro, Thomas; Seeking the Historical Context (London: T & T Clark, 2003), p. 115. For examples of ancient textbooks on rhetoric devises (including chreiai) – called progymnasmata – see those by Theon of Alexandria (fl. c. 100 AD), Hermogenes of Tarus (fl. second century; or third or fourth century text attributed to Hermogenes), Aphthonius of Antioch (fl. c. 400 AD) and Nicolaus of Myra (fl. c. 430-500 AD) (Theresa Enos (ed), Encyclopedia of rhetoric and composition [Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 1996], p. 562). For examples of chreiai see the relevant sections of the progymnasmata above.

7. N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), p. 435. Jewish collections of sayings did appear – e.g. Ethics of the Fathers/Pirkei Avot – but they were later, also second century (Hermann Strack, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash [Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1945], p.11-12; Louis Jacobs, The Jewish Religion [Oxford: OUP, 1995], p. 153).

8. ibid, p. 435

9. Translation: Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson (in Stephen J. Patterson, James M. Robinson, and Hans- Gebhard Bethge, The Fifth Gospel [Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1998]). Also see, e.g.: Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer (in Robert Joseph Miller (ed), The Complete Gospels [Salem: Polebridge Press, 1994]); Marvin Meyer (in Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer (eds), The Gnostic Bible [Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006]); Stevan L. Davies (in The Gospel of Thomas [Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004]). Others (e.g. Lambdin) have ‘I am not your master’. The translation used is irrelevant to the issue (the point still stands, either way): see, e.g., Mat. 10:24-25; John 15:20; Jude 4.

10. I am grateful to Jonathan Burke for this point.

11. Cf. Ehrman on The Gospel According to the Egyptians: ‘Since the Gospel is well-known to Clement and, evidently, his community, it may have been composed already by the first part of the second century.’ (Lost Scriptures [Oxford: OUP, 2003], p. 18)

12. On the contrary, the references we do have to the Gospel of Thomas are condemning; see, e.g., Hippolytus in point 14 above. Other examples include: Origen (b. 185), Homily on Luke 1.2; Eusebius (b. 260), Ecclesiastical History 3.25.6-7; Cyril of Jerusalem (b. 315), Catechetical Lecture 4.36; 6.31.

13. See Bruce Metzger’s The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987) and The early versions of the New Testament (Oxford: OUP, 1977) and B. F. Westcott’s The Bible in the Church (London: Macmillan, 1864) and A general survey of the history of the canon of the New Testament (London: Macmillan, 1866) for a comprehensive presentation of the evidence.

14. These criteria – whether a text (1) had an apostolic origin, (2) was used universally by the church and (3) was orthodox (i.e. matched with the truth that had been handed down) – were the main tests the church used to recognise canonicity (see Michael Green, The Books the Church Suppressed [Oxford: Monarch, 2005] for summary). More memorably, Darrell L. Bock names these criteria (1) ‘roots’, (2) ‘usage’ and (3) ‘content’ (Breaking the Da Vinci Code [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004], p. 110).

15. E. A. Livingstone, ‘Thomas, St’ in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford: OUP)

16. All of the various Syriac versions of the Bible – the Old Syriac version, the Diatessaron, the Peshitta, the Philoxenian and the Harclean – do not contain the Gospel of Thomas; Syrian canon lists do not mention it (see Bruce Metzger, The New Testament [London: Lutterworth Press, 1969], p. 276 & The Canon of the New Testament [Oxford: Clarendon, 1987], p. 114,218 for summaries).

17. A potentially striking example of this is that the Gospel of Thomas is not even mentioned the list of Indian “Thomas Christian” books thought heretical and destroyed by the supposed orthodox Christians from the West after the Synod of Diamper (AD 1599) [Paul Verghese, 'The Church in Kerala at the Coming of the Portuguese' in The St Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India Vol. 2 (Trichur: The St Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, 1973), p. 34]: if the “Thomas Christians” possessed the Gospel of Thomas then it would have been exposed by the Christians from the West who considered it heterodox. As it happens, the “Thomas Christians” didn’t posses it – and it appears they didn’t even know of it, which is unusual if the Gospel of Thomas really was written by the apostle Thomas.

18. Also see Bentley Layton (ed.), The Gnostic Scriptures (New York: Doubleday, 1987; paperback 1995), p. 360-364, 378-379; Wilhelm Schneemelcher (ed.), New Testament Apocrypha, Volume 1: Gospels and Related Writings translated by R. McL. Wilson (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1991; paperback 2003), p. 111-113; Robert J. Miller (ed.), The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version (Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 1994), p. 301-303 (I am grateful to Lawrence King for these).

19. B. F. Westcott, The Bible in the Church (London: Macmillan, 1864), p. 325

20. See, e.g., his Exhortation 6, where he regards Plato as inspired.

21. E.g. cf.. logion 94 with Mat.7:8; logion 4 with Mark 9:35-7; logion 107 with Luke 15:3-7; logion 1 with John 8:51.

22. For more on the Gospel of Thomas‘ dependence on the New Testament, especially the four Gospels, see Craig A. Evans, Fabricating Jesus (Nottingham: IVP, 2007), p. 68-71 (including footnotes 11,12,14).

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Appendix 1

Examples follow of the Gospel of Thomas‘ synthesises of themes, motifs, expressions and concerns from various non-canonical Christian texts (e.g. liturgies), heterodox texts and non-Christian texts. Two things to note:

1. Some of the themes, motifs, expressions and concerns are developments of the 2^nd century, which places the composition of the Gospel of Thomas too late to be an accurate or authentic record about the Lord Jesus (point 1 in the main text).
2. Some of the themes, motifs, expressions and concerns are shared with heretical, or even non-Christian, texts, demonstrating the heretical or non-Christian provenance of the Gospel of Thomas. As a heretical or non-Christian text it cannot be relied upon to give a true or accurate account of the Lord Jesus (point 4 in the main text).

Examples:

Secret teachings

‘These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.’ (incipit; also see logia 13)

Cf.:

• • ‘…I have said everything to you that you might write them down and give them secretly to your fellow spirits…’ (The Apocryphon of John)
  • ‘I send you a secret book which was revealed to me and Peter by the Lord…I also sent you, ten months ago, another secret book which the Savior had revealed to me…’ (The Apocryphon of James)
  • ‘And he [Jesus] said to me [Peter], “Be strong, for you are the one to whom these mysteries have been given, to know them through revelation…”‘ (The Apocalypse of Peter)
  • ‘The secret words that the savior spoke to Judas Thomas which I, even I, Mathaias, wrote down, while I was walking, listening to them speak with one another.’ (The Book of Thomas the Contender)
  • …twin of Christ, apostle of the Most High and initiate in the hidden word of Christ who receivest his secret oracles… {39} Jesu, the hidden mystery that hath been revealed unto us, thou art he that hast shown unto us many mysteries; thou that didst call me apart from all my fellows and spakest unto me three (one, Syr.) words wherewith I am inflamed, and am not able to speak them unto others. {47} (The Acts of Thomas)
  • ‘The Gospel of <the> Egyptians. The God-written, holy, secret book.’ (Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians/Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit)
  • Basilides, therefore, and Isidorus, the true son and disciple of Basilides, say that Matthias communicated to them secret discourses, which, I being specially instructed, he heard from the Saviour. … some secret disclosure from the discourses of Matthias. (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.8)

‘Judas Thomas’

These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down. (incipit)

Cf.:

• • Judas Thomas said to him [Jesus] … (Old Syriac John 14:22, manuscript Sy^C)¹
  • Thomas said to him [Jesus] … (Old Syriac John 14:22, manuscript Sy^S)²
  • The secret words that the savior spoke to Judas Thomas which I, even I, Mathaias, wrote down, while I was walking, listening to them speak with one another. (The Book of Thomas the Contender)
  • According to the lot, therefore, India fell unto Judas Thomas, which is also the twin…. (+ 11 more occurrences; The Acts of Thomas)
  • To these epistles there was added the following account in the Syriac language. After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who was also called Thomas, sent to him [i.e. Agbar, king of Edessa (1.13.2,4)] Thaddeus, an apostle, one of the Seventy. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 1.13.10)

‘The all’

~x5 in the Gospel of Thomas (sayings 2,67[?],77[x3]).

Cf. Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex (x65); A Valentinian Exposition (x28); Trimorphic Protennoia (x25); The Gospel of Truth (x22); Zostrianos (~x12); The Apocryphon of John (~x12); Melchizedek (x7); The Interpretation of Knowledge (x4); Marsanes (x3); The Second Treatise of the Great Seth; The Treatise on the Resurrection (both x2); The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene; The Book of Thomas the Contender; The Thought of Norea; Allogenes; The Dialogue of the Saviour; The Testimony of Truth; The Tripartite Tractate (x1 each)

‘Bridal chamber’

x2 (75,104).

Cf. The Gospel of Philip (x25); The Tripartite Tractate; The Acts of Thomas (x5 each); The Exegesis on the Soul (x3); Authoritative Teaching; The Second Treatise of the Great Seth; The Teachings of Silvanus; The Dialogue of the Saviour (x1 each). Also see Ephraem Syrus, ‘Stanzas Against Bardaisan’ in Prose Refutations of Mani, Marcion and Bardaisan 81,85 and the phrase as used by Armenian Christians³

Drunkenness as a metaphor for unclear thinking

x3 (28).

Cf. The Book of Thomas the Contender; The Gospel of Truth; The Teachings of Silvanus; Authoritative Teaching (x2 each); The Apocryphon of John; The Apocryphon of James; Zostrianos (x1 each)

‘Movement’

x1 (50).

Cf. The Tripartite Tractate (x5); Trimorphic Protennoia (x4); Zostrianos (~x2); A Valentinian Exposition; The Sophia of Jesus Christ (x1 each)

‘Man of light’

x1 (24).

Pistis Sophia (x4); On the Origin of the World; Melchizedek; Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex (x2 each); The Apocryphon of James (x1)

‘Deficiency’

x2 (67).

Cf. The Letter of Peter to Philip; The Apocryphon of John (both x6); The Gospel of Truth (x15); The Tripartite Tractate (x3); The Dialogue of the Savior; The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth; Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians/Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit; The Teachings of Silvanus; On the Origin of the World; The Paraphrase Of Shem (x2 each); The Thought of Norea; The Treatise on the Resurrection (x1 each)

‘Undivided’

x1 (61).

Cf. Zostrianos (x9); Allogenes (x4); The Second Treatise of the Great Seth (x3); The Interpretation of Knowledge; The Gospel of Truth; Marsanes (x1 each)

Males superior to females

‘Simon Peter said to him, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”‘ (114)

Cf.:

• • ‘…the defect of femaleness…’ (Eugnostos the Blessed)
  • ‘The perishable has gone up to the imperishable and the female element has attained to this male element.’ (The (First) Apocalypse of James)
  • ‘And do not become female, lest you give birth to evil and (its) brothers: jealousy and division, anger and wrath, fear and a divided heart, and empty, non-existent desire.’ (The Second Treatise of the Great Seth)
  • ‘Flee from the madness and the bondage of femaleness, and choose for yourselves the salvation of maleness.’ (Zostrianos)
  • Judas said, “You have told us this out of the mind of truth. When we pray, how should we pray?” The Lord said, “Pray in the place where there is no woman.” (Dialogue of the Saviour)
  • Also see the creation stories of The Apocryphon of John and The Hypostasis of the Archons.

Inside/outside

‘…Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below…then will you enter the kingdom.”‘ (22)

Cf.:

• • ‘…he said, “I came to make the things below like the things above, and the things outside like those inside. I came to unite them in the place.”‘ (The Gospel of Philip)
  • ‘For what is inside of you is what is outside of you, and the one who fashions you on the outside is the one who shaped the inside of you. And what you see outside of you, you see inside of you; it is visible and it is your garment.’ (The Thunder, Perfect Mind)

Rest and reign

‘Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.”‘ (2)

Cf.:

• • And the apostle said: The treasury of the holy king is opened wide, and they which worthily partake of the good things that are therein do rest, and resting do reign… (Acts of Thomas)
  • ‘…when you come forth from the sufferings and passions of the body, you will receive rest from the good one, and you will reign with the king…’ (The Book of Thomas the Contender)
  • ‘For your sake, they will be told these things, and will come to rest. For your sake, they will reign, and will become kings.’ (The (Second) Apocalypse of James)
  • ‘Be ye therefore rather prepared for this, that through temporary afflictions ye may attain to everlasting rest, and may flourish for ever, and reign with Christ.’ (Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Andrew)

Light

‘Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where did you come from?’, say to them, ‘We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image.’ If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’, say, ‘We are its children, we are the elect of the living father.’…’ (50)

‘Jesus said, “It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the all. From me did the all come forth, and unto me did the all extend. …”‘ (77)

Cf.:

• • ‘For from the light, which is the Christ, and the indestructibility, through the gift of the Spirit the four lights (appeared) from the divine Autogenes.’ (The Apocryphon of John)
  • ‘All who come into the world, like a drop from the Light, are sent by him to the world of Almighty, that they might be guarded by him.’ (The Sophia of Jesus Christ)

‘Know oneself’

‘Jesus said, ‘…When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.” (3)

‘…Does not Jesus say, “Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?” (111)

Cf.:

• • ‘The savior said, ‘…you will be called ‘the one who knows himself’. For he who has not known himself has known nothing, but he who has known himself has at the same time already achieved knowledge about the depth of the all.’ (The Book of Thomas the Contender)
  • Right was thy thought, O thou! But how doth “he who knows himself, go unto Him”, as God’s Word (Logos) hath declared? (Poemandres 21)
  • If you do not know yourself, you will not be able to know all of these. (The Teachings of Silvanus)
  • ‘The Lord said, “Everyone who has known himself has seen it [the 'place of life'] in everything given to him to do, [...] and has come to [...] it in his goodness.”‘ (Dialogue of the Saviour)
  • “If you seek with a perfect seeking, then you shall know the Good that is in you; then you will know yourself as well, (as) one who derives from the God who truly pre-exists.” (Allogenes)

1. Risto Uro, Thomas: seeking the historical context of the Gospel of Thomas (London: T & T Clark, 2003), p. 10; Stephen J. Patterson, James M. Robinson and Hans-Gebhard Bethge, The Fifth Gospel (Harrisburg: Trinity Press, 1998), p. 38; Marvin W. Meyer, Secret Gospels (Harrisburg: Trinity Press, 2003), p. 44

2. Uro, op. cit.; Helmut Köster, Ancient Christian gospels (Harrisburg: Trinity press, 1990), p. 79

3. Summarized in Roberta R. Ervine, Worship traditions in Armenia and the neighboring Christian East (New Rochelle: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006), p. 148-9

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Rom 13 : 7 -8)

It’s a little ambiguous whether Paul means not to borrow at all, or just not to fall behind in payments on borrowed money. Further, it’s not clear that whether this is a command, or just general advice. (Sometimes Paul clarifies, such as 1 Cor 7 : 40).

Given that economic circumstances have always driven many (or even most) people to debt at some time, and this is the only one time “owing money” is condemned, it would seem that being in debt itself is not a sin. And in fact, Paul’s immediate qualification, “to love each other” strongly suggests that Paul is thinking of far more than just money.

What the Bible does condemn, frequently and passionately, is predatory lending.

“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.  If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. (Exo 22:25 – 27)

The underlying reason for this is because we are all in unserviceable debt to God, and he forgives us:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Col 2:13 – 14)

As well as God commanding Israel to go to war, he is recorded as fighting for Israel a number of times, including:

• Drowning a pursuing Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exodus 14)
• Destroying the fleeing Canaanite army with hailstones (Joshua 10:6 – 14; Job 38:22 – 23)
• Causing a river to flood to disable the enemy chariots (Judges 4:12 – 16; Judges 5:19 – 21)
• Marching ahead of David’s army in the balsam trees to defeat the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:22 – 25)
• Killing 185,000 of the army of the Assyrians while they slept (Isaiah 37:33 – 38)
• Making the enemy army attack each other and so destroy themselves without Israel needing to fight (Judges 7:15 – 22; 2 Chronicles 20:13 – 30)

He chose many people specifically to lead Israel in war, even when they objected they were not suited to the job (Judges 6:14 – 18).  David in particular credited him with training him for war (Psalm 144:1 – 2, Psalm 18:34 – 50).  There is no doubt that God chose David to be a warrior king and to lead and save his people Israel (2 Chronicles 6:5 – 6; Psalm 89:19 – 24), and that he fought for God from the time he killed Goliath because Goliath was at war with God (1 Samuel 17:45 – 47).

However, God also said that because David was a man of war he could not build a house for him, so clearly war was not the end of God’s plans.  Even in his instructions to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 20 there were some interesting guidelines as to how they should conduct war, including:

• Letting many soldiers completely avoid the war (including those who were afraid and those who were engaged to be married).
• Offering peace to their enemies before attacking them (though this did not apply to the nations in the Promised Land God had given them).
• Not destroying fruit trees or using the wood from them.

How does God expect his followers today to act?  There are a few things that give us an indication:

• Christ blessed peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
• He commanded us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43 – 48).
• As much as you can live at peace with everyone, and leave vengeance to God.  Attempt to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17 – 21).

These things are completely against involvement in war as it is now.  When Jesus was on trial before Pilate, he stated that he was not aiming to set up a kingdom then, otherwise his servants would have fought:

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36)

However, there will be a future time when God will intervene to set up his kingdom, and people who resist God will be destroyed.  Then God’s servants will be expected to fight for their king.  There are pictures given of God and his army going to war against those who attack Jerusalem, and that war is described as a righteous war (Zechariah 14:1 – 5, Revelation 19:11 – 16).  Psalm 149, which appears to talk about a time of future judgement, commends the godly people for fighting for God against the nations God has judged.

After that God intends the world to be at peace, learning God’s law and learning about God rather than having different nations fighting against each other (Isaiah 2:2 – 4).  Finally, after all rebellion against God has been crushed, death and sorrow and pain will be abolished, and there will be no war, but God will dwell with men (Revelation 21:1 – 5).

They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. Psalm 95:10

God uses these words to describe the behaviour of the nation of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. It shows us the primary reason why they fell away so easily and frequently. If they had made more of an effort to know and value God’s ways, they wouldn’t have gone astray. What else causes falling away from God?

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13

We can learn a number of things from this passage:

• Unbelief, a lack of faith, causes us to fall away from God (see also Hebrews 3:19, 4:2)
• Sin is deceitful. We convince ourselves it is right; which drives us further from God
• Falling away is as much a danger to us as it was to the nation of Israel

Paul in his letter to the Corinthian believers also makes it very clear that all humanity is prone to such behaviour. Paul talks about how God was not pleased with how the nation of Israel went astray and served other gods (which satisfied their natural sinful desires):

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did… 1 Corinthians 10:6-8

Paul continually emphasises how we are just as susceptible to falling away from God and goes on to say:

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12

How can we avoid falling away from God?

Using direction from the passages above we can endeavour to:

• Know God’s ways by reading the Bible
• Encourage each other spiritually every day
• Identify any self-deception that fosters or encourages sin in our lives
• Recognise that sinful behaviour may provide fleeting pleasure but not lasting joy

Although we often read of the nation of Israel falling away from God, there were always those who were faithful. We can strive to be those who believe, even when surrounded by unbelief.

Up until the exile, “Jew” meant somebody from the tribe of Judah. There are hardly any occurrences of this in Scripture; one exception is 2 Kings 16:6.

During and after the exile, it came to mean anybody from the area of Judea, regardless of their tribe. This is evident in Ezra 4:12, for example, where the term includes people of the tribe of Benjamin and Levi (see the list in Ezra 1). Also in Esther 2:5-6 where Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin is called a “Jew”. By the time of the captivity, the word “Jew” also included converts to the Jewish religion (e.g., Esther 8:17).

By New Testament times, it meant anybody of Israelite heritage as well as anybody of the Jewish religion (e.g., Gal 2:13-15)

The word seems to have an additional meaning in John’s gospel where it often refers to the Jewish leaders. For example, John 5:10-18; 7:13; 11:8; etc.

For further information, see the Wikipedia article on the etymology of “Jew”.

There is a disputed passage in Romans 16:7 which some people think may refer to a female apostle:

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. (Rom 16:7 ESV)

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. (Rom 16:7 TNIV)

Notice that in the TNIV, both Andronicus and Junia appear to be called apostles themselves, whereas in the ESV, they are simply known to the apostles. Junia is a female name, and following the TNIV reading, she appears to be a female apostle. However, the translation is hotly disputed, and most Bible translations have something more like the ESV. As these people are not known anywhere else in scripture, and there are no other indications of a female apostle, it seems unlikely that this would be an exception.

“Ministers” are different as there is no specific office of “minister” or “pastor” mentioned in the Bible. These are modern inventions. The original church leaders were “elders” or “overseers”. These were always male as indicated in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:7-9. Also, in 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man;

For these reasons, most churches will only have males in positions of leadership.

In the Old Testament, “Gentiles” occurs 30 times in the KJV (but much less often in most modern translations) and is always a translation of goy (plural goyim). The Hebrew word occurs 559 times and it is translated (in the KJV) as nations (266x), heathen (143x), nation (109x), gentiles (30x) or people (11x). So primarily the word goy means nation or people. It is used of Israel in some passages; for example, when God promised Abraham (Genesis 12:2) that his descendants would form a “great nation”, the Hebrew phrase is goy gadol. Another example is Genesis 25:23. Over time, the word changed its meaning slightly and the later books of the Old Testament tend to apply the word only to other nations, not to Israel. By Roman times (and so New Testament times), the word goy had come to exclusively mean a non-Jewish nation. The word continued to evolve, and came to be applied to an individual belonging to a non-Jewish nation, which is how it is used in modern Hebrew and Yiddish.

In the New Testament, “Gentile” or “Gentiles” occurs 93 times in the KJV (and about the same number in most modern translations). It is usually a translation of the Greek word ethnos which is also translated (in the KJV) as nations, nation, heathen and people. Jesus uses it specifically of non-Jewish nations in Matthew 10:5:

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles (ethnos) and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

However, in Luke 7:5, the word is used of the nation of Israel:

… for he loves our nation (ethnos), and he is the one who built us our synagogue.”

Fortunately, it is always clear from the context whether the nation referred to is Israel or the non-Jewish nations. The English translations of the Bible have clarified the meaning by using “Gentile” whenever it is clear that non-Jewish nations are intended.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

Jesus directs us to the fact that the Sabbath was created for the benefit of humanity (see also Exodus 16:29).  Apart from an opportunity to enjoy rest from work, why else should a Sabbath be observed now or in the future?

The Sabbath is first mentioned in the book of Exodus. God provided bread from heaven for the nation of Israel as they travelled through the wilderness. There was no food for them to collect on the Sabbath, so double was collected the day before (Exodus 16:22, 26). Their day of rest is described as a “Sabbath to the LORD” (Exodus 16:23, 25), this indicates that their physical rest was to be coupled with spiritual purpose.

Along with the nine other commandments recorded in Exodus 20, the observance of a Sabbath is still a good idea today. In fact, out of the Ten Commandments the one regarding the Sabbath has the most detail*.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God…For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

So the Sabbath is a blessing, a special day to think about God; the Creator. By following his pattern of work and rest we associate ourselves with God. The Sabbath also provides an opportunity to reflect on the wonderful work God has done and continues to do (See Deuteronomy 5:15 and Psalm 92:1-5; entitled ‘A Song for the Sabbath’). As well as the past and present, the Sabbath points forward to the future time of refreshing and rest.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest… (Hebrews 4:9-11)

A Sabbath provides us with a rest. It is intended to be a peaceful day to contemplate God in relation to the past, present and future. It could provide this for the mortal population during Christ’s reign.

Paul in his letter to the Colossians was aware that the question of keeping the Sabbath or not may be a contentious issue:

Therefore let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

Any Sabbath is pointless if it doesn’t direct us to think about Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath and the Rest that God has in store for his people.

* Note: For further reading on the Sabbath, please see Exodus 31:12-18.

If by “power” you mean “authority” (i.e. freedom to exercise his own will), then Jesus has as much freedom as God has given him. Jesus says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). God is still God, but God has given Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus exercises this authority on God’s behalf, and when he has completed the work he will return that authority to God; “When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

If by “power” you are asking if there some things that God can do that Jesus can’t, then we are not given a clear-cut answer in the Bible.