The infancy Gospel of Thomas
Allegory or myth – Gnostic or Ebionite
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12856830 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andries G Van Aarde (0000-0002-3998-2190, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 826-850 |
| Publication date | 2005-10-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Verbum et Ecclesia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1609-9982 • E-ISSN: 2074-7705 |
| Publisher | AOSIS (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.4102/ve.v26i3.253 |
| OpenAlex | W1993093673 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 6 |
The aim of this article is to show that scholars assess the Infancy Gospel of Thomas disparagingly as “illogical”, “un-Christian” and “banal”. A more positive judgment is that it is either “Gnostic” or “purified of Gnosticism”, or merely one of many ancient tales in the form of a historical allegory about Jesus as a child. The article argues that the author of the Greek version of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Codex Sinaiticus (Gr 453) describes the miracles of Jesus in a positive and negative light as if he were an adult. This phenomenon should be understood against the background that this second-century gospel is presented not so much in the genre of a Gnostic redeemer myth, but rather as a god-child myth that has neither an Orthodox nor a Gnostic orientation. Its context is rather early Ebionite Christianity
Allegory · Art · Character (mathematics · Christianity · Context (archaeology · Early Christianity · Gnosticism · Gospel · Literature · Mythology · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,05 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2007 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |