D.W. Kim, «What Shall We Do? The Community Rules of Thomas in the ‘Fifth Gospel’», Vol. 88 (2007) 393-414
This article argues for the diversity of early Christianity in terms of religiocultural communities. Each early Christian group, based on a personal revelation of leadership and the group’s socio-political milieu, maintained its own tradition (oral, written, or both) of Jesus for the continuity and prosperity of the movement. The leaders of early Christianity allowed outsiders to become insiders in the condition where the new comers committed to give up their previous religious attitude and custom and then follow the new community rules. The membership of the Thomasine group is not exceptional in this case. The Logia tradition of P. Oxy. 1, 654.655, and NHC II, 2. 32: 10-51: 28 in the context of community policy will prove the pre-gnostic peculiarity of the creative and independent movement within the Graeco-Roman world.
What Shall We Do? The Community Rules 409
The Logiographer of Thomas also reminds modern readers that the
situation of being separated is like the person who is hungry, but the
phrase of “the belly of him who desire will be filledâ€, in a metaphorical
way, predicts that the loneliness and emptiness of the hungry
man/woman will be filled by the spiritual brotherhood (or sisterhood)
in the community (92). The word of Q 6,21 speaks about the blessing of
those who hunger: “Blessed are you (who) hunger, for you will eat
your fill†(93). Instead of “the hungry personâ€, the solitary situation of
the new proselytisers is also described in the terms of “n•ÿhke (the
poor)†in that the person desisted from his/her previous religious
heritage (Logion 54) (94). The blessing of the poor parallels with Q
6,20: “Blessed are you poor, for God’s reign is for you†(95). This
destitution refers to material poverty, but the connotation of internal
penury should not be disregarded in these Thomasine beatitudes.
Wilson carefully asserts the textual value of the Logion, in that
“Thomas preserves the original form, which Luke has altered by
substituting “God†(96) and Matthew interpreted by adding “in spiritâ€
after “the poor’†(97). Morrice maintains the Logion 54 in connection
with the “oral tradition independently of the Synoptic Gospels†(98).
Further, the saying, “Blessed are those who have heard the word of the
father and have truly kept it†(99), gives a certain direction that the
community readers of Thomas can follow. The leader of the
community instructs that the reading practice of “p•logos mæ•p•eivt
(the word of the Father)†is a significant way to become internally rich,
through finding the eternal “vnÿ (life)†(100).This makarios Logion is
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Authentic Words of Jesus. New Translation and Commentary (eds. R.W. FUNK –
R.W. HOOVER ET ALII) (New York 1993) 512. See also G. LÃœDEMANN, Jesus after
2000 years. What He really said and did (London 2000) 625.
(92) Logion 69b.
(93) ROBINSON, The Sayings of Jesus, 5. J.S. KLOPPENBORG, The Formation of
Q. Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections (Philadelphia 1987) 171-173.
H.W. ATTRIDGE, “Reflections on Research into Qâ€, Semeia 55 (1992) 223-234.
(94) “Jesus said: Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heavenâ€.
(95) B. CHILTON, “The Gospel According to Thomas As a Source of Jesus’
Teachingsâ€, Gospel Perspectives. The Jesus Tradition Outside the Gospels (ed.
D. WENHAM) (Sheffield 1985) V, 155-157.
(96) Luke 6,20.
(97) Matt 5,3. WILSON, Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, 55. D.J. HARRINGTON,
The Gospel of Thomas (Sacra Pagina 1; Collegeville, MN 1991) 76-85.
(98) MORRICE, Hidden Sayings of Jesus, 86-87.
(99) Logion 79b.
(100) Logion 58.
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