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.
410 D.W. Kim
connected to the worth and priority of the community “swfronismov"
(discipline)â€.
4. The Socio-Ethical Rules
Fourthly, when the Logiographer of the text became interested in
the doctrinal disciplines, the socio-ethical issues were also focused on
in terms of the community order. The Jesus of Logion 63 shared the
personal thoughts of a rich man: “I will use my money that I may sow
and reap and plant and fill my storehouses with fruit, so that I lack
nothingâ€. The short narrative of the rich man, who had much money
and who had a great business plan in mind, teaches the community
readers that the secular material involves fulfilling a personal goal or
satisfaction, but the conclusion of “that night he died†implies that
money or riches cannot change the human destiny of “p•mou (death)â€
or something beyond “p•mou (death)â€. The method of how one spends
“ÿomt (money)â€, is pictured in the other saying of “do not lend it
(money) at interest, but give [it] to one from whom you will not get it
back†(101). In the saying, the community policy of Thomas is described
in a compassionate way, that no one should expect any extra income
from what they give away. Rather, the material contribution should be
merciful and graceful rather than repayable. These sayings minimise
the importance of money for personal benefits, but encourage
members of Thomas to keep the mentality of a charity. It is not a
gnostic mentality of “indifferentism against the worldâ€, but is like the
spirit of the Acts Christians: “All the believers were one in heart and
mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but
they shared everything they had†(Acts 4,32). The right attitude
towards using money is continually illustrated in relation to the
principle of tax payment: “Give Caesar what belongs to Caesarâ€. In
Logion 100, Jesus spoke wisely to the crowds who had asked the social
issue of taxes; this does not just show the social function of money,
but, in addition, reveals the true ownership of money.
Meanwhile, several of the Thomasine Logia present the social
attitude of “diligence†through which the leader of the community
demonstrated a consistent structure for community activities including
labour. The Logion 41 of Jesus: “Whoever has something in his hand
will receive more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the
little he hasâ€, does not clarify the meaning of “f ÿÓ•tef´ Ëix (something
(101) Logion 95.