Meanwhile, I hope you’ve enjoyed The Jefferson Bible for the 21st Century and the Gospel of Thomas.  Please let me know which kinds of audiobooks and/or podcasts you’re interested in – make a selection in the poll at the right.

Thanks!

The podcast audio of the Gospel of Thomas is now online, and you can either use the iTunes or the Podbean links on the right.

But what is the Gospel of Thomas? It is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945. It was in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. The manuscript is written in Coptic – which was spoken in Egypt before the spread of Islam and Arabic – and is dated at around 340 CE. It was first published in a photographic edition in 1956. In 1977, James M. Robinson edited the first complete collection of English translations of the Nag Hammadi texts. The common range of accepted dates of the original text is from 50 – 140 CE – which is roughly the same time frame that many scholars have considered to be the general timeframe that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written as well.

Scholars suspect the claim of authorship to the Apostle Thomas on the first line to be false, and the true writer remains unknown. The document probably originated within a school of early Christians. Even the description of Thomas as a “gnostic” gospel is based upon little other than the fact that it was found along with gnostic texts within the seven codices at Nag Hammadi.

The Gospel of Thomas is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four Canonical Gospels. Unlike the canonical Gospels, it is not a narrative account of the life of Jesus; instead, it consists of logia (sayings) attributed to Jesus, sometimes stand-alone, sometimes embedded in short dialogues or parables. Almost half of these sayings more or less resemble those found in the Canonical Gospels, while the other sayings were previously unknown. The text contains a possible allusion to the death of Jesus, but doesn’t mention crucifixion, resurrection, or final judgement; nor does it mention a messianic understanding of Jesus. The Early Church believed it to be a false gospel.

Several translations exist. The text I’m using today is adapted from the translation by W. R. Schoedel, which in turn is based on prior work done by other translators. I have replaced archaic words like Thee, Thine, Thou, Ye, shall and hast. I also updated some sentence structures and grammar constructions. If there is any interest, I will post this version online somewhere to satisfy your curiosity.

I also update my Facebook page a little more regularly, so click on Like to stay a little more abreast of my plans. Thanks.

The next podcast will be a reading of the Gospel of Thomas.  Beyond that, I believe I may tackle the Age of Reason by Thomas Payne.  There is a new poll to the right -> please vote for what kinds of books you’d prefer to listen to moving forward.  Thanks!

I’m sorry for the delays, but May and June were evil months around here.

Episode 8 will contain the last 3 chapters of Jefferson’s text. Following that release, I will be reading the Gospel of Thomas, and then The Age of Reason by Thomas Payne.

What would you like to listen to next?  More from authors of the Enlightenment? Early American fiction? Other historical texts from Nag Hamadi? Use the poll on the right or leave a comment here or on Facebook, or send an email.  I appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks.

Meanwhile, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

This means it is time to consider the future. Moving forward, I’d love to have your feedback before I get wrapped up in recording new audio tracks. There are two polls in the sidebar. Please take time to tick a few boxes and let me know your thoughts.

I’m very curious about books you’re looking for that are NOT listed. If it is a classic book that doesn’t have an audiobook presence in the market, I’m going to consider it for a project.

Jesus embarrasses some Pharisees and lawyers. He tells them they are clean outside since they follow the Law, but filthy on the inside with corruption of the heart.

On a side note, I’ve added a donation button on the right. Like so many people I know, I’ve met some financial hardships this year due to the economy. I hope that my subscribers can help out just enough to cover bandwidth costs and some of the other expenses I’m facing. Or if you’d rather buy a paperback version or an ebook version, visit the estore page, if you can. Thanks.

Please leave ratings and comments! Thanks for subscribing!

The hardest part is deciding on graphics, and that seems to take a great deal of time. If this series is helpful, please consider helping me with my bandwidth by purchasing either an ebook or paperback version. The original audiobook version is also available.