The Last Line of the Gospel of Thomas Will Make Your Jaw Drop
In a Nutshell
The video debunks the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas—a 2nd-century collection of 114 sayings discovered at Nag Hammadi—as heretical fiction that portrays Jesus as a secretive pagan mystic dispensing innate "secret knowledge" for self-enlightenment, contrasting sharply with the unified first-century canonical Gospels' account of his public Jewish ministry, death, and bodily resurrection. It highlights Gnosticism's core errors, like denying the incarnation (physical body as evil) and elevating figures like Mary Magdalene over apostles, exemplified by Thomas's shocking final line: Jesus claims to make Mary "male" so women can enter heaven, words early church fathers like Irenaeus rejected as nonsense. Canonical Gospels are credible eyewitness-based accounts; Gnostic texts are late, unreliable appropriations of Jesus into Eastern philosophies.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
In juxtaposition to other books bearing the names of Jesus and the apostles with no credibility, such as the Gnostic Gospels including the Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Judas, and Gospel of Thomas.
First century gospels present one gospel message of who Jesus is and what he came to do, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—one gospel but four accounts.
In subsequent centuries after Jesus's death, groups wrote documents to appropriate Jesus and the disciples into their philosophical systems, portraying Jesus as a pagan mystic palatable to the pagan mystical world.
Is it more likely that the first-century Nazarene rabbi itinerant Jesus of Nazareth was actually a pagan mystic later painted as a Jew, or the opposite—that he was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, wandered Galilee in a Jewish-saturated Hebraic world, and later people made him into a pagan philosopher?
Gospel of Thomas: 114 sayings of Jesus, one of the more famous non-canonical texts. Discovered in 1945 in the Nag Hammadi Desert as part of the Nag Hammadi library, which also contains the Secret Gospel of John and Gospel of Philip. Not a gospel in the formal sense (no birth, life, death, resurrection), but 114 sayings.
Gnosticism derives from Greek gnosis meaning knowledge. In historical biblical Christianity, salvation is external, done on your behalf by Jesus's finished work. Gnosticism from the East enters the Roman world, appropriating Jesus into philosophical systems by the second century.
Dozens of Gnostic groups disagreeing with each other, but central thread: salvation is innate, not external. You're divine; unlock it via secret knowledge leading to enlightenment realizing you're a divine being.
Gnostic literature portrays Jesus as secretive, whispering secret knowledge, unlike the public ministry in biblical gospels. Never to key figures like Peter, James, John; instead to Judas, Thomas, Philip, Mary Magdalene—ostracizing biblical key figures to elevate others.
Gospel of Thomas written after Thomas is long dead, indicating unreliability.
Last line: One disciple says to Jesus, > "Let Mary leave us for women are not worthy of life."
Jesus replies, > "Don't worry because I will make her appear male as you males."
Final line: > "Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."
These texts put words in Jesus's mouth that he never said.
Early Christians aware, e.g., Irenaeus writes Against Heresies stipulating Gospel of Thomas is nonsense, heresy. No tangible artifact until 1945 Nag Hammadi discovery, confirming Irenaeus's description.
Gospel of Peter: Discovered in 19th century. A church leader in Turkey responds to a church in Rhodes inquiring about it: He reads it, declares it heretical, inaccurate about Jesus, instructs to stop reading in church. Later discovery confirms Gnostic elements denying Jesus's physical body.
Ancient world accepted Jesus as God but hung up on him as man. Gnosticism: physical evil, spiritual good; denies incarnation.
In Acts 17, Paul preaches on Mars Hill (Areopagus) to Greek philosophers and Jews; they track until anastasis (resurrection)—bodily resurrection opposite their goal of escaping meat prison via death.
Platonic thought adopted by Gnosticism: no hang-up with Jesus as God, deny he was physical.
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