Dr. Michael Peppard

Sure, I've heard this before because Thomas means twin. So Didymus, Thomas, two different names, one Aramaic-based and one Greek-based does mean twin. And so the fact that this is one of Jesus' disciples who is named and who is very prominent in the New Testament, well, maybe not prominent is too strong of a word, but appears in some key moments, right?

Sure, I've heard this before because Thomas means twin. So Didymus, Thomas, two different names, one Aramaic-based and one Greek-based does mean twin. And so the fact that this is one of Jesus' disciples who is named and who is very prominent in the New Testament, well, maybe not prominent is too strong of a word, but appears in some key moments, right?

Most famously in the doubting Thomas scene in the Gospel of John. Um, where he doesn't believe, uh, he's not there at the first resurrection appearance. And so he doesn't believe his, his fellow disciples and, um, wants to see for, for himself. Uh, but really that's not where the, the, um, kind of the theories develop.

Most famously in the doubting Thomas scene in the Gospel of John. Um, where he doesn't believe, uh, he's not there at the first resurrection appearance. And so he doesn't believe his, his fellow disciples and, um, wants to see for, for himself. Uh, but really that's not where the, the, um, kind of the theories develop.

The theories really develop outside of what comes to be the canon of the new Testament. So there are two primary sources. One that we've known about since antiquity called the acts of Thomas, um, which I think you've had someone on your show to talk about.

The theories really develop outside of what comes to be the canon of the new Testament. So there are two primary sources. One that we've known about since antiquity called the acts of Thomas, um, which I think you've had someone on your show to talk about.

Talking about, you know, these are the so-called apocryphal acts, kind of the stories of what happened to the disciples after they all scattered and evangelized. So the Acts of Thomas has a... has a focus on that character. The themes and the acts of Thomas in that travel are mostly ascetic, kind of self-denial.

Talking about, you know, these are the so-called apocryphal acts, kind of the stories of what happened to the disciples after they all scattered and evangelized. So the Acts of Thomas has a... has a focus on that character. The themes and the acts of Thomas in that travel are mostly ascetic, kind of self-denial.

Thomas trying to get people to break up their marriages or not get married in the first place. But there's also a lot of amazing scenes of Christian initiation and what kinds of baptismal prayers they had and what kinds of meals they had, mostly in early Christian Syria and to the east of that. But then there's another main text called the Gospel of Thomas, which was known in antiquity, but was not

Thomas trying to get people to break up their marriages or not get married in the first place. But there's also a lot of amazing scenes of Christian initiation and what kinds of baptismal prayers they had and what kinds of meals they had, mostly in early Christian Syria and to the east of that. But then there's another main text called the Gospel of Thomas, which was known in antiquity, but was not

It was known that it existed in antiquity, but the text of it was not discovered until the mid-1900s at a place called Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Is that something you're familiar with, this discovery of the Coptic texts at Nag Hammadi?

It was known that it existed in antiquity, but the text of it was not discovered until the mid-1900s at a place called Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Is that something you're familiar with, this discovery of the Coptic texts at Nag Hammadi?

I personally wouldn't use the word hoax myself or fraud. I tend to think more about variant traditions. Variant traditions, because I wasn't there. I wasn't there in the first century following Jesus around to transcribe what he said, nor was I there in the second century or the third century to think about the process of canon formation. So

I personally wouldn't use the word hoax myself or fraud. I tend to think more about variant traditions. Variant traditions, because I wasn't there. I wasn't there in the first century following Jesus around to transcribe what he said, nor was I there in the second century or the third century to think about the process of canon formation. So

As eternally an outsider to the world that I study, I try to be open to the possibilities of what was happening. Now, the Gospel of Thomas, we only have this one, well, mainly one version of it, which is in Coptic, which is the language of early Christian Egypt. For your listeners who don't know what Coptic is, it's a hybrid language.

As eternally an outsider to the world that I study, I try to be open to the possibilities of what was happening. Now, the Gospel of Thomas, we only have this one, well, mainly one version of it, which is in Coptic, which is the language of early Christian Egypt. For your listeners who don't know what Coptic is, it's a hybrid language.

It's kind of the final form of Egyptian before the Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt. And at that point, it had blended native Egyptian grammar and some characters with also some Greek characters and some Greek vocabulary. I did study that, learned it for a few years when I was a graduate student, and I can read those texts.

It's kind of the final form of Egyptian before the Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt. And at that point, it had blended native Egyptian grammar and some characters with also some Greek characters and some Greek vocabulary. I did study that, learned it for a few years when I was a graduate student, and I can read those texts.

So when you read the Gospel of Thomas in Coptic, there are times where it seems like you're getting... for example, a parable of Jesus that feels like it might actually be more archaic than what we have in Matthew or Luke, for example.

So when you read the Gospel of Thomas in Coptic, there are times where it seems like you're getting... for example, a parable of Jesus that feels like it might actually be more archaic than what we have in Matthew or Luke, for example.