Lesson plan
Thomasines
Thomasine is a name given to a Syrian Christian group that originated in the first or the second century, who especially revered the apostle Thomas and some scholars speculate to have written the gospel of Thomas. They did not refer to their writing on the life of Jesus as an "εὐαγγέλιον" (euangélion); rather they seem to have preferred the word logia, meaning a book of sayings, as both the genre of their work which makes their approach different from the other early Christian authors. The group was said to have held esoteric, mystical, and ascetic ideas. Some have associated them with the Proto-Gnostics. However modern critics have disputed their affiliation with Gnosticism, especially because they lack many uniquely Gnostic beliefs.
Article summary
Thomasine is a name given to a Syrian Christian group that originated in the first or the second century, who especially revered the apostle Thomas and some scholars speculate to have written the gospel of Thomas. They did not refer to their writing on the life of Jesus as an "εὐαγγέλιον" (euangélion); rather they seem to have preferred the word logia, meaning a book of sayings, as both the genre of their work which makes their approach different from the other early Christian authors. The group was said to have held esoteric, mystical, and ascetic ideas. Some have associated them with the Proto-Gnostics. However modern critics have disputed their affiliation with Gnosticism, especially because they lack many uniquely Gnostic beliefs.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.