APRIL DECONICK and her work on the Gospel of Thomas are profiled in a local Illinois newspaper.

ILLINOIS STYLE: Illinois Wesleyan professor studies apocryphal gospel
LORI ANN COX
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In the Coptic Museum in an ancient neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, April DeConick's academic pursuit reached a zenith.

A professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, DeConick had been fascinated with the Gospel of Thomas since her undergraduate days in Michigan.

Now she was leafing through text nearly 2,000 years old - a full, early Christian text of the Thomas book, which purports to be sayings of Jesus.

It wouldn't be all that illuminating for most; the copy's Egyptian Coptic language makes it impossible reading for most people. But DeConick knows Coptic - and even teaches it at Wesleyan.

[...]

DeConick believes oral tradition led to sayings of Jesus being unintentionally altered in ways that reflected the changing spiritual thought of early Christians. The copy of Thomas found in Egypt probably was translated from Syrian Christians because it reflects on their understanding of Jesus, she said.

Among her conclusions is that a crisis emerged among Christians in Syria because the apocalypse didn't happen. They had expected an imminent, epic battle with angels and demons, followed by the Second Coming of Christ and establishment of a new, holy kingdom.

Some of the sayings begin with the posing of questions by disciples about the Second Coming. These actually represent the questions posed by Syrian Christians, she said.

The crisis is resolved by addition of sayings in Thomas that introduce mysticism - that is, the internalizing of God. The idea of a new kingdom was collapsed into the idea of an experiential spiritualism. The new kingdom already had come, and it could be found within oneself.

Late last year, DeConick's "Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and its Growth" was published as a scholarly work. Other scholars have undertaken similar work with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It causes a commotion among preachers and followers who teach that these books contain Jesus' exact words.

Generally not riots or death threats, though. (Okay, okay, I'll stop. I've made my point.)

It causes less stir when addressing the Gospel of Thomas, since Thomas isn't accepted as canonical by most churches.

[...]

Most churches? Is there a new one I haven't heard of that has added it to its canon? You never know.

Professor DeConick's book sounds very interesting. The Amazon link is here. She has also just published a new commentary and translation of the Gospel of Thomas. Both are a bit pricey for personal libraries (not that I'm in any position to criticize), but do make sure your local research library orders them.