It took the Jesus Seminar to raise a cloud of dust over the Gospel of Thomas; now that the dust has settled, scholars with a more targeted interest are taking over the field, and one of these, Nicholas Perrin, has produced a quite readable and thoughtful volume that presents a somewhat differing paradigm for understanding GThom.
I will lay out my one reservation. Perrin reminds me too much of James Dunn, in terms of being someone who seems too cautious about reaching conclusions and permitting potential exceptions to hang overhead. But this is a methodological issue which should be overlooked. Thomas: The Other Gospel is of tremendous value for its close, detailed arguments and its interaction with several streams of evidence. Prior to this, I accepted the notion that Thomas was a Gnostic product, but I think Perrin makes a good case for GThom being a product of a somewhat mystical sect of Syrian Christianity that was not technically Gnostic (though we can certainly see why Gnostics would appreciate GThom even so).
- In the Introduction, Perrin lays out the foundational information on GThom, such as its discovery at Nag Hammadi, opinions as to its authenticity in the past, and external evidence concerning its date and authenticity.
- The next three chapters are summary reviews of how three scholars regard GThom. Chapter One has to do with Stephen Patterson, and I was pleased to see that Perrin observed some of the same methodological weaknesses in the way Patterson rated GThom that I found some years back.
- Chapter Two takes on Elaine Pagels, and Chapter Three addresses April DeConick. The works of these two on GThom are currently on my reading list for the future, so I cannot speak to Perrin's treatment of them, aside from noting that Perrin and DeConick have been taking jabs at one another in the blogosphere.
- Starting in Chapter Four, Perrin makes his own case for the origin and purpose of GThom. He makes a detailed case, first, for GThom having been originally composed in the Syriac language (which is not particularly controversial). He then argues that GThom shows dependency not on the Synoptic Gospels, but rather the "gospel harmony" of Tatian, the Diatessaron, produced in the middle of the second century. Of course for apologists, this is a critical finding for those who would date GThom earlier than the canonical Gospels or argue that it represents a more authentic record of Jesus.
- Chapter Five adds to the academic dogpile, as Perrin looks closely at GThom 13, in which Thomas is given props while Matthew and Peter are disrespected. Perrin argues that this looks to be a direct slam at the composed Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Once again, the implication for the apologist is obvious; but beyond that, there is yet more fruitful commentary concerning the identity and beliefs of those who created GThom.
- Chapter 6 sums it up and makes connections between the contents of GThom and Hermetic mysticism.
Perrin's tone is that of a scholar, though like Ben Witherington, he's more than capable of the humorous turn of phrase (e.g., referring to people dedicated to poverty as not being "Donald Trump-wanna-bes"). That makes Perrin all the more readable. Highly recommended for those interested in GThom studies.