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The Gospel of Thomas and Plato
A Study of the Impact of Platonism on the “Fifth Gospel”
Series: - Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 93
Author:
Now available in Open Access thanks to the support of the University of Helsinki. In The Gospel of Thomas and Plato, Ivan Miroshnikov contributes to the study of the earliest Christian engagements with philosophy by offering the first systematic discussion of the impact of Platonism on the Gospel of Thomas, one of the most intriguing and cryptic works among the Nag Hammadi writings. Miroshnikov demonstrates that a Platonist lens is indispensable to the understanding of a number of the Thomasine sayings that have, for decades, remained elusive as exegetical cruces. The Gospel of Thomas is thus an important witness to the early stages of the process that eventually led to the Platonist formulation of certain Christian dogmata.
Ivan Miroshnikov, Ph.D. (2016), is Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Helsinki and Research Fellow at the Center of Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He co-edited Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity (Brill, 2017) and is currently working to publish various unedited manuscripts in Coptic.
"This careful and illuminating study... will be viewed as a significant contribution to Thomasine studies." - Paul Foster, in: Expository Times, 2019
'...einen wichtigen Beitrag zu weiteren Erforschung der platonischen Hintergründe des Thomasevangeliums im Speziellen und des frühen Christentums im Generellen [...] der in jeden weiteren Diskussionen zu diesem Themenfeld zu berücksichtigen sein wird.' Enno Edzard Popkes, Kiel, Theologische Literaturzeitung 145 (2020) 1/2
'...einen wichtigen Beitrag zu weiteren Erforschung der platonischen Hintergründe des Thomasevangeliums im Speziellen und des frühen Christentums im Generellen [...] der in jeden weiteren Diskussionen zu diesem Themenfeld zu berücksichtigen sein wird.' Enno Edzard Popkes, Kiel, Theologische Literaturzeitung 145 (2020) 1/2
Acknowledgements A Note to the Reader
1 Setting the Scene Middle Platonism: A Debated Concept Early Christian Appropriation of Platonism: The Prologue of John Preliminary Notes on the Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas and Philosophy: A History of Research
2 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on the World The Text of Sayings 56 and 80 The World as a Body and as a Corpse Bodies are Corpses What is Alive is Hidden in What is Dead Conclusions
3 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on the Body and the Soul Interpretative Notes on Sayings 29, 87, and 112 Tripartite Anthropology in the Gospel of Thomas? The Body vs. the Soul Conclusions
4 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Oneness The Androgynous Protoplast? Becoming Asexual? Platonists on Becoming One Aramaic Background of the Term μοναχός? The Meaning of μοναχός in the Gospel of Thomas Conclusions
5 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Stability DeConick, Williams, and Murray on “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas The Varieties of “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas Platonists on Transcendental “Standing” Transcendental “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas Conclusions
6 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Immutability and Indivisibility The Setting of the Dialogue The Contents of the Dialogue The Integrity of the Dialogue Conclusions
7 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Freedom from Anger The Text of Gos. Thom. 7 Recent Research on Gos. Thom. 7 The Lion within a Human is Anger Tripartite or Bipartite? Platonists on Anger The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 7 Conclusions
8 Thomasine Metaphysics of the Image and Its Platonist Background The Text of Gos. Thom. 83 The Two Types of Images in Middle Platonism Εἰκὼν θεοῦ as a Paradigmatic Image The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 83:1 The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 83:2 The Metaphysics of the Image in Sayings 22, 50, and 84 Conclusions
9 Concluding Remarks
Appendix 1: The Greek Vorlage of Gos. Thom. 12:2 Appendix 2: The Secondary Nature of Gos. Thom. 5:3 Appendix 3: A Note on Gos. Thom. 77:1 Bibliography Index
1 Setting the Scene Middle Platonism: A Debated Concept Early Christian Appropriation of Platonism: The Prologue of John Preliminary Notes on the Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas and Philosophy: A History of Research
2 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on the World The Text of Sayings 56 and 80 The World as a Body and as a Corpse Bodies are Corpses What is Alive is Hidden in What is Dead Conclusions
3 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on the Body and the Soul Interpretative Notes on Sayings 29, 87, and 112 Tripartite Anthropology in the Gospel of Thomas? The Body vs. the Soul Conclusions
4 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Oneness The Androgynous Protoplast? Becoming Asexual? Platonists on Becoming One Aramaic Background of the Term μοναχός? The Meaning of μοναχός in the Gospel of Thomas Conclusions
5 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Stability DeConick, Williams, and Murray on “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas The Varieties of “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas Platonists on Transcendental “Standing” Transcendental “Standing” in the Gospel of Thomas Conclusions
6 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Immutability and Indivisibility The Setting of the Dialogue The Contents of the Dialogue The Integrity of the Dialogue Conclusions
7 The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Freedom from Anger The Text of Gos. Thom. 7 Recent Research on Gos. Thom. 7 The Lion within a Human is Anger Tripartite or Bipartite? Platonists on Anger The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 7 Conclusions
8 Thomasine Metaphysics of the Image and Its Platonist Background The Text of Gos. Thom. 83 The Two Types of Images in Middle Platonism Εἰκὼν θεοῦ as a Paradigmatic Image The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 83:1 The Meaning of Gos. Thom. 83:2 The Metaphysics of the Image in Sayings 22, 50, and 84 Conclusions
9 Concluding Remarks
Appendix 1: The Greek Vorlage of Gos. Thom. 12:2 Appendix 2: The Secondary Nature of Gos. Thom. 5:3 Appendix 3: A Note on Gos. Thom. 77:1 Bibliography Index
All interested in the Nag Hammadi writings and the Gospel of Thomas, and anyone concerned with Middle Platonism and its impact on early Christian literature.