The Gospel of Thomas, Inner Awakening, and the Meaning of True Deliverance

The Gospel of Thomas, a non-canonical collection of sayings attributed to Yeshua, presents a radically different framework for spiritual liberation than later institutional Christianity, emphasizing awakening and self-knowledge rather than external rescue or future reward, and it repeatedly affirms that the “kingdom” is not something to be awaited after death but a present reality discovered within the awakened individual; throughout its sayings, Thomas points to an inner divine spark—described as light, knowledge, or true sight—that has been obscured by ignorance, fear, and externally imposed authority, and in this framework deliverance means liberation from illusion, bondage, and unconscious living in the here and now, not a postponed promise contingent upon belief, ritual, or clerical mediation. Unlike the later Roman Church’s doctrinal construction of “salvation” as a future event granted through submission to institutional authority and belief in a "savior" who rescues humanity from itself, the Gospel of Thomas frames awakening as immediate and experiential, accessible to anyone willing to seek, question, and know themselves, echoing the saying, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you; if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not have will destroy you.” From this perspective, the concept of salvation becomes a mechanism of dependency and control—something promised later, administered by an institution, and used to bind individuals to fear of judgment and hope of reward—while deliverance is understood as freedom itself: freedom from deception, from imposed identities, from the belief that truth resides outside the self. The Gospel of Thomas challenges the notion of a distant heaven and instead insists that the divine presence is already here, already alive within conscious awareness, and already accessible through awakening, making liberation not an afterlife transaction but a present transformation of perception, responsibility, and being; in this light, deliverance is not granted, earned, or delayed, but realized the moment the individual awakens to the truth that the kingdom has never been elsewhere—it has always been within.

Selected Sayings from the Gospel of Thomas

Saying 1

“Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”
This opening line sets the tone of the entire text: liberation comes through understanding, not belief or ritual, and “death” is framed symbolically as ignorance rather than physical demise.

Saying 3

“If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that you are sons of the Living Father.”
This is one of the most cited passages, explicitly rejecting external locations for the kingdom and affirming self-knowledge as the path to realization.

Saying 5

“Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.”
Awakening is presented as a shift in perception—truth is not concealed by distance or time, but by lack of awareness.

Saying 18

“The disciples said to Yeshua, ‘Tell us how our end will be.’ Yeshua said, ‘Have you discovered the beginning, then, that you seek the end? For where the beginning is, there the end will be also. Blessed is one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.’”
Rather than focusing on a future afterlife, this saying points inward, toward origin, essence, and present awareness.

Saying 22

“When you make the two one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner… then you will enter the kingdom.”
Here the kingdom is entered through integration and wholeness, not obedience or external authority.

Saying 24

“There is light within a person of light, and it lights up the whole world. If it does not shine, it is darkness.”
This directly supports the concept of the divine spark within, emphasizing responsibility to awaken and express it.

Saying 49

“Blessed are the solitary and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you came from it, and to it you will return.”
The “solitary” here refers to the inwardly awakened individual—one who has stepped outside collective illusion.

Saying 70

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will deliver you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not have will destroy you.”
One of the clearest articulations of deliverance as an inner realization, not something granted by an external savior.

Saying 113

“The disciples said to him, ‘When will the kingdom come?’ Yeshua said, ‘It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, “Look, here!” or “Look, there!” Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.’”
This directly contradicts future-oriented, heaven-after-death theology and reinforces present availability.

The Gospel of Thomas was discovered in December 1945, near the town of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt.

Where It Was Found

• Location: Near Nag Hammadi, about 50 miles north of Luxor, Egypt

• Setting: Buried in a sealed earthenware jar at the base of the Jabal al-Ṭārif cliffs

• Discoverers: Local Egyptian farmers (most often identified as Muhammad al-Samman and others from his family)

The jar contained a collection of ancient books written in Coptic, now known collectively as the Nag Hammadi Library.

What Was Discovered

• 13 leather-bound codices (books)

• Over 50 texts, many previously unknown or thought lost

• Works associated with early Christian mysticism, Gnostic thought, and alternative traditions suppressed by orthodox Christianity

• The Gospel of Thomas was contained in Codex II, one of the most important volumes

When the Text Was Written

• The Coptic manuscript dates to approximately 340–350 AD

• However, scholars widely agree the Gospel of Thomas itself was originally composed much earlier, most likely:

  • 50–100 AD (some argue even earlier than parts of the canonical gospels)

• The original composition was almost certainly in Greek, supported by the discovery of Greek fragments at Oxyrhynchus (found earlier, in the late 1800s, but not recognized as Thomas until after 1945)

Why It Was Buried

Most historians believe the texts were hidden intentionally, likely in response to:

• Bishop Athanasius’s 367 AD Easter Letter, which ordered the destruction of non-canonical writings

• Increasing enforcement of Roman Church orthodoxy

• The suppression of alternative teachings that emphasized direct knowledge (gnosis), inner awakening, and personal authority

Rather than being destroyed, the texts were preserved—sealed and buried—where they remained untouched for roughly 1,600 years.

Why the Discovery Matters

The 1945 discovery of the Gospel of Thomas fundamentally reshaped modern understanding of early Christianity by revealing that:

• Early followers of Yeshua held diverse and competing understandings of his teachings

• Not all traditions emphasized sin, salvation, and future heaven

• Some focused instead on awakening, inner knowledge, and present deliverance

In short, the Gospel of Thomas was not lost by accident—it was silenced, preserved underground, and rediscovered at a moment when the modern world was finally capable of questioning inherited religious authority.

Why the Gospel of Thomas Was Excluded from the Bible

1. It Undermined Institutional Authority

The Gospel of Thomas places authority inside the individual, not in a church, priesthood, or hierarchy. Its core message is that the kingdom is already present and accessible through awakening and self-knowledge. This posed a direct threat to an emerging institutional church that depended on:

• Clerical mediation

• Doctrinal control

• Obedience to bishops and councils

A text that taught “the kingdom is inside of you” left little room for an institution to position itself as the gatekeeper of truth.

2. It Rejected the Need for a Savior-Based Salvation Model

By the 2nd–4th centuries, church theology increasingly centered on:

• Original sin

• Humanity’s fallen nature

• Salvation through belief in Yeshua’s death and resurrection

Thomas does not teach salvation through belief in a sacrificial atonement. Instead, it teaches deliverance through awakening, knowledge, and realization. This conflicted with the developing doctrine that "salvation" was something:

• Granted by "God"

• Administered by the "Church"

• Received in the future (after death)

Thomas made deliverance salvation immediate, experiential, and internal—leaving no role for sacramental control.

3. It Had No Narrative Crucifixion or Resurrection

Unlike the canonical gospels, Thomas:

• Contains no birth story

• No crucifixion

• No resurrection narrative

• No apocalyptic judgment

It is a sayings gospel, focused entirely on what Yeshua taught, not what was later claimed about him. As orthodoxy shifted toward emphasizing belief about Yeshua rather than practice of his teachings, Thomas became increasingly incompatible.

4. It Was Labeled “Heretical” by Church Fathers

Early church leaders such as:

• Irenaeus of Lyons

• Hippolytus

• Origen

Condemned Thomas and similar texts as “heretical,” often grouping them under the broad (and imprecise) label of “Gnosticism.” In this context, “heresy” largely meant:

• Teaching outside episcopal authority

• Encouraging direct access to divine knowledge

• Rejecting centralized doctrinal control

Importantly, labeling a text heretical did not mean it was historically false—only that it was theologically inconvenient.

5. Canon Formation Was Political, Not Neutral

The New Testament canon was not finalized until the 4th century, after Christianity became aligned with Roman state power under Constantine. Canonical texts were selected based on whether they:

• Supported church hierarchy

• Reinforced doctrinal unity

• Could be used to govern a large empire

Thomas, with its emphasis on inner sovereignty and awakening, could not serve an imperial religion.

6. It Encouraged Personal Responsibility Over Obedience

Thomas repeatedly emphasizes:

• Seeking

• Questioning

• Knowing oneself

This runs counter to systems that rely on:

• Fear of judgment

• Dependence on authority

• Passive belief

A spiritually awakened population is difficult to govern. Thomas encouraged conscious individuals, not compliant followers.

In Summary

The Gospel of Thomas was excluded because it:

• Removed power from institutions

• Made deliverance immediate and internal

• Undermined salvation-by-belief theology

• Offered no leverage for fear-based control

• Encouraged awakening rather than obedience

It was not excluded because it lacked antiquity or influence—but because it preserved a version of Yeshua’s teachings that empowered individuals instead of systems.