Q Thomas Reader

Anyone who knows anything about the Jesus Seminar (and other recent questers for the historical Jesus) will know that the hypothetical Q and the Coptic Gospel of Thomas are highly prized sources. The highest proportion of "red" and "pink" (authentic) sayings of Jesus appears in the intersection of Q and Thomas, with the idea that sayings that appear in both of these sources must be old. This book by Polebridge Press (the publishers of the Jesus Seminar) presents in readily accessible form these two sources. The "Q" source is thought to be the second document used by Matthew and Luke (in addition to the Gospel of Mark), and so Q is presented in the forms of parallel passages in Matthew and Luke (as we don't have any manuscripts of Q). The Gospel of Thomas is extant in three Greek fragments and a complete Coptic version, so this book includes an English translation and the original Coptic text on the facing page. An appendix shows the parallels between Q and Thomas. There is an introduction of about 25 pages for Q, and an introduction of about 50 pages for the Gospel of Thomas. Anyone who is interested in ancient material on Jesus will find this book to be a useful presentation of the sources.

this was truely a great book and i enjoyed reading it, however i desired more interpretation on "the secret sayings of the living Jesus." i thought the authors would elaborate in depth the sayings they've discovered, but rather they were just presented. I'd recommend buying the book, that is for sure, but you should research the gospel of Thomas deeply before you undertake the reading.