Full Description
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.
Contents
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
