The Way of Life: The Child and the Lion

Dr. Robert North, ex-Jesuit, psychologist and scripture scholar argues in The Way of Life by Jesus of Nazareth that Jesus is the true author of a first century text recently discovered buried in Egypt. Scholars have just received the book and are examining the extensive and astounding evidence of its authorship. …

(chain letter, “A Chistmas [sic] Blockbuster for your Bookstore”, Dec 2008)

This book is a hoax.

The “recently discovered” document is the so-called Gospel of Thomas, first attested in the 3rd century A.D., and immediately denounced as a hoax. Greek fragments were “recently” discovered in 1897 and 1905, and a complete Coptic translation in 1945.

Unlike the canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas is not biographical or historical, merely a list of sayings. It is apparently influenced by the Gnostic movement of the second and third centuries, portraying Jesus not as an historical figure but as a mystical force.

The first attested references to the document occur in the writings of Hippolytus (c. 222-235) and Origen (c. 233), both of whom refute its authenticity. All later writers confirm this assessment, up until the 20th century, when “Jesus myth” scholars claimed it as evidence against the authenticity of the canonical gospels.