GOSPEL OF THOMAS INTERPRETED & EXPLAINED

These revelations confirmed what many ufologists had been reporting for the past seventy years. Moreover, professionals such as Dr John Mack (psychiatrist) and Dr Jacques Vallee (scientist) had concluded that these encounters are not just physical. For many people they have a psychological impact, which changes the individual’s world view and perceptions of reality. Researchers are now suggesting that consciousness is the key to understanding this phenomena. 

The conclusions of contemporary UAP researchers ratify the teachings we find in the Gospel of Thomas, which is interpreted and explained in 77th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree. This material dimension is just another layer of many, which human beings are just starting to explore. Theories about quantum physics and the nature of the universe are bringing us closer to the wisdom already revealed to humanity by a Light being called Yeshua.

If the Gospel of Thomas interpretation and explanation you have found here resonates with you, please share this website with others. Below you will find a link to a YouTube channel which has some audio extracts from the book. The 2022 audiobook will be available for purchase in July, but you can preorder it from the iBooks app and Google Play now. 

You may wish to download the free ePub from the dropdown menu above. The ePub 2022 edition is now available.

I bow to the divine in you.  

Gospel of Thomas Interpretation & Explanation

– Introduction –

Gospel of Thomas interpretation and explanation discourses have been many and varied. These texts will often use the Old Testament, New Testament and Gnostic writings to achieve their goals. This book is different. The secret teachings of Yeshua (Jesus) in the Gospel of Thomas are self-contained. To extract meaning from the cryptic sayings, one has to make crucial links between them to crack their code. For example, many people have argued that, because of the apparently misogynistic façade, Thomas 114 should not be considered part of the original version of this gospel. However, when one applies the wisdom of Thomas 22, to the controversial Thomas 114, it becomes clear what Jesus was doing with His careful choice of words. This cross-referencing of significant sayings has been the key to unlocking the secret teachings, something you will not find in other texts on the Gospel of Thomas. References to the New Testament Gospels and other relevant texts are only made to clarify the links and points within the commentaries.

Contemporary Christian faiths present salvation as either a firm belief in Jesus Christ and/or the completion of sacraments. Faith in the existence of Jesus (also referred to here as Yeshua) does not in itself bring us into a state of grace, nor does the completion of sacraments. These conclusions are logical. This kind of faith, and involvement in rituals, reflects the archaic needs and attributes of the primal human. They are behaviours that console, but they do not provide a consistent connection to the thing our soul originated from. Understanding the truth is crucial. Through this understanding comes inner peace.

In the middle of January 2015 Pope Francis visited the Philippines. On this visit, a twelve-year-old girl gave a speech and asked the Pope: ‘why does God allow children to suffer?’ This question and the girl’s tears visibly moved the Pope, but he had no real answer for the child. This illustrates the problem with the current Christian orthodoxy. God has been made into a patriarchal figurehead. A majority of Christians believe that this god makes conscious decisions about the events in their everyday lives. This is evident in the numerous times we see sportspeople, musicians, and actors receive a commendation and proceed to thank God for their talents. God does not make one person talented above another. These talents, or attributes, are acquired through good genes, hard work, and being in the right place, at the right time. We should ask ourselves: what does this kind of rhetoric and thinking do to a young person, who does not have any of these talents or opportunities? Is the god of these talented people favouring them, just as he favours children who live in a healthy, happy environment? This kind of fictitious, patriarchal god comes to us from humanity’s primal heritage, where these prehistoric groups were reliant on an alpha-male for guidance and protection. Is this the kind of father Yeshua spoke of? The answer is a resounding no. In response to the child’s question, we would point out that our world is as it is because of the way we have evolved—from a creature that is fallible. The decisions humans made have given us a world that is overpopulated and an environment that is being eroded. Most people in our world are materialistic and make decisions favouring economic growth, rather than ethical approaches to community, environment, and business affairs. Believing that a supreme godhead will solve all these issues is a false perception and a very dangerous one. It is the root cause of much of the world’s problems at the infancy of the twenty-first century. 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree reveals a logical solution: we must understand what Yeshua truly meant in His teachings. This truth permits us to separate religion from global affairs and allows science to work with matters that relate to the material world. It means we use the logic of science to make decisions pertaining to our physical existence, which will give us a world that is free of self-imposed suffering. The world of the Spirit is completely different to the world we experience with our limited physical senses. This universe has been inspired by another realm/dimension, but it is not controlled by it. Ultimately, this is the answer to the child’s question.

Most humans see themselves living in a dualistic existence, evident in the apparent separation of soul/mind and body. This is mirrored in the compartmentalisation of religion as an activity permeated with rituals, rather than a deep, personal understanding of the self. What people should be doing is asking the question, what is consciousness and how is the mind linked to the quantum field? Since around the 1950’s, ufologists have been gathering evidence, which has seen links made between extra-terrestrial life and the human psyche. In June of 2021, the Pentagon released a report called, Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, which confirmed that there were indeed significant incidents of UAP incursions into military and commercial airspace. This official confirmation, together with articles about these incursions in reputable media outlets, such as the New York Times, has allowed the UFO/UAP phenomena to be taken seriously, rather than its usual relegation into the fringe, woo portion of society. It has also opened the door for a new discourse, validating the notion that current models of physics cannot explain reality as it actually stands. The Gospel of Thomas is linked to this discourse through its explanation of what the human is, beyond the physical body.  In the Gospel of Thomas interpretation and explanation in this text these links become evident. 

In 1945, at a place called Nag Hammadi, in Upper Egypt, an Arab peasant discovered fifty-two texts in an earthenware jar. Among those texts was the Gospel of Thomas. This gospel is set out in 114 sayings that are considered the secret sayings of Jesus. While some of these sayings appear in the New Testament Gospels, they are presented here in their unedited form. Since the time of Jesus, people have tried to comprehend the sayings, in particular, those that were omitted from the canonical gospels. In 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree, all the sayings are explored in relation to each other and to pertinent New Testament Gospels. The sayings reveal truths, which lift the mystical teachings of Jesus into a logical reality, at times reflecting what scientists are discovering in the first phase of the twenty-first century.

The New Testament Gospels are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, meaning that they have a common view. These Synoptic Gospels refer to the three New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and are considered synoptic because of their similarity. With the inclusion of the fourth Gospel of John we have the canonical gospels. In 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree, the Gospel of Mark is often referred to in comparison to Thomas, as it is known to be the first of the three Synoptic Gospels written. The other Synoptic Gospels are considered elaborations on Mark. Biblical scholars have suggested that there is another source and it becomes apparent that this is indeed the Gospel of Thomas. It is the cryptic nature of significant portions of the Gospel of Thomas that categorised it as a heretical text to the early Church authorities. Christian apologists argue that the sayings, which are not in the New Testament, are words a typical rabbi, in the time of Jesus, would not have spoken. 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree concurs with this point of view. Yeshua was a man that had an entirely new message, a message that was ahead of its time. In the New Testament, we see the disciples of Jesus ask Him why He speaks to them in strange riddles, yet all we find in these accounts is a narrative interwoven with fantastic feats, which are supposed to prove His divinity. In the New Testament, there is nothing about these strange riddles and mysteries that explains what we are, or our deep connection to the Father/Source. These things, which they considered strange and difficult to fathom, were omitted. The cryptic sayings were meant for the twenty-first century and beyond. In a sense, these words, revealed through 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree, are the second coming.

While the Gospel of Thomas we now know was discovered in 1945, it did in fact exist at the time of the New Testament Gospels. Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon c.180. made references to the Gospel of Thomas in scathing letters, written against the Gnostic’s who held it in high regard. Due to the texts being deemed heretical, orthodox believers sought to destroy them. This is why some prudent Gnostic’s had the foresight to hide the documents.

The popularity of atheism and agnosticism is symptomatic of how the mainstream religions do not bridge the gap between the realities of life and the belief in a deity. A deity that is supposed to provide protection and guidance. Often we see that suffering and death can happen to any individual, group, or community. Sceptics rightly ask: why does a god, who created humans, allow them to suffer from diseases and natural disasters? The Gospel of Thomas answers these perplexing questions by revealing what we are and why we are in this place. If Christian readers are sceptical towards the authenticity of the Gospel of Thomas, as compared to other texts, then they should ask themselves—is the message speaking to the soul or is it speaking from a man?

Some scholars have labelled the Gospel of Thomas a Gnostic text but 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree does not support this premise. The Gospel of Thomas is free of Gnostic mythology; therefore, it is not from this early Christian splinter group. The Gospel of Thomas was the springboard for Gnostic Christianity, because it challenges the reader to search for the truth. Gnostics took this to mean that they were required to find hidden messages in the sayings, to unlock the various gates leading to heaven. What we discover is that the Gnostics went too far—creating numerous complex myths, which supposedly explained our predicament in this world and how to escape from it. These myths prove to be derived from observations of human characteristics and frailties, not unlike how the Ancient Greeks attributed human weaknesses to the plethora of gods they created.

77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree reveals knowledge hidden in cryptic sayings for millennia. It does not reconcile ancient beliefs rooted in the Old Testament with scientific fact. It also does not support Intelligent Design, which is negated in the saying of Thomas 97. What it does do is recognise what science has consistently proven—that we are flesh and bone. We exist in a world governed by physical laws of cause and effect, all of which are external layers of the source of all things—the one Jesus refers to as His ‘father’. In these sayings, the disparity between the physical world and the realm of the Spirit is an ongoing theme. Who created this world and why is not the primary concern. Its physical make-up and evolution has, for the most part, been proven by science and accepted by the Catholic Church. However, this leaves us with many questions. These questions are ones that antiquated faiths, rooted in myths and legends, are incapable of answering. Yeshua foresaw this when He warned that His teachings could not be placed into old wineskins (the context of the Old Testament). Yeshua was the new wine, which would be spoiled by this action.

The author discovered The Gospel of Thomas when he befriended a progressive young Catholic priest in the early 1990’s. Inquisitive conversations often took place, which centred on the contradictions in Church teachings and the Old and New Testaments. One day, rather ironically, the young priest gave the author a book called ‘The Gnostic Gospels’ by Elaine Pagels. In this text, the author found references to the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ and these first few insights opened his eyes to a truth. For the first time he felt a deep spiritual connection, for the first time he felt whole. This started the journey towards a Gospel of Thomas interpretation and explanation that was unlike any other. 

A visit, in 2002, to the Vatican Basilica in Rome cemented in the author a desire to know the truth. During this visit to the Vatican he saw three altars, each presumably containing the body of a Pope. The bodies were in glass coffins, dressed in fine white robes inlaid with gold threads and jewels. The feet of the bodies were adorned with gold shoes encrusted in gems. The faces were covered in a gold mask also covered in gems. A strong smell of what seemed to be formaldehyde surrounded the coffins. As he stood in this place, which was supposed to represent the centre of Christianity, the author felt an incredible sadness and absence of Spirit. In his mind, he could see Jesus entering that space and overturning those altars in disgust at what His representatives had done in His name. This was a crucial first step toward 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree.

The traditional relationship with the God of the Abraham lineage is lacking something essential. This relationship fails to answer the eternal question that humans have grappled with since, presumably, we came down from the trees—what is the meaning of life and what does it mean to live? The information we have had access to in the past has been tainted. The contradictions we encounter in the knowledge presented to us, through the religions sharing the Abrahamic heritage, lack logic. It is also damaging people’s potential to reconcile their human condition, as a reality, apart from the spiritual. The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three-sided grain, which has entered the oyster (this realm/world) to form a pearl. The light that reflects off this pearl has made the revelations in the Gospel of Thomas shine through the fog, which are the physical barriers in this world.

Humans, who are searching for the truth, know that there is an intimate relationship shared with the source of all things—the one Jesus refers to as His father. This relationship is one that has been forgotten, primarily because people’s physical existence steals them away from the Light they cannot see. The thing that one cannot point to when we refer to the ‘self’, is the thing that shares a kinship with Jesus. Within the Gospel of Thomas interpretation and explanation, there are threads that appear which link the sayings in the gospel—a prominent one is that Jesus is our brother.

The symbol on the front of this text represents the perfect human—one that is neither male nor female and both of these at the same time. This symbol speaks of the disparity between our knowledge of relationships, based on physical manifestations, and how Yeshua really wants us to see ourselves. This thing is Spirit and it cannot be defined by the parameters of this world. The vessel on top of the symbol represents the search for knowledge and truth.

The English translation of the Gospel of Thomas used here is by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer: The Nag Hammadi Library. Some of the sayings have words missing due to the fragile nature of the material they were originally written upon. In such cases the scholars have indicated missing words with “[…]” or brackets with the most likely word.

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Gospel of Thomas Compared to The New Testament

Yeshua went out into the physical/material realm. He is the sower—He has scattered His words among us, through His followers. His followers are the places where the seeds fell and attempted to take root. Like the disciples, all people are the soil. The crop is the knowledge of truth grown in the good soil, which nourishes the soul on its way to becoming an enlightened Spirit.

The followers of Yeshua, who placed God outside of the self, scattered seeds on barren ground. However, those who recognised the soul as their identity scatter the seeds on fertile ground, which enabled them to yield without measure. 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree has grown from the good soil, which is the Gospel of Thomas.

Thomas 9 is a well-known and often quoted parable. For this reason, this is an appropriate place to point out that the Gospel of Thomas sayings were a reference point for the Synoptic Gospels. The authors did not understand the esoteric nature of the sayings. They used what they knew from the Old Testament edicts to substantiate theories about Jesus and His teachings. This re-contextualising is what Jesus warned should not occur when He cryptically asserted not to place new wine (His teachings) into old wine skins (the myths and legends of the Old Testament) in Thomas 47. The fact that the disciples found Jesus’ sayings difficult to comprehend is evident in the New Testament Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew illustrates this confusion well.

In Matthew 13, we see a plethora of sayings from the Gospel of Thomas. They are used to construct a piece of writing devised to scare and persuade the reader into believing in the salvation Matthew describes. This salvation would see the righteous taken up into heaven and the evil ones destroyed in the most agonising manner—such that there would be ‘weeping and grinding of teeth’. This kind of persuasive language, devised to create frightening imagery, would have had great impact on the uneducated people of the early Christian period, and, in some Churches, right up to the twenty-first century. This fear is abundant in the Abrahamic religions and it is why 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree was required for humanity to evolve.

Matthew 13 starts with the appropriation of Thomas 9. The author of the gospel uses the parable to describe the importance of faith and how the Evil One and daily life can sway and obstruct our faith. Just prior to the explanation of the sower parable, the disciples ask Jesus why He speaks to crowds in these parables. In reply, Matthew’s Jesus says: ‘Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not granted.’ (Matthew 13:11) This is followed by a variation on Thomas 41, which suggests that those who have the faith (implied) will be given more; those who do not, the little they have will be taken away. This is a crafty edit of the teachings found in the Gospel of Thomas. They were not meant to sit together in this way and certainly were not to be used in such a political manner—the Son of God versus the Evil One. Moreover, suggesting that the parables were only meant to be understood by the disciples is clearly an attempt by the author to reaffirm his position and authority. At the very beginning of the Gospel of Thomas we see that this was not Jesus’ intention. These teachings were for all people, but they needed to have wanted to understand them for the doors to be opened. Ironically, the statement in Matthew 13:11 confirms that there were parables that were ‘mysteries’ in Jesus’ teachings. People found them difficult to understand; this included the disciples and the generations after Yeshua. It is only now, in the twenty-first century, that these mysteries are being revealed for the first time. In the New Testament, we generally see words about love, peace, and forgiveness, with the addition of Christology in the Gospel of John. We do not see teachings which are of an esoteric nature. Thomas understood the importance of these teachings and could not ignore them—as farmers know good, fertile soil when they see it.

In the same chapter of Matthew 13, the author uses the saying of Thomas 57, which makes reference to good and bad seed. In the synoptic text, it is used to continue the narrative of the Evil One placing obstacles in the path of Christians—obstacles that will be thrown into the furnace, where yet again: ‘there will be weeping and grinding of teeth’. A brief history of the Evil One is discussed later. That section demonstrates how people are in fact Satan, which is something the synoptic writers inadvertently revealed. Following Thomas 57, the author of Matthew 13 inserts Thomas 20 (the mustard seed) and Thomas 96 (the woman who places leaven into bread). These sayings are interpreted in a peripheral, literal sense, twisted in subtle ways to suit the author’s intention. Matthew 13 demonstrates how, through careful selection and juxtaposed narrative, the cryptic sayings in the Gospel of Thomas serve the synoptic authors’ intentions. Matthew 13 also includes Thomas 109 (the treasure hidden in the field), Thomas 76 (the merchant and the pearl), and Thomas 8 (the large fish). The inclusion of the latter is used to persuade the reader of ‘how it will be at the end of time.’ The angels will separate the wicked from the upright and there will be yet more weeping and grinding of teeth. This is not the intended meaning of Thomas 8, as we clearly see in the first line the reference is to a person who is like a wise fisherman – someone who is discerning and a critical thinker. This original meaning does not have purpose in a text intended to frighten and control the diaspora.

Toward the end of Matthew 13, we see a strong polemic statement in verse 52: ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.’ This infers a justification for using the Gospel of Thomas sayings in the context of knowledge derived from the Old Testament and previous gospels. It also presents an argument against Thomas 47, where Yeshua tells His followers that His teachings are the new wine (the new way) and should not be placed into old wine skins. Nor can one ‘mount two horses’—that is, two belief systems, which are not of the same essential construct. We should also note that the author describes himself as a ‘disciple of the kingdom of Heaven’—not a disciple of Jesus. The author of this gospel was not the direct disciple of Jesus, nor were the authors of the other gospels.

The author ends Matthew 13 with Thomas 31. Jesus states that ‘…doctors don’t cure those who know them’, referring to a visit to His hometown, where no one was healed. Their perception of Him was that He was simply the carpenter’s son. This is another device to show the reader that faith is the subject of Matthew 13. It espouses the need to believe in Jesus as the Christ if people are to be saved. This premise illustrates the main problem with the canonical texts. They do not tackle the meaning of Jesus’ teachings. They instead use them to attempt to convince an audience of what Yeshua was—a definition the authors found in the Old Testament. This fundamental problem, placing the divine outside of the self, is what Yeshua came to this realm to correct. It is an attitude derived from humanities primal heritage, where ancient peoples looked outwardly, toward nature, for an explanation of the mysteries they could not fathom.

In the Gospel of Thomas, we are shown that we have an intimate connection with the Father—the Source of all things. Those who are seeking It are the sons, just as Yeshua is the Son, because the soul is an energy that has come from the Source and aggregates in humans. Thomas 9 tells us the seeds (the teachings) grow in ‘good soil’. When we read Thomas 9 out of its context, such as in Matthew 13, we see how Yeshua’s lament about the rocks and thorns was realised. In Matthew, the ‘seeds’ become faith, which is destroyed by external, evil forces. In Thomas 9, the ‘soil’ is the focus, because it is where the roots create growth. This is what Jesus was concerned with—growth of the soul. The fertile soil is knowledge, which allows growth.