The Last Page of the Coptic Manuscript of
The Gospel of Thomas, a Nag Hammadi Library text
A Gospel of Thomas Retreat , with Ron Miller , Chair of Religion , Lake
Forest College
Saturday, July 23, 9am-3pm, at Lakeshore Interfaith Institite,
6676 122nd Ave. Ganges Mi .
Ron Miller,PhD. is the author of The Hidden Gospel
of Matthew and Wisdom of the Carpenter as well as the text we will
use for this retreat, The Gospel of Thomas; A Guidebook
for Spiritual Practice. The Gospel of Thomas is a second century Copic
text
discovered in 1946 by Bedouin shepards in a cave near the Nile
at a place in Egypt called Nag Hammadhi. It consists of 114 remarkable
Sayings of Jesus . The actual parchment manuscript , dating to
the second century AD, is older than any other New Testament gospel
manuscript. Many scholars consider Thomas to be the Fifth Gospel
. Focusing almost entirely on the method of attaining Oneness
with The One, this gospel contains no biodata on the historical
Jesus or any talk of Rapture for the Elect, Hellfire for the Dammned
and nary a word regarding the End of The World.
"Jesus said, 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'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 then you will realize that it is you who are the sons of
the
living Father. But if you do not know yourseves ,you
dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
Dr. Miller has selected some of these sayings and in A Guide
for Spiritual Practice has crafted them into a practical guide for
daily living. It is recommended that retreatants read this book and
also text of The Gospel of Thomas [available on line at several websites
by Googling Gospel of Thomas]
Cost of the retreat is 40.00 [includes veggie lunch] Please
RSVP tapas@accn.org or 269 543 3951
