Gospels of Thomas and Philip and Truth - Syriac Christian Church

ask the reader's indulgence in this regard. Thruout, ‘P...’ represents
paragraph numbers in Plumley's Grammar, ‘C...’ are page numbers in
Crum's Dictionary (Biblio.4+5).
In place of the Greek form, Jesus (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ), I have used the original
Aramaic: Yeshua ((w#y), meaning ‘Yahweh Savior’, i.e. ‘He-Is Savior’ (Ph
20a). Hyphenated ‘I-Am’ represents the divine self-naming from Ex 3:14:
Hebrew hyh) (ahyh), Greek ΕΓΩ ΕΙΜΙ, Coptic anok pe (Th 13; P306).
Lastly, I have appended five essays as commentary: (1) ‘Are the
Coptic Gospels Gnostic?’, a formal demonstration that they cannot be so
categorized; (2) ‘The Maternal Spirit’, on the gender in the Semitic
languages of #dqh xwr [rúakh ha-qódesh, Spirit the-Holy];
(3) ‘Theogenesis’, on the intimation in Philip that the original human
transgression consisted in claiming to produce children, rather than
accepting them as begotten by God alone; (4) ‘Angel, Image and Symbol’,
regarding these three primary concepts as found in the new scriptures,
together with their underlying metaphysical framework of an apparent
Spiritual Idealism; and (5) ‘The Paul Paradox’, a philosophical analysis of
the evident discrepancies between the Gospels and the theology of Saul
of Tarsus, together with a survey of similar critiques by many pre-eminent
individuals across the centuries.
In searching out the sense of these new writings, I have had the
benefit of extended conversations across the years with many friends and
colleagues, especially Robert Schapiro, Christina Wesson, Crosby Brown,
Luz García and Pedro Chamizo. My long-term thanks are also due to two
of my undergraduate instructors: the poet Robert Frost, for his advice
to partake only in what is worthy of one's time; and Prof William E.
Kennick, for his example of the highest standards in philosophical
theology. To Bertrand Russell, while I was studying in London and had the
opportunity to demonstrate with him in the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament, I am indebted for his fearless example in confronting the
8