Thomas<\/em>\u2019 Kingdom is not a place or thing, but is instead like a person in action: \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a woman who took a little leaven and concealed it in dough.\u00a0 She made large loaves of bread\u201d (saying 96).\u00a0 In sayings 97 and 98 the central simile of the Kingdom being like a person in action continues: \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a woman who\u2026\u201d and \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a man who\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\nThe writer of Thomas<\/em> contends that the heart of our seeking must be personal knowledge and transformation.\u00a0 He believes that if we truly know ourselves we will realize that the Kingdom has been within us all the time.\u00a0 Thomas\u2019s<\/em> Jesus sounds a lot like Socrates\u2014above all, know thyself.\u00a0 He also sounds a lot like Socrates in that while he knows others can come to such radical self-knowledge, few will.<\/p>\nIn saying 24 Jesus says, \u201cHe who has ears let him hear.\u00a0 There is light within a man of light, and he lights up all of the world.\u00a0 If he is not alight there is darkness.\u201d\u00a0 The continual deafness of Jesus\u2019 disciples in Thomas<\/em> indicates a pessimism that while many will set off on the path to enlightenment, few will succeed.\u00a0 Few have \u201cears to hear.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, Thomas<\/em> warns that \u201cThe seeker should not stop until he finds.\u00a0 When he does find, he will be disturbed.\u00a0 After having been disturbed, he will be astonished.\u00a0 Then he will reign over everything\u201d (saying 2).\u00a0 The path is not only difficult because we are asked to struggle to comprehend at a new level of consciousness, but in the process we will be greatly disturbed because we will have to give up much of our current world, including our worldview.<\/p>\nBut if someone succeeds, they will discover and thus unveil a light from within that will illuminate the world.\u00a0 In Thomas\u2019<\/em> words, \u201cthe light is inside and outside,\u201d and as we move from bewilderment to astonishing self-discovery, tremendous power to influence and transform reality will be born in us.<\/p>\nSo what is this path?\u00a0 To find out, tune in tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today we have Part 2 of Bob\u2019s reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how often they refer to the Kingdom without ever defining what that term means. This is especially frustrating because this place or state of being is a fundamental doctrine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[387,489],"class_list":["post-7694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gospel-of-thomas","tag-kingdom-of-god"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Man of Light<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Man of Light\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Holy Rover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/files\/2012\/03\/Jesus_Sinai_Icon-155x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lori Erickson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lori Erickson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/\",\"name\":\"A Man of Light\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933\"},\"description\":\"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Man of Light\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/\",\"name\":\"Holy Rover\",\"description\":\"Practical Advice for Spiritual Travels\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933\",\"name\":\"Lori Erickson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lori Erickson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/author\/lerickson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Man of Light","description":"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Man of Light","og_description":"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/","og_site_name":"Holy Rover","article_published_time":"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/files\/2012\/03\/Jesus_Sinai_Icon-155x300.jpg"}],"author":"Lori Erickson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lori Erickson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/","name":"A Man of Light","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00","dateModified":"2012-03-19T20:49:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933"},"description":"Today we have Part 2 of Bob's reflections on the Gospel of Thomas: One of my great frustrations with most sermons, writings, and Christian texts is how","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/03\/19\/a-man-of-light\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Man of Light"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/","name":"Holy Rover","description":"Practical Advice for Spiritual Travels","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/66e798593cfa9b70fcd5c97aa9ca7933","name":"Lori Erickson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eccf48891e91c03ddbb504238ae4c524?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Lori Erickson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/author\/lerickson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/628\/2012\/03\/Jesus_Sinai_Icon-155x300.jpg\" "\\"Jesus_Sinai_Icon\\""){kind=icon}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=spiritrave0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1893361454\")
is\u00a0subversive and radical because it eschews eschatology. \u00a0It says that the Kingdom is here, now, not in the future.\u00a0 That is, if we learn what Jesus has learned, if we practice what Jesus has practiced, then we can participate in the state of consciousness Jesus calls the Kingdom.\u00a0 Thomas<\/em> is subversive and radical in a second way as well\u2014his is a \u201cseek and find\u201d theology that is quite different from the \u201cgift\u201d ideology of the orthodox doctrine of grace.\u00a0 Thomas<\/em> does not deny that the Kingdom is a gift (because its possibility is given to all of us unearned), but he believes we must do our spiritual push-ups if we wish to experience it.\u00a0 Thomas<\/em>\u2019 Kingdom is not a place or thing, but is instead like a person in action: \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a woman who took a little leaven and concealed it in dough.\u00a0 She made large loaves of bread\u201d (saying 96).\u00a0 In sayings 97 and 98 the central simile of the Kingdom being like a person in action continues: \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a woman who\u2026\u201d and \u201cThe Kingdom of the Father is like a man who\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n