After Jesus died, his followers faced an uncomfortable question: who was supposed to lead next? Religious movements rarely survive on inspiration alone. Eventually someone has to step forward—someone to guide the community, settle disagreements, and carry the spirit of the founder into the future. One of the earliest Christian texts, the Gospel of Thomas, captures this tension in a way that later tradition rarely acknowledged. When the disciples asked Jesus, “We know you will leave us—who will lead us then?”... Read more















