Home » The Bible and Beyond Presentations » Gospel of Thomas Course (of special interest to Christian Scientists) Live Online Hybrid Class II

The Gospel of Thomas Course

of special interest to Christian Scientists

This is the live hybrid class offered March – June of 2023.

The Gospel of Thomas Goes Public

Welcome to the class! I’m delighted that you have found your way to the treasure chest that we are about to open together. Here is a little road map to help you navigate all the way through the class.

This in-depth online live hybrid course will take place partly on your own and partly with the group.

The live-online course discussions began on Thursday, March 16. We meet seven times, every other week. The last meeting will be Thursday, June 8.

You will watch the course videos on Udemy.com. Udemy is a separate entity from Early Christian Texts. It’s an online platform where thousands of users access online courses on hundreds of subjects every day. You created an account on Udemy when you claimed your course. You will login to Udemy to watch the prerecorded lectures for this course, using the password you created when you set up your account. It’s easy to watch the prerecorded courses on Udemy.com, you simply click on each lecture to watch it, and at times you will find some materials available as pdf files. Do not forget or lose your Udemy.com password. You will need it to login to Udemy to access the prerecorded lectures.

If you need information or have questions about the course – such as finding materials or what is meant by a certain assignment — contact Shirley Paulson at shirley@earlychristiantexts.com.

The online portion of the course is hosted on Udemy.

Udemy Logo

Click here, or click the image above to go to the Udemy page where you access course materials.

According to their website, Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace with over 213,000 courses and 57 million students.

We will meet at 8:00 pm Eastern (7:00 Central, 6:00 Mountain, 5:00 Pacific) on the following days: March 16, March 30, April 13, April 27, May 11, May 25, and June 8.

Zoom Logo

Clicking here, or clicking the logo above will begin the Zoom meeting. The link is active 10 minutes before the meeting time. Phone connection option is: (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 863 1132 3974, passcode 341596.

Course Overview and Schedule

The course is divided into six sections. You will watch one section of lectures before we meet on Zoom to discuss that section. The final Zoom session is a summary and recap of the entire presentation.

Section 1 (March 16)

Introduction to the Nag Hammadi text, the Gospel of Thomas

This section covers the content of the course, and you will experience the search for meaning through a couple of the Sayings.

Section 2 (March 30)

Nag Hammadi Library and Its Relationship to the Text
What is the Nag Hammadi Library and why it is significant for understanding one of its major books, the Gospel of Thomas?

Section 3 (April 13)

How the Gospel of Thomas Fits with Wisdom Literature

Understanding modern and ancient Wisdom literature brings depth and meaning to your own reading of the Gospel of Thomas.

Section 4 (April 27)

Why is the Gospel of Thomas Not in the Bible?

Answering the question as to why the Gospel of Thomas is not in the Bible involves a rather complicated history of the making of the canon. You will learn some  reasons why it is excluded.

Section 5 (May 11)

Is the Gospel of Thomas a Heresy? Why or Why Not?

In this section, you will find that the term ‘heresy’ has no real meaning in the context of the Gospel of Thomas. You will be able to respond to public confusion about both heresy and gnostic accusations.

Section 6 (May 25)

How to Make Sense of Saying 114

When people read the last Saying in the Gospel of Thomas, they often give up trying to figure it out. But it’s a valuable text, and we’ll offer several interpretations for you to try for yourself.

Conclusion and Recap (June 8)

Why Is and Was the Gospel of Thomas so Important to You, Us, and the Public?

There is evidence of widespread interest in the Gospel of Thomas in antiquity, and it’s gaining interest today. You will learn what makes it so valuable then and now.