Today I am looking at the nineteenth saying of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees in paradise for you. Summer or winter they do not change and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death."

This saying naturally breaks down into the segments. First is a beatitude. Then there is the statement about the stones. And third is the enigmatic saying about the Trees of Paradise. All three have echoes in the canonical gospels. Once again the Gospel of Thomas gives us new insights into the New Testament sayings.

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode we look at the 18th saying of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas. “The disciples said to Jesus, ‘Tell us how our end will be.’ Jesus said, ‘Have you discovered the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death.’"

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode we look at Easter through the eyes of the apostle Thomas as found in the Gospel of Thomas. I contrast it with the canonical view of this apostle as “Doubting Thomas” as depicted in the famous story in the Gospel of John. We find that Thomas – like the apostle Paul - had an understanding of the resurrection of Jesus as a spiritual experience that is beyond the physical senses and beyond the human mind to understand.

In this episode I mention my book “The Evolution of Easter: How the Historical Jesus Became the Risen Christ.” Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/EVOLUTION-EASTER-Historical-Became-Christ/dp/1983077143/

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU