I just watched this movie called Stigmata on Scifi (and no, this is NOT a Cafe Society thread). At the end, they said that there was a document, which is unacknowledged by the Church, which is said to be a gospel written by Jesus Christ himself. Have any of you heard of this? Can you give me some information about it? I find this stuff fascinating. Also, have you heard of any cases of actual stigmata happening?
I have no answer to your first question - I’ve never heard of a gospel supposedly written by JC.
To your second question, the answer depends on whether you believe or not, but one of the most recent was Padre Pio or Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (he was canonized this past summer).
The text in question is The Gospel of Thomas, verse 77 specifically:
It is considered heretical by the RCC.
The “Gospel” of St. Thomas is from a collection of Gnostic documents discovered in the late 1940s. It comes from the second or third century AD, and was discussed - and dismissed as a forgery - by many of the early church fathers. So it’s true the Roman Catholic Church does not acknowledge it as inspired work, a position they’ve taken for roughly 1800 years.
Unlike the actual Gospels, this is merely a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus.
- Rick
If I recall, the movie did not say that it was written by Jesus himself. It claimed that it is thought to be the most historically accurate record of what Jesus actually said. This, I suspect, is not because it is more accurate than “canon” sources, but because it is more of a record what Jesus said. If you look at the link friedo provided, you will see that the entire thing is just a bunch of quotes.
While I have heard that it is considered “heretical”, it is not banned or anything, and it is certainly not part of some elaborate coverup that the forbidden gospel in the movie is.
Listen to Cecil.
Bricker is mistaken in his dating of Thomas. Most scholarship puts it as contemporary with Mark (70-100 CE). There are Greek manuscript fragments which date before 200 CE. The Jesus Seminar places it as early as 50-60 CE.
http://www.webcom.com/~ctt/gthomas.html
Bricker is right that it is a “sayings” gospel, though. It contains virtually no narratives and no miracles (also no resurrection)
It purports to be recorded by one Judas Didymos Thomas, the “twin brother” of Jesus. “Didymos” and “Thomas” both mean “twin” (in Aramaic and Greek, respectively). This “Judas the twin” seems to have been an apostolic figure from the very early Christian era. He seems to have been mostly associated with Syria.
Here is a web site with tons of links and even has a link dealing specifically with Thomas and the movie Stigmata