Early Christian Writings
You can view this web page along with Grondin's Coptic/English Interlinear in frames.
Nag Hammadi Coptic Text
BLATZ
(105) Jesus said: He who
knows father and mother
will be called the son of a
harlot.
Visitor Comments
The child of a harlot is a
child conceived without
love. When you discover the
self-destructive attitudes
learnt from your parents you
will regard yourself as such a
child. (Fortunately one
rapidly progresses beyond
this.)
- Rodney
This is my favorite quote in
the gospel, and all the
gospels for that matter!
- Andy McM
Seems to me that
"acquainted with the father
and the mother" refers to a
knowledge of our heritage as
children of both "father" (G-
D) and "mother" (earth). "He
who knows both" will be
called the offspring of a
prostitute. Yet Jesus is not
directly saying that this is
true, only pointing out that
such "will be called" this.
Maybe this is a warning to
those who will come to
know.
- Eric
Gospel of Thomas Saying 105 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next
Funk's Parallels
John 8:39-47.
LAYTON DORESSE
(105) Jesus said, "Whoever 109 [105]. Jesus says: "He
is acquainted with the father who knows father and
and the mother will be mother shall he be called:
called the offspring of a Son of a harlot!"?
prostitute.
Scholarly Quotes
Marvin Meyer writes: "This saying may be interpreted as a recommendation that one
despise one's physical parents; compare sayings 55; 101. Book of Thomas 144,8-10
declares, 'Damn you who love intercourse and filthy association with womankind.' In
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.23.2, evidence may be provided for another
interpretation of the saying. There Irenaeus explains that Simon the Magician's
associate Helena, a prostitute from Tyre, was understood to be the divine thought that
was incarnated in body after body and that even became a whore, though she is
actually 'the mother of all.' In a similar vein, the myth of the soul as presented in the
Nag Hammadi text Exegesis on the Soul explains how the soul is raped and abused in
the body and how the soul falls into prostitution. Origen may give reason to consider
yet another interpretation of the saying. In Against Celsus 1.28; 32 Origen cites the
tradition that Jesus was the illegitimate child of Mary, who 'bore a child from a
certain soldier named Panthera.' It is known from a gravestone that a Sidonian archer
named Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera was in fact stationed in Palestine around the
time of the birth of Jesus. In this regard perhaps compare John 8:41." (The Gospel of
Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 106)
F. F. Bruce writes: "The point of this saying may be quite problematical. It may imply
the denial that Jesus entered the world by such a supposedly unworthy manner as
being born of woman. On the other hand, Jesus may be complaining that he himself,
who konws his true Father and to be God (cf. John 8.18 ff.) - and possibly his true
mother to be the Holy Spirit, as in the Gospel according to Hebrews - is nevertheless
stigmatised as being 'born of fornication' (according to a probably mistaken
interpretation of John 8.41). [The Jews' protest in John 8.41 ('we were not born of
fornication') arises from their suspicion that Jesus was repeating Samaritan calumnies
about the origin of the Jewish people (cf. verse 48, 'you are a Samaritan').]" (Jesus
and Christian Origens Outside of the New Testament, p. 151)
Funk and Hoover write: "Parentage played a more important role in individual
identity in antiquity than it does in modern Western societies. In Jewish-Christian
disputes over Jesus, the charge was often made that Jesus was the illegetimate child
of Mary and a Roman soldier. Most of the Fellows took Thomas 105 to refer to that
See Mark 3:22. The Hebrew charege and dispute. If this is indeed the allusion, then Jesus is made to speak here
God was male and most about himself and the special relation that he has to the Father (Thom 61:3) and the
other Gods, especially of Mother (101:3), in both the literal and metaphorical senses. The saying then
farmers, were female. If you expresses early Christian reflection on the parentage of Jesus in the context of
can bring yourself to disputes with rival Judean groups." (The Five Gospels, p. 526)
consider the possibility that
Jesus might have said this,
then Jesus was born of the
Father and the Holy Spirit
and the scribes from
Jerusalem were the ones who
called him a child of a
whore; generally, the fertility
Gods of farming peoples.
- James R
The passage could be
referring to the importance
placed on lineage. Jesus
could be saying, "Your
ancestry is irrelevant and
will lead you to ruin." It is
not the family (or reputation
thereof) that is important. All
must realize that they
children of God, and God
alone. You can not serve two
masters.
- Corpus Shtev
I can't help feeling that the
NOT chipped off the page:
"He who knows NOT his
father and mother..."
- Raya
105

Alias:
Post the Note

Discuss it now at AMC

forums!
If you like the site, please purchase the Early Christian Writings CD.
Maintained by Peter Kirby. See the Gospel of Thomas Bibliography & Credits.
Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 105 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next