『도마복음서』에 나타난 영지주의 -'몸'을 통해본 이원론을 중심으로

Abstract

Wisdom called Gnosis is the theme of [Gospel of Thomas]. Wisdom sayings express the truth about God and the human nature. They speak about humans and their proper relation with the world in which they dwell. Wisdom sayings in [Gospel of Thomas], like other Jewish, Christian, and Greek literature of wisdom, contains sayings that reveal what is fundamental about humans and the world. Thomas, the compiler of this sayings, reinforced authenticity of his sayings authenticity by claiming that he is the twin brother of Jesus. Thomas brotherhood with Jesus survived only in Eastern Syrian Church. It is most likely to have been borne and preserved in the Syriac/Aramaic-speaking milieu where Thomas came to be understood not twin in the literal sense, but as a proper name. One of the prominent theological features which is distinctive in [Gospel of Thomas] is dualism. Dualism itself is hard to define, but it is common to characterize [Gospel of Thomas] as radically dualistic. Thomass description of dualism in body and garment language in his saying. It is clear in [Gospel of Thomas] that the body is understood to be something inferior when compared to the inner spiritual self. However, Thomass dualism is not radical dualism in his description of the bodily reality. Scholars tend to interpret the sayings about stripping the garment in relation with baptism, rite de passage. [Gospel of Thomas] not only lacks direct references to baptism, but also contains several anti-ritual saying. The personal identity through gnosis is not so much group-oriented but based on the internal true self.