What University (or other reliable resource) has the most data about
the "Gospel of Thomas" and the 4 Gospels of the New Testiment, that I
can access from the internet?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 May 2005 07:14 PDT

Walter,

Are you familiar with this site on the Gospel of Thomas:


http://www.misericordia.edu/users/davies/thomas/Thomas.html


which is hosted by Misericordia College in Pennsylvania?


It strikes me as rather comprehensive.  What other sorts of
information are you looking for, beyond what is at this site?  Let us
know.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by walter1954-ga on 09 May 2005 08:17 PDT

I can search the internet too. However, what I wanted from you was a
better perspective. I wanted you to tell me what was the BEST sorce of
information on the topic that was not necessarly found on an internet
search. Many universities have lots of documents available that do not
show up on an internet search. However, if you know where to look,
then the information is available (beyond student access).  If I go to
the University of Washington, then they can do this kind of search for
hard copy and then I can do an interlibrary loan. In many cases, these
are research or university papers not listed on a standard library
search. You must know where to look. That is what I am asking of you.
thanks,   Walter

There were a number of gospels and epistles that were not added to the
New Testament for various reasons.  These are known as the "apocrypha"
and are reviewed in this highly-referenced work:

Elliot, J. K. 'The Apocryphal New Testament', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.


The Gospel of Thomas is denounced as heretical in an early (circa 300
AD) Christian work by the historian Eusebius ('The History of the
Church'):

"Those [Christian works] that are disputed, yet familiar to most,
include the epistles known as James, Jude, and 2 Peter, and those
called 2 and 3 John, the work either of the evangelist or of someone
else with the same name. Among the Spurious Books must be placed the
'Acts' of Paul, the 'Shepherd', and the 'Revelation of Peter'; also
the alleged 'Epistle of Barnabas', and the 'Teachings of the
Apostles', together with the Revelation of John, if this seems the
right place for it: As I said before, some reject it, others include
it among the Recognized Books. Moreover, some have found a place in
the list for 'The Gospel of Hebrews', a book which has special appeal
for those Hebrews who have accepted Christ...[W]e must not confuse
these with the writings published by heretics under the name of the
apostles, as containing either Gospels of Peter, Thomas, Matthias and
several others besides these, or Acts of Andrew, John, and other
apostles. To none of these has any churchman of any generation ever
seen fit to refer in his writings. Again, nothing could be farther
from apostolic usage than the type of phraseology employed, while the
ideas and implications are so irreconcilable with true orthodoxy that
they stand revealed as the forgeries of heretics. It follows that so
far from being classed even among Spurious Books, thy must be thrown
out as impious and beyond the pale."
(Eusebius. The History of the Church (Ecclesiastical History). New
York: Penguin Books. 1965. pp. 88-89.)

The following review the gnostic scriptures:

Layton, Bentley. 'The Gnostic Scriptures' Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1987.

Robinson, James M. 'The Nag Hammadi Library'. San Francisco: Harper &
Row, 1977, third edition 1988.

You may also be interested in looking at a broad overview of the books
of the New Testament, and how they were incorporated into the Bible,
by Burton L. Mack entitled, "Who Wrote the New Testament?", published
by HarperCollins. New York, 1995.

A longer reference list can be found here:

http://www.ntcanon.org/references.shtml

A look at these references may be a good place to start. You will
probably find additional sources within them.