The Saint Thomas Scrolls
Marvin Meyer states he believes the text to be the writings of St Thomas who was probably the brother of Jesus Christ. The front cover reads; "Widely regarded by scholars as containing many of the original sayings of Jesus. The text reportedly was discovered in 1945 among the gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt. It further states that it was reported to be dictated by Jesus to His brother, Judas Thomas the twin, founder of the churches of the East."
I carefully read this rather short book, with no prior information regarding it's translation nor of the validity of it's content. At first reading I considered anyone can claim to be a scholar and accept any piece of material they consider worthy of their signature. But I wanted to meticulously peruse the sayings to see why they would be considered authentic. Now I'll explain why I find them to be fraudulent.
I spent a number of years as an investigator, so it is a natural instinct to notice contradictions. As an investigator, I often read depositions and prepared an outline of discrepencies to an attorney for study.
If this was the words of Christ's brother, wouldn't you expect him to quote his brother in much the same way as The Disciples? If all were from the same area, all shared in the teachings and especially the brother, then it is highly suspect to find only the brother seems to speak in a totally different manner to any writer of the Bible. Haven't you noticed that during each hundred years or less, our phraseology becomes altered and words and expressions have changed, but if you are writing from the same area and during the same generation, your wording and expressions should be similar. There is nothing in these writings that make me believe they are authentic, and I believe they were written much later or from a different/foreign group or person who never knew Christ nor the Apostles.
I know many will argue and want to discredit my view, but they are welcome to do so, for this is America and I have the right to state my opinion; so before you start slinging words, consider someone had the right to print this book and I have the right to express my strong opinion.
I personally find the book ridiculous and not worthy of consideration as to being the authentic work of Jesus brother.
