Texts in Conversation
In Luke, Jesus says he has come to bring fire on the earth. In the Gospel of Thomas he says he has cast fire upon the world and is guarding it until it blazes, a saying that closely follows Luke and most likely derives from it.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 12:49
New Testament
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth—and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
Gospel of Thomas 1:10
Nag Hammadi
9 Jesus said, “Look, the sower went out, took a handful of seeds, and scattered them. Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock and they did not take root in the soil and did not produce ears. Others fell among thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced good fruit. It yielded sixty per measure and one hundred and twenty per measure.” 10 Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I am guarding it until it blazes.” 11 Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it alive; when you come into the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
Search:
Notes and References
“... Forms of some of these sayings of Jesus are preserved in the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. In § 10 we have a saying corresponding to v. 49: “Jesus said, ‘I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I am guarding it until it blazes.’ ” [...] Logion 10 is almost certainly a derivative of the Lucan v. 49, whereas logion 16 is a hybrid of the Lucan and Matthean forms of the sayings; moreover, the last reference to ’mmonachos, “solitaries,” clearly betrays its later formulation. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,