Texts in Conversation
Titus and the Gospel of Thomas share a call to renounce the world. In Titus, God's grace trains people to reject godless ways and worldly desires; in Thomas, Jesus says whoever has found the world and grown rich should renounce it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Titus 2:12
New Testament
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Gospel of Thomas 1:110
Nag Hammadi
109 Jesus said, “The kingdom is like a man who had a treasure hidden in his field and did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his son. The son did not know; he took possession of the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, discovered the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished.” 110 Jesus said, “Whoever has found the world and become rich should renounce the world.” 111 Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and the Living One from the Living One will not see death.” Does not Jesus say, “Whoever has found himself, of him the world is not worthy”?
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Notes and References
“... Let him renounce the world. The possession of spiritual riches means that the world, in the sense of the world’s system of values, with its esteem of wealth and honour, should be rejected by the true disciple. There is resemblance here to Mk 8.34–37 and parallels, in which the command to deny oneself is explained partly on the basis that gaining the world but losing one’s soul would be ridiculous; an even closer conjunction comes in Titus, with its injunction to ‘renounce impiety and worldly passions’ (Tit. 2.12). ...”
* 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.
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