Ancient text excluded from the Bible reveals secret 'Jesus' teachings that would change his message

The Gospel of Thomas isn't included in the Bible for several reasons, and offers some pretty different takes to sayings by Jesus in the Biblical Gospels.

The Gospel of Thomas has come under intense scrutiny from scholars and social media users, with one Twitter user even claiming it was 'banned' from the Bible.

While the Gospel of Thomas isn't 'banned' from the Bible like the Twitter user suggested, it wasn't included for several reasons. And it also includes some pretty different teachings when compared to Jesus' other sayings listed in other religious texts.

The Gospel of Thomas wasn't included in the Bible (Getty Stock Images)

What is the Gospel of Thomas?

Cross Examined explains the Gospel of Thomas 'doesn't follow a narrative structure' and 'doesn't report on major parts of Jesus' life'.

Instead, it's reported as containing 114 'esoteric sayings' which detail secrets Jesus allegedly told to his disciples.

One text reportedly begins: "These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down."

In After the New Testament: A Reader in Early Christianity, Bart Ehrman predicts the document having 'probably' been 'written early in the second century' despite 'some of these sayings' potentially being older and 'going back to Jesus himself'.

As a result, many scholars have questioned the legitimacy of the Gospel of Thomas as a whole - given the above timeframe would mean the Gospel was written after all the apostles died and so Apostle Thomas isn't the actual author.

However, there's more reasons why the Gospel isn't included as a Biblical Gospel too.

There are reportedly three main reasons the Gospel didn't make the cut (Getty Stock Images)

Why is the Gospel of Thomas not included in the Bible?

The Gospel of Thomas wasn't included in the Bible for a number of reasons, with Cross Examined noting that the church typically looks for 'three different attributes' when assessing whether a text make the cut.

First up, in order to be considered one of the canon - series of definitive biblical texts - the Gospel needed to be traced back to an apostolic eye-witness testimony - and it wasn't.

'Apostolic eyewitness' in Christianity refer to first hand accounts and teaching of the apostles - people chosen by Jesus to be eyewitnesses to his life, teachings, death and resurrection.

While one of Jesus' apostles was named Thomas, the book was resolved as dating to the middle of the second century - long after the apostles had passed away.

Second, the Gospel didn't align very closely with any other biblical texts, particularly given it's more Gnostic - which emphasizes personal spiritual knowledge as the key to salvation - something which the early church rejected as being too different for the time.

And thirdly, the church at the time only really listed four Gospels and those didn't include Thomas and given its differences to other texts, it wasn't about to rock the boat anytime soon.

But what does the Gospel of Thomas reveal about the church or Jesus' alleged teachings which differ so much to other biblical texts?

The messages in the Gospel differ somewhat to those in other biblical texts (Getty Stock Images)

Somewhat surprising messages in the Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas doesn't focus on Jesus' life, actions in life and death, but more so Jesus as a voice and imparting 'salvation through his teachings' rather than 'death and resurrection,' Marko Marina, Ph.D. discusses.

In the Gospel of Thomas, rather than 'sin' being seen as the main issue with the world like other Biblical texts say it is, ignorance and not confronting the truth and our real identities.

The Gospel quotes 'Jesus' as saying: "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."

Another quote reads: "And he said, 'The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.'"

And the Gospel of Thomas' Jesus also had some different ideas as to where the 'kingdom' is.

However, many scholars don't consider the Apostle Thomas as the author of the document (Getty Stock Images)

In the Gospel of Thomas, an alleged quote from Jesus reads: "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you.

"If they say to you, 'It's in the sea,' then the fish will precede you.

"Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it's outside of you."

And while some have seen the Gospel of Thomas' alleged sayings from Jesus as a mockery of or as going against other sayings in the Bible, it's important to recognise the sayings aren't exactly mutually exclusive and can both co-exist.

And ultimately, the idea of faith being found within yourself rather than an establishment, building or authority is a lot more aligned with many more modern perspectives of the Church.