Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
INNER CIRCLE: Come Into Being As You Pass Away

INNER CIRCLE: Come Into Being As You Pass Away

Last updated on: February 10, 2023 at 7:14 pm by Keith Giles

0 Comments

INNER CIRCLE: Come Into Being As You Pass Away 2023-02-10T19:14:52+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

IMAGE: Pexels

SAYING 42: Jesus said, “Come into being, as you pass away.”

This is one of those sayings from Thomas that has more than one translation. Some render the text this way: “Become passersby!” But this, slightly longer version carries more meaning and offers a bit more nuance than the simpler, shorter version.

As scholars like Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman observe: “Presumably the saying has much the same meaning as Paul’s words (2 Corinthians 4:16): ‘If our outer man is perishing, our inner man is renewed day by day.'” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 155)

Another Gnostic text, The Acts of John, offers a similar notion to this one: “Die so that you may live.” [saying 76]

An ancient medieval scholar, Petrus Alphonsi, records a saying much like this one in his Clerical Instruction: ‘This world is, as it were, a bridge. Therefore, pass over it, only do not lodge there.’

And, as scholar F. F. Bruce reports, “These words [from Thomas saying 41] are later ascribed to Jesus in some strands of Muslim tradition (although in other strands they are ascribed to Muhammad or to one of his companions). The most famous instance of their ascription to Jesus in Muslim tradition is on the main gateway of the mosque erected in 1601 at Fathpur-Sikri, south of Delhi, by the Moghul Akbar the Great; it bears the inscription:

Jesus, on whom be peace, said: “This world is a bridge. Pass over it; but do not build your dwelling there.”‘ (Jesus and Christian Origens Outside the New Testament, p. 130)

But the saying here in Thomas seems to suggest more than simply dying in order to experience spiritual or eternal life. Instead, it seems to say that we should “come into being” in the sense that we are being spiritually transformed, day-by-day- even as we physically die by slow degrees as each of our cells dies one at a time until our temporal life here is over and our life in eternity comes into focus.

This saying only appears in the sayings of Jesus from Thomas’s Gospel, and so we are encouraged to interpret it in the light of the rest of the sayings which, as we know, are always about the illusion of separation or our connection with God and all things, or about our own ability to see the truth for ourselves.

With that in mind, it seems this saying falls into the third category of sayings that encourage us to nurture our innate ability to see and know the truth about ourselves and God and the universe.

Specifically, this saying would appear to encourage us to “come into being” as enlightened and liberated souls who fully see and know exactly what reality is concerning the Oneness of all things in Christ.

Our focus, then, should be to continually come into that fully complete being who rests in the fullness of Christ who fills us and the entire universe at the same time; to daily come into that realization before we die in this flesh and become eternally one with the One who is the ground of all being.

STARTING MONDAY
Starting on Monday of next week – Feb. 13, 2023 – my newest online course will launch.

It’s called INSIDE/OUTSIDE and it’s a new self-paced course looking at the Gospel of Thomas.

Last year I taught this course in-person at the University of Texas at El Paso through their OLLI continuing education program.

The response was fantastic!

So, I thought it might be a good idea to make the content available to everyone online as well.

In this new self-paced course we’ll cover:
*Why the Gospel of Thomas?
*Who wrote it?
*Why should we believe these are the true sayings of Jesus?
*What does it mean?
*What sets Thomas apart from the other New Testament Gospels?
*How are they similar? Where do they diverge?
*What is the connection between Thomas and the Gospel of John and Paul’s earliest epistle (Galatians)?
*Why was it suppressed after the Council of Nicea?
*Who discovered it?
*What are implications of this text for Christians today?

I hope you’ll join us starting Monday for this brand-new course on the Gospel of Thomas. It’s something I personally have really found quite fascinating and much of this content will eventually become published in a new book about Thomas coming very soon.

NOTE: This new self-paced course allows you to watch each video session at your own convenience. No Zoom calls to join. No private Facebook groups. No time limits. Just watch and re-watch as you like.

PLUS, you’ll always have lifetime access to this content!

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” His latest book, SOLA MYSTERIUM: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything is available now on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

New Visions

Cosmic Christ

Gnostics

Gospel of the Kingdom

Previous Post

February 3, 2023

INNER CIRCLE: Empty-Handed Faith

Next Post

February 11, 2023 Why James White Cannot Admit Slavery Is A Sin

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Googled: “In psychology and everyday language, intelligence is the capacity to learn, understand, reason, think ..."

Herm

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"It's so weird to me how anyone thinks that getting basic income is in any ..."

Scott Santens

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"Sounds very much like what Pope Leo wrote in Magnifica Humanitas - a lot of ..."

ffeineandsugar

AI Is A Gateway to the ..."

"As it is written in the canonical Gospels:But as many as received Him, to them ..."

Herm

INNER CIRCLE: God’s Transcending Love

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is taught about gossip in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Avoid it Enjoy it Spread it Encourage it

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »