Mark vs. Thomas

An essay written for my "Birth of Christianity" class, exploring the differences and similarities between two ancient Christian texts.

Diversity and Unity in Two Early Jesus Communities: “Mark” and “Thomas” as Converging Divergent Communities



Abstract: This article explores the similarities and differences between two communities that claim to follow the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth, crucified by the Roman Empire some hundred years ago. Both communities, located in the Judean region, are fairly remote. One community derives their religious lives and understandings only from the Gospel of Mark; the other, only from the Gospel of Thomas. These two communities are explored through literature review of both texts and interviews conducted with a representative from each, including a joint discussion. The author concludes that the communities have strong divergences in both belief and practice, but there is enough overlap to see how both groups consider themselves “Christian” and could claim common origin.


About the Author: Rebecca Farnum is an anthropologist of religion who specializes in the new religious phenomena that has sprung up around the historical figure of Jesus, a Jew from the Judean region. Farnum studied under the well-known Biblical scholar Christopher Frilingos. In addition to authoring numerous articles, Farnum has served as an advisor to Emperors Hadrian and Antonius Pius.


This article appeared in the third issue of Religion Today, published by The Roman Religious Authority.


Farnum: Who was Jesus?
Mark: The Son of God who is Messiah, crucified under Pilate, who was risen from the dead.
Thomas: The great Teacher who taught us the Father’s will.

The above quotations are taken from interviews conducted in two isolated communities. The respondent known as “Mark” comes from a community that centers their religious life on the Gospel of Mark; “Thomas’s” community focused on the Gospel of Thomas. These two communities were chosen for their focus on the texts themselves. Unlike many Jesus-focused communities cropping up around the Roman Empire, these two communities base their lives strictly on their specific text. This is rare in religious communities and provides an exciting glimpse into the true differences that can be created by adherence to different scriptures as well as the ideas that are most central to Jesus-based faith (the beliefs espoused by both communities highlight what scholars can consider “core ideas” of the Jesus movement).
In this article, I explore understandings of Jesus and religion in the two isolated communities. Special attention will be given to the role of Jesus, rituals, and ideas of God and Heaven in the communities’ religious beliefs and actions. I argue that these two communities, though isolated and appearing to be very distinct, can both be classified as “Jesus religions” by religious studies scholars. Both “Mark” and “Thomas” are shown to worship the same God and hold the same core beliefs, though these similarities may not be readily apparent.

Methods
This study had two components, a literature review of texts considered sacred by the two communities and a series of interviews with representatives from the two communities. Both “The Gospel to Mark” and “The Gospel of Thomas” were read carefully. Similarities and differences were noted; most interesting were the commonalities in language. The Gospels have several shared sayings that nonetheless have minor differences; the implications of these differences were illuminated during the interview process. One representative from each community was selected to engage in dialogue with the author about his community’s religious understandings and life. Both representatives were men and participated in an individual preliminary interview with the author. After reviewing the results from these preliminary interviews and drafting additional questions, the two men were brought together and asked to have a guided discussion about their faith.
For the sake of anonymity and for purposes of clarity, the two representatives are referred to throughout the article as “Mark” (representing the community focused on the Gospel of Mark) and “Thomas” (representing the community focused on the Gospel of Thomas). Where appropriate, the author has noted the specific portions of sacred texts each representative seemed to be drawing from during interview responses to help unacquainted readers reference the assertions in greater details.

Results
Two things stand out from an initial reading of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Thomas. Most striking is the incredibly different forms of the two sacred texts. The Gospel of Mark is written as a narrative. Sayings and teachings of Jesus are interspersed with stories about what Jesus did and experienced, as well as whom he spoke with and how he interacted with them. In contrast, the Gospel of Thomas is organized only as a collection of sayings. Stories about Jesus are not told; it is made clear only in a few of the verses whom Jesus is specifically addressing. The most notable difference between the Gospels of Mark and Thomas is the supposed crucifixion and resurrection found in the Gospel of Mark and the absence of this story in the Gospel of Thomas. This difference has great consequence for the apparent divergence of the two communities; the quotations at the beginning of this article indicate how drastically differently Mark and Thomas understood Jesus.
The Roman Empire and “mainstream” Jesus Movement have focused greatly on the supposed resurrection of Jesus, but this story does not appear in the Gospel of Thomas, as shown by the following interview excerpt:
Farnum: How did Jesus die?
Thomas: I don’t know. Like any other person, I suppose. But not. Jesus taught us that if we live as the Father wants us to, we will not experience death in the same way.
Farnum: So you believe Jesus didn’t die?
Thomas: Jesus said that people who grasp the truth as he did would “not taste death” (Thom 1). Death did not mean the same thing to Jesus as it does to us. He, like me, was not afraid of death. So it doesn’t matter how he died or what happened. He is experiencing something else.
I asked Thomas and Mark to talk together about Jesus and his death. Thomas seemed confused during the entire interaction. He had clearly never heard that Jesus was crucified, and thought Mark’s idea about physical resurrection to be absurd.
In spite of this drastic difference, readers of the two texts will also notice that many of the sayings sound much the same the two Gospels. For example, both texts have similar versions of the parables of the sower (Mk 4:1-9, Thom 9) and the mustard seed (Mk 4:32-34, Thom 20). In both, Jesus repeatedly urges those who have ears to hear (Mk 4:9, Thom 8, among others), asks his disciples who they think he is (Mk 8:27-30, Thom 13), finds that a prophet cannot work in his own town (Mk 6:1-6, Thom 31), and warns that he will bring conflict between families and friends (Mk 13:12, Thom 16, 55, 101).
I asked both men about rituals and religious actions their communities.
Farnum: Which rituals does your community practice?
Thomas: We fast from the world and keep the Sabbath, as Jesus commands (Thom 27).
Farnum: What do you mean, “fast from the world?”
Thomas: Jesus forbade fasting, praying, or giving alms (Thom 14). He commanded us to “keep the Sabbath a Sabbath” and fast from the world, though. So we use the Sabbath to retreat from the world and study the Gospel, seeking the secret knowledge so we might not taste death.
Mark: We keep many of the Jewish commandments, as Jesus did. We celebrate Passover, as Jesus did, and remember his death with bread and juice (Mk 22-24). We are baptized, as Jesus was (Mk 1:9-11).
Farnum: What about the Sabbath?
Mark: Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath and did not keep it; thus, we should not (Mk 2:23-28). We worship on the day after, the day Jesus rose from the dead (Mk 16:1).

The two communities, on the basis of ritual and practice, look very different. Thomas has no notion of baptism or of Passover and the bread and wine. The community of Thomas focuses their faith lives on Saturday; the community of Mark, Sunday. Mk 2:18-22 and Thom 104 both assert that people should not fast while the “bridegroom” is with them. But the two communities interpret and live out this command in very different ways. Mark fasts, arguing that the bridegroom (Jesus) has left and thus he is commanded to do so. Thomas argues that Jesus forbade fasting and dietary restrictions entirely, instead encouraging his disciples to ignore the world to find secret knowledge. These differences highlight a different view of Jesus in the two communities: Mark’s group tries to emulate Jesus’ life, viewing him as an exemplar in addition to teacher; Thomas’ relies solely on Jesus’ words and so do not necessarily live exactly as Jesus did.
I asked Mark and Thomas about important figures in their communities. John the Baptist appears in both texts, but is more significant for Mark; Thomas believes he was a great man but a child is greater (Thom 46). For Mark, Peter is one of the most important disciples, named first by Jesus (Mk 3:16); Thomas believes that Judas Thomas had greater knowledge than any others (Thom 13). Jesus is most important to both of them.
Farnum: Who is the most important person to your community?
Mark: Jesus.
Farnum: Why?
Mark: He is the Son of God, the Christ (Mk 1:1), who died and was raised (Mk 16:6).
Thomas: Jesus.
Farnum: Why?
Thomas: He was the great Teacher. He showed us how to live for God. He gave Judas Thomas secret knowledge (Thom 13) and instructed us to seek it (Thom 1). He is from the Father (61).

Notice that for both men, Jesus is most important because of Jesus’ relationship to God. Jesus gains authority through God and how he can help people get to God, not by his own merits. Which brings us to perhaps the most important question for any faith community:
Farnum: Who is God?
Mark: The “Most High” (Mk 5:7), whose kingdom of Heaven is above the Earth and can command the Earth to do his will. Jesus will return to Earth from Heaven with the Father and his angels (Mk 8:38).
Thomas: God is our living Father and a part of him is in us (Thom 50). He was not born of woman (Thom 15). He is the king of Heaven, but his kingdom is here on Earth and we can live there if we find the secret knowledge (Thom 113).

God, then, is the highest power for both communities and rules a kingdom that is separate from Earth by either separate space or its hidden nature. In their joint discussion, Mark and Thomas disagreed least when talking about their understandings of God. The ideas about the kingdom of God, though, create very different responses by the two communities. Mark believes that his resurrected Jesus is returning to Earth soon, bringing the kingdom, which is separate from Earth (Mk 9:1). Thom 1 also says that some will “not taste death,” but for Thomas, this does not refer to the immediately imminent return of Jesus but instead the ability of people to find the secret meaning in Jesus’ teachings and thus the kingdom of Heaven on Earth (Thom 113).

Conclusions
The interviews and joint discussion with Mark and Thomas illustrate the great diversity possible in communities that hold “Jesus” texts. The two communities studied both hold Jesus as a central figure in their religion, though how this plays out, and their understandings of exactly what or who Jesus was, differ greatly. This raises questions for scholars of religion and religious movements about what exactly should be considered part of the “Jesus religion.” Though the community of Thomas does not believe Jesus died and rose again (as the community of Mark does), Jesus plays a central avenue through which God is accessed for both communities through his teachings. Because of this, this author believes both communities should be considered part of the greater Jesus movement and religion. Some religious studies scholars have classified the Gospel of Thomas as a radically different text than the Gospel of Mark; however, this author believes that the two texts are much more similar than others assert. The focus on “secret knowledge” found in the Gospel of Thomas is also seen in the Gospel of Mark (4:10-12); it is simply that communities founded on the Gospel of Mark have chosen to emphasize other portions of the text. Thus, though the two communities seem to be diverging at first glance, closer inspection reveals that the core beliefs and understandings of God are greatly convergent and these people should be classified as believers in the same faith.