jewish-christian gospels recovered two totally different types of gospels: from the synoptic type (the “Gospel
of the Nazarenes” and theGospel of the Ebionites)andfromanapocryphal
gospel with more philosophic and Gnostic orientation.^9 Waitz’ criteria
were understandable at the time because when he wrote, theGospel of
Thomaswas not yet found and the only parallel for Clement’s quota-
tion from theGospel of the Hebrews(“He who has become astonished
will become king and he who has become king will rest”; Clement of
Alexandria,Strom. II IX .; par.Strom. V XIV .) was known from an
Oxyrhynchus papyrus (P.Oxy. ). Waitz even went so far as to include
all the sayings preserved in P.Oxy in his reconstruction of theGospel
of the Hebrews.^10
However, after the entireGospel of Thomaswas found, it has become
clear that the sayings in P.Oxy. are from a Greek edition ofThomas
and subsequent reconstructions have taken this into account, assigning
only Clement’s fragment to theGospel of the Hebrews. Nevertheless,
Waitz’ original assumption about two totally different types of gospels
has been retained despite the fact that theGospel of Thomasitself is
a prime example of a gospel which includes both Gnostic types and
synoptic types of sayings and parables. TheGospel of Thomasbeing now
available, no reconstruction of Jewish-Christian gospels should start with
the assumption that Clement’s fragment must be from a gospel that did
not include parallels to synoptic passages. The fact that Eusebius lists the
Gospel of the Hebrewsas one of the “disputed” writings but not among
those that were used by the heretics (like theGospel of Thomas), also
suggests that theGospel of the Hebrewsdid not deviate too much from
the canonical gospels.^11
Second, Vielhauer and Strecker back up their criteria for classification
bypointingoutthat“accordingtoallthatweknow”theGospel of
the Hebrews“diverged very much from the synoptic type.” On closer
examination, this criterion proves to be based on a circular argument.
(^9) Waitz a, ; Waitz d, .
(^10) See, Waitz d, –.
(^11) Eusebius (Hist. eccl. ..) has three main categories: () Generally accepted books
(μλγυμ να) that are true, genuine, and accepted in the tradition of the church. ()
Disputed (ντιλεγμ να)writingsthatarenotcanonicalbutfamiliartomostchurch
writers. () The writings used by the heretics. TheGospel of the Hebrewsis placed in the
second category but as a kind of addition: “Among those some have placed also the Gospel
according to the Hebrews with which those of the Hebrews that have accepted Christ are
especially pleased.” Of course, the value of Eusebius’ statement depends on the question
of how well Eusebius’ himself, or the “some” he is referring to, really knew the “Gospel of
the Hebrews.” For a more detailed discussion, see Chapter ...