chapter five
...The Provenance of theGospel of the Hebrews
and theGospel of ThomasBefore the actual analysis of the points of contact, it is necessary to
briefly discuss the current commonly accepted views of theGospel of the
Hebrewsand theGospel of Thomas. The assumptions about the geograph-
ical locations of these gospels have their effect on what kinds of contacts
between them are deemed possible and probable.
The provenance of theGospel of Thomasis generally located in Syria
because the apostle Thomas and especially the name Didymos Judas
Thomas (Gos. Thom. Prol.) are closely connected to Christianity in Syria
and because there are similarities between theGospel of Thomasand
Syrian literature, in particular theActs of Thomas.^60
For purposes of comparison with theGospel of Thomas,itisnote-
worthy that in the traditional Three Gospel Hypothesis (the GH), the
Gospel of the HebrewsislocatedinEgyptandregardedasthemost“Gnos-
tic” of the three Jewish-Christian gospels. It is precisely this hypothe-
sized gospel which has clear connections to Thomasine traditions. It is
supposed to include a saying that is similar toGos. Thom.andP.Oxy.
. – (Clement,Strom. II IX .; V XIV .) and a saying that
talks about the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ mother (Origen,Comm. Jo. .)—a
theme characteristic of Syrian Christianity and theActs of Thomas(cc.
, , , ) in particular. In addition, a couple of Jerome’s quotations
that deal with the Spirit (Jerome,Comm. Isa. .–; Jerome,Comm.
Ezech. .–) and James the Just (Jerome,Vir. ill.)arealsoattributed
to this gospel. Consequently, according to Philipp Vielhauer and Georg
Strecker, the Jewish Christianity of theGospel of the Hebrews“contains
syncretistic-gnostic elements,” and its Christology of the baptism peri-
copae belongs “to the circle of such gnostic speculations” as can be found
in the “Jewish-Christian-gnosticKerygmata Petrou”(seePs.-Clem. Hom.
..).^61
Notably, Klijn emphasizes that theGospel of the Hebrewswas com-
posed in the first half of the second century and “known in Egypt only.”
In his view, theGospel of the Hebrews“reflects material that was current
during a pre-canonical period” and the “Gospel was composed without
(^60) See Fallon & Cameron , ; Koester , –; Fieger , –.
(^61) Vielhauer & Strecker (^2) ( (^1) ), –.