Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus

June 12th, 2009 by Andrew Bernhard under Gospel of Thomas. 7 Comments.

I’ve just updated the Accounts of Manuscript Discoveries section in the Gospel of Thomas Resource Center, annotating the following entry:

Dart, John, and Ray Riegert. Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus: The Discovery and Text of the Gospel of Thomas. Berkeley, Calif.: Seastone, 1998.

The description of the book I have posted is:

A lively account by two journalists of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt in 1945 and the subsequent struggles of Western scholars to bring the complete Gospel of Thomas and other ancient texts to light despite blood feuds, mysterious deaths, sketchy antiquities dealers, and a series of tumultuous political crises and wars in the Middle East; also includes a complete translation of the Gospel of Thomas and a brief commentary entitled “Paradise Regained” by John Dominic Crossan.

Additional information about the book is also available from amazon.com.

I’ve always liked Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus because the journalists who wrote it tell the story of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library (one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century) in such an engaging manner that I think anybody could enjoy reading it. It appeals to the “Indiana Jones” in all of us.

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7 Comments

Ed Jones  on June 14th, 2009

Ed Jones said,

This is in the interest of “Uncovering the Lost Words of Jesus”.
On the “assumed” authority of Schubert M. Ogden, James M. Robinson and Hans Dieter Betz this is to name a reconstruction of origins based on “the oldest layer of tradition” (Robinson). The claim is made that this Scriptural source is our closest apostolic witness, constituting an alternative to the writings of the New Testament, none of which are apostolic.
This was written as a letter to R. Joseph Hoffmann as a contribution to the Jesus Project. Check it out – it may just prove to be of interest.

Enter the blog: .
The blog is an archive of Hoffmann essays. Scroll down 8 essays
to the one titled: “The Importance of the Historical Jesus – -”, highlight “6 Comments”. Ignore Comments 2,3,and 4, these relate to a reaction to a four day delay in posting Comment 1, which finally was posted after adding Comment 5, the final paragraph of the letter. Comment 6 is a related add-on.

Ed Jones  on June 15th, 2009

Ed Jones said,

To April 14 Comment I need to add – archive of essays – R. Joseph Hoffmann – wordpress.

Ed Jones  on September 12th, 2009

Correction to June 15 Comment.
April 14 should read June 14.

The June 14 Comment was submitted to read: Enter the blog: R. Joseph Hoffmann – Word Press.
It was published with R. Joseph Hoffmann – Word Press omitted. The June 15 Comment was to correct this omission.

Ed Jones

gospels.net » The Rediscovery of the Gospel of Thomas  on October 5th, 2009

[...] Most accounts of the rediscovery of the Gospel of Thomas tend to begin with the dramatic story of the unearthing of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945: an essentially complete Coptic translation of the text was contained in one of the thirteen codices brought to light by this find (as I mentioned previously, a good account of this discovery is: John Dart’s, Unearthing the Lost Words of Jesus). [...]

Ed Jones  on November 27th, 2009

The Hoffmann essay: “The Importance of the Historical Jesus”, 6 Cmments, has been removed. To find the Hoffmann letter go to The Forbidden Gospels Blog, My Decision about the Jesus Project, Comments April 12 – April 17.

Ed Jones  on November 29th, 2009

This is to cancel the last Comment – November 27, 2009. The essay, The Importance of the Historical Jesus – 6 Comments (now 10 Comments) has NOT been removed. I was mistaken. Apologies.

Ed Jones  on February 25th, 2010

To this point in time I have received no comment on my reconstruction of origins of the Jesus Tradition as named in my June 14 Comment – neither yea nor nay – even an acknowledgment that it has been read, Is there some explanation one might offer?

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