The Gospel of Thomas, a 'forbidden' text which has been dated back to the 1st century, presents Jesus as a New Age-style guru ...

This book opens with the lines, "These are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke, and the twin, Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down." Then there follows a list of the sayings of Jesus.

Though it includes many word-for-word quotes and echoes from the New Testament, plus many new sayings attributed to Jesus, the Thomas Gospel is not a candidate for inclusion in the Bible.

When Oscar Cullman announced the discovery of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas (CHRISTIANITY TODAY, April 19, 1959, issue), popular newspapers and magazines spread sensational reports of the newly ...