Abstract:
A number of scholars have pointed out the possible influences of Thomas' interpretation of the practice of Bereshit mysticism on the community out of which the Gospel of John arose (Davies 1992, Kanajaraj 1998, Pagels 1999). While Thomas' approach to Christology and Protology seems to differ from that of John in a number of respects, for instance, Jesus' nature as Word/Wisdom, some Syriac versions of John (Old Syriac, Peshitta) evidence a Semitic interpretation of Jesus as Word-at-the-beginning that is more in harmony with that found in Thomas. A foray into this area has been made by Serge Ruzer (1997) in relation to John 1. This paper continues with an exploration of John 1 from readings of the Peshitta and Old Syriac versions and compares Syriac readings of Jesus sayings in John 3, 8 and 14 to Bereshit ideas in Thomas. Together these readings show that, in relation to Bereshit mysticism, the interpretations of Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8 by early Jewish Christians of the Thomas and John communities may have ranged along a continuum and been constructed in a more nuanced way than previously proposed. This would accord with, for instance, Boyarin's (1999) research on the hybrid construction of early Jewish and Christian identities in general. These readings also show how questions of Christology and Protology could have remained contested issues amongst Middle Eastern Christians up until the rise of Islam, which enshrined low Christological ideas of creation mysticism in the Quran (as discussed by Nasr 1968, Schimmel 1994).