The Gospel of Thomas and the Platonists on Stability

Abstract

Inwhat follows, I argue that “standing” in these, aswell as in a fewotherThomasine sayings, denotes the Platonist idea of divine stability; it is, therefore, no coincidence that these two metaphysical concepts, stability and oneness, are brought together. I first discuss interpretations of Thomasine “standing” by April D. DeConick, Michael AllenWilliams, and Robert Murray, and argue that the context of the Thomasine sayings that deal with “standing” does not support the proposals of these scholars. I then discuss the multifold meanings of the expression ⲱϩⲉ ⲉⲣⲁⲧ⸗ in these sayings as well as in their Greek Vorlagen. Finally, I discuss the Platonist parallels to the sayings that seem to refer to “transcendental ‘standing.’ ”1