Hitler loved Germany and felt that Austria and Germany should be one country.
As soon as he took over he absorbed Austria into Germany.
And BikerSailor already punked you on the lost book of Thomas. "Lost" doesn't just mean it was left out, it means it was just re-discovered. The St. Thomas book was rediscovered in the 1800's so of course it wasn't included in any version of the Holy Bible.
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Most bible scholars agree that the so called Lost Book of Thomas is a fraud and was written long after the bible was complied.
Those who argue that Thomas dates from the first century use a variety of arguments:
Independence from Synoptic Gospels
Stevan L. Davies argues that the apparent independence of the ordering of sayings in Thomas from that of their parallels in the synoptics shows that Thomas was most likely not reliant upon the canonical Gospels and probably predated them.[20] A number of authors argue that when the logia in Thomas do have parallels in the synoptics the version in Thomas often seems closer to the source. Theissen and Merz give sayings 31 and 65 as examples of this.[19] Similarly Earl Doherty argues that when the Gospel of Thomas does parallel Q or the New Testament, it shows a less developed, more "primitive" or "original" form than the latter. [1] Koester agrees, citing especially the parables contained in sayings 8, 9, 57, 63, 64 and 65.[4] In the few instances where the version in Thomas seems to be dependent on the Synoptics, Koester suggests, this may be due to the influence of the person who translated the text from Greek into Coptic.[4]
Koester also argues that the absence of narrative materials (such as those found in the canonical gospels) in Thomas makes it unlikely that the gospel is "an eclectic excerpt from the gospels of the New Testament". [4] He also cites the absence of the eschatological sayings characteristic of Q to show the independence of Thomas from that source.[4] On the other hand, many other scholars have argued for a direct or indirect dependence on the Synoptics, or on a harmony of Luke and Matthew. [21](See also below under "Late camp").
[edit] Independence from John's gospel
Another argument for the early date (originally brought forward as the central argument of Elaine Pagels' book Beyond Belief The Secret Gospel of Thomas) is that there seems to be conflict between the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Thomas. Certain passages in the Gospel of John can only be understood in light of a community whose beliefs were based on the theological teachings of the Gospel of Thomas. For example, Pagels mentions John’s repeated references to the inability of the world to recognize the divine light (Jn 1:5, 1:10), John’s insistence on the uniqueness of Jesus as the "only begotten" son, and the "I am" sayings (especially, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father except through me," addressed pointedly to Thomas in Jn 14:6). These passages contrast with Thomas’ idea that the divine light dwells within all beings and is accessible to all who seek it (e.g., G. Thomas, logion 24, 77), and that salvation was gained through the experience of discovery of the meaning of Jesus’ teaching (G. Thomas, logion 1). John is the only one of the Canonical Gospels that gives Thomas a speaking part, indicating respect for the Thomas community. This respect is because the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Thomas are theologically similar in so many other respects. In the story of Doubting Thomas (Jn. 20:26-29), however, the Johannine Community is theologically rebutting the Thomas community. The Johannine Community believes in a bodily resurrection; Thomas community believes in a spiritual resurrection and completely rejects a bodily resurrection. So when John has Thomas physically touch the risen Jesus and acknowledge his bodily nature, "he shows Thomas giving up his search for experiential truth – his 'unbelief' – to confess what John sees as the truth...." (Pagels, pp. 66–73). Pagel's interpretation of John thus requires that a Thomas community existed when John's Gospel was written.
Gospel of Thomas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
