Gospel of Thomas - Chapter 016

Saying 14

(14) Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you."

I heard a radio pastor mock the Gospel of Thomas using this saying. But he does not understand that it is the genre of riddle. Rather than see how it isn't true literally, you ask "How is it true in the language of riddle?"

The key to understanding this riddle is the word "you".

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

If you do any of the things in the riddle apart from Christ you will be condemned. This is original sin. When you do something that you think is right, you are not acknowledging that God is God and that what is right is determined by Hos nature, and have made him a peer to you with the claim that you can determine right and wrong for yourself.

The second half is the same as quoted in scripture.

Go to Ch. 17