In 1648, preacher John Elliott was quoted in Thomas Shepherd's book " Clear Sunshine of the Gospel " with an account of the difficulties the Pilgrims were having in using the Indians to harvest cranberries as they preferred to hunt and fish.

When the Gospel of Thomas was written, people commonly assumed that men were superior to women, an attitude consistent with the historical context.

The Nag Hammadi codices contain the only complete copy of the Gospel of Thomas.

In fact, Nazareth was described negatively by the evangelists ; the Gospel of Mark argues that Nazareth did not believe in Jesus and therefore he could " do no mighty work there "; in the Gospel of Luke, the Nazarenes are portrayed as attempting to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff ; in the Gospel of Thomas, and in all four canonical gospels, we read the famous saying that " a prophet is not without honor except in his own country.

A version of this parable also appears in the non canonical Gospel of Thomas 76.

A version of the parable also appears in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas ( Saying 76 ):

However, the mention of a treasure in Saying 76 may reflect a source for the Gospel of Thomas in which the parables were adjacent, so that the original pair of parables has been " broken apart, placed in separate contexts, and expanded in a manner characteristic of folklore.

In the Gnostic Acts of Peter and the Twelve, found with the Gospel of Thomas in the Nag Hammadi library, the travelling pearl merchant Lithargoel is eventually revealed to be Jesus.

Thus, " All-In-God " ( see pantheism ) as stated in one of the Sayings of Gospel of Thomas: " Lift Up A Stone And You Will Find Me There ..." This seemingly contradictory interpretation of Gnosticism's theology is not without controversy.

* Saint Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, is believed to have landed in Kodungallur, India to preach the Gospel ; the Marthoma Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Indian Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East claim descent from him.

** Gospel of Thomas,

The leaves of this oak door represent Christ and Saint Thomas, and repeat the words of the Gospel according to Saint John " Lay your finger here " " You are my Lord and my God " ().

* 1697-To evangelize the English colonies, Thomas Bray, an Anglican preacher who made several missionary trips to North America, begins laying the groundwork for what will be the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

These include the apocryphal gospels, such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel which many scholars believe provides insight into the Christian Oral Tradition.

The Gospel of Thomas was found among a collection of fifty-two writings that included, in addition to an excerpt from Plato's Republic, gospels claiming to have been written by Jesus's disciple Philip.

It is important to note, however, that while the Gospel of Thomas does not directly point to Jesus ' divinity, it also does not directly contradict it, and therefore neither supports nor contradicts gnostic beliefs.

The author opens with a prologue, usually taken to be addressed to an individual by the name of Theophilus ( though this name, which translates literally as " God-lover ", may be a nickname rather than a personal appellation ) and references " my earlier book "— almost certainly the Gospel of Luke.

The first 14 verses of the Gospel of John are devoted to the divinity of Jesus as the Logos, usually translated as " Word ", along with his pre-existence, and they emphasize the cosmic significance of Christ, e. g.: " All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Gospel songs generally include a refrain ( or chorus ) and usually ( though not always ) a faster tempo than the hymns.

Christian art usually represents St. John with an eagle, symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel.

It is usually dated to about the same period as that of the Gospel of Philip.

The Matins service ( usually celebrated Thursday night ) is officially entitled, " The Office of the Holy and Redeeming Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ", and is commonly known as the " Matins of the Twelve Gospels ", because interspersed throughout the service are twelve Gospel readings which recount the entire Passion of Christ from the Last Supper to the sealing of the tomb.

In the Roman Rite the Gloria in Excelsis Deo and the Te Deum are not used in the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours respectively, except on Solemnities and Feasts, and the Alleluia and verse that usually precede the reading of the Gospel is either omitted or replaced with another acclamation.

The Gospel of John suggests that it was probably used as a mikvah ( ritual bath ), although mikvahs are usually much smaller in size ; if the pool were a mikvah, it would be the largest ever found, by a substantial margin.

The Mors Pilati (" Death of Pilate ") legend is a Latin tradition, thus treating Pilate as a monster, not a saint ; it is attached usually to the more sympathetic Gospel of Nicodemus of Greek origin.

When asked his identity in the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus usually deflects, ambiguously asking the disciples why they do not see what is right in front of them.

It also states that a bishop usually holds the crosier during a procession and when listening to the reading of the Gospel, giving a homily, accepting vows, solemn promises or a profession of faith, and when blessing people, unless he must lay his hands on them.

* Nathanael — In the Gospel of John, normally understood as one of the Twelve Apostles ; usually identified with Bartholomew of the other gospels

In traditional Orthodox countries, when a person takes a vow or oath, he usually does so before a Gospel Book and Cross.

From the 15th century onwards, the Adoration of the Magi is quite often conflated with the Adoration of the Shepherds from the account in the Gospel of Luke ( 2: 8-20 ), an opportunity to bring in yet more human and animal diversity ; in some compositions ( triptychs for example ), the two scenes are contrasted or set as pendants to the central scene, usually a Nativity.

At this time, it was noticed that a number of early manuscripts containing John's Gospel lacked John 7: 53-8: 11 inclusive ; and also that some manuscripts containing the verses marked them with critical signs, usually a lemniscus or asterisk.

The Gospel of Matthew states that Magi ( usually translated as " wise men " but in this context probably meaning " astronomer " or " astrologer ") arrived at the court of Herod in Jerusalem and told the king of a star which signified the birth of the King of the Jews:

The buildings associated with the open brethren are usually called, " Gospel Chapel ," " Gospel Hall ," " Bible Chapel ," " Christian Assembly ," or other similar terms.

Many composers have set the text to music, usually coupled in the Anglican church with the Magnificat, as both the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis are sung ( or said ) during the Anglican service of Evening Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer, 1662, in which the older offices of Vespers ( Evening Prayer ) and Compline ( Night Prayer ) were deliberately merged into one service, with both Gospel Canticles employed.

Gospel Book Fragment is another manuscript ( MS A. II. 10 ) in the cathedral library which is sometimes referred to as the " Durham Gospels ", but more usually as the " Durham Gospel Fragment ".

His most significant literary work was Учително евангелие ( The Didactic Gospel ), usually dated to the first years of the reign of Bulgarian tsar Simeon I, 893 – 894.

At the end of the " Last Gospel " ( usually ), the pope went to the sedia gestatoria, put on the tiara, and returned in procession as he had entered.

He emphasized healing in his Four Fold Gospel and usually devoted one meeting a week for teaching, testimonies and prayer on these lines.

Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival in Alexandria, as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year AD 200, and a fragment of the Gospel of John, written in Coptic, which was found in Upper Egypt and can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century.

The next earliest account of Luke is in the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospel of Luke, a document once thought to date to the 2nd century, but which has more recently been dated to the later 4th century.

Additionally, the earliest manuscript of the Gospel, dated circa AD 200, ascribes the work to Luke ; as did Irenaeus, writing circa AD 180 ; and the Muratorian fragment from AD 170.

Among others, the St. Gall Gospel Book belongs to the late 8th century and the Book of Armagh ( dated to 807 – 809 ) to the early 9th century.

Luke's unnamed penitent thief was later assigned the name Dismas in the Gospel of Nicodemus, portions of which may be dated to the 4th century.

The earliest extant fragment of the New Testament is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, a piece of the Gospel of John dated to the first half of the 2nd century.

The Egerton Gospel ( British Library Egerton Papyrus 2 ) refers to a group of papyrus fragments of a codex of a previously unknown gospel, found in Egypt and sold to the British Museum in 1934 ; the physical fragments are now dated to the very end of the 2nd century AD, although the date of composition is less clear – perhaps 50-100 AD.

However, the mountain evidently continued to be the holy place of the Samaritans, as it is mentioned as such by the Gospel of John and coins produced by a Roman mint situated in Nablus included within their design a depiction of the temple ; surviving coins from this mint, dated to 138 – 161 CE, show a huge temple complex, statues, and a substantive staircase leading from Nablus to the temple itself.

Since the text of < sup > 52 </ sup > is that of the canonical Gospel of John, whereas the Egerton Gospel is not, there was considerable interest amongst biblical scholars as to whether < sup > 52 </ sup > could be dated as the earlier of the two papyri.

In this fragment the letters gamma and kappa are separated by an apostrophe, a feature very rare in dated second century papyri ; which accordingly implies a date for the Egerton Gospel closer to 200 CE-and indicates the perils of ascribing a date for a papyrus text of which only a small part of two pages survives.

The only copy of the Gospel of Judas known to exist is a Coptic language text that has been carbon dated to AD 280, plus or minus 60 years.

The Gospel of Luke indicates that Christ was baptized during the 15th reign of Tiberius Caesar which is dated in 28 AD ( found in Luke 3: 1, 21, 22 ).

In 1815, he joined the staff of the Imperial Public Library, where he discovered the most ancient dated book written in Slavonic vernacular, the so-called Ostromir Gospel.

The Gospel of Peter, while also dated to the 2nd century, may contain the Cross Gospel.