Nag Hammadi

Thomas on the nearness of God

Nag Hammadi, 4th-century Coptic copy of an earlier Greek text

Saying 77 imagines Christ as light in wood and stone. Read beside John 1 and Wisdom 7, it becomes a poem about a world already inhabited — not a treasure hunt for secret passwords.

Gospel of Thomas 77

I am the light that is over all things… Split a piece of wood: I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there.

Related readings

  • Gospel of Thomas 25

    Jesus said, Love your brother as your own soul. Guard him like the pupil of your eye.

  • Gospel of Thomas 77

    Jesus said, I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all has reached. Split a piece of wood: I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there.

  • Gospel of Thomas 3

    Jesus said, If those who lead you say, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you.

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