Within the past generation, a new school of scholars has arisen who view the texts discovered at Nag Hammadi as equal to or even superior to the traditional canonical materials. They view several of these texts and particularly, The Gospel of Thomas, as containing independent traditions that form the earliest layers in the development of Christianity. As the pool of texts used to illustrate the historical Jesus continues to broaden and increase, Incipient Gnosticism is being seen more and more as the source of Jesus‘ teaching. As this continues to happen, key traditional doctrines such as the future, bodily resurrection of believers are reinterpreted or done away with altogether.

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