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Audiobook edition · 40 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 40 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the desires that promise pleasure are, in this text’s vision, the very things that bind the soul?
The Book of Thomas the Contender presents a secret conversation between the Savior and Judas Thomas, called his twin. A follower named Matthias is said to record their words. Beginning with a call to know yourself, this short Christian dialogue asks what lasts when bodies and visible things pass away.
Thomas asks about hidden things. The Savior answers with a stern vision of unseen truth, bodily passion, and the soul’s release. Here, desire becomes a consuming fire, and attachment to the flesh becomes a prison. Almost all speech and warning rather than story, the text presses its listener toward inward change.
What you’ll discover
- The call to self-knowledge Encounter the opening challenge to know yourself through the words addressed to Thomas.
- Behind the visible world Explore the text’s claim that passing, visible things depend on an unseen truth.
- The fire of desire Face a fierce image of bodily passion as a force that chains the soul.
- Woes and blessings Read warnings and blessings that echo the Gospels while challenging hope placed in flesh.
- A Nag Hammadi discovery Meet a work preserved complete in Coptic among the books found near Nag Hammadi.
Who will love it
Readers who love ancient voices, early Christian writings and the Nag Hammadi library will find a close dialogue here. It also suits anyone drawn to self-knowledge, desire and the inner life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A buried jar preserved a secret dialogue
- Know yourself before you ask about heaven
- Visible things decay, so seekers remain apprentices
- Light guides the seeker while fire drives the body
- Wisdom grows like a tree, folly follows the fire
- Telling the truth costs standing in the world
- Woes and blessings end in rest
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The Book of Thomas the Contender
by Attributed to the apostle Thomas · 225
An ancient dialogue preserves a private conversation between Jesus and his twin, Judas Thomas.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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“whoever has not known himself has known nothing”
In short
In December 1945 a farmer digging near the cliffs of Jabal al-Tarif in Upper Egypt unearths a sealed clay jar. Inside are thirteen books of papyrus, hidden for some sixteen centuries.
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Listen freeFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A buried jar preserved a secret dialogue
It survives among the texts discovered in the Nag Hammadi library. It is among the fifty-two texts in thirteen leather-covered codices found near Nag Hammadi in 1945. The introduction describes texts copied onto papyrus, bound into leather-covered books and buried in a clay jar in Egypt.
The work opens with the Savior telling his brother Thomas to listen while he still has time in the world. The name Thomas means twin in Aramaic, and the Greek name Didymos means twin as well. In the Syrian Christian tradition Thomas was honored as the twin of Jesus and as the disciple who received his deepest teaching. The title casts him as a contender, someone who struggles for the truth.
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An ancient dialogue preserves a private conversation between Jesus and his twin, Judas Thomas.
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Details
- First published
- 225
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 40 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 40 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 40 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 40 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
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Cite this edition
Thomas. The Book of Thomas the Contender. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-thomas-the-contender.
Thomas. (2026). The book of Thomas the Contender. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-thomas-the-contender (Original work published ca. 225)
Thomas. The Book of Thomas the Contender. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-thomas-the-contender.
@book{thomas2026book,
author = {Thomas},
title = {The Book of Thomas the Contender},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-book-of-thomas-the-contender},
note = {First published ca. 225}
}
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What is the Book of Thomas the Contender about?
It is a private dialogue between Jesus and his twin, Judas Thomas. Jesus urges him to know himself, warns about the fire of bodily desire, describes the fate of those ruled by it, and ends with blessings and the promise of rest.
Is the Book of Thomas the Contender in the Bible?
It is not in the Bible. The churches that formed the New Testament chose other books over generations. This work survives among the Nag Hammadi texts and reflects a tradition that emphasizes direct personal knowledge of the divine.
When was the Book of Thomas the Contender written?
Most scholars date it to the late second or early third century, among the earlier surviving Gnostic texts. The work was found among the Nag Hammadi texts in 1945, after the collection had remained buried for more than sixteen centuries.
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