Replica of an ancient Book of Thomas

Local manuscripts, with a few minor exceptions (such as verses written on amulets and pots), are written on one of three materials: papyrus, parchment, or paper. Each had advantages and disadvantages. Parchment (treated animal skin) was by far the most durable, but also the most expensive. It was also difficult to get large numbers of sheets of the same size and color. Papyrus was much cheaper but wore out more quickly. Since it is destroyed by dampness, few copies survive to the present day, except from Egypt (and even those are usually badly damaged). Paper did not become available until relatively recently and while it was cheaper than parchment, once paper mills were established, the mills had high overhead costs, thus making access to paper limited. Paper was by number means as cheap in the late manuscript era as today (where paper is made from wood pulp rather than rags).

This book is an exact replica of the book of Thomas (an early gnostic writing, falsely attributed to the disciple of Jesus) used by The History Channel. It is interesting how documentaries about Jesus often cite the Gospel of Thomas as a new and exciting find that provides long lost information about Jesus. But, has it been long lost? These programs seem to neglect to mention that the early Church Fathers were well aware of the Gospel of Thomas. The Church Historian Eusebius (260-340), who wrote in the 300’s AD clearly stated that

“…we have felt compelled to give this catalogue in order that we might be able to know both these works and those that are cited by the heretics under the name of the apostles, including, for instance, such books as the Gospels of Peter, of Thomas, of Matthias, or of any others which no one belonging to the succession of ecclesiastical writers has deemed worthy of mention in his writings.”

The papyrus strips come from the papyrus plant found in the swamps along the Nile river. From papyrus, we get the word “paper”. The pith (inside part) of the plant was cut into strips and laid in horizontal and vertical layers, allowing the natural sugars of the plant to bond the strips together. Papyrus was used for writing from the earliest periods. According to Herodotus (484-430 BC), papyrus was such a common material, he could not think of a civilized people using anything else. The full completed sheet was made by Pastor Terry in Egypt (2005).