The gospel of Thomas : a fusion of horizons

Abstract

The ancient texts found at Nag Hammadi have been studied by the leading scholars in the field of textual analysis. Included in Nag Hammadi was The Gospel of Thomas, which has also undergone significant critical and historical analysis. Research focussing on how the text was meaningful within wider social structures and Christian communities is seemingly sparse. Therefore, I propose this study to undertake a hermeneutical analysis of The Gospel of Thomas for meaning by first constructing an analysis of a horizon of the ancient communities in which the text may have been read and a modern horizon. Using Hans-Georg Gadamer’s notion of the fusion of horizons, this study will ultimately fuse the horizons to find meaning.