excluded by the church?” Metzger was thoroughly acquainted with the work. “The Gospel of Thomas came to light in a fifth-century copy in Coptic, which I’ve translated into English,” he said. “It contains 114 sayings attributed to Jesus but no narrative of what he did, and seems to have been written in Greek in Syria about A.D. 140. In some cases I think this gospel correctly reports what Jesus said, with slight modifications.” This was certainly an intriguing statement. “Please elaborate,” I said. “For