-ed, I understand how these things work, and I firmly believe there will always be subversive elements who will find ways to work around the formal structure. Always believed you are one of them. Compliment, BTW.

El, Thomas does indeed have strong elements of Gnosticism. but the Gospel of Mary Magadalene and the Didache also speak of a Church which is not concerned with formalism and central control. I'm certainly not the first commentator so say that the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire may have been the worst thing ever to happen to our religion. The essential concept I think, is that the early Church (even among those who knew Jesus) was divided on basic subjects such as whether Christ even had a physical body!

I would rather see Christ as a great Mystery than have Him shoe-horned into the narrow and shallow box that many fundamentalists espouse.