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Previous | 353 | Next (mammon). The Thomas logion appears to be an oral variant of the Q tradition without the argument from analogy. Since GTh 47 also is part of GTh 43-50 discussed above, the context is a comparison of the disciples with a series of people and things in an attempt to get them to focus on who they themselves are and what they must do to enter the kingdom, rather than questioning who Jesus is to say what he does to them. In this context, wealth does not come into the discussion as a result of its absence from this saying. For Thomas, it appears that wealth would be only one minor symptom of a much larger challenge -- understanding the nature of the world itself, the nature of people in the world, and the nature of the search that can lead to redemption. The four remaining cases about wine and cloth present a variation in sequence in a context of overall agreement concerning the polarities. It is noticeable that all three synoptic gospels contain positive cases or results, which Thomas does not. The positive formulations in the synoptic gospels show an interest in the new and the old that simply is not shared by the Gospel of Thomas: GThomas 47:3-5 Mark 2:21-22 Matthew 9:16-17 Luke 5:36-39 2nd Description (Negative Case): 3 No person drinks aged wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. 3rd Explanation (Negative Case): 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good." 2nd Explanation (Negative Case): 4a New wine is not poured into aged wineskins, lest they break. 2nd Explanation (Negative Case): 22a-b And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins. 2nd Explanation (Negative Case): 17a-b Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. 2nd Explanation (Negative Case): 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. Description (Positive Case): 22c But one puts new wine into fresh wineskins. 3rd Explanation (Positive Case): 17c-d New wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. Belief (Positive Case): 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 3rd Explanation (Negative Case): 4b And aged wine is not poured into a new wineskin, lest it spoil. In Q, the tradition either in the form of an explanation or a rule and description becomes the basis for an inductive argument from analogy about serving God and wealth Previous | 353 | Next