A book omitted from the Bible written more than 1,600 years ago shows Jesus in a very different light.
Known as the Gospel of Thomas, this ancient text features Jesus, portraying him as a teacher of spiritual wisdom rather than a religious missionary.
Many of Jesus' quotes in the book promotes the idea that believers do not need a church, but only inner awareness and self-discovery.
Although the sacred text was discovered in Egypt in 1945, it has recently resurfaced on social media, where content creator Nick Di Fabio noted that some scholars believe it may be the earliest written record of Jesus' teachings.
He highlighted one specific message that reoccurs yes throughout the text: 'The kingdom is within you' — not in buildings, not in rituals.
This idea directly challenged the foundation of the early Church, which was built around priests, temples, and hierarchy.
The Gospel of Thomas opens with the line: 'These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.'
This suggests the text was written by the Apostle Thomas, the disciple known for doubting Jesus' resurrection.
The Gospel of Thomas was excluded from the Bible because it reflects the belief that salvation comes through personal knowledge rather than through faith, challenging the foundational teachings of the early Church.
But the sayings sparked outcry among the church when it was found due to passages like Saying 3 that reads: 'If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you.
'If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.'
While 'Kingdom is within you' appears in the traditional Bible, the saying in Thomas takes on a more mystical, inward-focused tone.
This highlights the core message that the Kingdom of God is not a physical place to find externally but a spiritual reality within each It challenges external, institutionalized views of the kingdom.
