The Gospel of Thomas conveys central ideas of Platonism as the message of Jesus, above all the ideas of the immortality of the soul, of the transmigration of souls, of the soul becoming equal to God and of the knowledge of `true light´. It interprets the figure of Jesus as the incarnation of the `true light´, which, according to Plato, can only be experienced outside the present world. It is the light from which people come and into which they return. The Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas understands all human beings as carriers of this divine light, which illuminates the world when they become equal to him. For the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is the founder of a `Platonic Christianity´.

Prof. Dr. Enno Edzard Popkes researches and teaches on the history and archeology of early Christianity and its environment at the faculty of Theology at the Kiel University. He is co-founder and chairman of the `Kiel Academy of Thanatology´ (www.kiath.de).