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Gospel of Thomas · 52 of 114 · tr. Thomas O. Lambdin

Logion 52

His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke in you." He said to them, "You have omitted the one living in your presence and have spoken (only) of the dead."
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Themes
Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The text prioritizes direct recognition of the living teacher over reliance on past prophetic traditions or scriptures.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] By stating the divine is 'in your presence,' the passage suggests the sacred realm is accessible immediately rather than distant or historical.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

[auto] The passage explicitly contrasts dead prophets with 'the one living in your presence,' emphasizing the active, immediate reality of the divine.

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Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics

Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.

[auto] The disciples are criticized for focusing on dead tradition while ignoring the living truth standing before them, highlighting form over substance.

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Related passages · 4 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 489
“Section 11 11. Similarly any one, unable to see himself, but possessed by that God, has but to bring that divine- within before his consciousness and at once he sees an image of himself, himself lifted to a better beauty: now let him ignore…”
Shared concept: Kingdom Within — The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 6)
“The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity. Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
Shared concept: Kingdom Within — The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIX
“But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
sufism|The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi)|STORY V-c
“The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant. The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven. He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5 Yet blind ind…”
Shared concept: Rejection Of Hypocrisy — Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance. (derived)