Saying 11: This Heaven Will Pass Away
This heaven and the one above it will pass away; the dead are not alive and the living will not die. When you were one you became two — so what will you do now that you are two?
Commentary
The saying moves from cosmology to the reader in three steps. The closing question is genuinely open: Thomas poses the problem of division here and answers it in sayings 22 and 106.
Parallels
Mark 13:31; Matthew 24:35
Sayings on the same themes
- Saying 4 Saying 4: The Old Man and the Infant An old man will not hesitate to ask a seven-day-old infant about the place of life, and will live; many who are…
- Saying 72 Saying 72: Who Made Me a Divider? A man asks Jesus to make his brothers share their inheritance with him; Jesus asks who made him a divider, and turns…
- Saying 111 Saying 111: The Heavens Will Roll Up The heavens and the earth will roll up in front of you, and whoever is alive from the living one will not…
- Saying 85 Saying 85: Adam Was Not Worthy of You Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you; had he been worthy, he would not…
- Saying 29 Saying 29: Spirit Dwelling in Poverty If flesh came into being because of spirit that is a marvel; if spirit because of the body, a marvel of marvels.…
- Saying 89 Saying 89: Washing the Outside of the Cup Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that whoever made the inside also made the outside?