Richard Valantasis is Associate Professor of Early Christian Literature at St. Louis University. His recent publications include Constructions of Power in Asceticism (Journal of the American Academy of Religion). Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he has served parishes and a woman's monastery. He conducts adult education and other retreats for the laity.

Preface, 1. Introduction: A Description of the Gospel of Thomas, 2. The Theology of the Gospel of Thomas, 3. The Date of the Gospel of Thomas, 4. The Gospel of Thomas and Asceticism, 5. My perspective on the Gospel of Thomas, 6. Symbols used in the text, 7. A Window on the Gospel of Thomas: the Greek Fragment Texts, 8. The Coptic Version of the Gospel of Thomas, References, Index.

This volume offers the first full commentary on the Gospel of Thomas, a work which has previously been accessible only to theologians and scholars. Valantasis provides fresh translations of the Coptic and Greek text, with an illuminating commentary, examining the text line by line. He includes a general introduction outlining the debates of previous scholars and situating the Gospel in its historical and theological contexts.
The Gospel of Thomas provides an insight into a previously inaccessible text and presents Thomas' gospel as an integral part of the canon of Biblical writings, which can inform us further about the literature of the Judeo-Christian tradition and early Christianity.