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of the likeness and the model. The âlikenessâ of Thomas 84:1 is what Plato called á½Î¼Î¿á½·ÏÎ¼Î± in his
dialogues: an imitation of a model, e.g. a reflection in the water or a portrait made by an artist. The
âimageâ of Thomas 84:2 is the model, i.e. the paradigmatic image. Thus, Thomas 84:1 describes that
which imitates us, whereas Thomas 84:2 describes that which we imitate. In other words, saying 84
portrays the contrast between different levels of being. Just as a human is greater than his or her
likeness, so also is the paradigmatic image of this human greater than the human him- or herself.
Having treated each of the relevant sayings individually, I proceeded to a discussion of the
Thomasine metaphysics of the image as a whole. Most significantly, Thomas employs the language
of the image to talk about salvation history. The sayings discussed in this chapter provide us with
sufficient information to reconstruct the Thomasine views on the three defining points in history (the
beginning, the Fall, and the end) and the three historical stages (the past, the present, and the future),
represented thus:
the past
the beginning
Thomas 50:1
the Fall
Thomas 22:6
the present
Thomas 83:1
Thomas 84:2
the future
the end
Thomas 83:2
In the beginning, the light revealed itself by means of the paradigmatic image (Thomas 50:1). Later,
this image was replaced with a counterfeit (Thomas 22:6), which is the reason why, today, the light
is concealed in mundane images (Thomas 83:1) and the paradigmatic images do not become manifest
(Thomas 84:2). In the end, the situation will change: the restored image will reveal itself by means of
the light (Thomas 83:2). As this summary demonstrates, Thomasine protology and eschatology do
not duplicate each other; Thomas does not envision salvation as merely returning to the original state.
Rather, there is an antithetic parallelism between protology and eschatology; the end is, in a way, the
opposite of the beginning.
Finally, at the end of this chapter, I offered a reflection on the alternation between the singular
and plural numbers in the sayings that deal with the paradigmatic image. The fact that the plural form
occurs only in Thomas 84:2, the saying that deals with the current state of events, makes it likely that
the use of the plural number is intentional. As I pointed out, to attain salvation in Thomas means not
only to restore the image, but also to âbecome one.â Moreover, just like we had the image, but lost it,
so also we were âone,â but then became âmany.â Thus, âour imagesâ in the plural in Thomas 84:2
reflects the woeful fact that present-day humanity is devoid of oneness.