Book of Thomas the Contender

'The Gospel of Thomas' is a non-canonical gospel consisting of 114 sayings of Jesus; it may well have been written in the first century, which would make the document earlier than the four gospels of the Bible. It is generally considered to be Gnostic in orientation (and was declared heretical in the second century) but it allows the reader an unparalleled opportunity to partake of an independent tradition concerning Jesus. 'The Acts of Thomas' claims to be an historical account of the eponymous Saint's evangelizing journey to India and his adventures there. St. Thomas was martyred in Western India at the Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan. 'The Book of Thomas the Contender' in part of the Nag Hammadi Library (as is the;Gospel of Thomas'), unearthed in Egypt in December 1945. It's content is overtly Gnostic, with the body considered a 'prison' of the soul, and secret knowledge from Jesus (rather than His atoning death on the cross) regarded as the road to spiritual enlightenment.