Arcana Dei: D. Thomas

'As with all genuine Truths, there is no beginning, for Truth is a constant. Nothing affects its grace except the balance of an individual's understanding of that Truth.

D. Thomas

That's the quote that starts the Maranatha puzzle book. The question is, who is D. Thomas?

It doesn't appear that there are any online references to the author of this quote. It's possible that the quote was made up just for the Maranatha book, but it really does sound like a historical quote of some kind.

Here are some candidates for the true identity of D. Thomas:

Dylan Thomas, Poet

This is the first name that came to mind. However this quote is not in verse, and Dylan Thomas is best known for his poems. Dylan Thomas' language is usually more forceful and evocative than the language in this quote, and his themes usually aren't this abstract. Most of Dylan Thomas' works are still copyrighted and not available online. However the site Under Milk Wood has a good selection of material, including audio recordings of many works read Dylan Thomas himself. Though one poem I haven't read yet has the promising title Osiris, Come to Isis.

For: An easy abbreviation; Welsh.
Against: Prose differs from Dylan Thomas' usual style.
Quote: 'I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression.'

Dave Thomas, Freemason and Founder of the Wendy's restaurant chain.

Laugh not! Dave Thomas was a famous Freemason. He has also published a book of quotes, though they tend toward dry business wisdom.

For: Freemason; Given first name is actually Rex.
Against: Not a big philosopher on the theme of Truth.
Quote: 'You earn your reputation by the things you do every day.'

Danny Thomas, Entertainer and Sitcom Creator.

Danny Thomas was also a famous Freemason.

For: An easy abbreviation; Freemason.
Against: Not a theme he had much to say about.
Quote: 'Our Order...teaches, "the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God" and this is great! The world needs so desperately to discover the value of this great truth in human relationships and world affairs.'

Didymus Judas Thomas, Apostle

The apostle Thomas was called "Doubting Thomas" because at first he didn't believe that Jesus had been resurrected. His full name was Didymus Judas Thomas. So the D in our abbreviation could stand for Didymus or Doubting.

As I mentioned in a previous article, Thomas might well have been the brother of Jesus. In fact the words Didymus and Thomas both mean "twin" in Greek and Aramaic respectively, so people have speculated that he was Jesus' twin brother -- though perhaps only in a spiritual sense.

After Jesus died, Thomas became Thomas the Wanderer, spreading a version of the Christian philosphy to India and the East.

Didymus Judas Thomas was named as the author of a number of non-canonical works including the Gospel of Thomas. The Gospel of Thomas presents the saying of Jesus in a very simple form. While some of these saying touch on the concept of Truth, they do not contain our quote above.

For: An easy abbreviation; he fits the Gnostic Christian theme.
Against: Can't attribute the actual quote to him.
Quote: ' Jesus said, "When you make the two one, you will become the sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, move away,' it will move away."'

Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas, Philosopher Monk

St. Thomas Aquinas was given the title Doctor of the Church in 1568, nearly 300 years after his death. In later literature he is referred to as Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas. (St. Athanasisus was also made a Doctor, by the way). Abbreviating his title as D. Thomas might be a stretch though.

Still, he wrote a number of books of philosophy and theological arguments. Many of his writings discuss the concept of Truth, and one of his books, On Veritate (On Truth), is entirely devoted to the subject.

For: Philosopher; Monk; often used similar language and themes.
Against: An awkward abbreviation.
Quote: 'If therefore we speak of Truth, as it exists in the Intellect, according to its proper nature, then are there many Truths in many created Intellects; and even in one and the same Intellect, according to the number of things known.'

An Anonymous Author or A Made-up Name

D. Thomas could just be one of the anonymous authors of the Maranatha book itself. Or, it could be a non-famous person known to those authors. Or it could be a coded set of characters with some other meaning.

This theory is bolstered by the fact that the Parchment of Clues released by the Maranatha authors attributes another quote to D. Thomas:

'..As with all historic engimas, simply join the missing dots to find the real Secrets..'

Though the first few words are the same, that quote's theme is quite different from the theme of the first one. It makes it seem that D. Thomas is just a cipher of some kind, for puzzle purposes.

But we can still speculate, can't we?

Comments

I don't know if this is related. I am new to this puzzle book. I ordered a used copy of the book and got a signed copy--signed, it says, by the co-author. The name of the co-author may already be known to you and others, but I neither know the name nor can I fully read the inscription. It reads, "All the best! D-[unreadable] CO-AUTHOR”. The point of this comment is that the illegible part of the autograph could be "Thomas" though I cannot read a single letter after the "D-".

Posted by: Mark Langenkamp | 14 February 2009 at 18:15