Texts in Conversation
In the Gospel of Philip, Jesus says he came to make below like above and outside like inside. The Gospel of Thomas also sets above and below next to inside and outside, and since no other version of the saying has both, Philip probably drew on Thomas.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Gospel of Thomas 1:22
Nag Hammadi
21 Mary said to Jesus, “Whom are your disciples like?” He said, “They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, ‘Give our field back to us.’ They take off their clothes in front of them to give it back and return their field to them. For this reason I say, if the owner of a house knows that a thief is coming, he will keep watch before he comes and will not let him break into the house of his kingdom and steal his goods. So you should keep watch against the world; gird your loins with great strength so that the robbers do not find a way to come to you, for the difficulties you expect will arise. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the crop ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear should hear.” 22 Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These little ones being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the kingdom as little ones?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same—so that the male will not be male and the female not be female—when you fashion eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].” 23 Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.”
Gospel of Philip 8:14
Nag Hammadi
The Lord [performed] all things with a symbolic meaning, (including) baptism, and chrismation, and Eucharist, and redemption, and bridal chamber. [...] he [said]: “I have come to make [what is below] like what is [above, and what is outside] like what is [inside, and to unite] them together in the place [...] here with [types ...].” Those who say, “[...] one is above [...,” they] are mistaken, [because] what is revealed is what [..., what] is called “what is below,” and what is secret pertains to what is above it, because it is good, and they say “inside” and “what is outside” and “what is the outermost.”
Search:
Notes and References
“... Also in Philip is a parallel to GTh 22.4 (‘When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below …’). There is just enough extant in the text of Philip to see the influence here: ‘He said, “I have come to make [the things] be[low] like the things [above, and the things] outside like those [inside]” ’ (Gos. Phil. 67,30–34). The other versions of the saying (G. Egy./ Cassian/ Clem. Strom. 3.13.92; 2 Clem. 12; Mart. Petr. 9; Act. Phil. 140) do not have reference to both ‘below/ above’ and ‘inside/ outside’, and these are adjacent in both Thomas and Philip (albeit not in the same order). As such, a literary relationship is probable. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,