Texts in Conversation
The Gospel of Philip reuses Matthew's curtain torn from top to bottom to explain why people below can enter what lies above. A sign accompanying Jesus' death becomes an opening into the bridal chamber, making the curtain a passage into God's presence.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 27:51
New Testament
50 Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. 51 Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. 52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. 53 (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) 54 Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”
Gospel of Philip 9:12
Nag Hammadi
[...] these ones called [the Holies] of the Holies [... whose] veil was torn [...] bridal chamber, excepting the image [... which] [is above]. This is why its veil was torn from top to bottom, because some from below had to ascend above. The powers are unable to see those who have donned the perfect light, and they are unable to hold them back, and a person dons that light in the symbolic image, in the union. If the female had not separated from the male, she would not have died together with the male. His separation was the beginning of death. Consequently, Christ came, in order that the separation that took place in the beginning could be cured.
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Notes and References
“... Here, the bridal chamber is actually identified as the holy of holies of the temple, “the place where only the High Priest enters” (69.21–22; pma e¥areparyiereu[s] bwk exoun emau oua[a]f). According to Gos. Phil., access to the bridal chamber qua holy of holies has been granted to the Valentinian by virtue of Christ’s self-sacrifice on the Cross. For in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, it was when Jesus screamed the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and let out a final death-cry that the temple veil “was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). Similarly, Gos. Phil. 68.2–627 quotes Jesus’s death-cry and states that the veil of the holy of holies was “rent from top to bottom,” thereby facilitating a heavenly ascent for those who are below.62 For when “the holies of the holies were revealed” (netouaab Nnetouaab auqwlp ebol), the formerly enslaved spiritual seed “will be free and the captives ransomed” (NaReleuce[ros auw] Nseswte Naiymalwtos).63 ...”
Twigg, Matthew
The Temple-Mystical Background to a Valentinian Saying of the Saviour: The Interpretation of Knowledge (NHC XI, 1) 10.18–38
(p. 51) Correspondences, 2013
* 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.
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