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The Gospel of Philip may echo Romans' hope that creation, unwillingly enslaved, will become free. It distinguishes forced slavery from a free person's choice to sell themselves, making the prospect of freedom depend on how the enslavement began.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Romans 8:20
New Testament
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Gospel of Philip 11:30
Nag Hammadi
He who is a slave unwillingly, he will be able to be free. He who has been freed as the gift of his master, and has then sold himself into slavery, he will no longer be able to be free again. Agriculture in the world is carried out by four elements, gathering into the storehouse because of water, and earth, and wind, and light, and even the agriculture of God resembles this, because of four: because of faith, and hope, and love, and knowledge. Our earth is faith, in which we put down roots, [and] the [water] is hope, through [which we] feed. The wind is love, through which we grow, and the light [is] knowledge, through which we [ripen].
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Notes and References
“... Exe 49.1-2. The author of the Gospel of Philip, who alludes to In 8:32-36 to describe the one who has “‘gnosis of the truth” as the free man who does not sin (EP 125,15-18), may refer as well to Rom 8:20 when he adds that ‘‘whoever is a slave against his will will be able to become free (EP 127.14-15; cf. 133.28-30). ...”
Pagels, Elaine Hiesey
The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters
(p. 51) Fortress Press, 1975
* 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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