Lot and Rahab Are Saved for Their Hospitality

Chapter 11

1 For his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved from Sodom when all the surrounding country was judged by fire and sulfur. In this way the Master made clear beforehand that He does not abandon those who set their hope on Him, but appoints for punishment and torment those who turn aside. 2 For when his wife had gone out with him, being of a different mind and not in agreement, she was appointed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt to this day,⁠ in order that it might be known to all men that those who are double-minded and those who doubt the power of God are set for judgment and as a sign to all generations.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2 and Gospel of Philip 5:13

Early Christian · Nag Hammadi

Summary

The Gospel of Philip's damaged saying about salt may echo 1 Clement's account of Lot's wife. A sign of judgment becomes a name for barren Wisdom, connecting a warning about disobedience with the contrast between barrenness and the Spirit's many children.

Passages

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

1 For his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved from Sodom when all the surrounding country was judged by fire and sulfur. In this way the Master made clear beforehand that He does not abandon those who set their hope on Him, but appoints for punishment and torment those who turn aside. 2 For when his wife had gone out with him, being of a different mind and not in agreement, she was appointed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt to this day, in order that it might be known to all men that those who are double-minded and those who doubt the power of God are set for judgment and as a sign to all generations.

90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

Gospel of Philip 5:13

Nag Hammadi

Consequently, a disciple one day asked the Lord for some thing of the world. He said to him: “Ask your Mother and she will give to you from the others.” The apostles said to the disciples: “May our entire sacrifice have salt.” They called [Wisdom] “salt.” Without her, the sacrifice is not [rendered] acceptable. Wisdom, however, [is] barren, [without] child. Consequently, [she] is called [...] of salt, where they will [...] in their manner. The holy Spirit [...] [...], and many are her children. What the Father possesses belongs to the Son. Even the Son himself, while he is young, he is not entrusted with what belongs to him. Then, when he becomes Man, his Father gives him everything that is his.

180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... 36. But Sophia is barren [(and) without] children. Because of this she is called '[the pillar](?) of salt'. Wherever they shall [ ] in their way, [there ] the Holy Spirit [ ]. (p. 60) [An]d (so) her children are (none the less) many. [...] 22. Cf. 1 Clem. 11.2; ZP XXXVI 301; but above all Iren. adv. Haer. IV 31.3, where Lot's wife who became a pillar of salt (statua salis) is interpreted positively as an image of the Church. ...”

Hans-Martin Schenke, “The Gospel of Philip,” in New Testament Apocrypha, Volume 1: Gospels and Related Writings, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher and R. McL. Wilson (Cambridge: James Clarke, 1991), 192, 207.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Lot and Rahab Are Saved for Their Hospitality

1 Clement65 chapters

Compare Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2 and Gospel of Philip 5:13

Summary

Passages

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

Gospel of Philip 5:13

References

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