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Galatians

About this book
Chapter 6

1 Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else. 5 For each one will carry his own load. 6 Now the one who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with the one who teaches it. 7 Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows,⁠ 8 because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.⁠ 9 So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.⁠ 11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. 14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.⁠ 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! 16 And all who will behave in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them,⁠ and on the Israel of God. 17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.⁠ 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare Galatians 6:14 and Gospel of Philip 6:47

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

Galatians describes Paul and the world as crucified to each other. The Gospel of Philip says Jesus came crucifying the world. The shared language makes the cross a break with the world's powers, connecting Philip's meal with Paul's freedom from them.

Passages

Galatians 6:14

New Testament
11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand! 12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. 14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! 16 And all who will behave in accordance with this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on the Israel of God.
48–55 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Galatians

Gospel of Philip 6:47

Nag Hammadi
Some men do a lot of walking, and they make no progress toward any destination. When evening overtakes them, they have seen neither any city nor any village, nor anything man-made nor of nature, as well as any power and any angel. These despicable people have worked for nothing. The Eucharist is Jesus, because in Syriac it is called “Pharisatha,” that is, “he who is spread out,” because Jesus came crucifying the world. The Lord entered Levi’s dyeing-place, and took seventy-two colors, and cast them into the vat, and took out all of them white, and he said: “In this way the Son of the Son of Man has come [as] a dyer.”
180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... Finally Paul rejects any ‘‘boasting’’: as one of the elect, he owes his redeniption entirely to “*the cross’’ which signifies his separation from the material and the psychic cosmos.* So, according to the author of Philip, “Jesus came crucifying the cosmos,” separating the hylic and psychic from the pneumatic elements.*? He concludes by reminding the Galatians that finally ‘‘neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but a new creation” (6:15). All who recognize the eschatological hope common to psychics and pneumatics alike are blessed with ‘‘peace and mercy,”’ but especially the elect, the ‘Israel of God,’’** whom he commends to grace (6:18). ...”
Elaine Hiesey Pagels, The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975), 112.

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

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Galatians 6:14 and Gospel of Philip 6:47

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