Introduction: Like Produces Like; Hebrews, Christians; Life and Death
1A Hebrew creates a Hebrew, and [those] of this kind are called “a proselyte.” A p[rose]lyte, however, does not create a proselyte [...] [...] they resemble [...] and they create yet more [...] [...] only [...] will be sufficient for them, in order that they could come to exist. The slave seeks only to be free. He, however, does not seek the possessions of his master. The son, however, not only is he a son, but he claims for himself the inheritance of the father. Those who inherit the dead, they are dead also, and they inherit the dead. Those who inherit the living, they are living, and they inherit the living as well as the dead. The dead inherit nothing, because how could the dead inherit? If the dead were to inherit the living, he would not die, but the dead would instead live. A gentile does not die, because he has never lived to be able to die. He who has been faithful to the truth, he has lived, and this one has the potential to die, because he has been alive from the day Christ arrived. Created is adornment, adorned are the cities, the dead one is carried out. When we were Hebrews, we were without a father; we possessed our mother. When, however, we became Christians, we obtained a father and a mother. Those who sow in winter will reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer is the other age. Let us sow in the world in order for us to be able to reap in summer. Consequently, it is fitting that we do not pray in winter. What follows winter is summer. If someone, however, would reap in winter, he will not reap. He will instead uproot, exactly like someone who will not bring forth fruit [...]. He not only will come forth [...], but also on the Sabbath [...] it will be without fruit. Christ came to purchase some; however, to save others; also, to redeem others. The strangers were the ones he purchased, and he made them to belong to him, and he placed those who belong to him apart. These are the ones he specified as a deposit in his will. Not only when he appeared did he lay down his life whenever he willed, but from the day the world existed he laid down his life whenever he willed. He then came, first to take possession of it, because it had been specified as a deposit. It came into the possession of the thieves, and they captured it. He, however, saved it, and the good in the world, he redeemed them, as well as the bad. Light and darkness, life and death, right and left, they are each brothers to one another. They cannot be separated from each other. Consequently, neither are the good good, nor are the bad bad. Nor is life life, nor is death death. Consequently, each of these will dissolve, returning to its primary origin. Those, however, that are above the world cannot be dissolved. They dwell among what is eternal.
Names-Labels; Truth and Error
2The names assigned to what pertains to the world include a great error. This is because they cause the mind to stray from what is right to what is not right. Even he who hears “God” does not think of what is right, but he thinks of what is not right. The same is even the case with “the Father,” and “the Son,” and “the holy Spirit,” and “the life,” and “the light,” and “the resurrection,” and “the church,” and everything else. It is not the case that [what is right] is thought of, but what is [not] right is thought of, unless they have thought the right way. The [names that are heard] pertain to the world. [...] [deceive]. [If they pertained] to the age (to come) they would never have been assigned as names in the world, nor would they have been assigned to things pertaining to the world. They will have their end in the age (to come). There is one name that is not spoken in the world, the name the Father gave to the Son. It is exalted above all, being the name of the Father, because the Son would not have become Father if he had not donned the name of the Father. Those who possess this name know what it is, but they do not speak it. Those, however, who do not possess it, do not know what it is. Truth, however, brought forth names in the world for our sakes, because we cannot learn it apart from the names. Truth is both one and many, and it is our concern to teach this one thing alone in love by means of the many. The archons wanted to mislead the man because they saw he enjoyed kinship with what is truly good. They took the name of what is good and they applied it to those that are not good, in order that by means of the names they could mislead him and attach them to those that are not good, and subsequently, as though they are performing a service for them, to separate them from those that are not good, and to relocate them to those that are good. Of these matters they were aware, because they desired to take the one who was free and put him into slavery to them perpetually. There are powers that exist that [...] for man. They do not wish him to be [saved], in order that they may become [...], because if man [were saved], sacrifices [would not] take place, [...] and animals were sacrificed to the powers, because those who were sacrificed were animals. They were sacrificed while alive. However, when they were sacrificed, they died. The Man was sacrificed to God while dead, and he lived. Before Christ came, bread was lacking in the world, just as in Paradise, the place where Adam dwelt, several trees existed as food for the animals. There was no wheat there to serve as food for the man. The man ate like the animals. However, when Christ came, the Perfect Man, he brought bread from heaven, in order that the man would be fed with food appropriate for the man. The archons were thinking it was through their power and their desire that they were acting as they did. However, the holy Spirit in secret was bringing about everything by means of them as she wished. Truth, which has existed from the beginning, is sown in all places, and many are they who see it when it is sown. However, few there are who see it when it is reaped.
Divine Names; Resurrection
3Some say that Mary conceived by means of the holy Spirit. They are wrong, not understanding what they say. Has a female ever conceived by means of a female? Mary is the virgin whom no power has defiled. It is a great anathema for the Hebrews, who are the apostles and [the] apostolic ones. This virgin, whom no power has defiled, [...] the powers have defile[d] themselves. The Lord also [would] not [have] said, “my [Father, who is in] heaven,” if he did not have another father. He instead would only have said, [“my Father.”] The Lord said to the [disciples:] “[Take] [from] every [house], and bring (it) into the house of the Father. Do not, however, steal from the house of the Father, and do not take away.” “Jesus” is a concealed name; “Christ” is a revealed name. “Jesus,” consequently, does not exist in any language. Rather, “Jesus” is his name by which he is called. However, regarding “Christ,” its name in Syriac is “Messiah,” but in Greek it is “Christ.” Everyone else has it in accord with each one of their respective languages. “The Nazarene” is the revealed (form) of the concealed. Christ possesses all things inside himself, regardless of whether that be a man, or an angel, or a symbolic image, as well as the Father. Those who say the Lord died first and then rose, they are wrong, because he rose first, and then he died. If someone does not gain the resurrection first, he will not (be able to) die. As God lives, that person would ‹not› d‹ie›. No one would conceal an important and valuable item in a container that looks valuable. Often, however, countless sums have been placed inside a container of little worth. This is the way it is regarding the soul: It is something valuable, and it has come to dwell inside a lowly body. Some are afraid that they might be resurrected naked. They consequently wish to rise in the flesh, and [they] do not understand that those who wear the [flesh] are the ones who are naked. These [able] to unclothe themselves [are] not naked. Flesh [and blood shall] not inherit the kingdom [of God]. What shall not inherit? What we wear on us. What, however, shall also inherit? What belongs to Jesus and his blood. He consequently said: “He who will not eat my flesh and drink my blood, life is not in him.” What is this? His flesh is the Logos, and his blood is the holy Spirit. He who has obtained these possesses food, and he possesses drink and garments. Regarding myself, I find in error others who say that it will not rise, or both of them are in error. You say the flesh will not rise. Tell me, though, what shall rise, so we can congratulate you. You say “the spirit inside the flesh.” It is also this other light inside the flesh, it being a logos, because regardless of what you say, you say nothing except in the flesh. It is necessary to rise in this flesh, because all things dwell inside it. In this world, those who wear garments surpass the garments. In the kingdom of Heaven, the garments surpass those who have donned them.
Baptism, Chrism, and Eucharist
4With water and fire are all things purified, the revealed with the revealed, the concealed with the concealed, there being some that are concealed with the revealed. Water is inside water, fire is inside chrism. Jesus overcame them all with concealment, because he did not appear as he was. Instead, it was as [they were] capable of seeing him that he appeared. [All of these], he appeared to them. He [appeared] to [the] large as large. He [appeared] to the small as small. He [appeared] [to the] angels as an angel, and to humans as a human. Consequently, his Logos concealed itself from everyone. Some saw him, imagining they saw themselves. When he, however, appeared to his disciples in glory on the mountain, he was not small; he became large. He, however, made the disciples large, in order that they could see him as large. He said on that day during the Eucharist: “He who has joined the perfect, the light, together with the holy Spirit, may he join together the angels also with us, together with the images.” Despise not the lamb, because without it no one can see the door. No one can approach the king naked. The heavenly man possesses more children than the earthly man. If the children of Adam are many, despite (the fact) that they die, how many more will be the children of the Perfect Man, these who die not, but are born perpetually? The Father begets a Son, and the Son is unable to beget a Son, because someone who has been begotten is unable to beget. The Son, by contrast, gets brothers, not sons. Everyone who is begotten in the world is begotten by means of what is physical. Also the others with [...] are begotten through what [...] from there. To the man [...] with the [...] from above. [...] him from the mouth, [...] the word came from there, he would be nourished from the mouth, [and] he would become perfect, because it is with a kiss that the perfect conceive and beget. Consequently, we, also, kiss each another, conceiving from the grace that dwells inside each other.
Divine Names and the Holy Spirit-Wisdom; Straying
5There were three who walked with the Lord continually: His mother Mary, and her sister, and Magdalene, who is called “his companion,” because Mary was his sister, and his mother, and his partner. The Father and the Son are single names. The holy Spirit is a double name, because they dwell everywhere, above, below, inside what is concealed, inside what is revealed. The holy Spirit dwells inside what is revealed, she being below. She dwells inside what is concealed, she being above. The holy ones are served through evil powers, because they have been blinded by the holy Spirit, in order that they will believe they are serving a man when they are serving the holy ones. 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. O you who err, that to which the Spirit gives birth is also made idle because of her. Consequently, because of that one Spirit, the lamp is lit and extinguished. Echamoth is one, and Echmoth is another. Echamoth is Wisdom as one, but Echmoth is the Wisdom of death, that is, the Wisdom who knows death, who is called the minor Wisdom. Some animals have been tamed by man, such as the calf, and the donkey, and yet others of this kind. Some others have not been tamed, living by themselves in the deserts. Man ploughs the field with the tame animals, and in this way he feeds himself and the animals, regardless of whether they are tame or not. This is the way of the Perfect Man: He ploughs with powers that have been tamed, in preparation for everything to come into existence, because on account of this everything perdures, whether good or evil, and right and left. The holy Spirit shepherds everything, and she governs [all] the powers that have been tamed, as well as those that have [not been tamed], and those that dwell alone by themselves, because truly she [...] corrals them, [in order that ...] want to, they will be unable to [escape]. [He who was] formed [...]. you would find his children to be noble beings. If he had not been formed, but begotten, you would find his offspring noble. However, he was molded, and he begot. What nobility this is! First, an adulteress appeared, and she was followed by a murderer, even he who was begotten of adultery, because he was the son of the serpent. Consequently, he was a murderer like his father as well, and he killed his brother. Every act of sexual union that has occurred between those who are unlike each other equals adultery.
Baptism, Divine Names, Eucharist
6God is a dyer. Like the good dyes, called true, die with what have been dyed in them, this is the way it is with those whom God has dyed, because his dyes are deathless. They are deathless on account of his colored remedies. However, those whom God baptizes, he baptizes in water ‹and power›. It is not possible that anyone could see something that has been decreed unless he becomes like it. This is not the way it is with the man who dwells in the world. He sees the sun without becoming the sun, and he sees the sky, and the earth, and everything else without becoming them. This is the way it is with truth, however: You have seen some things there, and you have become them. You have seen the Spirit, and have become Spirit. You have seen Christ, and have become Christ. You have seen the [Father, and you] will become Father. Consequently, [here] you see all things, and you do not [see yourself]. You, however, will see yourself in [that place], because you will [become] what you see. Faith obtains, love gives. [No one can] [obtain] apart from faith. No one can give apart from love. Consequently, we believe so we can obtain. However, we give so we can love, because if someone does not give out of love, he will not profit from what he has given. He who has not obtained the Lord is still a Hebrew. The apostles who lived before us named in this way: “Jesus the Nazarene, Messiah,” that is, “Jesus the Nazarene, Christ.” The last name is “Christ,” the first is “Jesus,” the middle one is “the Nazarene.” “Messiah” bears two meanings, both “Christ” and “he who is measured.” “Jesus” in Hebrew means “salvation,” “Nazara” means “truth.” “The Nazarene” is consequently the (man of) truth. “Christ” was the one who was measured. “The Nazarene” and “Jesus” were the ones who were measured. If a pearl is cast down into the mud, it will not be more despised, nor will it be (more) precious if anointed with balsam. It remains, on the contrary, ever valuable to its master. This is the way it is with the children of God: Wherever they are, they remain ever valuable to their Father. Should you say, “I am a Jew,” no one will be moved. Should you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be distressed. Should you say, “I am a Greek,” “a barbarian,” “a slave,” [“a free,”] no one will be troubled. [Should] you [say], “I am a Christian,” the [world] will shake. If only [... of] this kind, the one [who ...] will be unable to bear [hearing] his name. God is a Man-eater. Consequently, the Man was [sacrificed] to him. Before the Man had been sacrificed, animals were sacrificed, because those to whom they sacrificed were not gods. Glass vessels as well as pottery vessels come to be with fire. If, however, glass vessels get broken, they are refashioned, because they came to be with a breath. By contrast, if pottery vessels get broken, they are destroyed, because they came to be without breath. A donkey turned a millstone, finishing (the equivalent of) a hundred-mile walk. When it let loose, it found itself still in exactly the same place. 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.”
The Sacraments; Life and Death
7The Wisdom that is called barren, she is the [Mother of the] [an]gel[s] as well as [the] companion of the [... Ma]ry Mag[da]lene. [... loved her] more than the disciples [... he] greet[ed] her on her [...] times. The rest of [...] [...] they said to him: “Why do you love her more than all of us?” The savior answered, and said to them: “Why is it that I do not love you in the way she does? A blind person and a sighted person who both dwell in darkness do not differ from each other. When the light arrives, then he who sees will behold the light, and he who is blind will persist in darkness.” The Lord said: “Blessed is he who is before he came to be,” because he who is has come to be, and he will come to be. The might of man is not seen, but it dwells in what is concealed. Consequently, he is lord of the animals that are mightier than him, that are mighty in accord with what is seen and what is concealed. Furthermore, this one imparts to them endurance, but if man removes himself from them, they will kill each other, and they will bite each other, and they will devour each other because they found no food. Now, however, they have found food, because man has tilled the earth. If someone descends into the water and ascends without obtaining anything, and says, “I am a Christian,” he possesses the name on loan at interest. However, if he obtains the holy Spirit, he possesses the gift of the name. He who has obtained a gift will not have it removed from him. He, however, who has borrowed at interest, it will be extorted from him. This is the way it is for us when someone comes into existence inside a symbolic image. [The] symbolic image of marriage [is] great, because [apart from] it the world would [not] have [come into existence], because [the c]ontinuance of th[e wor]ld [are] [hu]mans. However, the arrangement [... the] marriage. Contemplate [sexual union ...] defiled because it possesses [...] power. Its image dwells with [defilement]. [The forms] of unclean spirits include males and females. The males are those that unite with the souls that are of female form, and the females are those who mingle with those of male form. This results from the need to mingle. Further, no one can avoid their embraces if he does not obtain a male power as well as a female one, this being the bridegroom and the bride, and one obtains (this) from the symbolical bridal chamber. Whenever the ignorant women catch sight of a man remaining alone, they jump on him, and fool around with him, and defile him. This is the manner also of ignorant men: When they catch sight of a beautiful woman remaining alone, they seduce her and compel her, desiring to defile her. If, however, they catch sight of a husband and his wife remaining with each other, the women cannot gain access to the husband, nor can the men gain access to the wife. In this way, if the image and the angel unite with each another, no one will be able to risk gaining access to the [man] or the woman. He who departs from the world, and who can be held back no longer for having been in the world, it is evident that he is superior to the desire of the [... as well as] the dread. He is lord over [...], he has surpassed jealousy. If [...] comes, he will be held back. [He] will be strangled, and how will [he] be able to evade the [great powers ...]? How will he be able to [...]? Some there are who [say]: “We are faithful,” so as to [...] [an unclean spirit] and a demon, because if they possessed the holy Spirit, no unclean spirit would unite with them. Fear not the flesh, nor love it. If you fear it, it will control you. If you love it, it will gulp you down and immobilize you, and it will either be found in this world, or in the resurrection, or in the middle places. May I not be found in them. Good exists in this world, and evil exists as well. Its good things are not good, and its evil things are not evil. However, evil will exist after this world. It will be truly evil, called the middle: It is death. While we dwell in this world we must obtain for ourselves the resurrection, in order that when we remove the flesh from ourselves we will be found in rest, and not wander in the middle, given that many err on the path, because it is good to depart from the world before a person transgresses. Some neither desire, nor can they, but there are others for whom, even if they desired, it would be profitless for them, because they failed to act. Is desire the reason they are sinners? Yet what if they do not even desire? Righteousness would be concealed from both of them, and (the reason) is not the desire, and it is not the act. Someone who was apostolic beheld [in a] vision some who were captive inside a burning house, and [being] held with burning [...], being cast [...] from the flames [...] them in [...], [...] and they were informed [... possible] for them to be rescued [...] [...] they did not desire to, and they obtained [...] vengeance, which is called “the [outer] darkness,” because it [...].
The Sacraments; Names and Images
8From water and fire the soul as well as the spirit came to be, (and) from water and fire and light the son of the bridal chamber. The fire is the chrism, the light is the fire. I speak not of this fire that is formless, but of the other one with a white form, which glows beautifully, and which imparts beauty. Truth did not enter into the world naked, but it arrived with types and images. It will not be obtained in any other way. Rebirth exists, as well as an image of rebirth. It is necessary indeed to be born again through the image. What is resurrection and its image? Through the image it must rise. The bridal chamber as well as its image, through the image they must enter into the truth, which is the renewal. This is necessary for those who obtain the name of the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, but they must also bring them forth. If someone fails to obtain them for himself, even the name will be taken away from him, but someone who obtains them in the chrism of the [...] from the power of the cross. The apostles called this “[the] right and the left,” because this one is no longer a [Christian], but Christ. 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.” This is why the Lord called perdition, “the outer darkness,” and there is nothing further outside than it. He said: “My Father who is in secret.” He said, “Enter into your closet and close your door behind you, and pray to your Father who is in secret,” he who is the one inside all of them, but he who is inside all of them is the fullness, beyond which there is nothing else more interior. To describe this it is said, “what is above them.” Before Christ (came), some exited from where they could no longer enter, and they went to where they could no longer leave. Christ, however, came, and those who entered, he escorted them outside, and those who exited, he brought them inside. The days when Eve dwelt [inside] Adam, death did not exist. When she was separated from him, death came into being. When he enters again and receives it to himself, no death will occur. “[My] God, my God, why, O Lord, [have] you forsaken me?” It was on the cross that he spoke all this, because in that place he was divided. It was from what is [...] that he was begotten [...], through God. The [...] from among the dead [...] is, however, [...] he was complete [...] of flesh. However, this [...] is true flesh. [...] is not true, [but ...] image of what is true. A bridal chamber is not made for animals, nor is it made for slaves, nor for polluted women, but it is made for free men and virgins. We are born again through the holy Spirit. We are begotten, however, by Christ with the two. We are anointed by the Spirit. We were united when we were begotten. No one can see himself in water or in a mirror apart from light. Also, you cannot see in light apart from water, mirror. This is why baptism must be with both, with light and water, the light also being the chrism.
The Jerusalem Temple and the Bridal Chamber as Restoration of Primordial Androgyny
9There existed three houses of sacrifice in Jerusalem. One, facing west, is called the Holy. The other one, facing south, is called the Holy of the Holy. The third, facing east, is called the Holy of the Holies, the place where the high priest alone enters. Baptism is the Holy house. [Redemption] is the Holy of the Holy. The Holy of the Holies is the bridal chamber. [Baptism] includes the resurrection [together with] the redemption, the redemption being with the bridal chamber. However, [the] bridal chamber is with what surpasses even [...] [...] you will not find its [...] the place [...] who pray [...] Jerusalem [... Jeru]salem [... Jerusa]lem, awaiting [...] [...] 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. He will join them both together again, and those who died in the separation, he will grant them life, and he will unite them, and the woman will unite with her husband in the bridal chamber, and those who have united in the bridal chamber will be separated no longer. Eve separated from Adam because it was not in the bridal chamber that she united with him. It was from a breath that Adam’s life began. Its companion was the Spirit. What was granted to him was his Mother. His soul was [removed], and he was granted [life] to replace it. When he united [...] words that surpassed the powers, and they were jealous of him, [...] spirit[ual] companion [...] concealed [...] [...] that is, the [...] they themselves [...] bridal chamber, in order that [...]. Jesus manifested [... the Jo]rdan, the [fullness of the kingdom] of Heaven. He who [had been begotten] before everything, he was again begotten. He [who had been anointed] at the first, he was again anointed. He who had been redeemed, he was again redeemed. It is truly appropriate to speak concerning a symbolic image. The All-Father united with the virgin who descended, and a fire illumined him. It was on that day that he revealed the great bridal chamber. This was the reason that his body came into existence. It was on that day that he emerged from the bridal chamber like one who had come into existence from the bridegroom and the bride. This is how Jesus founded all things inside himself, by means of these, and each disciple must enter, entering into his rest. Adam came into existence from two virgins, from the Spirit, and from the virgin Earth. This is why Christ was born from a virgin, in order that he could cure the fall that had occurred in the beginning. Two trees are growing in paradise. One produces [animals], while the other produces men. Adam [ate] from the tree that produced animals, [and he turned into] an animal, and he begot [animals]. This is why the offspring of Adam worship [animals]. The tree [whose] fruit [he ate], this has multiplied [transgressions]. [If he had] eaten the [...] fruit of the [tree of life that] begets men, [...] from the man from [...]. God produces men [..., men] produce [God]. In this way, in the world men produce gods, and they worship what they have created. It would be more fitting if gods were to worship men. Like the case of the truth, so it is concerning the works of man, which are the outcome of his power. Consequently, they are called the works of power, being his deeds. From rest his children come into existence. This is why his power dwells in his works. It is, however, in the children that rest is made manifest. Also you will recognize that this pertains to the image as well, and this is the man who pertains to the image. From his power he performs his deeds. From rest, however, he begets his offspring. In this world it is the slaves who serve those who are free. In the kingdom of Heaven, those who were free will serve the slaves. The sons of the bridal chamber will serve the sons of the [marriage]. [The] sons of the bridal chamber are in [one and the same] condition: Rest. [Existing] together with each other, they have no need to take on (another) form, [given that they possess] contemplation [...] perception. They surpass [...] among those who dwell in the [...] the glories of the [...] not [...] them.
The Symbolic Meaning of the Sacraments
10[Jesus had to] descend into the [water, in order for] him to redeem himself. [...], namely those who have [been baptized] in his name, because he said: “[This is the way] we will perform all righteousness.” Those who say they will die first, and they will rise, are mistaken. If they do not first obtain the resurrection while they are alive, they will not obtain anything after they die. This is also how they talk about baptism, saying that baptism is something great, because if they obtain it, they will live. Philip the apostle said: “Joseph the carpenter planted a garden because he needed wood to carry out his trade. He was the one who made the cross from the trees he had planted, and his seed hung on what he had planted. His seed was Jesus, and the plant was the cross.” However, the Tree of Life dwells in the midst of the garden, and from the olive tree came the chrism, and from it came the resurrection. This world is a corpse-eater. All that are eaten in it will die as well. Truth is a life-eater. Consequently, not one of those who feed on [truth] will die. From that place came Jesus, and from there he brought food, and those who desired, he let them [eat, in order that] they would not die. [God planted a] garden, [man ...] garden. Some there are [...] dwell with [...] of God in [...] those in [it ...]. I wish that [garden is the place where it] will be said to me: [“... eat] this,” or, “do not eat [that,” as you] desire. This is the place where I will eat everything, where the Tree of Knowledge dwells, the one that killed Adam. However, the Tree of Knowledge here has restored life to man. The Law was the tree. It was able to bestow knowledge of good and evil. It neither took away from him evil, nor did it establish him in what is good. Instead, it produced death for those who ate of it, because when he said, “eat this,” “do not eat that,” it was the origin of death. The chrism surpasses baptism, because from the chrism we were called “Christian,” not on account of baptism, and it was owing to the chrism that “Christ” was named, because the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses all things. He possesses the resurrection, the light, the cross, the holy Spirit. The Father granted him this in the bridal chamber. He obtained it, and the Father came to dwell inside the Son, and the Son inside the Father. This is [the kingdom] of Heaven. The Lord said [it] well: “Some entered into the kingdom of Heaven laughing, and they went out [laughing].” [...] a Christian [...] and instantly [... descended] into the water, and he rose [up as lord of] everything, because [redemption] is [no] game, [but one laughs] this [way] into the kingdom of [Heaven ...] [...] if he hates [...] and if he despises it as a game, [he will come out] laughing. This is also the way it is with the bread, and the cup, and the oil, despite there being one that surpasses these. The world was brought about by a lapse, because he who caused it desired to make himself indestructible and deathless. He perished, and he failed to attain what he hoped for, because the world was not indestructible, and the one who brought about the world was not indestructible, because things are not indestructible, but children are, and there is no thing that can obtain indestructibility apart from being a child. However, he who cannot accept, how much more will it be the case that he cannot give? The cup of prayer contains wine, and it contains water, because it has been established as the type of the blood for which thanksgiving is offered, and it fills with the holy Spirit, and it belongs to the completely Perfect Man. Whenever we drink this, we obtain the Perfect Man. The living water is a body. We must don the living man. Consequently, descending to the water, he strips himself naked, in order that he can don that one. A horse begets a horse, a man begets a man, a god begets a god. This is the way it is with [the] bride[groom] and brides [as well]. They [come to be] from the [bridegroom and bride]. No Jew [comes to be] from [Greeks], and [no Greek comes to be] from the Jews, [but from the Jews] the Christians [came forth], and these bl[essed ones] were called the elect spir[itual] race, and the True Man, and the Son of Man, and the Seed of the Son of Man. This true race is distinguished in the world, being the places where the sons of the bridal chamber reside. In this world, union is that of male and female, the dwelling of power and weakness. In the age (to come), the likeness of union differs, yet we label them with these (same) names. However, there exist others, being above any name that is named, and they surpass the strong, because where strength is found, there dwell those who are even stronger, who are not both same and different, but who are both one, single. This is what cannot descend on the fleshly heart. Is it not required that all those who possess all things know themselves thoroughly? Some who know not themselves will not derive any good from what they possess. Those, however, who have come to know themselves will derive good from them. Not only will they be incapable of holding back the Perfect Man, but they will even be incapable of seeing him, because if they were to see him, they would hold him back. No one could obtain for himself this gift in any way [other than by] donning the perfect light, [and] himself becoming perfect [light]. [He who has donned it on] himself will enter [the place of rest]. This is the perfect [light, and] we [must] become [the perfect light] before we depart from [the world]. He who obtains all things, [...] these places, he will be [in]capable of [reaching] that place, but he will [enter the] middle in an imperfect state. Jesus is the only one who knows the destiny of this one. The priest is entirely holy, even his body, because if he holds the bread he will render it holy, or the cup, or anything else that he holds and purifies, and how could he not purify the body as well? Jesus perfected the water of baptism. This is how he emptied out death. Consequently, we descend into the water, but we do not descend into death, to prevent us from being emptied out in the spirit of the world. Whenever it blows, winter starts. Whenever the holy Spirit blows, summer starts.
The Victory of Knowledge in Truth and Love
11He who has knowledge of the truth is free, and a free man sins not, because “he who sins is a slave to sin.” Truth is the Mother, but knowledge is the ‹Father›. Those who do not let themselves sin, the world calls them “free.” The knowledge of the truth makes those who do not let themselves sin to be lifted up, which means that they are made free, and it lifts them up above all things, but love builds up, and he who has been made free by means of knowledge is a slave because (he has) love for those who have not yet been able to obtain [the] freedom of knowledge. [However], it is knowledge that makes them able [to] become free. Love [never says it owns] anything, yet [everything] is owned by it. It does not [say “That is mine,”] or, “This is mine,” but instead, [“Everything that is mine] is yours.” Spiritual love is wine as well as fragrance. All who anoint themselves with it [derive good from] it. Those who stand near them also derive good, as do those anointed ones who are standing there. If those who are anointed with ointment leave them and go away, those who are not anointed, who only stand near them, they return to being stuck in their stench. The Samaritan gave nothing to the injured man but wine and oil. It was nothing other than the ointment, and it cured the injuries, because “love covers a multitude of sins.” He whom the woman loves, he is the one whom those she will give birth to will look like. If this be her husband, they will look like her husband. If it be an adulterer, they will look like the adulterer. It is frequently the case that when a woman sleeps with her husband because she is obligated, yet her thoughts dwell on the adulterer with whom she is used to having sex, the one to whom she will give birth will look like the adulterer. You, however, who are united with the Son of God, love not the world, but love the Lord, in order that those you will give birth to will not to be like the world, but that they will be like the Lord. A human unites with a human, a horse unites with a horse, a donkey unites with a donkey. A species is accustomed to unite [with] the corresponding species. This is the way Spirit unites with Spirit, and Logos has communion with Logos, [and Light has] communion [with Light]. [If you] become Man, [the Man will] love you. If you become [Spirit], the Spirit will unite with you. [If] you become Logos, the Logos will mingle with you. If [you] become Light, the Light will have communion with you. If you become one of those above, those who dwell above will rest on you. If you become a horse, or a donkey, or a calf, or a dog, or a sheep, or some other of the animals that dwell outside and below, being neither Man, nor Spirit, nor Logos, nor Light, nor those above, nor those inside, they will be unable to love you. They will not be able to rest inside you, and you will have no share inside them. 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]. Grace is of [four modes, being] earthly, being [heavenly, ... being of] the heaven of the heaven, [...]. [Blessed] is he who has not [grieved] a soul. This is Jesus Christ. He traveled everywhere and burdened no one. This type of person is consequently a blessed one, given that he is Perfect Man, because the Logos explains to us how difficult it is to attain. How could we be capable of achieving what is great? How could he be capable of giving rest to everyone? Most importantly, it is not right to cause grief to anyone, whether great or small, or unfaithful or faithful, and (also most importantly, it is right) to give rest to those resting in the good. Some derive profit from giving rest to someone who is rich. He who does the good may feel unable to give rest to these, because he is not undertaking something that pleases him. He cannot, however, let himself cause grief, because he must not distress them. He, however, who becomes rich will at times cause them grief. It is not that he is like one (who causes grief), but it is something in them that is wrong that causes them grief. He who possesses the nature for it will bring joy to the good, but there are some who grieve intensely over this. An owner of a household gained everything, be it child, or slave, or cattle, or dog, or pig, or corn, [or] barley, or chaff, or hay, or [...], or meat, and acorn, [but he is] wise, and he knows which food is for each [one]. He gave bread to the children, [...], but he gave [... and grain to] the slaves, and [he pitched barley], and chaff, and hay to the cattle. He threw bones to the dogs, [and] he threw acorns and slop to [the pigs]. This is the way of the disciple of God. If he be wise, he will know what being a disciple is. The forms of the body will not fool him, but he will assess the condition of each individual soul, and will speak with him. Many animals in the world are in the form of humans. If he recognizes them, he will throw acorns to the pigs, but he will pitch barley, and chaff, and hay to the cattle. He will throw bones to the dogs. To the slaves he will give what is preliminary, and to the children he will give what is perfect. The Son of Man is one, and the Son of the Son of Man is another. The Lord is the Son of Man, and the Son of the Son of Man is he who creates by means of the Son of Man. The Son of Man obtained from God the power to create. He possesses the power to beget. He who has obtained the power to create is a created entity. He who has obtained (the power) for begetting is a begotten entity. He who creates is unable to beget. He who begets is able to create. It is said that he who creates begets, but his offspring is a created entity, [because] it is not by being begotten [that they] are his children, but they are [created entities]. He who creates works [visibly], and he himself is [manifest]. He who begets does so in [secret], and he is concealed, [beyond all] image. [What is more], he who [creates, creates] visibly, but he who begets, [begets] children in secret. No [one can] know [when the husband] and the wife have sex with each other but they themselves, because marriage in the world is a symbolic image for those who have taken a wife. If marriage in pollution is secret, how much more is the unpolluted marriage a true symbolic image. It is not fleshly, but pure. It does not pertain to desire, but to choice. It does not belong to the darkness or to the night, but it belongs to the day and to the light. If a marriage be denuded, it becomes fornication, and not just if the bride takes in the sperm of another man, but even should she just leave her bedroom and be seen, she has fornicated. She must be seen only by her father, and her mother, and the friend of the bridegroom, and the sons of the bridegroom. These are the ones who are allowed to enter the bridal chamber on a daily basis. However, the others are allowed only to desire to hear her voice and to relish her ointment. They are also allowed to feed on the crumbs that fall from the table, like dogs. Bridegrooms and brides belong in the bridal chamber. No one can see the bridegroom together with the bride unless [he become] these. When Abraham [...] for him to see what he was to see, [he] circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, [instructing] us that we must destroy the flesh. [Most] in [the] world continue and remain alive as long as their [insides are concealed]. [If they are made visible], they will die, in accord with the [pattern] of the man (as a) visible (entity). [As long as] the insides of the man are concealed, the man will remain alive. When his insides are made visible, they fall out of him, and the man dies. The same is also the case with a tree. As long as its root remains concealed, it sprouts and grows. If its root be made visible, the tree will wither. It is this way with every offspring in the world, not only the visible, but also the concealed, because as long as the root of evil is concealed, it remains strong. If, however, one is made aware of it, it will die, and if it is made visible, it will be destroyed. Consequently, the Logos says: “Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees.” It will not cut. What is cut will sprout again. Instead, the axe digs down inside until it severs the root. Jesus ripped out the root entirely, but others (only) partly. Regarding us, may each one of us dig down to the root of evil that is inside him, and pull it out from its root inside his heart, and it will be uprooted if we are aware of it. If, however, we are unaware of it, it will take root inside us, and it will produce its fruits inside our heart. It controls us, and we become its slaves. It ensnares us, in order that we may do what we do [not] want to do. Those things we want to do, we do [not] do. [It is] powerful on account of our not being aware of it. As long as [it survives], it operates. [Ignorance] is the mother of [all evil]. Ignorance will lead to [death]. [This is because] those things whose cause of existence is [ignorance], they neither have existed, nor [do they exist now], nor will they come into existence [...]. They will be destroyed when the whole truth has been made manifest, because truth, like ignorance, when it is concealed, rests inside itself. If, however, it is made manifest and it has become (the object) of awareness, it will be glorified to the degree that it prevails over ignorance and error, (to the degree that) it frees. The Logos says: “If you know the truth, the truth will make you free.” Ignorance is a slave. Knowledge is freedom. If we know the truth, we will discover the fruits of truth inside us. If we unite with her, she will obtain for us the fullness.
Conclusion: The Perfect Light of the Holy of Holies, the Bridal Chamber
12Currently, we experience the visible things of creation.
We say that they are what is honorable, strong, but the concealed things are what is despised, weak.
It is this way with those that are manifested from the truth: They are what is weak and despised, but the concealed are what is strong and honorable.
However, the symbolic images of truth are made manifest as types and images.
By contrast, the bedroom is concealed.
It is the Holy inside the Holy.
Indeed, in the beginning, the veil concealed how God governed the creation.
When, however, the veil is rent, and those who belong to the inside are made manifest, this house will be forsaken [like] a desert, or instead, it will be [destroyed].
However, the fullness of the godhead will flee [from] these places, not into the Holies [of the] Holies, because it will not be able to mingle together with the unmingled [light] and the fullness without [lack], [but] it will come to be beneath the wings of the cross, [and beneath] its arms.
This ark will [be their] salvation when the deluge of water weighs down on them.
If some, by chance, be of the priestly tribe, they will be able to enter inside the veil together with the high priest.
Consequently, the veil was rent not only above, given that it would have been opened only to those who belong to what is above, nor was it rent only below, given that it would have been made manifest only to those who belong to what is below.
Instead, it was rent from above to below.
Those above have opened for us, those below, in order that we can enter into the secrets of the truth.
This is truly what is honorable, what is strong, yet we will enter there by means of lowly types and weaknesses.
They are humbled before the perfect glory.
There is a glory that surpasses glory.
There is a power that surpasses power.
Consequently, the perfect things were opened for us by the secrets of the truth, and the Holies of the Holies was disclosed, and the bedroom invited us inside.
As long as it is concealed, evil remains inactive.
However, it has not been removed from the presence of the offspring of the holy Spirit.
They are slaves to evil.
However, when it will be exposed, then the perfect light will pour out on everyone, and all those who dwell inside it will [obtain chrism].
The slaves will then be free, [and] the captives redeemed.
“[Every] plant [that] my Father who is in heaven has not planted [will be] uprooted.”
Those who have been divided will be united, [the empty] will be filled.
Everyone who will [enter into] the bedroom shall light their [lamp], because [it] is similar to the marriages that are [held in secret and] take place at night.
The fiery (light) [shines] in the night; it is put out.
However, the symbolic images of that marriage are performed in the day, and in the light.
Neither that day nor its light sets.
If someone becomes a son of the bridal chamber, he will obtain the light.
If someone does not obtain it while living in this place, he cannot obtain it in the other place.
He who will obtain that light will neither be seen, nor can he be held back, and no one can trouble such a person even while he lives in the world, and, furthermore, when he departs from the world, he already will have received the truth by means of the images.
The world has become the age (to come), because the age (to come) for him is the fullness, and this is the way it appears to him alone, not concealed in darkness and night, but concealed in a perfect day and a holy light.
The Gospel according to Philip.