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Gospel of Philip

About this book

Conclusion: The Perfect Light of the Holy of Holies, the Bridal Chamber

Chapter 12

Currently, 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.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 15:13 and Gospel of Philip 12:25

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Gospel of Philip quotes Matthew's promise that plants not planted by the Father will be uprooted. Placed after freedom from evil and before reunion, the saying makes removal part of restoration, connecting what is taken away with what becomes whole.

Passages

Matthew 15:13

New Testament
10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?” 13 And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Gospel of Philip 12:25

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

References

“... 125b. So long as it is hidden, wickedness is indeed of no account, but it has not (yet) been removed from the midst of the seed of the Holy Spirit; (and so) they are (still) slaves of wickedness. But when it is revealed, then will the perfect light pour out upon every one, and all those who are in it will receive [the chrism]. Then the slaves will be free, [and] the captives delivered. 126a. E[very] plant [which] my heavenly Father has [not] planted [will be] rooted out. 126b. What is separated will be united; [what is empty] will be filled. 126c. All who shall [enter] into the bedchamber will kindle the li[ght]. For [ ] as in the marriages which take place [ and] in the night, the fire [shines] (p. 86) the night through and goes out. But the mysteries of this marriage are completed in the day and in the light. That day or its light does not set. [...] 87. Mt. 15:13. ...”
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), 206, 208.

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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Matthew 15:13 and Gospel of Philip 12:25

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