Go to Related Reading
About this book

Gospel of Philip

About this book

Divine Names and the Holy Spirit-Wisdom; Straying

Chapter 5

There 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.

Texts in conversation

Compare Colossians 4:6 and Gospel of Philip 5:10

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

Share:

Summary

The Gospel of Philip connects Colossians' speech seasoned with salt to offerings that need wisdom to be acceptable. By calling wisdom salt, Philip uses the everyday seasoning image to explain how people should speak to God.

Passages

Colossians 4:6

New Testament
1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven. 2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time pray for us too, that God may open a door for the message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.
80–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Colossians

Gospel of Philip 5:10

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

“... The Gospel of Philip also contains references to Colossians 4:6 which makes a distinction between speech ‘seasoned with salt’ (ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος) and more colloquial and mundane speech: ‘The apostles said to the disciples, “May our entire offering obtain salt”. They called [Sophia] “salt”. Without it, no offering [is] acceptable. But Sophia is barren, [without] child. For this reason, she is called “a trace of salt”.’ Here, wisdom is likened to the ingredient elevating mundane speech. Thus, when one addressed God, it was not enough to use everyday speech, it had to be an enlightened, illu- minated and full of wisdom (salt) to be effective. ...”
Paul Linjamaa, The Nag Hammadi Codices and Their Ancient Readers: Exploring Textual Materiality and Reading Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024), 156–157.

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

Your feedback

Colossians 4:6 and Gospel of Philip 5:10

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library