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Gospel of Philip

About this book

The Sacraments; Names and Images

Chapter 8

From 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.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 25:30 and Gospel of Philip 8:16

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Gospel of Philip uses Matthew's outer darkness for the final place of loss. A warning about a servant who fails his master becomes a boundary beyond which nothing else lies, connecting failed service with exclusion from the life found within.

Passages

Matthew 25:30

New Testament
26 But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10. 29 For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Gospel of Philip 8:16

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

References

“... 69c. For it is rightly said: 'The inner, the outer, and what is outside the outer'. Because of this the Lord called perdition 'the outer darkness'; there is no other outside of it. 69d. He said: 'My Father who is in secret'. He said: 'Go into your chamber, shut your door behind you, and pray to your Father who is in secret', which means: he who is within all. But that which is within all is the Pleroma. Beyond that there is nothing other within it. This is the one of whom it is said: 'He who is above them'. [...] 44. Cf. Mt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30. ...”
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), 197, 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 25:30 and Gospel of Philip 8:16

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