Texts in Conversation
2 Clement and the Gospel of Philip use a saying about making male and female one to explain restoration. Clement applies it to how believers regard each other; Philip connects separation with death, making reunion a means of recovering lost life.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Clement 12:2
Early Christian
2 For the Lord Himself, being asked by a certain person when His kingdom would come, said, “When the two shall be one, and the outside as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male nor female.” 3 Now the two are one when we speak truth among ourselves, and in two bodies there shall be one soul without hypocrisy. 4 And by ‘the outside as the inside’ He means this: by the inside He means the soul, and by the outside the body. Therefore, in the same way that your body is visible, let your soul be manifest by its good works. 5 And ‘the male with the female, neither male nor female,’ means this: that a brother seeing a sister should have no thought of her as female, and a sister seeing a brother should not think of him as male.
Date: 130-160 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Gospel of Philip 8:24
Nag Hammadi
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.
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Notes and References
“... 71. When Eve was [i)n A[d)am, there was no death. But when she separated [from] him, death came into being. Again, if ** en[ter)s (into him) and he takes **> to himself, death will no longer exist.*' 72a. 'My God, my God, why () [have] you forsaken me?'** spoke these (words) on the cross. For there he w[as] separated. 72b. [ ) who was begotten from the one who [ ) through God. 72c. The [Lord] is [risen] from the dead. [He did not come as he w]as, but [his body) was [wholly] perfect. [It consists of] flesh. But this [flesh] is tme [fle)sh. [Our flesh how [ever is not tme flesh, but an image of the true.(p. 69) [...] 47. Cf Gospel ofThomas. logion 22; 106; 114; 2 Clem. 12.2. ...”
Schenke, Hans-Martin
"The Gospel of Philip" in Schneemelcher, Wilhelm; Wilson, R. McL. (ed.) New Testament Apocrypha, Volume 1: Gospels and Related Writings
(p. 197, 208) James Clarke & Co., 1991
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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