Texts in Conversation
The Gospel of Philip uses Galatians' young heir to explain why a son may not yet receive his father's possessions. Both separate owning an inheritance from being ready to use it, making growth toward maturity central to the promise of becoming a son.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Galatians 4:1
New Testament
1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. 2 But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world. 4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.
Gospel of Philip 5:16
Nag Hammadi
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.
Search:
Notes and References
“... Paul reveals in Galatians 4 two distinct ‘‘sonships."' The pneumatic, born as the “child of God,” develops naturally toward his mature status as “‘God's son” through a process of continual growth. The author of Philip apparently has this in mind as he contrasts the psychic “slave” with the pneumatic . ” son : The slave seeks only to be free, but he does not seek after the possessions (ousia) of his master. But the son is not only the son. but claims the inheritance (Aleronomia) of the father. . . . what the father possesses belongs to the son, and he also, the son, so long as he is small. is not entrusted with what is his. But when he becomes a man his father gives him al) that he possesses. ** ...”
Pagels, Elaine Hiesey
The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters
(p. 108) Fortress Press, 1975
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,