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In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says his true mother gave him life. The Substance of the Archons, a Nag Hammadi text, has Adam say almost the same thing: he tells the spiritual woman she has granted him life and will be called the Mother of the living.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Gospel of Thomas 1:101
Nag Hammadi
100 They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, “Caesar’s men demand taxes from us.” He said to them, “Give Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; give God the things that are God’s; and give me what is mine.” 101 Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his [father] and mother as I do cannot be my disciple; and whoever does not love his [father] and mother as I do cannot be my disciple. For my mother gave me falsehood, but my true mother gave me life.” 102 Jesus said, “Woe to the Pharisees, for they are like a dog lying in the manger of oxen; the dog neither eats nor allows the oxen to eat.”
Substance of the Archons 3:12
Hypostasis of the Archons
Nag Hammadi
The spiritual woman approached him, and she spoke with him, saying: “Arise, Adam.” When he gazed on her, he said: “You have granted me life; you will be called the Mother of the living, because she is my mother. She is the physician, the woman, the one who has given birth.” The authorities approached their Adam.
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Notes and References
“... 101.3 But my true Mother has given me life. The contrast here is not between a biological mother and a disciple who is a spiritual relation (as per GTh 99). The reference here is to a feminine power. Trevijano Etcheverría identifies the figure as the Holy Spirit of GTh 44. Another possibility (which may also refer to the Holy Spirit) is ‘the great power and the great wealth’, who produced Adam, and is/are grammatically feminine (GTh 85). The Spirit, a connection with Adam, and the life-giving Mother are combined in the Hypostasis of the Archons, where Adam addresses the spirit-endowed female counterpart who has been removed from him during his sleep: ‘And when he saw her, he said, “You are the one who has given me life; you will be called the mother of the living. For she is my mother.”’ (Hyp. Arch. 89,13–16). ...”
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