“... (7) Another way to take GTh 104.3 is to see (a) Jesus’ departure from the bridal chamber as referring to the passing of the time of salvation, the eschatological event at which the world ends, and (b) prayer and fasting as describing some kind of future state of perfection. This interpretation gains plausibility when seen in connection with the Gospel of Philip. In the first place, Philip is the locus classicus for bridal chamber theology. Secondly, Philip shares the emphasis on grasping the soteriological blessing of the bridal chamber in this present age: ‘If anyone becomes a son of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is here, he will not be able to receive it in the other place.’ (Gos. Phil. 86,4–7). Thirdly, the Gospel of Philip also discusses the place of prayer relative to these two epochs or ‘places’: Those who sow in winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other aeon. Let us sow in the world that we may reap in the summer. Because of this, it is fitting for us not to pray in the winter. Summer follows winter. But if any man reap in winter he will not actually reap but only pluck out, since it will not provide a harvest for such a person. (Gos. Phil. 52,25–33) It is interesting that Philip here has a schema according to which prayer does not take place in the present age but—presumably reconceptualised accordingly—in the next. [...] Such a scheme would make sense for Thomas who rejects prayer ‘today’ (104.1: [...]) but not in the future (104.3: ‘when the bridegroom comes out …’). [...] Thomas does not quite share this temporal schema, but as has been mentioned, there is a distinction between ‘today’ and the time of Jesus’ absence from the bridal chamber. ...”