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In John, Jesus says no one can come to him unless the Father draws them. Exegesis on the Soul, a Nag Hammadi text, quotes this to explain why the soul’s rebirth is God’s gift rather than something learned from books.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
John 6:44
New Testament
43 Jesus replied, “Do not complain about me to one another. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.
Exegesis on the Soul 4:33
Nag Hammadi
After she is young again, she will ascend, praising the Father and her brother who saved her. In this way, by being born again, the soul is saved. And this is not by repeating formulas or by educated expertise or by learning from books. It is instead by the grace of the [Spirit]; it is the gift of the compassionate [God]. This is the way of this heavenly reality. The Savior therefore calls out, “No one can come to me unless my Father draws him and brings him to me; and I will raise him up on the last day.” ‒ (John 6:44)
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Notes and References
“... Then when she becomes young again she will ascend, praising the father and her brother, by whom she was rescued. Thus it is by being born again that the soul will be saved. And this is due not to rote phrases or to professional skills or to book learning. Rather it [is] the grace of the [... , it is] the gift of the [...]. For such is this heavenly thing. Therefore the savior cries out (Jn 6:44), No one can come to me unless my Father draws him and brings him to me; and I myself will raise him up on the last day. ...”
Robinson, William C., Jr.; Scopello, Maddalena
"The Exegesis on the Soul (II,6)" in Robinson, James M. (ed.) The Nag Hammadi Library in English
(p. 196) HarperCollins, 1990
* 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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