3
THE SECRET BOOK OF JOHN
3
THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS WITH THE GREEK GOSPEL OF THOMAS
161
THE SECRET BOOK OF JOHN
170
When I, John, heard this, I turned away from the temple and went to a mountainous and barren place. I was distressed within, and I asked how the Savior was chosen:
Why was he sent into the world by his Father?
Who is his Father who sent him?
To what kind of eternal realm4 shall we go?
And why did he tell us, when he spoke,
that this eternal realm [to which we shall go]
is modeled after the incorruptible realm,
but he did not teach us what kind of aeon that one is?
171
I am [the Father], I am the Mother, I am the Child. I am the incorruptible and the undefiled one. [Now I have come] to teach you what is, what [was], and what is going to come, that you may [understand] what is invisible and what is visible; and to teach you about the [unshakable generation of] the perfect [human].
171
The One7 is a sovereign that has nothing over it. It is God and Parent, Father8 of the All, the invisible one that is over the All, that is incorruptible, that is pure light at which no eye can gaze.
1284
- The text reads “Father” (eit), here and below, for the transcendent Great Invisible Spirit. The translation “Parent” is incorporated here to emphasize that the divine parent transcends gender categories, and the translation of this section seeks to provide an accurate means of addressing issues of gender in the Secret Book of John. For a slightly different translation of a portion of this section, see the note to Allogenes the Stranger 62–64.
171
The One is the Invisible Spirit. We should not think of it as a god or like a god. For it is greater than a god, because it has nothing over it and no [3] lord above it. It does not [exist] within anything inferior [to it, since everything] exists within it, [for it established] itself.9 It is eternal, since it does not need anything. For it is absolutely complete. It has never lacked anything in order to be completed by it. Rather, it is always absolutely complete in light.
171
The One is
illimitable, since there is nothing before it to limit it,
unfathomable, since there is nothing before it to fathom it,
immeasurable, since there was nothing before it to measure it,
invisible, since nothing has seen it,
eternal, since it exists eternally,
unutterable, since nothing could comprehend it to utter it,
unnamable, since there is nothing before it to give it a name.
171
The One is the immeasurable light, pure, holy, immaculate. It is unutterable, and is perfect in incorruptibility. Not that it is just perfection, or blessedness, or divinity: it is much greater.
The One is not corporeal and it is not incorporeal.
The One is not large and it is not small.
It is impossible to say,
How much is it?
What [kind is it]?10
For no one can understand it.
172
The One is not among the things that exist, but it is much greater. Not that it is greater. Rather, as it is in itself, it is not a part of the aeons or time. For whatever is part of a realm was once prepared by another. Time was not allotted to it, since it receives nothing from anyone: what would be received would be on loan. The one who is first does not need to receive anything from another. It beholds itself in [4] its light.
172
The One is majestic and has an immeasurable purity.
The One is a realm that gives a realm,
life that gives life,
a blessed one that gives blessedness,
knowledge that gives knowledge,11
a good one that gives goodness,
mercy that gives mercy and redemption,
grace that gives grace.
Not that the One possesses this. Rather, the One gives immeasurable and incomprehensible light.
1287
- Gnosis.
172
What shall I tell you about it? Its eternal realm is incorruptible, at peace, dwelling in silence, at rest, before everything.
It is the head of all realms, and it is the one who sustains them through its goodness.
We would not know [what is ineffable], we would not understand what is immeasurable, were it not for the one who has come from the Father. This is the one who has told these things to us [alone].
172
He reflects on his image everywhere,
177
Now, Sophia, who is the Wisdom of Insight and who constitutes an aeon,43 conceived of a thought from herself,
177
She wanted to bring forth something like herself, without the consent of the Spirit, who had not given approval, without her partner and without his consideration.44 The male did not give approval. She did not find her partner, and she considered this without the Spirit’s consent and without the knowledge of her partner. Nonetheless, she gave birth. [10] And because of the invincible power within her, her thought was not an idle thought. Something came out of her that was imperfect and different in appearance from her, for she had produced it without her partner. It did not resemble its mother and was misshapen.
177
She cast it away from her, outside that realm so that none of the immortals would see it. She had produced it ignorantly.
She surrounded it with a bright cloud and put a throne in the middle of the cloud so that no one would see it except the holy Spirit, who is called the Mother of the living. She named her offspring Yaldabaoth.
177
This is the first ruler, the archon who took great power from his mother. Then he left her and moved away from the place where he was born. He took control and created for himself other aeons with luminous fire, which still exists. He mated with the mindlessness46 in him and produced authorities for himself:
178
he did not give away any of the power of the light he had taken from his mother. For he is ignorant darkness.
178
He is wicked in the mindlessness within him. He said, “I am God and there is no other god beside me,”54 since he did not know from where his own strength had come.
1330
- Isaiah 45:5–6, 21; 46:9.
178
Yaldabaoth has many [12] faces, more than all of these, so that he could show whatever face he wanted when he was among the seraphim.59 He shared his fire with them, and lorded it over them because of the glorious power he had from his mother’s light. That is why he called himself God and defied the place from which he came.
179
When he saw creation surrounding him, and the throng of angels around him that had come forth from him, he said to them, “I am a jealous god and there is no other god beside me.”65
But by announcing this, he suggested to the angels with him that there is another god. For if there were no other god, of whom would he be jealous?
179
Sophia Repents (13, 13–14, 13)
180
The Creation of Adam (15, 1–19, 10)
180
Yaldabaoth77 said to the authorities with him, “Come, let’s create a human being after the image of God and with a likeness to ourselves, so that this human image may give us light.”78
181
They created a being like the perfect first human, and said, “Let’s call it Adam, that its name may give us power of light.”79
183
Adam Receives Spirit and Life (19, 10–20, 28)
183
All the angels and demons worked together until they fashioned the psychical body. But for a long time their creation did not stir or move at all.
183
When the Mother wanted to take back the power she had relinquished to the first ruler, she prayed to the most merciful Mother-Father of the All. With a sacred command the Mother-Father90 sent five luminaries down upon the place of the angels of the first ruler. They advised him so that they might recover the mother’s power.
183
They said to Yaldabaoth, “Breathe some of your spirit into the face of Adam, and the body will arise.”
184
He breathed his spirit into Adam.91 The spirit is the power of his mother, but he did not realize this, because he lives in ignorance. The Mother’s power went out of Yaldabaoth and into the psychical body that had been made to be like the one who is from the beginning.
The body moved and became powerful. And it was enlightened.
184
The Imprisonment of Humanity (20, 28–22, 28)
184
The human being Adam was revealed through the bright shadow within. And Adam’s ability to think was greater than that of all the creators. When they looked up, they saw that Adam’s ability to think was greater, and they devised a plan with the whole throng of archons and angels. They took fire, earth, [21] and water, and combined them with the four fiery winds.96 They wrought them together and made a great commotion.97
185
The rulers brought Adam into the shadow of death so that they might produce a figure again, from earth, water, fire, and the spirit that comes from matter98—that is, from the ignorance of darkness, and desire, and their own phony spirit. This figure is the cave for remodeling the body that these criminals put on the human, the fetter of forgetfulness.99 Adam became a mortal person, the first to descend and the first to become estranged.
Enlightened Insight within Adam, however, was rejuvenating Adam’s mind.
185
The archons took Adam and put Adam in paradise. They said, “Eat,” meaning, Do so in a leisurely manner.100 But in fact their pleasure is bitter and their beauty is perverse. Their pleasure is a trap, their trees are a sacrilege, their fruit is deadly poison, and their promise is death.
They put their tree of life in the middle of paradise.101
185
I102 shall teach you what the secret of their life is—the plan they devised together, the nature of their spirit. The root of their tree is bitter, its branches are death, its shadow is hatred, a trap is in its leaves, its blossom is bad ointment, its fruit is death, desire is its seed, and it blossoms in darkness. The dwelling place of those who taste [22] of it is the underworld, and darkness is their resting place.
185
But the archons lingered in front of what they call the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is enlightened Insight,103 so that Adam might not behold its fullness104 and recognize his shameful nakedness.
185
But I105 was the one who induced them to eat.
I106 said to the Savior, “Lord, was it not the serpent that instructed Adam to eat?”
The Savior laughed and said, The serpent instructed them to eat of the wickedness of sexual desire and destruction so that Adam might be of use to the serpent.
1381
- The Savior, here Jesus.
185
The first ruler107 knew Adam was disobedient to him because of enlightened Insight within Adam, which made Adam stronger of mind than he. He wanted to recover the power that he himself had passed on to Adam. So he brought deep sleep upon Adam.
I said to the Savior, “What is this deep sleep?”
The Savior said, It is not as Moses wrote and you heard. He said in his first book,108 “He put Adam to sleep.”109 Rather, this deep sleep was a loss of sense. Thus the first ruler said through the prophet, “I shall make their minds sluggish, that they may neither understand nor discern.”110
186
The Creation of Eve (22, 28–23, 35)
184
At once the rest of [20] the powers became jealous. Although Adam came into being through all of them, and they gave their power to this human, Adam was more intelligent than the creators and the first ruler. When they realized that Adam was enlightened and could think more clearly than they and was stripped of evil,92 they took and threw Adam into the lowest part of the whole material realm.
187
Yaldabaoth Defiles Eve (23, 35–25, 16)
188
On Human Destiny (25, 16–30, 11)
188
I said to the Savior, “Lord, will all the souls then be led safely into pure light?”
He answered and said to me, These are great matters that have arisen in your mind, and it is difficult to explain them to anyone except those of the unshakable generation.
188
Those upon whom the spirit of life will descend and whom the spirit will empower will be saved, and will become perfect and worthy of greatness, and will be cleansed there of all evil and the anxieties of wickedness, since they are no longer anxious for anything except the incorruptible alone, and concerned with that from this moment on, without anger, jealousy, envy, desire, or greed for anything.
They are affected by nothing but being in the flesh alone, and they wear the flesh as they look forward to a time when they will be met [26] by those who receive them. Such people are worthy of the incorruptible, eternal life and calling. They endure everything and bear everything so as to finish the contest127 and receive eternal life.
188
I said to him, “Lord, will the souls of people be [rejected]128 who have not done these things, but upon whom the power and the spirit of life have descended?”
He answered and said to me, If the spirit descends upon them,129 by all means they will be saved and transformed. Power will descend upon every person, for without it no one could stand.130 After birth, if the spirit of life grows and power comes and strengthens that soul, no one will be able to lead it astray with evil actions. But people upon whom the false spirit descends are misled by it and go astray.
188
I said, “Lord, where will their souls go when they leave their flesh?”
He laughed and said to me, The soul in which there is more power than the contemptible spirit is strong. She escapes from evil, and through the intervention of the incorruptible one, she is saved and is taken up to eternal rest.131
189
I said, “Lord, where will the souls go of people who have not known to whom they belong?”
He said to me, The contemptible spirit has [27] grown stronger in such people while they were going astray. This spirit lays a heavy burden on the soul, leads her into evil deeds, and hurls her down into forgetfulness. After the soul leaves the body, she is handed over to the authorities who have come into being through the archon. They bind her with chains and throw her into prison.132 They go around with her until she awakens from forgetfulness and acquires knowledge. This is how she attains perfection and is saved.
189
I said, “Lord, how can the soul become younger and return into its mother’s womb,133 or into the human?”
He was glad when I asked him about this, and he said to me, You are truly blessed, for you have understood. This soul will be made to follow another soul in whom the spirit of life dwells, and she is saved through that one. Then she will not be thrust into flesh again.
193
THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS WITH THE GREEK GOSPEL OF THOMAS
193
In contrast to the New Testament gospels, which focus upon the crucifixion and resurrection as they set forth a gospel of the cross, the Gospel of Thomas presents a figure of Jesus who does not die for anyone’s sins on the cross and does not rise from the dead on the third day. Rather, in the tradition of Jewish teachers of wisdom, the Jesus of the Gospel of Thomas utters wise sayings, one after another, and through these sayings the Gospel of Thomas proclaims a gospel of wisdom.
204
1
And he4 said, “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.”5
1439
- Cf. Sirach 39:1–3; John 8:51–52.
204
2
(1) Jesus said,6 “Let one who seeks not stop seeking until one finds. (2) When one finds, one will be troubled. (3) When one is troubled, one will marvel (4) and will reign over all.”7
Note: per Bhikku Bodhi: To undo this process involves a commitment to truth that is often unsettling, but in the long run proves exhilarating and liberating
204
3
(1) Jesus said, “If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of heaven will precede you. (2) If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’8 then the fish will precede you. (3) Rather, the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you.9
1443
- Cf. Luke 17:20–21; Gospel of Thomas 113; Manichaean Psalm Book 160.
204
(4) “When you know yourselves, then you will be known, [33] and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. (5) But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and you are poverty.”10
204
4
(1) Jesus said, “The person old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child seven days old11 about the place of life, and that person will live.12 (2) For many of the first will be last13 (3) and will become a single one.”
1447
- Cf. Matthew 20:16 (Q); Luke 13:30 (Q); Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31; Barnabas 6:13.
204
5
(1) Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.14 (2) For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.”15
1449
- Cf. Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; Matthew 10:26 (Q); Luke 12:2 (Q). On the last portion of the saying, cf. Gospel of Thomas 6:5–6. P. Oxy. 654.31 adds “and nothing buried that [will not be raised].”
1451
- This is the negative formulation of the golden rule.
204
7
(1) Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. (2) And cursed20 is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion will become human.”21
1454
-
Or “foul.”
-
Here the lion seems to symbolize what is passionate and bestial in human experience. A person may consume the lion or be consumed by it. Cf. Plato Republic 588e–589b.
204
10
Jesus said, “I have thrown fire upon the world, and look, I am watching it until it blazes.”25
1459
- Cf. Luke 12:49 (Q?); Pistis Sophia 141.
204
11
(1) Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away.26
(2) “The dead are not alive, and the living will not die.
(3) “During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it alive. When you are in the light, what will you do?27
(4) “On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
1460
- Cf. Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33; Matthew 5:18 (Q); Luke 16:17 (Q).
204
15
Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That is your father.”37
1471
- Cf. John 10:30.
204
16
(1) Jesus said, “Perhaps people think that I have come to impose peace upon the world. (2) They do not know that I have come to impose conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. (3) For there will be five [36] in a house: there will be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, (4) and they will stand alone.”38
1472
- Or “as solitaries” (Coptic monakhos). Cf. Matthew 10:34–36 (Q); Luke 12:49 (Q?), 50, 51–53 (Q).
204
17
Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart.”39
1473
- Cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9; Isaiah 64:4; Apocalypse of Elijah or Secrets (Apocrypha) of Elijah; Plutarch How the Young Person Should Study Poetry 17e; Prayer of the Apostle Paul A; Gospel of Judas 47.
204
18
(1) The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.”40
(2) Jesus said, “Have you discovered the beginning, then, so that you are seeking the end? For where the beginning is the end will be. (3) Blessed is one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”41
Note: the end and begging are one in the same, and constantly happening. The universe is in a constant state of creation and distruction
1474
-
Cf. Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:3–4; Luke 21:7.
-
Cf. Gospel of Thomas 49.
204
20
(1) The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what heaven’s kingdom is like.”
(2) He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed. (3)
1480
- Cf. Matthew 13:31–32 (Q); Luke 13:18–19 (Q); Mark 4:30–32.
204
22
(1) Jesus saw some babies nursing. (2) He said to his disciples, “These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom.”
(3) They said to him, “Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies?”
(4) Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, (5) and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, (6) when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, (7) then you will enter [the kingdom].”52[38]
1486
- Cf. Galatians 3:27–28; Gospel of the Egyptians; 2 Clement 12:2–6; Martyrdom of Peter 9; Acts of Philip 140; Gospel of Thomas 114.
204
26
(1) Jesus said, “You see the speck that is in your sibling’s eye, but you do not see the beam that is in your own eye. (2) When you take the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your sibling’s eye.58
1492
- Cf. Matthew 7:3–5 (Q); Luke 6:41–42 (Q).
204
28
(1) Jesus said, “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them.60 (2) I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. (3) My soul ached for the children of humanity,61 because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. (4) But now they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent.”
204
34
Jesus said, “If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole.”68
1502
- Cf. Matthew 15:14 (Q); Luke 6:39 (Q).
204
39
(1) Jesus said, “The Pharisees and the scholars have taken73 the keys of knowledge74 and have hidden them. (2) They have not entered, nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so.75 (3) As for you, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”76
1509
- Cf. Matthew 23:13 (Q); Luke 11:52 (Q); Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions 2.30.1; Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali Revival of the Religious Sciences 1.49.
1510
- Cf. Matthew 10:16.
204
46
(1) Jesus said, “From Adam to John the Baptizer, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptizer, so that his eyes84 should not be averted.85 (2) But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will know the kingdom and will become greater than John.”86
1520
- Cf. Matthew 11:11 (Q); Luke 7:28 (Q).
204
49
(1) Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are alone91 and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. (2) For you have come from it, and you will return there again.”92
204
50
(1) Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], [42] and appeared in their image.’ (2) If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’93 say, ‘We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.’ (3) If they ask you, ‘What is the evidence of your Father in you?’ say to them, ‘It is motion and rest.’”94
204
51
(1) His disciples said to him, “When will the rest95 for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?”
(2) He said to them, “What you look for has come, but you do not know it.”96
1530
- Cf. Luke 17:20–21; Gospel of Thomas 113:4; John 3:18–19; 5:25; 2 Timothy 2:17–18; Treatise on Resurrection 49.
204
53
(1) His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision useful or not?”
(2) He said to them, “If it were useful, children’s fathers would produce them already circumcised from their mothers. (3) Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become valuable in every respect.”99
204
59
Jesus said, “Look to the living one as long as you live, or you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see.”106
1540
- Cf. Luke 17:22; John 7:33–36; 8:21; 13:33; Gospel of Thomas 38.
204
61
(1) Jesus said, “Two will rest on a couch; one will die, one will live.”112
(2) Salome said, “Who are you, mister? You have climbed onto my couch113 and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.”114
(3) Jesus said to her, “I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was given from the things of my Father.”115
(4) “I am your disciple.”
(5) “For this reason I say, if one is
204
62
(1) Jesus said, “I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [44] [my] mysteries.118 (2) Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”119
1552
-
Cf. Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10.
-
Cf. Matthew 6:3.
204
63
(1) Jesus said, “There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. (2) He said, ‘I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.’ (3) These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. (4) Whoever has ears should hear.”120
1554
- Cf. Luke 12:16–21 (Q?); Sirach 11:18–19.
204
76
(1) Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and then found a pearl. (2) That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself.142 (3) So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to devour and no worm destroys.”143
1576
-
Cf. Matthew 13:45–46.
-
Cf. Matthew 6:19–20 (Q); Luke 12:33 (Q); Matthew 13:44.
204
77
(1) Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things.144 I am all: from me all has come forth, and to me all has reached.145 (2) Split a piece of wood; I am there. (3) Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”146
1578
-
Cf. John 8:12; Wisdom of Solomon 7:24–30.
-
Cf. Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Martyrdom of Peter 10.
1580
- Cf. Ecclesiastes 10:9; Habakkuk 2:18–20; Lucian of Samosata Hermotimus 81. Also cf. Gospel of Thomas 30 and the note.
204
86
(1) Jesus said, “[Foxes [48] have] their dens and birds have their nests, (2) but the child of humanity156 has no place to lay his head and rest.”157
1590
- Or “son of man.”
1595
- Cf. Matthew 23:25–26 (Q); Luke 11:39–41 (Q); Babylonian Talmud, Berakoth 51a; Kelim 25.1–9.
204
89
(1) Jesus said, “Why do you wash the outside of the cup? (2) Don’t you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?”161
204
91
(1) They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.”
(2) He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine this moment.”164
1598
- Cf. Matthew 16:1, 2–3 (Q); Luke 12:54–56 (Q).
204
96
(1) Jesus [said], “The Father’s kingdom is like a woman. (2) She took a little yeast, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. (3) Whoever has ears should hear.”170
204
97
(1) Jesus said, “The [Father’s] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. (2) While she was walking along a distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. (3) She did not know it; she had not noticed a problem.171 (4) When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.”172
1604
- Cf. Matthew 13:33 (Q); Luke 13:20–21 (Q).
204
99
(1) The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.”
(2) He said to them, “Those here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother. (3) They are the ones who will enter my Father’s kingdom.”174
1608
- Cf. Matthew 12:46–50; Mark 3:31–35; Luke 8:19–21; Gospel of the Ebionites 5.
204
101
(1) “Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be a [disciple] of me, (2) and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be a [disciple of] me. (3) For my mother [gave me [50] falsehood],176 but my true [mother]177 gave me life.”178
Note: the great mother. The Tao. Mother of all things
204
106
(1) Jesus said, “When you make the two into one, you will become children of humanity,184 (2) and when you say, ‘Mountain, move from here,’ it will move.”185
1619
- Cf. Gospel of Thomas 48; Matthew 18:19; 17:20b (Q); Luke 17:6b (Q); Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23; 1 Corinthians 13:2.
204
108
(1) Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; (2) I myself shall become that person, (3) and the hidden things will be revealed to that person.”187
1621
- Cf. Gospel of Thomas 13; John 4:13–14; 7:37–39; Sirach 24:21.
204
111
204
whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”190
1624
- Cf. Isaiah 34:4; Psalm 102:25–27 (some ancient texts); Hebrews
204
112
(1) Jesus said, “Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul. (2) Woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.”192
204
113
(1) His disciples said to him, “When will the kingdom come?”
(2) “It will not come by watching for it. (3) It will not be said,193 ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘Look, there it is.’ (4) Rather, the Father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.”194
1627
- Or “They will not say.”
1628
- Cf. Mark 13:21–23; Matthew 24:23–25, 26–27 (Q); Luke 17:20–22, 23–24 (Q); Gospel of Thomas 3:1–3; Gospel of Mary
204
114
(1) Simon Peter said to them, “Mary should leave us, for females are not worthy of life.”
(2) Jesus said, “Look, I shall guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. (3) For195 every female who makes herself male will enter heaven’s kingdom.”196
1630
- Although the language of this saying may be shocking to our sensitivities, the intent of the saying seems to be liberating. Here the female may symbolize what is earthly and perishable and the male what is heavenly and imperishable, so that the female becoming male means that all who are mortal and of this world, men and women alike, become immortal and divine. Gospel of Thomas 22 uses gender categories in a somewhat different way but for similar purposes. Cf. Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies 5.8.44; Clement of Alexandria Excerpts from Theodotus 79; First Revelation of James 41; Zostrianos 131; also Second Discourse of Great Seth 65, and Gospel of Philip 58, on the Valentinian concept of the female images of all of us being joined to the male angels in final union.