Passages similar to: Treatise on the Resurrection — Truth as the Agent
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Gnostic
Treatise on the Resurrection
Truth as the Agent
I know that I am presenting the problem in difficult words, but there is nothing in the word of truth that is difficult. After the solution appeared, to ensure that nothing be hidden and everything be openly revealed, there are two essentials: the destruction of evil and the revelation of the elect. This solution entails the emanation of truth and spirit, and of grace bestowed by truth.
BREAKING DEFECTIVE DISHES WHEN MOVING (BREAKING DEFECTIVE DISHES WHEN MOVING)
Certainly, if these things have happened to each one of us, it is fitting for us, surely, to think about all so that the house may be holy and silent...
Certainly, if these things have happened to each one of us, it is fitting for us, surely, to think about all so that the house may be holy and silent for unity. Like people who have moved from a house, if they have some dishes around that are not good, they are broken. Nevertheless, the householder does not suffer a loss but rejoices, for in the place of these defective dishes there are those that are completely perfect. For this is the judgment that has come from above and that has judged every person, a drawn two-edged sword cutting on this side and that. When the word appeared, who is in the heart of those who pronounce it—it was not merely a sound but has become a body—a great disturbance occurred among the dishes, for some were emptied, others filled; some were provided for, others were removed; some were purified, still others were broken. All the spaces were shaken and disturbed for they had no composure nor stability. Error was disturbed, not knowing what she should do. She was troubled, she lamented, she was beside herself because she did not know anything. When knowledge, which is the abolishment of error, approached her with all her emanations, error was empty, since there was nothing in her. Truth appeared; all its emanations recognized it. They greeted the father in truth with a power which is complete and which joins them with the father.
And the spirit said unto me: Where is Jesus, my brother, that I meet with him?' And when he had said this unto me, I was at a loss and thought it was ...
(2) come upon thee, whilst thou wert in a vineyard with Joseph, the spirit came out of the height and came to me in my house, like unto thee; and I had not known him, but I thought that thou wast he. And the spirit said unto me: Where is Jesus, my brother, that I meet with him?' And when he had said this unto me, I was at a loss and thought it was a phantom to try me. So I seized him and bound him to the foot of the bed in my house, until I went forth to you, to thee and Joseph in the field, and I found you on the vineyard, Joseph propping up the vineyard. It came to pass, therefore, when thou didst hear me speak the word unto Joseph, that thou didst understand the word, wert joyful and saidest: 'Where is he, that I may see him; else I await him in this place.' And it came to pass, when Joseph had heard thee say these words, that he was startled. And we went down together, entered the house and found the spirit bound to the bed. And we looked on thee and him and found thee like unto him. And he who was bound to the bed was unloosed; he took thee in his arms and kissed thee, and thou also didst kiss him. Ye became one. "This then is the word and its solution. 'Grace' is the spirit which hath come down out of the height through the First Mystery, for it hath had mercy on the race of men and sent its spirit that he should forgive the sins of the whole world, and they should receive the mysteries and inherit the Light-kingdom. 'Truth' on the other hand is the power which hath sojourned with me. When it had come forth out of Barbēlō,
Chapter 60 (Mary Magdalene interpreteth the mystery from Psalm lxxxiv)
Mary started forward again and said: "My Lord, I understand what thou sayest. Concerning the solution of this word thy light-power hath prophesied...
(2) Mary started forward again and said: "My Lord, I understand what thou sayest. Concerning the solution of this word thy light-power hath prophesied aforetime through David in the eighty-fourth Psalm, saying: "'10. Grace and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. "'11. Truth sprouted forth out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven.' "'Grace' then is the light-power which hath come down through the First Mystery; for the First Mystery hath hearkened unto Pistis Sophia and hath had mercy on her in all her tribulations. 'Truth' on the other hand is the power which hath gone forth out of thee, for that thou hast fulfilled the truth, in order to save her out of the chaos. And 'righteousness' again is the power which hath come forth through the First Mystery, which will guide Pistis Sophia. And 'peace' again is the power which hath gone forth out of thee, so that it should enter into the emanations of Self-willed and take from them the lights which they have taken away from Pistis Sophia, that is, so that thou mayest gather them together into Pistis Sophia and make them at peace with her power. 'Truth' on the other hand is the power which went forth out of thee, when thou wast in the lower regions of the chaos. For this cause thy power hath said through David 'Truth sprouted out of the earth,' because thou wert in the lower regions of the chaos. 'Righteousness' on the other hand which hath 'looked down from heaven,'--it is the power which hath come down from the height through the First Mystery and hath entered into Pistis Sophia."
Chapter 63 (Of Sabaōth, Barbēlō, Yabraōth and the light-vesture)
JOHN also came forward and said: "O Lord, bid me also speak the solution of the words which thy light-power hath prophesied aforetime through David."...
(2) JOHN also came forward and said: "O Lord, bid me also speak the solution of the words which thy light-power hath prophesied aforetime through David." And Jesus answered and said unto John: "To thee too, John, I give commandment to speak the solution of the words which my light-power hath prophesied through David: "'10. Grace and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. "'11. Truth hath sprouted forth out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven.'" [paragraph continues] Sabaōth, the Good, which bound itself in thee and which thou hast cast forth to the Left,--thou the First Mystery which looketh without. And the little Sabaōth, the Good, took it and cast it forth into the matter of Barbēlō, and he made proclamation concerning the regions of Truth to all the regions of those of the Left. That matter of Barbēlō then it is which is body for thee to-day. "And 'righteousness and peace' which 'kissed each other,'--'righteousness' then art thou who didst bring all the mysteries through thy Father, the First Mystery which looketh within, and hast baptized this power of Sabaōth, the Good; and thou didst go to the region of the rulers and didst give unto them the mysteries of the Height; they became righteous and good. "'Peace' on the other hand is the power of Sabaōth, that is thy soul, which did enter into the matter of Barbēlō, and all the rulers of the six æons of Yabraōth have made peace with the mystery of the Light. "And 'truth' which 'sprouted forth out of the earth,'--it is the power of Sabaōth, the Good, which came out of the region of the Right, which lieth outside the Treasury of the Light., and which hath come into the region of those of the Left; it hath entered into the matter of Barbēlō, and hath made proclamation concerning the mysteries of the region of Truth. "'Righteousness' on the other hand which 'looked down from heaven,' is thou the First Mystery which looketh down without, as thou didst come out of the spaces of the Height with the mysteries of the Light-kingdom; and thou didst come down upon the light-vesture which thou didst receive from the hand of Barbēlō, which [vesture] is Jesus, our Saviour, in that thou didst come down upon him as a dove." It came to pass then, when John had brought forward these words, that the First Mystery which looketh without, said unto -him: "Well said, John, beloved brother."
As long as the seed of the holy spirit is hidden, wickedness is ineffective, though it is not yet removed from the midst of the seed, and they are...
As long as the seed of the holy spirit is hidden, wickedness is ineffective, though it is not yet removed from the midst of the seed, and they are still enslaved to evil. But when the seed is revealed, then perfect light will shine on everyone, and all who are in the light will [receive the] chrism. Then slaves will be freed [and] captives ransomed. “Every plant that my father in heaven has not planted [will be] pulled out.” What is separated will be united, [what is empty] will be filled.
Chapter 96 (Of the one and only word of the Ineffable)
"And that mystery of the Ineffable is moreover also a one and only word, which existeth in the speech of the Ineffable, and it is the economy of the...
(3) "And that mystery of the Ineffable is moreover also a one and only word, which existeth in the speech of the Ineffable, and it is the economy of the solution of all the words which I have spoken unto you. "And he who will receive the one and only word of that mystery which I shall now say unto you, and all its types and all its figures, and the manner of accomplishing its mystery,--for ye are perfect and all-perfect and ye will accomplish the whole gnosis of that mystery with its whole economy, for unto you all mysteries are entrusted,--hearken, therefore, now, that I may tell you that mystery, which is [ . . .?].
Now, if anyone wants to believe the words set down (here), let him go from what is hidden to the end of what is visible, and this Thought will instruc...
(7) But this much is enough, since it is impossible for anyone to dispute the nature of the words I have just spoken about the blessed, imperishable, true God. Now, if anyone wants to believe the words set down (here), let him go from what is hidden to the end of what is visible, and this Thought will instruct him how faith in those things that are not visible was found in what is visible. This is a principle of knowledge.
Chapter 18: Of the promised Seed of the Woman, and Treader upon the Serpent. And of Adam 's and Eve 's going forth out of Paradise, or the Garden in Eden. Also of the Curse of God, how he cursed the Earth for the Sin of Man. (18)
Although such Revelations have been hidden [or concealed] from the Beginning of the World, yet because it must now go into its Ether, and into the...
(18) Although such Revelations have been hidden [or concealed] from the Beginning of the World, yet because it must now go into its Ether, and into the Breaking-through, therefore all stands naked, whatsoever has been hidden in Nature; and there shall very great Things (which have been hidden) be revealed [or manifested;] and this Mystery is the Break of Day. Therefore it is Time to awake, for the Awakening of the Dead is near at Hand.
THE FATHER RESTORES DEFICIENCY WITH FULLNESS (THE FATHER RESTORES DEFICIENCY WITH FULLNESS)
This is the word of the gospel about finding the fullness for those who wait for the salvation that comes from above. When their hope, for which they...
This is the word of the gospel about finding the fullness for those who wait for the salvation that comes from above. When their hope, for which they are waiting, is waiting—they whose likeness is the light in which there is no shadow—then at that time the fullness is about to come. The deficiency of matter, however, is not because of the infinity of the father, who came to give time to deficiency. In fact, it is not right to say that the incorruptible one will come in this manner. The depth of the father is profound, and the thought of error is not with him. It is a matter of falling down and a matter of being readily set upright at the discovery of the one who has come to what he would bring back. This bringing back is called repentance. For this reason, incorruption has breathed. It followed one who has sinned, in order that he may find rest. Forgiveness is that which remains for the light in the deficiency, the word of the fullness. For the doctor hurries to the place where there is sickness, because that is the doctor’s wish. The sick person is in a deficient condition but does not hide, because the doctor possesses what the patient lacks. In this manner the deficiency is filled by the fullness, which has no deficiency, and which was given in order to fill the one deficient, so that the person may receive grace. For while deficient, this person had no grace. Because of this a diminishing occurred where there is no grace. When the diminished part was restored, the person in need revealed himself as fullness. This is what it means to find the light of truth that has shone toward the person: it is unchangeable.
Chapter III: The Objects of Faith and Hope Perceived By the Mind Alone. (1)
If, then, we affirm that aught is just, and affirm it to be good, and we also say that truth is something, yet we have never seen any of such objects ...
(1) For he who hopes, as he who believes, sees intellectual objects and future things with the mind. If, then, we affirm that aught is just, and affirm it to be good, and we also say that truth is something, yet we have never seen any of such objects with our eyes, but with our mind alone. Now the Word of God says, "I am the truth." The Word is then to be contemplated by the mind. "Do you aver," it was said, "that there are any true philosophers?" "Yes," said I, "those who love to contemplate the truth." In the Phaedrus also, Plato, speaking of the truth, shows it as an idea. Now an idea is a conception of God; and this the barbarians have termed the Word of God. The words are as follow: "For one must then dare to speak the truth, especially in speaking of the truth. For the essence of the soul, being colourless, formless, and intangible, is visible only to God, its guide." Now the Word issuing forth was the cause of creation; then also he generated himself, "when the Word had become flesh," that He might be seen. The righteous man will seek the discovery that flows from love, to which if he haste he prospers. For it is said, "To him that knocketh, it shall be opened: ask, and it shall be given to you." "For the violent that storm the kingdom " are not so in disputations speeches; but by continuance in a right life and unceasing prayers, are said "to take it by force," wiping away the blots left by their previous sins.
Now, the word, who is more exalted than anyone, was sent for this work only, to announce what is unknown. He said, “There is nothing hidden that will...
Now, the word, who is more exalted than anyone, was sent for this work only, to announce what is unknown. He said, “There is nothing hidden that will not appear, and what was unknown will be known.” Now these were sent so they might reveal what is hidden and expose the seven authorities of chaos and their impiety. And they were condemned to be killed. So when all the perfect ones appeared in the fashioned bodies of the rulers and revealed incomparable truth, they put to shame every wisdom of the gods, and their fate was discovered to be condemnable, their power dried up, their dominion was destroyed, and their forethought and their glory became empty.
Chapter 10 (The mystery of the five words on the vesture)
"It came to pass then, when the sun had risen in the east, that a great light-power came down, in which was my Vesture, which I had left behind in...
(1) "It came to pass then, when the sun had risen in the east, that a great light-power came down, in which was my Vesture, which I had left behind in the four-and-twentieth mystery, as I have said unto you. And I found a mystery in my Vesture, written in five words of those from the height: zama zama ōzza rachama ōzai ,--whose solution is this:
And I have not separated the sinners, but I have cried it aloud and said it unto all men, unto sinners and righteous, saying: 'Seek that ye may find, ...
(3) "For this cause, therefore, I have not hidden it, but I have cried it aloud clearly. And I have not separated the sinners, but I have cried it aloud and said it unto all men, unto sinners and righteous, saying: 'Seek that ye may find, knock that it may be opened unto you; for every one who seeketh in truth, will find, and who knocketh, to him it will be opened.' For I have said unto all men: They are to seek the mysteries of the Light-kingdom which shall purify them and make them refined and lead them into the Light.
But when I gat in thither, then this great, weighty and hard labour was laid upon me, which is, to manifest and reveal to the world, and to make known...
(92) But when I gat in thither, then this great, weighty and hard labour was laid upon me, which is, to manifest and reveal to the world, and to make known, the great day of the LORD; and, seeing men seek and long so eagerly after the root of the tree, to reveal to them what the whole tree is, thereby to intimate that it [the present time] is the Dawning, or Morning-Redness of the Day, which God has long ago decreed in his council. AMEN.
Chapter 9: Of the Gracious, amiable, blessed, friendly and merciful Love of God. The Great, Heavenly and Divine Mystery. (14)
Then what is yet concealed or remains hidden, the true doctrine of Christ? Answer. No; but the philosophy, and the deep ground of God; the heavenly...
(14) Then what is yet concealed or remains hidden, the true doctrine of Christ? Answer. No; but the philosophy, and the deep ground of God; the heavenly delightful habitation and pleasure; the revelation of the creation of angels; the revelation of the horrible fall of the devil; from whence evil proceedeth; the creation of this world; the deep ground and mystery of man, and of all creatures in this world; the Last Judgment and change of this world; the mystery of the resurrection of the dead; and of eternal life.
TRUTH IS THE MOUTH OF THE FATHER (TRUTH IS THE MOUTH OF THE FATHER)
Each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the father. His tongue is the holy spirit. Whoever touches truth touches the mouth of the father...
Each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the father. His tongue is the holy spirit. Whoever touches truth touches the mouth of the father by his tongue at the time when one will receive the holy spirit. This is the manifestation of the father and his revelation to his eternal beings. He revealed what is hidden in him and explained it. For who is it who exists if it is not the father himself? All the spaces are his emanations. They knew that they stem from him as children from a perfect man. They knew that they had not yet received form, nor had they yet received a name, every one of which the father produces. If they at that time receive the form of his knowledge, though they are truly in him, they do not know him. But the father is perfect. He knows every space that is within him. If he pleases, he reveals anyone whom he desires by giving him a form and by giving him a name; and he does give a name and cause to come into being. Those who do not yet exist are ignorant of him who created them. I do not say, then, that those who do not yet exist are nothing. But they are in him who will desire that they exist when he pleases, like an event that is going to happen. On the one hand, he knows, before anything is revealed, what he will produce. On the other hand, the fruit that has not yet been revealed does not know anything nor is anything either. Thus each space that, on its part, is in the father comes from the existent one, who, on his part, has established it from the nonexistent. For whoever has no root has no fruit, but although thinking, “I have come into being,” that one will perish. For this reason, whoever does not exist at all will never exist.
JESUS IS THE FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE (JESUS IS THE FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE)
That is the gospel of him whom they seek, which he has revealed to the perfect through the mercies of the father as the hidden mystery, Jesus the...
That is the gospel of him whom they seek, which he has revealed to the perfect through the mercies of the father as the hidden mystery, Jesus the anointed. Through him he enlightened those who were in darkness because of forgetfulness. He enlightened them and gave them a path. And that path is the truth that he taught them. For this reason error was angry with him, so she persecuted him. She was distressed by him, and she was made powerless. He was nailed to a tree. He became a fruit of the knowledge of the father. He did not, however, destroy them because they ate of it. He rather caused those who ate of it to be joyful because of this discovery.
JOY TO THOSE WHO KNOW THE FATHER (JOY TO THOSE WHO KNOW THE FATHER)
The gospel of truth is joy for those who have received from the father of truth the grace of knowing him by the power of the word, who has come from...
The gospel of truth is joy for those who have received from the father of truth the grace of knowing him by the power of the word, who has come from the fullness and who is in the thought and the mind of the father. This is the one who is called the savior, since that is the name of the work that he must do for the redemption of those who have not known the father. For the name of the gospel is the revelation of hope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him, because the realm of all sought him from whom it came. You see, all was inside of him, that illimitable, inconceivable one, who is better than every thought.
Hearken then, Mary, and give ear, all ye disciples: Before I made proclamation to all the rulers of the æons and to all the rulers of the Fate and Of ...
(1) therefore, from now on will I hide nothing from you, but I will reveal unto you all things with surety and openness. Hearken then, Mary, and give ear, all ye disciples: Before I made proclamation to all the rulers of the æons and to all the rulers of the Fate and Of the sphere, they were all bound in their bonds and in their spheres and in their seals, as Yew, the Overseer of the Light, had bound them from the beginning; and every one of them remained in his order, and every one journeyed according to his course, as Yew, the Overseer of the Light, had established them. And when the time of the number of Melchisedec, the great Receiver of the Light, came, he was wont to come into the midst of the æons and of all the rulers who are bound in the sphere and in the Fate, and he carried away the purification of the light from all the rulers of the æons and from all the rulers of the Fate and from those of the sphere--for he carried away then that which brings them into agitation--and he set in motion the hastener who is over them, and made them turn their circles swiftly, and he [ sc. the hastener] carried away their power which was in them and the breath of their mouth and the tears [lit. waters] of their eyes and the sweat of their bodies.
"He who reproves boldly is a peacemaker." We lave often said already that we have neither practised nor do we study the expressing ourselves in pure...
(4) "He who reproves boldly is a peacemaker." We lave often said already that we have neither practised nor do we study the expressing ourselves in pure Greek; for this suits those who seduce the multitude from the truth. But true philosophic demonstration will contribute to the profit not of the listeners' tongues, but of their minds. And, in my opinion, he who is solicitous about truth ought not to frame his language with artfulness and care, but only to try to express his meaning as he best can. For those who are particular about words, and devote their time to them, miss the things. It is a feat fit for the gardener to pluck without injury the rose that is growing among the thorns; and for the craftsman to find out the pearl buried in the oyster's flesh. And they say that fowls have flesh of the most agreeable quality, when, through not being supplied with abundance of food, they pick their sustenance with difficulty, scraping with their feet. If any one, then, speculating on what is similar, wants to arrive at the truth [that is] in the numerous Greek plausibilities, like the real face beneath masks, he will hunt it out with much pains. For the power that appeared in the vision to Hermas said, "Whatever may be revealed to you, shall be revealed."