Chapter 4
(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 -
3, are lost. The extant text starts on page 7...)
. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?
22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all
creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be
resolved again into their own roots.
23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of
its own nature alone.
24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to
us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?
26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make
sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery,
which is called sin.
27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence
of every nature in order to restore it to its root.
28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick
and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.
29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.
30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which
proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a
disturbance in its whole body.
31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you
are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different
forms of nature.
32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
33) When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them
all, saying, Peace be with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.
34) Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo
there! For the Son of Man is within you.
35) Follow after Him!
36) Those who seek Him will find Him.
37) Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.
38) Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed you,
and do not give a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained
by it.
39) When He said this He departed.
Chapter 5
1) But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How
shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom
of the Son of Man? If they did not spare Him, how will they
spare us?
2) Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her
brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for
His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.
3) But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has
prepared us and made us into Men.
4) When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good,
and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.
5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved
you more than the rest of woman.
6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which
you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.
7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will
proclaim to you.
8) And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I
saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today
in a vision. He answered and said to me,
9) Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me.
For where the mind is there is the treasure.
10) I said to Him, Lord, how does he who sees the vision see
it, through the soul or through the spirit?
11) The Savior answered and said, He does not see through the
soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the
two that is what sees the vision and it is [...]
(pages 11 - 14 are missing from the manuscript)
Chapter 8:
. . . it.
10) And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I
see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me?
11) The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me
nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know
me.
12) When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing
greatly.
13) Again it came to the third power, which is called
ignorance.
14) The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you
going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not
judge!
15) And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have
not judged?
16) I was bound, though I have not bound.
17) I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All
is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.
18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went
upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.
19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third
ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is
the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of
flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven
powers of wrath.
20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or
where are you going, conqueror of space?
21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain,
and what turns me about has been overcome,
22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.
23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from
a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient.
24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time,
of the season, of the aeon, in silence.
Chapter 9
1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to
this point that the Savior had spoken with her.
2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you
wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe
that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are
strange ideas.
3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.
4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak
privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn
about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?
5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what
do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in
my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?
6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always
been hot tempered.
7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the
adversaries.
8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to
reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.
9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be
ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded
us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or
other law beyond what the Savior said.
10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to
proclaim and to preach.