The Lost Scriptures – books that did not make it into the New Testament.

The Gospel of Philip

“A Hebrew makes another Hebrew, and such a person is called “proselyte”. But a proselyte does not make another proselyte. […] just as they […] and make others like themselves, while others simply exist. The slave seeks only to be free, but he does not hope to acquire the estate of his master. But the son is not only a son but lays claim to the inheritance of the father. Those who are heirs to the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who are heirs to what is living are alive, and they are heirs to both what is living and the dead. The dead are heirs to nothing. For how can he who is dead inherit? If he who is dead inherits what is living he will not die, but he who is dead will live even more.

A Gentile does not die, for he has never lived in order that he may die. He who has believed in the truth has found life, and this one is in danger of dying, for he is alive. Since Christ came, the world has been created, the cities adorned, the dead carried out. When we were Hebrews, we were orphans and had only our mother, but when we became Christians, we had both father and mother. Those who sow in winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other Aeon (eternal realm). 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. It is not only […] that it will […] come forth, but also on the Sabbath […] is barren.”

The Gospel of Philip is one of those documents found in the Nag Hammadi discovery. This gospel is easily recognized as a Gnostic text, but the teachings are often difficult to understand. The gospel of Philip is not like other gospels. It is not a narrative text – instead it is a group of mystical reflections that have been taken from other “sermons” or “theological meditations” and brought together and attributed to Philip.

One of the characteristics of this writing is the contrast between those who can understand and those who cannot – between knowledge that is available to all and knowledge which is only available to insiders. In some ways we still divide ourselves in this manner – those who understand and those who question – those who have access to knowledge and those who seem to be kept out of the circle of understanding – those who are insiders and those who are outsiders.  

Jesus makes us all insiders through his love, mercy and Grace. Whether we become theologians, or whether we struggle through some basic understanding of scripture, it is the love of G-d manifested through the cross of Jesus where G-d claims us as G-d’s own. And that is no mystery.

Pastor Dave