Restored Branch Canon: Gospels of Peter, Mary, Thomas, Phillip, "Truth"; Sophia of Jesus; Acts & Letter of Peter

[Niemand]

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A transcript for the benefit of LDSFF's search function:

"Now moving on from the Book of Jeraneck. The church is engaged in a restructuring of the Bible. The Bible will now contain the following books[:] the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, the Gospel of Truth [sic], the Gospel of the Apostle Paul, the Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus the Christ, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles and the Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip. The Lord him self [sic] has asked for these books to be included in a new version of the Bible. These things have been asked by the Lord himself. [Repetition in original.] This is great work wish [sic] we are only to [sic] happy to be doing." — Matthew Gill

What happens when a church wants to include lost scripture.... when the books aren't even complete?

Intro
In my series on the Apocrypha and other ancient works outside the 66 Protestant Bible canon, I have focussed on works which are/have been accepted by various churches at one point or another. I've looked at ancient apocryphal works which are accepted by the biggest denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and to a lesser extent, the Anglicans and Lutherans. I've also looked at some works which have been used by smaller but significant denominations including certain Oriental Orthodox Churches (the Armenians, the Ethiopians (Tewahedo), Syriacs and the Copts) and, more surprisingly, a few smaller Protestant groups (such as the Amish, Mennonites and Quakers). I've visited some works which appear in early lists of Bible canon and ancient Bible codices, and I've also looked at works which non-Judaeo-Christian groups such as the Samaritans and Muslims have referred to in their scriptures.

I haven't, however, spent much time on any of the Mormon sects and their canon. As most of us know, there are a lot of them. Two hundred maybe? Most of these groups, our own included, tend to use restored/revealed scriptures (such as the BoM or BoA) or new ones entirely (D&C etc), but a handful of the minor LDS sects also use additional ancient works which do not fall into either category. Members of the mainstream Brighamite church have flirted with various ancient scriptures, but the First Presidency has not been willing to canonise them.

When I use the phrase "Four Gospels" in this thread, I mean Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

As always, because this is a thread, I may add further content later. I'm covering a lot of books. Any feedback and criticism welcome (tacky personal insults aside. )

The Restored Branch's canon
This post gives me an excuse to discuss certain ancient books which are way outside the canon of most modern Christian churches... These eight "exotic" books are part of the canon of a tiny Mormon sect, based in England, the "Restored Branch of Jesus Christ" (formerly known as the "Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ", before the big COJCOLDS took legal action.) Their leader is a man called Matthew Gill who claims to be a prophet. For the sake of brevity, I'll refer to this group as "the RB" henceforth. I posted on the RB previously here, viewtopic.php?p=135528

Thanks to this meanspirited legal action which would never have happened in the USA, the RB had had to rebrand itself, meaning its old website and YouTube videos had to be removed. This has destroyed most of the online historical record of this group. You can see a screenshot above of the RB's old website (now offline). The RB in its old incarnation used to also have a number of General Conference videos, including one of Matthew Gill proposing new books to be included in its Bible canon. As far as I am aware, the list he gave in it was identical to the one quoted above. (Their General Conference seems to consist of Matthew Gill and a handful of members, mostly family.) The RB's new website, makes no direct mention of this new Bible canon.
https://www.restoredbranch.com/

It states:

In past ages, God began to speak to us through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible.

God continues to speak to us today through the Scriptures of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, the Book of Jeraneck, and continuing revelation through his living Prophet.

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Jeraneck is a supposedly restored Restored scripture, now incorporated into the larger The Chronicles of The Children of Araneck, and their version of the D&C is different. Their version of the Articles of Faith says:

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. We also believe the Book of Jeraneck to be the word of God. We also believe that God will reveal many more books of scripture unto his children.

In passing, I should also draw attention to their 12th Article of Faith (relevant part highlighted):

We believe in obeying, honouring, and sustaining the law when the law is given in righteousness.

I wish our church made that distinction!!!

Most material I've seen online about the RB tends to comment on Jeraneck and Gill's own scriptures, not

Now back to these ancient works.

Gospel of Peter
This is the first example of the major problem with canonising these works – it's fragmentary and not known from any recent manuscripts. We don't even have a full coherent version of Peter to look at. What has the RB canonised? Particular chapters? The missing sections? The whole thing as was? For that reason alone I consider some of these to be very human canonisations.

Summary
I quote from the translation at: https://www.gospels.net/peter/

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The Gospel of Peter is really short, because most of it appears to be missing. It is a passion gospel, starting abruptly with Jesus before Pilate, and ending as sharply shortly after the Resurrection.

The early section starts by exonerating Pilate from much of the blame, because he washed his hands and Herod and most of the Jewish leaders didn't. There is no Gethsamene here, scant detail, and no back and forth with Pilate. Joseph of Arimathea comes and asks for Jesus' body, but before his death. It is stated JofA was a friend of both Jesus and Pilate. Jesus' legs are not broken so to prolong his suffering.

In verse 19, Jesus does not quote Isaiah quite but says, "My Power, the Power, you've left me!" This to me is the biggest question in this work. What exactly does this quote mean, and why is it different from the Four Gospels?

Then the Jews, the elders, and the priests, knowing how much wrong they had done to themselves, began to mourn and say, "Woe to our sins. The judgment and the end of Jerusalem is near!" (26) But I with my companions was grieved, and being wounded in mind, we were hiding, because we were being sought by them as wrongdoers and as wanting to burn the temple. (27) On top of all this, we were fasting, sitting, mourning, and weeping night and day until the Sabbath.

The two guards at the tomb hear a voice from Heaven and angels appear. This is slightly different to the Four Gospels. There is a strange detail here, that the cross seems to have been buried with Jesus... if you've seen tombs of the time, this would be unlikely. Next quote

39 they saw three men coming out of the tomb, with the two supporting the one, and a cross following them. (40) And the heads of the two reached as far as heaven, but that of the one being led by them reached beyond the heavens.(41) And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, "Have you proclaimed to those who sleep?" (42) And a response was heard from the cross: "Yes!"

Pilate later says "I'm clean of the blood of the Son of God, and this is clear to us." (I'm not sure what the purpose of these constant references to Pilate's supposed innocence are here for, but for to please Roman audiences.) Mary Magdalene visits the tomb, verse 56 and is told:
"Why did you come? Whom do you seek? Not that one who was crucified? He arose and went away. But if you don't believe, bend down and see where he was lying, that he's not there, because he arose and went to where he came from."

The fragment then ends as abruptly again with some of the disciples going down to the sea.

Conclusion
It's very hard to see what this gospel adds to our understanding if anything, apart from a couple of odd passages quoted above notably the "My power" one. The positive treament of Pilate stands out too. But what does this teach us about the atonement? Not very much.

I'm about to deal with some of the other works in the reply section

[Niemand]

Gospel of Mary
Another very fragmentary gospel with massive chunks missing. In one section four pages are missing, and it is thought at least half is gone, so it is anyone's guess what they mention. The main interest here is the more female focus of the work. I find this one much stranger than what remains of the Gospel of Peter, and this is probably down to Gnosticism. This gospel is known from a Coptic MS found in the 1890s, which was itself written in the 5th century. It was only translated into English in the 1950s! It is not in the Nag Hammadi library.

It is not clear which Mary is the subject of the gospel. Probably Mary Magdalene... there are other options. The book has been jumped on by feminists, naturally. This is an atypical view for this forum but worth quoting:
viewtopic.php?t=28879

Among the women the same organization of male Priesthood holders existed; IOW, there were also twelve female Apostles. The women Apostles taught the women followers; and the male Apostles taught the male followers. They both held equal Priesthood powers and authority... it is possible to find more clues in uncanonized manuscripts. In latter-day discoveries of ancient texts and manuscripts, there is out-right evidence of female sourced manuscripts; such as the Gospel of Mary Magdelene (sic)...

The Gospel of Mary never appears on lists of heretical documents such as Eusebius'. This suggests it was either very obscure or not considered controversial. I suspect the former, as some of its teachings are unusual.

Summary
There is a translation at https://www.gospels.net/mary/

This translation has a couple of idiosyncratic traits. A phrase that would be traditionally "son of man" is rendered in the more woke "son of humanity".

https://www.thegospelofmary.org/about

The rivalry we read of in the Gospel, the sense of Peter being jealous and challenging Mary’s position, is found in other non-canonical texts too, and points to rivalries between different traditions and lineages, different interpretations or different groups of followers in the early churches. There is clear evidence that as the authority of Peter and his followers was growing in strength and power over the first few centuries, so at the same time the lineage and tradition of Mary was being surreptitiously eroded and reduced.

There is much much more to discuss about this particular work, particularly its worldview and attitude to women. I will revisit it below.

Gospel of Thomas

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This is the most famous of the usually-extracanonical works which the RB considers canon. I wrote about it in my post "Is Q canonical? How about the Gospel of Thomas?". I even include my own full commentary on every single verse in one section.

viewtopic.php?t=69715

There is a lot to be said about this work. As far as I know, it never formed part of any of the canon of any major Christian church. The Coptic Church was aware of it, but does not seem to have used it for liturgical purposes. The two main versions we have are from the Coptic Church and some fragments unearthed within modern times. It is a sayings gospel, i.e. it consists of supposed quotations from Jesus and little background detail. As I wrote in my previous post:

I think many of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are authentic, and many are also shared with the New Testament. Some of these appear in a slightly different form, or have additional material which puts a different slant on them... Because of probable [Gnostic] tampering, it is hard to say which of the additional material is authentic. Since the Devil has often worked by mixing truth with lies, we may see the same process at work here. My personal hunch is that Thomas contains three varieties of material:
* 1) Authentic sayings of Jesus.
* 2) Altered/misremembered sayings of Jesus
* 3) Fabricated sayings of Jesus

Matthew Gill's canonisation of this work raises another question which can be made about the other seven works. Just which version of Thomas does he want to use? Presumably not the one with huge gaps in the text... even though that is the oldest known version. I also wonder if his church is aware of all the theological implications of canonising Thomas (although which version?).

I wonder how the RB interprets verse 17?

His disciples say to him: "On what day wilt thou appear to us, and what day shall we see thee?" Jesus says: "When you strip yourselves without being ashamed, when you take off your clothes and lay them at your feet like little children and trample on them! Then [you will become] children of Him who is living, and you will have no more fear."

Does verse 85 sit well with the Book of Mormon?

Jesus said, “Adam descended from unfathomable power and luxury, but he was not worthy of his inheritance. Had he been worthy of it, he would not have tasted death.”

Adam fell that men might be? Now for the most notorious verse no. 22 (or part of it). Not only does it include the "as above, so below" mentality, it also says to "make man and woman into the same thing". I'm presuming this is not meant in any transgender/non-binary gender sense that we encounter these days:

...Jesus said to them, “When you make what is two into one, and make what is outside like what is inside and what is inside like what is outside, and make what is above like what is below, and when you make man and woman into the same thing, so that the man is not a man nor the woman a woman, when you replace eyes with eyes, hands with hands, feet with feet, and an image with an image, then you will enter the Kingdom.”

Much more discussion on my dedicated thread.

[Niemand]

Gospel of Philip

"Mary Magdalene was the companion of the Savior. He loved her more than all the other disciples, and kissed her on her [text missing] more often than he kissed the rest of the disciples.” - Gospel of Philip

"If someone sows in winter, he reaps in summer. Winter is this world. Summer is the other world. Let us sow in this world so that we can reap in summer. Therefore, let us not pray in winter. Summer emerges from winter. But whoever reaps in winter reaps nothing. He only gets young shoots that are not yet a crop. His field is a wasteland now, and is still a wasteland on the Sabbath." Philip 4

"The rulers (archons) saw that humanity is related to what is truly good, so they set out to deceive humanity. They took the names of good things and placed them on bad things so as to bind humanity to bad things. Likewise, they took the names of bad things and placed them on good things, as it is in their own minds. For they wanted humanity, which was free, to be enslaved to them forever." Philip 10

A translation of the Nag Hammadi version is available at
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/GPhilip-Meyer.html

Unlike some of the other works, only a single copy of this work has ever been found. It appears to have been written in Greek with Syriac influences.

According to some sources this was written as late as c. 350 and appears to have been linked to a gnostic sect called the Valentinians.. It does not claim to be written by Philip but is rather named after him. Like the Gospel of Thomas it is a sayings gospel, but unlike Thomas, I do not think any of the sayings are authentic. Like the Gospel of Mary it raises questions over Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Both the GOM and GOP suggest that she (or at least a Mary other than Jesus' mother) had a more significant role as a disciple than the Four Gospels suggest.

https://www.gotquestions.org/gospel-of-Philip.html

Similar to the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip is a collection of sayings, supposedly of Jesus. The Gospel of Philip focuses a great deal on the “sacrament of marriage” as a “sacred mystery.” The Gospel of Philip does not claim to have been written by Jesus’ disciple Philip. It is titled “the gospel according to Philip” due to Philip being the only disciple of Jesus who is named in it (73:8).

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Origins
https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-gospel-of-philip/

The Gospel of Philip was probably originally composed in the second half of the second century in what is now Syria.[4] Though it was probably written in Greek, it contains a number of Syriac wordplays, which suggests that it was written for an audience that knew both Greek and Syriac.[5] Given that geographical and cultural context, it’s surely no coincidence that the text bears the name of the apostle Philip, who was traditionally said to have journeyed to western Mesopotamia as a missionary after Jesus’s death. It’s likely that Philip was the specially favored apostle of the region’s Christians, which would have lent an aura of particular significance and authority to a text presented in his name.[6]

Mary Magdalene again
Like the Gospel of Mary, Phillip raises issues about Jesus' relationship to Mary.
https://www.gotquestions.org/gospel-of-Philip.html

In his popular book The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown points to the Gospel of Philip as evidence of Jesus’ marriage / relationship with Mary Magdalene. However, the Gospel of Philip nowhere states that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. It does not even state that Jesus was romantically involved with Mary. The one section that deals with this issue is heavily damaged, with several portions unreadable. Here is what the Gospel of Philip states, with “…” representing missing portions: “and the companion of the … Mary Magdalene … more than … the disciples … kiss her … on her … the rest of the disciples … they said to him … why do you love her more than all of us?”

Serpent Seed
The RB has another theological conundrum here. Does it accept the Serpent Seed doctrine? The Gospel of Phillip is one of the first mentions of the serpent seed, i.e. the notion that Eve had children by the serpent, producing Cain and his descendants. That means that there are effectively two breeds of human on Earth, with some having a Satanic patrilineal ancestor. I'm not sure Matthew Gill has thought through the implications of this either, although he decries the priesthood ban etc of the Brighamite church.

Virgin Mary
viewtopic.php?t=70336&start=25

The Gospel of Philip preserves another interesting tradition from the Hebrew Christians, for whom Spirit was a feminine noun. They said that the Spirit coming on Mary (Luke 1.35) could not be described as conception; presumably it was creation, as in Genesis 1. ‘Some say Mary conceived by the holy Spirit. They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? ~ Margaret Barker, Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?

Philip 15 suggests the Holy Ghost is female (implying a relationship with the Greek sophia, and could not have impregnated Mary. It also suggests Mary's perpetual virginity in line with RC/Orthodox doctrine.

Some have said that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Such people do not know what they are talking about. When has a woman ever impregnated another woman?

Mary is the virgin whom the powers could not defile. This is a scandal to the Jews and many who claim to follow the apostles. For rather than defiling this virgin, the powers defiled themselves.

Marriage
Marriage is a big part of this work possibly symbolising gnostic union with God.
viewtopic.php?t=50928

"The Lord [did] everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber." (The Gospel of Philip 67:28-30-Nag Hammadi Library)
"Baptism is 'the Holy' building. Redemption is 'the Holy of the Holy.' 'The Holy of the Holies' is the bridal chamber." (The Gospel of Philip 69:22-25)

The writer of the Gospel of Philip, one of the apocrypal documents in the Nag Hammadi library, believed that the most sacred part of the temple was what he called the "bridal chamber," where a "woman is united to her husband" and "will no longer be separated." If a person does not receive these blessings in this world, he asserted they cannot be received elsewhere.(Gospel of Philip 69:14-25; 70:17-20; 86:3-7; see R. McL. Wilson, trans., The Gospel of Philip (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), 45-46,62.

“The Holy of Holy Ones Is the Bridal Chamber”(Gospel of Philip 117. 24–25).

“The Woman is united to her husband in the Bridal Chamber. But those who have united in the Bridal Chamber will no longer be separated”(Gospel of Philip 118. 17–29). Cf. Gospel of Phillip. 4–8 and 124. 6ff

Phillip 54

The mystery of marriage should be revered, for were it not for marriage, the world would cease to be. The world only exists because of people, and people only exist because of marriage. Consider, then, how great a mystery pure marriage, pure intercourse, is! It is no less great even though its earthly counterpart is full of corruption.

My info on Philip is disorganised but hopefully it is still of some use.

[Niemand]

Gospel of Truth (sic)

"But those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect. For full jars are the ones that are usually anointed. But when the anointing of one (jar) is dissolved, it is emptied, and the reason for there being a deficiency is the thing by which its ointment goes. For at that time a breath draws it, a thing in the power of that which is with it. But from him who has no deficiency, no seal is removed, nor is anything emptied, but what he lacks, the perfect Father fills again." - Gospel of Truth

Yet another Nag Hammadi text. In fact it is notable that Gill's list is dominated by them rather than the Qumran Dead Sea Scroll librsry. There are two known versions of this work. Dating varies, right from 140 to the Fourth Century, nearer that of the Gospel of Philip. This may be a Valentinian work again. The work is more of a homily than a gospel.

The work was criticised by Irenaeus:
But the followers of Valentinus, putting away all fear, bring forward their own compositions and boast that they have more Gospels than really exist. Indeed their audacity has gone so far that they entitle their recent composition the Gospel of Truth, though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the apostles, and so no Gospel of theirs is free from blasphemy. For if what they produce is the Gospel of Truth, and is different from those the apostles handed down to us, those who care to can learn how it can be shown from the Scriptures themselves that [then] what is handed down from the apostles is not the Gospel of Truth (ref: Irenaeus. Adversus Haereses. Vol. (3.11.9))

It may also quote other scriptures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Truth

The writing is thought to cite or allude to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and John, as well as 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 John and the Book of Revelation. It cites John's Gospel the most often. It is also influenced by the Gospel of Thomas; for instance at one point (22:13-19) it cites John 3:8 alongside Thomas 28.

Summary
Wikipedia, apologies!
The text says that ignorance caused the formation of the world by the aeons. It then describes Jesus as having been sent down by God to remove ignorance from humans and the aeons, to perfect them and restore union with the Father and correct the error that was the creation of the world. Jesus was a teacher confounding the other scribes and teachers, and asserted they were foolish since they tried to understand the world by analyzing the law. But Error grew angry at this, and nailed Jesus to a cross. It also proceeds to describe how it is knowledge of the father that grants salvation, which constitutes eternal rest, describing ignorance as a nightmare.

Having next described the parable of the good shepherd, in an esoteric manner, it then describes how feeding the hungry and giving rest to the weary is to be understood as feeding spiritual hunger, and resting the world weary.

This is followed by a parable about anointing, the meaning of which is obscure, but may be connected with the way in which a sealed amphora meant it was full, a metaphor for knowledge - having the final "seal" in the jigsaw and one understands, but without it, the scraps of understanding that one has put together can still be easily undone.

Further info
More info at
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/got-barnstone.html

Apologies for the scrappiness of this, I'm trying to cover multiple works in a short space. Feel free to add constructive comments!

[Silver Pie]

Subbing

[Niemand]

Audiobooks
Here are some audiobooks I have found for these works. Most of the ones here have a New Age flavour. I suppose we should expect this. (Apologies in advance for any of these links which disappear at some point in the next few years. I can only "future proof" so much, and there isn't much I can do about that. Enjoy them while you can!)

Gospel of Mary (11 minutes approx.)

Gospel of Thomas (39 minutes approx.)

Gospel of Philip (47 minutes approx., inc. introduction.)

Gospel of Truth (sic) (30 mins approx. inc. Intro.)

Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus Christ (21 mins 37 secs)

Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles (13 mins 42 seconds)

Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip (7 mins 25 secs inc intro)

[Niemand]

The Gospel of the Apostle Paul?
Intro
I have had trouble tracking this one down. I think what is being referred to here is the "Letter/Epistle of the Apostle Paul", because a text of that name was found in the Nag Hammadi library and most of the other works Gill mentions are in that collection. As you can see from the screenshot above, the RB's old webpage could have done with some proof-reading, so it probably is an error.

This work has a ridiculously vague title, given how many canonical Pauline Epistles we already have, and how many more we have outside the standard canon. (A couple like 3 Corinthians and Laodiceans have hovered around the edge of the canon. Laodiceans appears in the first English Bible, Wycliffe's and 3 Corinthians appeared in Armenian Bibles into the early modern period.)

If anyone has a better answer to this, please feel free to add a comment.

Summary

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The Letter of the Apostle Paul is in Coptic, with some Greek words. It appears to have originally been written in Greek. Most people think Paul had nothing to do with this work, although his name appears on it. This is yet another Valentian gnostic work.

To me it doesn't read much like the canonical Pauline Epistles. I don't have a clue about Coptic, only a little Greek.. so I'm using the English translation here. What I notice:
* Reference to light. This is common in Christian sources but even more common in gnostic ones, and New Agers/Freemasons love the idea of light too.
* It talks of the pre-existence of Christ. It also refers to him as First Born and First Begotten. This does tie in with the Book of Abraham (but I'm not sure Gill includes that in his canon!!!)
* The attribution to Paul at the end may be a later addition.
* Another reference to archons, the unseen rulers of the material world. Often (but not exclusively) a gnostic term.

Like most of these works, it is always curious where they do and don't accord with the standard western NT canon.

Wikipedia:
The prayer shows a distinctive Gnostic tone. It begins with a series of invocations addressed to the Redeemer. The term, with numerous meanings in both the Jewish Scriptures and the New Testament, has varied potential implications. The Redeemer is understood to be God in the Book of Job, just as he is known as the "Redeemer of Israel" in the Book of Isaiah. By contrast, in Paul's Letter to the Romans, Jesus is the Redeemer. In 3:24-25, Paul writes that believers "are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood"—in essence, redemption is the saving nature of Jesus' death. The Redeemer might also be understood as the supreme, hidden God of the Gnostic belief system.

Whomever the prayer intends to address, the author employs the formula "you are" four times to characterize the Redeemer as mind, treasury, fullness or pleroma, and repose. With the exception of the word "treasury"—translated into Coptic as aho, the terms remain in Greek as nous, pleroma, and anapausis, respectively. Although these terms are frequent in Valentinian literature, they are also found elsewhere.

Text
Since this is such a short work, I'll quote the entirety below. This is Dietrich Mueller's translation. As with most of the other works that Gill selects, this one has a significant chunk missing. I'm not including an audiobook link as a) this work is short, and b) I'm not entirely sure that this is what Gill refers to. But here it is:

[Two lines missing] your light, give me your mercy! My Redeemer, redeem me, for I am yours; the one who has come forth from you. You are my mind; bring me forth! You are my treasure house; open for me! You are my fullness; take me to you! You are (my) repose; give me the perfect thing that cannot be grasped!

I invoke you, the one who is and who pre-existed in the name which is exalted above every name, through Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, the King of the ages; give me your gifts, of which you do not repent, through the Son of Man, the Spirit, the Paraclete of truth. Give me authority when I ask you; give healing for my body when I ask you through the Evangelist, and redeem my eternal light soul and my spirit. And the First-born of the Pleroma of grace -- reveal him to my mind!

Grant what no angel eye has seen and no archon [ruler] ear (has) heard, and what has not entered into the human heart which came to be angelic and (modelled) after the image of the psychic God when it was formed in the beginning, since I have faith and hope. And place upon me your beloved, elect, and blessed greatness, the First-born, the First-begotten, and the wonderful mystery of your house; for yours is the power and the glory and the praise and the greatness for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Paul (the) Apostle.
In Peace.
Christ is holy.

Outro
This has the problems that the other works have:
* It's incomplete.
* It's translated or tampered with.
* It is probably not by who it is claimed to be. (So Pseudepigrapha).
* It has doctrine but it is hard to see how it relates to Gill's church. Most of that doctrine is not objectionable at all.

It feels more like a gnostic psalm than a Pauline Epistle.

[simpleton]

I think that what you are discovering is what actually happened to the pure teachings of Christ and His Apostles. They were corrupted, intentionally so. But fragments survived, truths survived, kind of like the song ,

Yes, say, what is truth? ’Tis the brightest prize

To which mortals or Gods can aspire.

Go search in the depths where it glittering lies,

Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies:

’Tis an aim for the noblest desire.

The corrupted powers that be, inspired by the master of darkness, IMO, decided after butchering and murdering the Apostles and the early, true Christians, that this knowledge of the Christ could be used to their advantage, (I'm sure after witnessing the tenacious zeal unto death even by torture of the true Christians for a few centuries) so they twisted and corrupted the gospel to fit their own diabolical ideas and that is what we have today. Although, many truths are contained therein, but you have to search and research with the Spirit of Discernment.
It was interesting to me, Dan Browns book "the DaVinci Code" set the catholic world on fire at the suggestion that Jesus was married. But I most definitely believe that he was, to, at the very least Mary and Martha, if not even more, and that those women and children, weeping at the cross were some of His children and wives.
Why do those fragments mention about Him kissing Mary on the ______, (lips), and His apostles kind of jealous about it? Well isn't it only abvious.
I do also believe that there are direct descendants of JC living in Great Britain and America, (and scattered abroad) and that one day it shall be known, if not already.
What would be nice is to get into the Vaticans old private library, I do believe/know that they have records that have not seen the light of day, that they keep hidden from the world that probably they even of themselves do not know much about.
When I visited the Vatican one time, (been there twice) I asked someone there in charge of the possibility of getting into their library, he said "no problema", (as they have a few libraries) but when I asked about getting into the old secured temperature controlled library vault, he lit up and said absolutely no way, and that the only way was if I was a university or college professor, and then of course only by application and that the wait was over a year, if approved.
Which I do understand, ancient records and all, but they most definitely have records that again, have not seen, nor will they let them be seen, the light of day.

[Niemand]

The Letter of Paul the Apostle contains the following lines

Grant what no angel eye has seen and no archon [ruler] ear (has) heard, and what has not entered into the human heart which came to be angelic and (modelled) after the image of the psychic God when it was formed in the beginning, since I have faith and hope.

This is either a canonical quote from Paul's letters (it doesn't appear in the Four Gospels)

1 Corinthians 2:9
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Or a quote from the Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas verse 17
Jesus said, “I will give you what your eyes have not seen, what your ears have not heard, what your hands have not touched, what the human heart has not felt.”

----
Kirtland RM refers to the Gospel of Philip today
viewtopic.php?t=70428

.Here is something new I have not posted in the past. In the Gospel of Philip, a text written by a second-century movement of Christianity with gnostic leanings called the Valentinians, we find extensive commentary on their unique set of rituals: “baptism, chrism, eucharist, redemption, and bridechamber.” W. W. Isenberg, Philip, 67:29-30, p. 150. Bas van Os vigorously argues that the rhetorical structure of the Gospel of Philip confirms that it is a well-organized gnostic initiatory discourse rather than an incoherent collection of sayings (B. van Os, Gospel of Philip).

[Dusty Wanderer]

Gospel of Philip

"Mary Magdalene was the companion of the Savior. He loved her more than all the other disciples, and kissed her on her [text missing] more often than he kissed the rest of the disciples.” - Gospel of Philip

"If someone sows in winter, he reaps in summer. Winter is this world. Summer is the other world. Let us sow in this world so that we can reap in summer. Therefore, let us not pray in winter. Summer emerges from winter. But whoever reaps in winter reaps nothing. He only gets young shoots that are not yet a crop. His field is a wasteland now, and is still a wasteland on the Sabbath." Philip 4

"The rulers (archons) saw that humanity is related to what is truly good, so they set out to deceive humanity. They took the names of good things and placed them on bad things so as to bind humanity to bad things. Likewise, they took the names of bad things and placed them on good things, as it is in their own minds. For they wanted humanity, which was free, to be enslaved to them forever." Philip 10

A translation of the Nag Hammadi version is available at
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/GPhilip-Meyer.html

Unlike some of the other works, only a single copy of this work has ever been found. It appears to have been written in Greek with Syriac influences.

According to some sources this was written as late as c. 350 and appears to have been linked to a gnostic sect called the Valentinians.. It does not claim to be written by Philip but is rather named after him. Like the Gospel of Thomas it is a sayings gospel, but unlike Thomas, I do not think any of the sayings are authentic. Like the Gospel of Mary it raises questions over Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Both the GOM and GOP suggest that she (or at least a Mary other than Jesus' mother) had a more significant role as a disciple than the Four Gospels suggest.

https://www.gotquestions.org/gospel-of-Philip.html

Similar to the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip is a collection of sayings, supposedly of Jesus. The Gospel of Philip focuses a great deal on the “sacrament of marriage” as a “sacred mystery.” The Gospel of Philip does not claim to have been written by Jesus’ disciple Philip. It is titled “the gospel according to Philip” due to Philip being the only disciple of Jesus who is named in it (73:8).

NTIV_BASP_154097-001.jpg

Origins
https://gnosticismexplained.org/the-gospel-of-philip/

The Gospel of Philip was probably originally composed in the second half of the second century in what is now Syria.[4] Though it was probably written in Greek, it contains a number of Syriac wordplays, which suggests that it was written for an audience that knew both Greek and Syriac.[5] Given that geographical and cultural context, it’s surely no coincidence that the text bears the name of the apostle Philip, who was traditionally said to have journeyed to western Mesopotamia as a missionary after Jesus’s death. It’s likely that Philip was the specially favored apostle of the region’s Christians, which would have lent an aura of particular significance and authority to a text presented in his name.[6]

Mary Magdalene again
Like the Gospel of Mary, Phillip raises issues about Jesus' relationship to Mary.
https://www.gotquestions.org/gospel-of-Philip.html

In his popular book The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown points to the Gospel of Philip as evidence of Jesus’ marriage / relationship with Mary Magdalene. However, the Gospel of Philip nowhere states that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. It does not even state that Jesus was romantically involved with Mary. The one section that deals with this issue is heavily damaged, with several portions unreadable. Here is what the Gospel of Philip states, with “…” representing missing portions: “and the companion of the … Mary Magdalene … more than … the disciples … kiss her … on her … the rest of the disciples … they said to him … why do you love her more than all of us?”

Serpent Seed
The RB has another theological conundrum here. Does it accept the Serpent Seed doctrine? The Gospel of Phillip is one of the first mentions of the serpent seed, i.e. the notion that Eve had children by the serpent, producing Cain and his descendants. That means that there are effectively two breeds of human on Earth, with some having a Satanic patrilineal ancestor. I'm not sure Matthew Gill has thought through the implications of this either, although he decries the priesthood ban etc of the Brighamite church.

Virgin Mary
viewtopic.php?t=70336&start=25

The Gospel of Philip preserves another interesting tradition from the Hebrew Christians, for whom Spirit was a feminine noun. They said that the Spirit coming on Mary (Luke 1.35) could not be described as conception; presumably it was creation, as in Genesis 1. ‘Some say Mary conceived by the holy Spirit. They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? ~ Margaret Barker, Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?

Philip 15 suggests the Holy Ghost is female (implying a relationship with the Greek sophia, and could not have impregnated Mary. It also suggests Mary's perpetual virginity in line with RC/Orthodox doctrine.

Some have said that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Such people do not know what they are talking about. When has a woman ever impregnated another woman?

Mary is the virgin whom the powers could not defile. This is a scandal to the Jews and many who claim to follow the apostles. For rather than defiling this virgin, the powers defiled themselves.

Marriage
Marriage is a big part of this work possibly symbolising gnostic union with God.
viewtopic.php?t=50928

"The Lord [did] everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber." (The Gospel of Philip 67:28-30-Nag Hammadi Library)
"Baptism is 'the Holy' building. Redemption is 'the Holy of the Holy.' 'The Holy of the Holies' is the bridal chamber." (The Gospel of Philip 69:22-25)

The writer of the Gospel of Philip, one of the apocrypal documents in the Nag Hammadi library, believed that the most sacred part of the temple was what he called the "bridal chamber," where a "woman is united to her husband" and "will no longer be separated." If a person does not receive these blessings in this world, he asserted they cannot be received elsewhere.(Gospel of Philip 69:14-25; 70:17-20; 86:3-7; see R. McL. Wilson, trans., The Gospel of Philip (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), 45-46,62.

“The Holy of Holy Ones Is the Bridal Chamber”(Gospel of Philip 117. 24–25).

“The Woman is united to her husband in the Bridal Chamber. But those who have united in the Bridal Chamber will no longer be separated”(Gospel of Philip 118. 17–29). Cf. Gospel of Phillip. 4–8 and 124. 6ff

Phillip 54

The mystery of marriage should be revered, for were it not for marriage, the world would cease to be. The world only exists because of people, and people only exist because of marriage. Consider, then, how great a mystery pure marriage, pure intercourse, is! It is no less great even though its earthly counterpart is full of corruption.

My info on Philip is disorganised but hopefully it is still of some use.

The quote from Philip 10 about how things are renamed in order to deceive us struck me. Of course, it is a nod toward inversion and calling good evil, etc; But it also had me thinking about all the names Adam gave everything. It’s like an undoing of that, a reversal of order all the way back to Adam.

How jumbled things must be by now. Rather than try to untangle ages of corruption, I can see why God prefers to just wipe the slate clean. I don’t think I can fathom how far from ideal we actually are.

——

That M. Barker comment was great, BTW.

[Niemand]

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Jesus as a he-she? Or a Greek philosopher?

The perfect Savior said: "I want you to know that he who appeared before the universe in infinity, Self-grown, Self-constructed Father, being full of shining light and ineffable, in the beginning, when he decided to have his likeness become a great power, immediately the principle (or beginning) of that Light appeared as Immortal Androgynous Man, that through that Immortal Androgynous Man they might attain their salvation and awake from forgetfulness through the interpreter who was sent, who is with you until the end of the poverty of the robbers. – The Sophia of Jesus Christ

The Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus Christ
Intro
Apologies again for disorganisation, I'm a bit tired so this probably could do with a tidy up.

The Bible is full of wisdom literature, notably the Proverbs and minor prophets, and perhaps also the letters in the New Testament count. In the western Apocrypha we find the books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, alongside the books of 1 & 2 Esdras and 4 Maccabees. But they do not read like the Sophia of Jesus Christ except perhaps 4 Maccabees in some vague sense.

I really don't know what to say about the so called Sophia of Jesus Christ except what was Matthew Gill thinking when he chose this? Yes, it may be yet another Nag Hammadi text, again lost for centuries, but there are so many theological and philosophical conundrums posed within this book that I doubt that he has considered the full implications. Becoming spiritually androgynous is one of the most striking ones.

The book's ideas have some relation to Dharmic religions, with the notions of coming from the infinite and overcoming this material existence. The disciples (including women) act as a means to turn Jesus' sermon into a kind of catechism. Maybe it was just that, a catechism to be learnt or a text for an initiation ceremony. Neither would surprise me. The book's flavour and obscurantism is right in line with many New Age ideas, much more so than conventional Christianity

Summary
This is not a long work, you can read it here:
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/sjc.html
Or here
https://www.gospelsofjesus.com/2016/03/ ... d.html?m=1

If you've ever taken a wander through the wilds of ancient Greek philosophy, you will find plenty of works regarding the mind ("nous") and "wisdom" (sophia) and how to her it. "Sophia" is usually personified as a woman. This tradition carried over into Christendom, with Sophia often being conflated with the Holy Ghost. This is not completely unreasonable as the Holy Ghost is supposed to confer wisdom. More famously there is also the former mosque and church, Hagia Sophia (holy wisdom) which dominates the skyline of Istanbul in Turkey predates the Muslim invasion.

The Sophia of Jesus Christ purports to be the words of Christ, but it reads far more like the ancient Greek wisdom literature I've just mentioned. It also talks about the "androgynous human" that we must be in order to obtain this wisdom. (Shades of the androgyny mentioned in the Gospel of Thomas I mention above.) Androgynous nature is commonly associated with western occultism and even Satanism. It's not like anything Jesus says in the canonical New Testament. For example, Jesus describes himself as part-female here:

The perfect Savior said: "Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. His male name is designated 'Savior, Begetter of All Things'. His female name is designated 'All-Begettress Sophia'. Some call her 'Pistis'.

"All who come into the world, like a drop from the Light, are sent by him to the world of Almighty, that they might be guarded by him..."

I could perhaps rationalise this through some Jungian framework, but would thst be appropriate? I leave that to you to decide.

The book begins with the 12 disciples and 7 women seeing Jesus after the resurrection, only in this version Jesus is not appearing in standard physical form. He seems to have transcended matter and gained an exalted body, yet there is also a sense here that he is not quite physical.

The disciples here don't act like the four gospels in doubting his resurrection or even trying to find his wounds (like Thomas)... instead they question him like some kind of Boddhisattva on the nature of the godhead and the universe. Here are the 13 Questions the disciples ask Jesus (Wikipedia's wording)

The first question concerns the vanity and futility of searching for God.
The second concerns how to find truth, but only explaining what it is not.
The third concerns how truth was revealed to the gnostics at the beginning of time.
The fourth concerns how one must awake to see the truth.
The fifth concerns how things began.
The sixth concerns how mankind came to gnosis.
The seventh concerns the position of Jesus in all this.
The eighth concerns the identity of Jesus.
The ninth concerns how the spirit connects to the material.
The tenth concerns the number of spirits.
The eleventh concerns the immortal.
The twelfth concerns those who are not material.
The final question concerns where mankind came from and what purpose it should have.

It turns out God the father has no physical form (which goes against LDS scriptures) and was never a man, although Jesus himself has managed to gain some progression that he presumably is trying to pass onto others.

This book should have been set after Jesus' Ascension not just after his resurrection. However perhaps the two are conflated because Jesus ascends shortly after this Q&A session.

[Jesus'] resemblance I must not describe. No mortal flesh could endure it, but only pure, perfect flesh, like that which he taught us about on the mountain called "Of the Olives" in Galilee.

You've probably spotted an obvious error here. The Mount of Olives is by Jerusalem, not in Galilee. Maybe the writer was thinking of the Sermon on the Mount. However, a huge gulf can be seen between the Sermon on the Mount, with its plain language (but deep meanings) and passages like this, which are not plainly written and are not as deep as they believe they are:

The Savior laughed and said to them: "What are you thinking about? Are you perplexed? What are you searching for?"

Philip said: "For the underlying reality of the universe and the plan."

The Savior said to them: "I want you to know that all men are born on earth from the foundation of the world until now, being dust, while they have inquired about God, who he is and what he is like, have not found him. Now the wisest among them have speculated from the ordering of the world and (its) movement. But their speculation has not reached the truth. For it is said that the ordering is directed in three ways, by all the philosophers, (and) hence they do not agree. For some of them say about the world that it is directed by itself. Others, that it is providence (that directs it). Others, that it is fate. But it is none of these. Again, of the three voices I have just mentioned, none is close to the truth, and (they are) from man. But I, who came from Infinite Light, I am here - for I know him (Light) - that I might speak to you about the precise nature of the truth. For whatever is from itself is a polluted life; it is self-made. Providence has no wisdom in it. And fate does not discern. But to you it is given to know; and whoever is worthy of knowledge will receive (it), whoever has not been begotten by the sowing of unclean rubbing but by First Who Was Sent, for he is an immortal in the midst of mortal men."

Scholars have determined that this work is related to the Epistle of Eugnostos, also found at Nag Hammadi. That book has many of the same ideas and sentiments but not in such Christian dress. It is known that Buddhist missionaries reached Egypt around two thousand years ago or more, so perhaps that is the origin of some of this material except for me it doesn't work well as a Buddhist text either.

Conclusion
Apart from some ideas about henotheism and progression, I do not consider this an inspired work but something formed under the influence of other religions hidden under a Christian veneer.

[Silver Pie]

Awesome all the research you do. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I understand that Wisdom is actually heavenly Mother. There are verses in scriptures that make a lot more sense when read with this in mind.

[Niemand]

Awesome all the research you do. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I understand that Wisdom is actually heavenly Mother. There are verses in scriptures that make a lot more sense when read with this in mind.

The Sophia of Jesus Christ is explicit that Jesus is Sophia/Wisdom her/himself in an androgynous combination. I'm aware in Orthodox Christianity sophia is more commonly associated with the Holy Ghost, much more so than Mary, as one might expect.

[Silver Pie]

Margaret Barker, a Methodist minister and biblical scholar, is where I first heard the idea of Wisdom being the Mother God.
You are where I first heard the idea that Jesus is an androgynous Wisdom. Interesting idea, actually.

[Niemand]

Margaret Barker, a Methodist minister and biblical scholar, is where I first heard the idea of Wisdom being the Mother God.
You are where I first heard the idea that Jesus is an androgynous Wisdom. Interesting idea, actually.

From me, rather than by me. I don't really agree with the idea myself. I'm not convinced that scripture is truly Christian, but is in Christian dress. I wrote the post last thing last night, so I probably didn't express it all very well. (Thank you for your kind words SP, always appreciated.)

[Niemand]

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A book which is incredibly relevant to today's churches

'The rich men of that city heard his voice. They came out of their hidden storerooms. And some were looking out from the storerooms of their houses. Others looked out from their upper windows. And they did not see (that they could gain) anything from him, because there was no pouch on his back nor bundle inside his cloth and napkin. And because of their disdain they did not even acknowledge him. He, for his part, did not reveal himself to them. They returned to their storerooms, saying, "This man is mocking us."' - The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles

The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
Intro
Not to be confused with the more famous book in the Biblical canon. It is not to be confused with the Acts of Peter, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Acts of Peter and Andrew or the Acts of Peter and Paul which are all separate works. This work is often called the Acts of Peter and the Twelve or the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles.

This book may be a late arrival. Some date it as late as 200 or 300 AD, and I believe personally that some sections of it describe a church which has already been in existence for a few generations and has become bloated with wealth. It is yet another Nag Hammadi work, so fragmentary and written in Coptic, showing evidence of a Greek original. Because of the shifts from First Person (I) to Third Person (He), some people claim that it shows evidence of being written by more than one person or being brought together from more than one source. There is also argument about whether this is actually a Gnostic work because it does not show much evidence of their influence. The work is around 12 pages long in the original but shows a great complexity of thought and even beauty in its ideas. You can read a translation here:
https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ ... welve.html

Summary

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I've used Wikipedia (!), which summarises it well. The first part is a version of the parable of the Pearl of Great Price:

The apostles embark on a journey by sea. They arrive at a small city called Habitation and Peter seeks lodging. A man with a beautiful form and stature wearing a cloth and a gold belt comes out, holding a book cover and a staff. He is crying out "Pearls! Pearls!" Peter greets the man as a brother and friend and asks for lodging for him and the other apostles. The man introduces himself as a fellow stranger and repeats his cries of "Pearls! Pearls!" The rich men of the city hear his voice but do not acknowledge him because they do not see anything of value on him. On the other hand, the poor and the beggars ask to see the pearl, and the man invites them to his city to receive it for nothing. He introduces himself as Lithargoel, meaning "the light, gazelle-like stone."

This next part is weirdly reminscent of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress:

Lithargoel explains to Peter the difficulties of the road to the city of Nine Gates. He tells Peter that they must abandon everything they have and fast to travel on this road since there are many dangers to evade, including robbers and wild beasts. Lithargoel encourages Peter by saying Jesus gives strength and says that he believes in the Father who sent him. Peter meets an old man and asks about the name of the city, and Peter comes to understand that the city is named Habitation because those who endure the trials and difficulties of the storms will inhabit the city and be included in the kingdom of heaven. Peter and the apostles forsake everything as Lithargoel instructed and evade the hardships successfully. They rest at the city gate and talk about the faith

Lithargoel turns out to be Jesus, and the city the world:

The apostles do not recognize Lithargoel after he changes his appearance to a physician. Peter is frightened when the physician addresses him by his name, but Peter then recognizes him as Jesus Christ. The apostles worship him and pledge to do as he wishes. Jesus gives them an unguent box and pouch and commands them to go back to the city of Habitation to teach all those who have believed in his name. He promises to reward them and asks them to provide for the poor until he gives them something better.

This reminds me very strongly of Gazelem mentioned in Alma 37:23 "a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light". Wikipedia's summary continues:

Jesus explains that his name surpasses all riches and that the wisdom of God surpasses gold, silver, and precious stones. He tells them to heal all the sick in the city who believe in his name. John asks how they can heal bodies since they have not been taught to be physicians. Jesus explains that physicians of souls heal the heart. They need to heal the bodies first so that the people may believe in them and their power to heal the illnesses of the heart. Jesus also tells the apostles not to dine with the rich men of the city who do not acknowledge him and to judge them with uprightness so that their ministry may be glorified and his name may be glorified in the churches.

The book disparages the wealthy, who I suppose are reprentative of the Pharisees, the spiritually arrogant and so on or indeed the rich man who came to Jesus. This reminds me of Lehi's dream. The "hidden storerooms" mentioned may either refer to their own spiritual potential, or more literally how they have used priestcraft to store up wealth. The text itself may have some hidden meanings, it says:

No man is able to go on that road, except one who has forsaken everything that he has and has fasted daily from stage to stage. For many are the robbers and wild beasts on that road. The one who carries bread with him on the road, the black dogs kill because of the bread. The one who carries a costly garment of the world with him, the robbers kill because of the garment. The one who carries water with him, the wolves kill because of the water, since they were thirsty for it. The one who is anxious about meat and green vegetables, the lions eat because of the meat. If he evades the lions, the bulls devour him because of the green vegetables."

These are curious metaphors, but may have much more specific meanings underlying each of them. The robbers I take to mean other people who lead one astray and the wild beasts mean either demons or the human passions. Material wealth can kill spirituality. Jesus also gives them the unguent (ointment) and points out:

He answered them, "Rightly have you spoken, John, for I know that the physicians of this world heal what belongs to the world. The physicians of souls, however, heal the heart. Heal the bodies first, therefore, so that through the real powers of healing for their bodies, without medicine of the world, they may believe in you, that you have power to heal the illnesses of the heart also."

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This next part is of relevance today. Jesus did and would mix with rich people, but it is about how wealth corrupts, a lesson for today's LDS and mainstream churches:

"The rich men of the city, however, those who did not see fit even to acknowledge me, but who reveled in their wealth and pride - with such as these, therefore, do not dine in their houses nor be friends with them, lest their partiality influence you. For many in the churches have shown partiality to the rich, because they also are sinful, and they give occasion for others to sin. But judge them with uprightness, so that your ministry may be glorified, and that my name also, may be glorified in the churches." The disciples answered and said, "Yes, truly this is what is fitting to do."

This is actually a beautiful work. I gain far more from reading it than I do the over-philosophical Sophia of Jesus Christ which I've just mentioned. It is the best of the works I've reviewed on this thread. It need not be seen as the real words of Jesus but as a John Bunyan like allegory. I highly recommend it.

Genres of New Testament Apocrypha
There are several main genres of New Testament apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha:
* Gospels - themselves broken into various subgenres e.g. Passion Gospels (see Gospel of Peter above), Infancy Gospels, Secret gospels (to be shown to initiates) and by marginalised figures such as Mary (see above), Pontius Pilate and even Judas Iscariot.
* Extra Letters/Epistles (such as the Pauline one quoted above, plus another two I've discussed - Laodiceans, 3 Corinthians)
* Books about the Virgin Mary.
* Apocalypses – the only canonical one of these is the Revelation of St. John and even that had to fight its way into our scriptures. There are other notable ones outside the NT scriptures such as the Apocalypse of Peter and the Shepherd of Hermas.
* Acts – these are sequels to the gospels, and show what Jesus' disciples got up to next. The book of Acts in the New Testament is very focussed on the work of Paul and his supporters. This is one of those other works

[Niemand]

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First of all concerning the deficiency of the aeons, this is the deficiency, when the disobedience and the foolishness of the mother appeared without the commandment of the majesty of the Father. She wanted to raise up aeons. And when she spoke, the Arrogant One followed. And when she left behind a part, the Arrogant One laid hold of it, and it became a deficiency. This is the deficiency of the aeons.- The Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip

The Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip
Intro
This work starts as a letter/epistle, but very rapidly changes into something very different, i.e. a vision dialogue not unlike that of the Sophia of Jesus Christ I mention above,.followed by the apostles' work upon the ground. Soon we are into the realm of Archons (the evil rulers of this material world), Aeons and so on. Very much a gnostic work. It dates to 200 or 300 again, so out of the first or even second generation (see my piece on 1 Clement) from Christ.

While I'm not unsympathetic towards the idea of overcoming materialism (our chief issue in modern society, with the materialist dogmas such as capitalism, Marxism and technophilia/science worship dominating our collective worldview) or our battle against the natural man (which is mentioned here in other terms), I do find myself somewhat prejudiced against such esoteric works which can read more like Greek philosophy and more obscure Buddhist texts. Maybe I am being unfair.

And yes, this is a Nag Hammadi work again. It seems unclear why Matthew Gill chose some Nag Hammadi works and not others. It also seems unclear why Gill favours Nag Hammadi works over Qumran's (the Dead Sea Scrolls). Maybe because they are edgier.

Summary
I'm afraid I've resorted to Wikipedia again for much of this. It's a bad habit I need to break. I do use other sources!!! You can read the text itself here:
https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ ... hilip.html

There is an audiobook link further up this thread.

As with the Sophia of Jesus Christ, this vision and dialogue between Jesus and his disciples takes place on the Mount of Olives (this time not said to be in Galilee!). There is a sad note here as the apostles are being persecuted, likely a reflection of the treatment that Christians and Gnostics had from the Roman Empire at the time of writing. Wikipedia:

Peter writes to Philip regarding orders from the savior to teach and preach about salvation. Peter is concerned that Philip is separated from the other messengers, but the letter persuades Philip to join them. The messengers gather on the mountain called Olivet, pray to God, and ask for strength as they fear being killed. A great light appears, and a voice reveals itself to be Jesus.

It is notable here that Jesus is not visiting physically. However, there is less trouble with dating this supposed incident than with the Sophia of Jesus Christ, it is clearly in the early church after the Ascension. There is a hint of Docetism here, i.e. that Jesus did not come in the flesh, and it may be reworked from non-Christian sources. Later in the letter Peter talks about Jesus being in his body. I get the impression that this work too was cobbled together from more than one source.

The messengers ask Jesus about the deficiency of the realms and their fullness, their detention in the dwelling place, and how they can leave and possess the authority of boldness. Jesus responds and explains that the deficiency of the aeons occurred when the disobedience and foolishness of the mother led to the establishment of eternal realms. The arrogant one followed her, took a portion, and sowed it, placing powers and authorities over it and confining it within the mortal realms. The arrogant one grew proud because of the praise of the powers and created mortal bodies from a misrepresentation of the appearance.

Jesus says that he was sent to Earth in the body for the sake of those who have fallen away, and that he spoke to one of his followers who recognized him and was given authority to enter the inheritance of his fatherhood. Jesus explains that those who are detained are his, and that they will become luminaries once they strip themselves of what is corruptible. He also explains that the powers fight against the inner person and that they must be fought against by teaching salvation in the world, arming oneself with his father's power, and expressing prayer. Lightning and thunder appear, and Jesus is taken up to heaven

Then it returns to something more like a work of the Acts genre.

The messengers thank the Lord and return to Jerusalem. As they walk, they talk about the light that had appeared and their suffering. Peter reminds them that Jesus suffered for them, and they must also suffer. The messengers go to the temple, teach salvation in Jesus' name, and heal people. Peter speaks to his students and tells them that Jesus is the author of their life, and they should not listen to the lawless ones. He asks Jesus to give them a spirit of understanding and power to perform great deeds. The messengers are filled with the Holy Spirit, perform healings, and go to preach in the name of the Lord Jesus. Finally, Jesus appears and tells them that they will have joy, grace, and power, and he is with them forever

A more academic summary quoted here https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ ... hilip.html

Marvin W. Meyer writes (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 433): "It is possible, then, to suggest a general outline for the literary history of The Letter of Peter to Philip. On the basis of the parallels with The Apocryphon of John and Irenaeus, we suggest that The Letter of Peter to Philip was written around the end of the second century [AD] or into the third. The author of the text presumably wrote in Greek: such may be intimated by the presence of Greek loan words and Greek idioms. The author apparently was a Christian Gnostic who was well versed in the Christian tradition, and who used and interpreted that tradition in a Christian Gnostic fashion. A gnostic dialogue has been constructed, though it is less true a dialogue than a revelatory discourse of Christ in answer to questions raised by the apostles. Within this dialogue are included gnostic materials which are non-Christian or only marginally Christian; these materials have been adopted as revelatory disclosures of the risen Christ. On the basis of the Christian and gnostic traditions with which the author was familiar, the author compiled a narrative document with a revelatory focus. The letter itself was added at the beginning of this narrative in order to stress the authoritative place of Peter, and The Letter of Peter to Philip subsequently received its present title. Finally, the Greek tractate was translated into Coptic, and found its way into Codex VIII of the Nag Hammadi library."

[Niemand]

For a change, I've decided to do a tier list of these books. I haven't got access to a decent graphics editor so text will have to do. These are all fairly shallow summaries. Maybe some of you will have very different views.

A Tier
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles: I enjoyed this one most of all. Unlike some of the others, I think most people can appreciate it.

B Tier
The Gospel of Thomas: Although there is some suspect content in this, I also think it contains some real sayings of Jesus which are not recorded elsewhere.

C Tier
The Gospel of Peter & the Gospel of Mary: Both of these are fragmentary and include one or two features of interest. (Being female-focussed in the case of Mary). I'm not convinced they are spiritually edifying though.

D Tier
The Gospel of Phillip & Gospel of Truth: some straying into obscurantism. The main interest here is about marriage.
the Letter of the Apostle Paul: this doesn't add much to our understanding either. Not much new in here.

E Tier
The Letter of Peter which he sent to Philip: Much the same as the Sophia below, but saved by one or two elements which are relatable. It also changes course on two or three occasions.

F Tier
The Sophia (Wisdom) of Jesus the Christ: not accessible to the average reader or helping them to reach salvation. I may revisit this at some point when I am more favourable to it. This may not really be a Christian work at all.

---

Other comments
I've said much of this above, but the RB/Matthew Gill has adopted these books without considering:
a) The theological ramifications
b) How fragmentary some are.

Both of these are serious issues even though Matthew Gill claims the additions were requested "by the Lord himself". Yet many of these works lack whole sections and have incomplete sentences... which makes for a double problem. When sections are complete enough they occasionally conflict with LDS teachings and presumably what the RB teaches.

I'm going to post something else in the next day or two where someone is looking at some of these books from another angle.

[Niemand]

This is part of my ongoing series on Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works:
This is a bit of a link farm (but helps with archiving and search algorithms). At this point, I think I have reviewed more books than exist in the standard Protestant Bible canon (66). Not just the true Roman Catholic and Orthodox Apocrypha, but many other works. This post brings that number up, as do the ones on the Ethiopian canon, the Samaritans and Lost Books.

1 Esdras inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343974

2 Esdras (the most relevant book in the Apocrypha?) inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1344302

1 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69454

2 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69468

3 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69496

4 Maccabees
viewtopic.php?t=69515

Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy/Jeremiah
viewtopic.php?t=69433

Book of Tobit inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1341501

Apocryphal additions to Esther inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?p=1343414

Bel and the Dragon (quoted in full, KJV; inc audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69261

Prayer of Azarias and Hymn of the Three Children (quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?p=1341611

Book of Judith and the Book of Mormon, inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69402

Book of Susanna inc. audiobook link
viewtopic.php?t=69386

Wisdom of Solomon
viewtopic.php?t=69469

Book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
viewtopic.php?t=69412

Prayer of Mannases (aka Mannaseh; quoted in full KJV, inc. audiobook link)
viewtopic.php?t=69263

Psalm 151 (quoted in full, NRSV)
viewtopic.php?t=63875

Four Apocryphal Psalms - 152, 153, 154, 155
viewtopic.php?t=69985

Epistle to the Laodiceans (NT, quoted in full Wycliffe's translation, )
viewtopic.php?t=64025

The Book of Odes - this is an Eastern Orthodox work of limited interest, but included for the sake of completeness.
viewtopic.php?t=69470

The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate, as tested on Mennonites
viewtopic.php?t=69760

Outside the Western and Eastern Orthodox Canon...

The Ethiopian canon. This includes brief info on the books of Sinodos, Ethiopian Clement, Ethiopian Covenant, and Didascalia as well as a list of other works in the canon.
viewtopic.php?t=69540

The Book of Enoch
viewtopic.php?t=69577

Book of Jubilees (Apocrypha) aka the Little Genesis or Leptogenesis - Cain, Moses, Enoch, Nephilim
viewtopic.php?t=69548

1 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), another lost book?
viewtopic.php?t=69855

2 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon), - the return of Tsirutsaydan
viewtopic.php?t=69971

3 Meqabyan (Ethiopian canon) a Question of Satan, another lost work?
viewtopic.php?t=70277

3 Corinthians (Armenian canon)
viewtopic.php?t=69567

Other works
The Shepherd of Hermas - inspired literature or pagan trash?
viewtopic.php?t=69650

The Epistle of Barnabas (NT Apocrypha) - link between OT and NT, or not?
viewtopic.php?t=69679

1 Clement: Papist propaganda or a window into the early church?
viewtopic.php?p=1368842

2 Clement: Inclement Gnosticism?
viewtopic.php?t=70327&hilit=Clement

The Didache or Teachings of the Apostles
viewtopic.php?t=69698

And
Antilegomena: the books which barely made it into the Bible - Revelation, Esther, Song of Songs, James etc
viewtopic.php?p=1350652

Is Q canonical? How about the Gospel of Thomas? The answer's more complicated than you think.
viewtopic.php?t=69715

The LDS Bible Dictionary on Lost Books and non-canonical works referred to in the Bible.
viewtopic.php?t=69805

On other interrelated religions:
The Samaritans, their canon and its significance
viewtopic.php?t=69905

My thread about the Koran, and its use of figures from the Bible, the Apocrypha and extracanonical material. How useful a source is the Koran itself? Does it have any real extra information on Biblical figures? This is something of work in progress.
viewtopic.php?t=70169

Was Zoroaster/Zarathustra a lost prophet of God? Some surprising links between this largely forgotten figure and Judaism, plus the Gathas.
viewtopic.php?t=65938

[Niemand]

A different take on this books... when are they Orthodox? (I've a sneaking suspicion Eastern Orthodox is meant here, but the adjective still applies.) From the following blog
https://www.gnosticdoctrine.com/2018/12 ... y.html?m=1

Non-Docetic Doctrines in the Nag Hammadi Library
or
Orthodoxy in the Nag Hammadi Library

Orthodox Christians will claim that the Gnostic Gospels of the Nag Hammadi Library contents false teaching, however after reading the Nag Hammadi Library I found that it contains many Orthodox doctrines.

The nature of Jesus

The Gospel of Thomas

I took my stand in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. Gospel of Thomas Saying 28

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom-meyer.html

again this is an orthodox teaching that Jesus came in the flesh

Teaching on the Resurrection
The Gospel of Philip:

The resurrection is real it is not an illusion
I condemn those who say the flesh won’t rise.
Then both are wrong. You say the flesh won’t ascend.
Tell me, what will rise so I can honour you?
You say spirit in the flesh and light in the flesh.
What is the flesh?
You say there is nothing outside the flesh.
It is necessary to arise in this flesh, since everything exists in it.
In this world those wearing garments are better than garments.
In heaven the garments are better than the wearers. The Gospel of Philip

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/GPhilip-Barnstone.html

It is necessary to arise in this flesh, since everything exists in it.the resurrection of mortal flesh which puts on immortality or spiritual flesh

True Flesh

[The master] was conceived from what [is imperishable], through God. The [master rose] from the dead, but [he did not come into being as he] was. Rather, his [body] was [completely] perfect. [It was] of flesh, and this [flesh] was true flesh. [Our flesh] is not true flesh but only an image of the true. The Gospel of Philip

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/GPhilip-Meyer.html

"My god, my god, O lord, why have you abandoned me?”
He said these words on the cross. But not from that place. He was already gone. . . . The Gospel of Philip
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/GPhilip-Barnstone.html

Again this shows that the gospel of Philip knows of the resurrection and his death on the cross

The Sophia of Jesus Christ:

After he rose from the dead, his twelve disciples and seven women continued to be his followers, and went to Galilee onto the mountain called "Divination and Joy". When they gathered together and were perplexed about the underlying reality of the universe and the plan, and the holy providence, and the power of the authorities, and about everything the Savior is doing with them in the secret of the holy plan, the Savior appeared - not in his previous form, but in the invisible spirit. And his likeness resembles a great angel of light. But his resemblance I must not describe. No mortal flesh could endure it, but only pure, perfect flesh, like that which he taught us about on the mountain called "Of the Olives" in Galilee. The Sophia of Jesus Christ
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/sjc.html

The sophia of Jesus Christ at the begining of the text speaks about the resurrection of Jesus and goes on to describe the nature of the spiritual body it was not mortal flesh but pure, perfect flesh or spiritual flesh.

The Gospel of Truth:

In their heart, the living book of the living was manifest, the book that was written in the thought and in the mind of the father and, from before the foundation of all, is in that incomprehensible part of him.
This is the book that no one found possible to take, since it was reserved for him who will take it and be slain. No one could appear among those who believed in salvation as long as that book had not appeared. For this reason, the compassionate, faithful Jesus was patient in his sufferings until he took that book, since he knew that his death meant life for many. Just as in the case of a will that has not yet been opened, the fortune of the deceased master of the house is hidden, so also in the case of all that had been hidden as long as the father of all was invisible and unique in himself, in whom every space has its source. For this reason Jesus appeared. He put on that book. He was nailed to a cross. He affixed the edict of the father to the cross. http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/got-barnstone.html

[Silver Pie]

While I do believe Heavenly Mother is Wisdom, I don't believe Jesus was androgynous. I believe he was married to Mary, the woman who was the first person to see him after his resurrection. No need for him to be anything but 100% male imo.

Margaret Barker, a Methodist minister and biblical scholar, is where I first heard the idea of Wisdom being the Mother God.
You are where I first heard the idea that Jesus is an androgynous Wisdom. Interesting idea, actually.

From me, rather than by me. I don't really agree with the idea myself. I'm not convinced that scripture is truly Christian, but is in Christian dress. I wrote the post last thing last night, so I probably didn't express it all very well. (Thank you for your kind words SP, always appreciated.)

[Niemand]

While I do believe Heavenly Mother is Wisdom, I don't believe Jesus was androgynous. I believe he was married to Mary, the woman who was the first person to see him after his resurrection. No need for him to be anything but 100% male imo.

There is no reason to think he was at all, although there is that odd saying from the Gospel of Thomas which I don't believe came from Jesus himself.

Pretty much every possible permutation for the nature of Jesus seems to have been proposed... even obscure ones like being superior to Heavenly Father, actually a woman, or gay, or not here in physical form or an extraterrestrial... you name it. I don't agree with any of these. I'm more inclined to believe your version although the whole matter of Jesus' bloodlines are another can of worms.

[TheChristian]

The discovery of many of the ancient Gnostic writings proves that the early Christian Fathers accounts of the Gnostics were truthfull and accurate.

[Niemand]

The discovery of many of the ancient Gnostic writings proves that the early Christian Fathers accounts of the Gnostics were truthfull and accurate.

Kind of. As the blog link above suggests, some aspects are not as "out there" as we might expect. Some of it's way off, but it's not all trash.

My favourite of the ones above is the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, which I think is very relevant today. The Gospel of Thomas seems to be a mixed bag of good, bad and indifferent.

[TheChristian]

I am more speaking of the core teachings of the early Gnostics, their teachings concerning the Saviour are in total opposition to the teachings of the New testament.
This is what the early Christian Fathers were concerned about, when one reads what they say about the early Gnostic movements are amply evidenced in the gnostic writings that have been discovered.
As you say the Gnostic writings discovered also contain elements and fragments of truth, some of value as they support the New testament writings, oft from a different angle, adding greater understanding of said New testament sayings.
For instance the Gospel of Thomas in some of its contents certainly sheds more light and understanding of certian sayings and activities of our Lord, the Rich young man for instance is a classic example.
The Gnostic writings appear to me to be written by learned pagan philosophers whom had joined the early Church, with their deep and mysterious doctrines, secrecy, elitism and appeals to the intellectuals and learned in said early church they led many astray, teaching another Jesus that is not the Jesus that the first Apostles taught.
The Books and writings I would of liked to have seen and read were the books of the early Christians that continued in the Apostolic tradition, whom continued to exercise the Gifts of the Spirit, whom spoke in tongues, prophesied, performed signs, wonders and miracles and were always the most enthusiastic about the Saviour.
They had prophets and prophetesses amongst them, they also belonged to the mainstream church, claimed no Authority and were always the ones whom stood up and defended the christian faith when persecutions from the Jews and the Romans arose.
Alas in one of the seasons the early christian church had peace and prosperity and became organised, the varied Bishops felt that their Authority was jeopardised by these Charismatic Christians in their midst whom emulated and followed in the footsteps of the first Apostles and hence the Bishops clamped down apon them.
One of their foremost Prophets was taken before a Bishops court in around AD 175, were he was excommunicated for speaking in tongues and prophesieing, as he was condemned, he prophesied to the Bishop and all the elders, words to this effect, for it is over 30 years ago since I read these things...

" That the Spirit of God would depart from all their churchs and would not been evidenced amongst them for many centuries"

All the writings and books of these early Charismatic christians were destroyed, what little we know of them is left by the very early Christian Fathers that condemned and cast them out of the mainstream church. However the early Christian fathers do not condemn any of their doctrines, for they all state that they held the traditional doctrines of the mainstream church, it was the manifestations of the Gifts of the Spirit that vexed and troubled the Bishops and elders of the early church as said they feared it jeopardised their Authority.