Gospel of Truth

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THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH

The Gospel of Truth is joy for those who have received from the Father of truth the gift of recognizing him, thru the power of the Meaning who comes forth from the fullness which is in the thought and mind of the Father. This is he who is called the Savior—that being the name of the task which he is to do for the atonement of those who had been unacquainted with the Name of the Father.

Now, the Gospel is the revelation of the hopeful, it is the finding of themselves by those who seek him. For since the totality were searching for him from whom they came forth—and the totality were within him, the Inconceivable Incomprehensible, he who exists beyond all thought—hence unacquaintance with the Father caused anxiety and fear. Then the anxiety condensed like a fog so that no one could see.

Wherefore confusion grew strong, contriving its matter in emptiness and unacquaintance with the truth, preparing to substitute a potent and alluring fabrication for truthfulness. But this was no humiliation for him, the Inconceivable Incomprehensible. For the anxiety and the amnesia and the deceitful fabrication were nothing—whereas the established truth is immutable, imperturbable and of unadornable beauty. Therefore despise confusion! It has no roots and was in a fog concerning the Father, preparing labors and amnesia and fear in order thereby to entice those of the transition and take them captive.

The amnesia of confusion was not made as a revelation, it is not the handiwork of the Father. Forgetfulness does not occur under his directive, although it does happen because of him. But rather what exists within him is acquaintanceship—this being revealed so that forgetfulness might dissolve and the Father be recognized. Since amnesia occurred because the Father was not recognized, thereafter when the Father is recognized there will be no more forgetting.

This is the Gospel of him who is sought, which he has revealed to those perfected thru the mercies of the Father as the secret mystery:

He enlightened those who were in darkness because of forgetfulness. He illumined them. He gave them a path, and that path is the truth which he proclaimed.

Therefore confusion was enraged at him and pursued him in order to suppress and eliminate him. He was nailed to a crossbeam, he became the fruit of recognizing the Father. Yet it did not cause those who consumed it to perish, but rather to those who consumed it he bestowed a rejoicing at such a discovery. For he found them in himself and they found him in themselves—the Inconceivable Incomprehensible, the Father, this perfect-one who created the totality, within whom the totality exists and of whom the totality has need. For he had withheld within himself their perfection, which he had not yet conferred upon them all.

The Father is not jealous, for what envy could there be between him and his members? For if the way of this aeon had prevailed they would not have been able to come unto the Father, who retains within himself their fulfillment and bestows it upon them as a return to himself with a recognition which is single in perfection. It is he who ordained the totality, and the totality is within him and the totality had need of him. It is like a person with whom some have been unacquainted, yet who desires that they recognize and love him. For what did they all lack except acquaintance with the Father?

Thus he became a reposeful and leisurely guide in the place of instruction. The Logos came to the midst and spoke as their appointed teacher. There approached those who considered themselves wise, putting him to the test—yet he shamed them in their vanity. They hated him because they were not truly wise. Then after them all there also approached the little children, those who are acquainted with the Father. Having been confirmed, they learned of the face-forms of the Father. They recognized, they were recognized; they were glorified, they glorified. Revealed in their heart was the living book of life, this which is inscribed in the thought and mind of the Father and which has been within his incomprehensibility since before the foundation of the totality. No one can take this (book) away, because it was appointed for him who would take it and be slain.

No one of those who trusted in salvation could have become manifest unless this book had come to the midst. This is why the merciful and faithful-one—Yeshua!—patiently endured the sufferings in order to take this book, since he knew that his death is life for many. Just as the fortune of the deceased master of the estate remains secret until his bequest is opened, so also the totality remained hidden so long as the Father of the totality was invisible—this-one thru whom all dimensions originate. This is why Yeshua appeared, clothed in that book.

He was nailed to a crossbeam in order to publish the edict of the Father on the cross. Oh sublime teaching, such that he humbled himself unto death while clad in eternal life! He stripped off the rags of mortality in order to don this imperishability which none has the power to take from him. Entering into the empty spaces of the terrors, he brought forth those who had been divested by amnesia. Acting with recognition and perfection, he proclaimed what is in the heart [of the Father, in order to] make wise those who are to receive the teaching. Yet those who are instructed are the living, inscribed in this book of life, who are taught about themselves and who receive themselves from the Father in again returning to him.

Because the perfection of the totality is in the Father, it is requisite that they all ascend unto him. When someone recognizes, he receives the things that are his own and gathers them to himself. For he who is unacquainted has a lack—and what he lacks is great, since what he lacks is Him who will make him perfect. Because the perfection of the totality is in the Father, it is requisite that they all ascend unto him. Thus each and every one receives himself.

He pre-inscribed them, having prepared this gift for those who emerged from him. Those whose names he foreknew are all called at the end. Thus someone who recognizes has his name spoken by the Father. For he whose name has not been spoken remains unacquainted. How indeed can anyone hearken whose name has not been called? For he who remains unacquainted until the end is a figment of forgetfulness and will vanish with it. Otherwise why indeed is there no name for those wretches, and why do they not heed the call?

Thus someone with acquaintance is from above. When he is called he hears and heeds and returns to Him who called, ascending unto him. And he discovers who it is that calls him. In recognition he does the volition of him who called. He desires to please him, and granted repose he receives the Name of the One. He who recognizes thus discovers from whence he has come and whither he is going. He understands like someone who was intoxicated and who has shaken off his drunkenness and returned to himself, to set upright those things which are his own.

He has brought many back from confusion. He went before them into the spaces thru which their hearts had migrated in going astray, due to the depth of Him who encompasses all dimensions without himself being encompassed. It is a great wonder that they were within the Father without recognizing him, and that they were able to depart unto themselves because they could neither comprehend nor recognize him in whom they were. For thus his volition had not yet emerged from within himself. For he revealed himself so that all his emanations would reunite with him in recognition.

This is acquaintance with the living book, whereby at the end he has manifested the eternal-ones as the alphabet of his revelation. These are not vowels nor are they consonants, such that someone might read them and think of emptiness, but rather they are the true alphabet by which those who recognize it are themselves expressed. Each letter is a perfect thought, each letter is like a complete book written in the alphabet of unity by the Father, who inscribes the eternal-ones so that thru his alphabet they might recognize the Father.

His wisdom meditates on the Meaning—his teaching expresses it—his acquaintance revealed it—his dignity is crowned by it—his joy unites with it—his glory exalted it—his appearance manifested it—his repose received it—his love embodied it—his faith embraced it.

Thus the Logos of the Father comes into the totality as the fruit of his heart and the face-form of his volition. But he supports them all, he atones them and moreover he assumes the face-form of everyone, purifying them, bringing them back—within the Father, within the Mother, Yeshua of infinite kindness. The Father uncovers his bosom, which is the Sacred Spirit, revealing his secret. His secret is his Son! Thus thru the compassions of the Father the eternal-ones recognize him. And they cease their toil of seeking for the Father and repose in him, recognizing that this is the repose.

Having replenished the deficiency, he dissolved the scheme. For the scheme is this world in which he served as a slave, and deficiency is the place of envy and quarreling. Yet the place of the unity is perfect. Since deficiency occurred because the Father was not recognized, thereafter when the Father is recognized there shall be no deficiency. Just as with ignorance: when someone comes to know, the ignorance dissolves of itself—and also as darkness dissipates when the light shines—so also deficiency vanishes when perfection appears. Thus from that moment on there is no more scheme, but rather it disappears in the fusion of the unity. For now their involvements are made equal at the moment when the fusion perfects the spaces.

Each one shall receive himself in the unification and shall be purified from multiplicity unto unity in acquaintanceship—consuming matter in himself like a flame, darkness with light, and death with life. Since these things have thus happened to each one of us, it is appropriate that we think of the totality so that the household be holy and silent for the unity.

It is like some who move jars from their proper places to unsafe places, where they are broken. And yet the master of the house suffered no loss but rather rejoiced, for those unsound jars were replaced by these which are fully perfect. This is the judgment which has come from above, like a double-edged sword drawn to cut this way and that as each one is judged.

There came to the midst the Logos, which is in the heart of those who express it. This was not a mere sound, but rather he became a body. A great disturbance occurred among the jars—for lo some were emptied, others were filled, some were supplied, others were overturned, some were cleansed, others were broken. All of the spaces quaked and were agitated, having neither order nor stability. Confusion was in anguish at not discerning what to do—distressed and lamenting and shearing from understanding nothing.

Then when recognition approached with all its emanations, this was the annihilation of confusion, which was emptied into nothingness. The truth came to the midst, and all his emanations recognized and embraced the Father in truth and united with him in a perfect power. For everyone who loves the truth attaches himself to the mouth of the Father with his tongue by receiving the Sacred Spirit. The truth is the mouth of the Father, his tongue is the Sacred Spirit joined to him in truth. This is the revelation of the Father and his self-manifestation to his eternal-ones. He has revealed his secret, explaining it all.

For who is the Existent-One, except for the Father alone? All dimensions are his emanations, recognized in coming forth from his heart like sons from a mature person who knows them. Each one whom the Father begets had previously received neither form nor name. Then they were formed thru his self-awareness. Although indeed they had been in his mind, they had not recognized him. The Father however is perfectly acquainted with all the dimensions, which are within him.

Whenever he wishes he manifests whomever he wishes, forming him and naming him. And in giving him a name, he causes him to come into being. Before they came into being, these assuredly were unacquainted with him who fashioned them. I do not say however that those who have not yet come into being are nothings—but rather they pre-exist within him who shall intend their becoming when he desires it, like a season yet to come. Before anyone is manifest (the Father) knows what he will bring forth. But the fruit that is not yet manifest neither recognizes nor accomplishes anything. Thus all dimensions themselves exist within the Father who exists, from whom they come forth, and who established them unto himself from that which is not.

Whoever lacks root also lacks fruit, but still he thinks to himself: ‘I have become, so I shall decease—for everything that (earlier) did not (yet) exist, (later) shall no (longer) exist.’ What therefore does the Father desire that such a person think about himself?: ‘I have been like the shadows and the phantoms of the night!’ When the dawn shines upon him, this person ascertains that the terror which had seized him was nothing. They were thus unacquainted with the Father because they did not behold him. Hence there occurred terror and turmoil and weakness and doubt and division, with many deceptions and empty fictions at work thru these.

It was as if they were sunk in sleep and found themselves in troubled dreams—either fleeing somewhere, or powerlessly pursuing others, or delivering blows in brawls, or themselves suffering blows, or falling from a high place, or sailing thru the air without wings. Sometimes it even seems as if they are being murdered although no one pursues them, or as if they themselves are murdering their neighbors since they are sullied by their blood.

Then the moment comes when those who have endured all this awaken, no longer to see all those troubles—for they are naught. Such is the way of those who have cast off ignorance like sleep and consider it to be nothing, neither considering its various events as real, but rather leaving it behind like a dream of the night. Recognizing the Father brings the dawn! This is what each one has done, sleeping in the time when he was unacquainted. And this is how, thus awakened, he comes to recognition.

How good for the person who returns to himself and awakens, and blest is he whose blind eyes have been opened! And the Spirit ran after him, resurrecting him swiftly. Extending her hand to him who was prostrate on the ground, she lifted him up on his feet who had not yet arisen. Now the recognition which gives understanding is thru the Father and the revelation of his Son. Once they have seen him and heard him, he grants them to taste and to smell and to touch the beloved Son.

When he appeared, telling them about the incomprehensible Father, he breathed into them what is in the thought of doing his volition. Many received the light and returned to him. But the materialists were alien and did not behold his likeness nor recognize him, although he came forth incarnate in form. Nothing obstructs his course—for imperishability is indomitable. Moreover he proclaimed beforehand that which was new, expressing what is in the heart of the Father and bringing forth the flawless Logos.

Light spoke thru his mouth, and his voice gave birth to life. He gave to them the thought of wisdom, of mercy, of salvation, of the Spirit of power from the infinity and the kindness of the Father. He abolished punishment and torment, for these caused some who had need of mercy to go astray from his face in confusion and bondage. And with power he pardoned them, and he humbled them in acquaintanceship.

He became a path for those who had strayed; acquaintance for the unaware; discovery for those who seek; stability for the wavering; and immaculate purity for those who were defiled.

He is the shepherd who left behind the ninety nine sheep that were not lost, in order to go searching for this-one which had strayed. And he rejoiced when he found it. For ninety nine is a number that is counted on the left hand, which tallies it. But when one is added, the entire sum passes to the right hand. So it is with him who lacks the One, which is the entire right hand—he takes from the left what is deficient in order to transfer it to the right, and thus the number becomes hundred. Now, the signification within these words is the Father.

Even on the Sabbath he labored for the sheep which he found fallen into the pit. He restored the sheep to life, bringing it up from the pit, so that you Sons of heart-understanding may discern this Sabbath on which the work of salvation must never cease, and so that you may speak from this day which is above, which has no night, and from the perfect light which never sets.

Speak therefore from your hearts, for you are this perfect day and within you dwells this abiding light. Speak of the truth with those who seek it, and of acquaintanceship unto those who in confusion have transgressed. Support those who stumble, reach out your hand to the sick, feed those who are hungry, give repose to the weary, uplift those who yearn to arise, awaken those who sleep—for you are the wisdom that rescues!

Thus strength grows in action. Give heed to yourselves—be not concerned with those other things which you have already cast out of yourselves. Do not return to what you have regurgitated, be not moth-eaten, be not worm-eaten—for you have already cast that out. Do not become a place for the Devil, for you have already eliminated him. Do not reinforce those things that made you stumble and fall. Thus is uprightness!

For someone who violates the Torah harms himself more than the judgment harms him. For he does his deeds illicitly, whereas he who is righteous does his deeds for the sake of others. Do therefore the volition of the Father, because you are from him. For the Father is kind, and things are good thru his volition. He has taken cognizance of whatever is yours, so that you may repose yourselves concerning such things—for in their fruition it is recognized whose they are.

The Sons of the Father are his fragrance, for they are from the grace of his face. Therefore the Father loves his fragrance and manifests it everywhere. And blending it with matter, he bestows his fragrance upon the light, and in his repose he exalts it over every likeness and every sound. For it is not the ears that inhale the fragrance, but rather the breath has the sense of smell and draws it to oneself—and thus is someone baptized in the fragrance of the Father.

Thus he draws into harbor his original fragrance which had grown cold, unto the place from which it came. It was something which in psychic form had become like cold water permeating loose soil, such that those who see it think it to be dirt. Then afterward, when a warm and fragrant breeze blows, it again evaporates. Thus coldness results from separation. This is why the Faithful-One came—to abolish division and bring the warm fullness of love, so that the cold would not return but rather there should be the unification of perfect thought. This is the Logos of the Gospel of the finding of the fullness by those who await the salvation which comes from on high. Prolonged is the hope of those who await—those whose likeness is the light which contains no shadow—at that time when the fullness finally comes.

The deficiency of matter did not originate thru the infinity of the Father, who came in the time of inadequacy—although no one could predict that the indestructible would arrive in this manner. But the profundity of the Father abounded, and the thought of confusion was not with him. It is a topic for falling prostrate, it is a reposeful topic—to be set upright on one's feet, in being found by This-One who came to bring him back. For the return is called: Metanoia!

This is why imperishability breathed forth—to seek after the transgressor so that he might have repose. For to forgive is to remain behind with the light, the Logos of the fullness, in the deficiency. Thus the physician hastens to the place where there is illness, for this is his heart's desire. But he who has a lack cannot hide it from him who possesses what he needs. Thus the fullness, which has no deficiency, replenishes the lack.

(The Father) gave of himself to replenish whomever lacks, in order that thereby he may receive grace. In the time of his deficiency he had no grace. Thus wherever grace is absent, there is inferiority. At the time when he received this smallness which he lacked, (then the Father) revealed to him a fullness, which is this finding of the light of truth that dawned upon him in unchangeability. This is why the Christ was invoked in their midst—so that they would receive their returning. He anoints with the Chrism those who have been troubled. The anointing is the compassion of the Father who will have mercy upon them. Yet those whom he has anointed are those who are perfected.

For jars which are full are those which are sealed. Yet when its sealant is destroyed, a jar leaks. And the cause of its being emptied is the absence of its sealant, for then something in the dynamics of the air evaporates it. But nothing is emptied if the sealant has not been removed, nor does anything leak away, but rather the perfect Father replenishes whatever is lacking.

He is good. He knows his seedlings, for it is he who planted them in his paradise. Now his paradise is his realm of repose. This is the perfection in the thought of the Father, and these are the logoi of his meditation. Each one of his logoi is the product of his unitary volition in the revelation of his meaning. While they were still in the depths of his thought, the Logos was the first to come forth. Furthermore he revealed them from a mind that expresses the unique Logos in the silent grace called thought, since they existed therein prior to becoming manifest. So it occurred that (the Logos) was the first to come forth, at the time when it pleased the will of him who intended it.

Now the volition of the Father is that which reposes in his heart and pleases him. Nothing exists without him, nor does anything occur without the volition of the Father. But his volition is unfathomable. His volition is his imprint, and no one can determine it nor anticipate it in order to control it. But whenever he wills, what he wills exists—even if the sight does not please them. They are nothing before the face of God and the volition of the Father. For he knows the beginning and the ending of them all—at their finish he shall question them face-to-face. Yet the finish is to receive acquaintance with This-One who was hidden. Now this is the Father—this-one from whom the beginning came forth, this-one to whom all these shall return who came forth from him. Yet they have been manifest for the glory and joy of his Name.

Now the Name of the Father is the Son. He first named him who came forth from himself, and who is himself. And he begot him as a Son. He bestowed his own Name upon him. It is the Father who from his heart possesses all things. He has the Name, he has the Son who can be seen. Yet his Name is transcendental—for it alone is the mystery of the invisible, which thru him comes to ears completely filled with it.

For indeed the Name of the Father is not spoken, yet rather it is manifested as a Son. Accordingly, great is the Name! Who therefore could proclaim a Name for him, the supreme Name, except him alone whose Name this is, together with the Sons of the Name?—those in whose heart the Name of the Father reposes and who themselves likewise repose in his Name. Because the Father is immutable, it is he alone who begot him as his own Name before he fashioned the eternal-ones, so that the Name of the Father would be Lord over their heads—this-one who is truly the Name, secure in his command of perfect power.

The Name is not mere verbiage, nor is it only terminology, but rather it is transcendental. He alone named him, he alone seeing him, he alone having the power to give him a name. Whoever does not exist has no name—for what names are given to nothings? But this existing-one exists together with his Name. And the Father alone knows him, and he alone names him.

The Son is his Name. He did not keep him hidden as a secret—but rather the Son came to be, and (the Father) alone named him. Thus the Name belongs to the Father, such that the Name of the Father is the Son. How otherwise would compassion find a name, except from the Father? For after all, anyone will say to his companion: ‘Whoever could give a name to someone who existed before him?—as if children do not thus receive their names thru those who gave them birth!’

Firstly, therefore, it is appropriate that we think on this topic: what is the Name? Truly (the Son) is the Name—thus also he is the Name from the Father. He is the existent Name of the Lord. Thus he did not receive the Name on loan as do others, according to the pattern of each individual who is to be created in his heart. For he is the Lordly Name. There is no one else who bestowed it upon him, but he was unnameable and it was ineffable until the time when He who is Perfect gave expression to (the Son) alone. And it is (the Son) who has the power to express his Name and to see him. Thus it pleased (the Father) in his heart that his desired Name be his Son, and he gave the Name to him—This-One who came forth from the profundity.

(The Son) expressed his secret, knowing that the Father is benevolent. This is exactly why (the Father) brought this-one forth—so that he might speak of the dominion and his place of repose from which he came, and render glory to the fullness, the majesty of his Name, and the kindness of the Father. He shall speak of the realm from which each one came—and each one who issued from that place shall thus be hastened to return unto it again, to share in receiving his substance in the place where he stood, receiving the taste of that place, receiving nourishment and growth. And his own dominion of repose is his fullness.

Thus all the emanations of the Father are plenitudes, and the source of all his emanations is within the heart of Him from whom they all flourish. He bestowed their destinies upon them. Thus is each one made manifest, such that thru their own meditation they [return to] the place to which they direct their thought. That place is their source, which lifts them thru all the heights of heaven unto the Father. They attain unto his head, which becomes their repose. And they are embraced as they approach him, so that they say that they have partaken of his face in embraces. Yet they are not thus made manifest by exalting themselves. They neither lack the glory of the Father, nor do they think of him as being trite or bitter or wrathful. But rather he is benevolent, imperturbable and kind—knowing all the dimensionalities before they come into existence, and having no need of edification.

This is the form of those who themselves belong on high thru the grandeur of the immeasurable, as they await the Unique and Perfect-One who makes himself there for them. And they do not descend unto the abode of the dead. They have neither jealousy nor lamentation nor mortality there among them, but rather they repose within him who is reposeful. They are neither troubled nor devious concerning the truth, but rather they themselves are the truth. The Father is within them and they are within the Father, perfected and made indivisible in the truly good, not inadequate in anything but rather given repose and refreshed in the Spirit. And they shall obey their source in leisure, these within whom his root is found and who harm no soul. This is the place of the blest, this is their place!

Wherefore let the remainder understand in their places that it is not appropriate for me, having been in the realm of repose, to say anything further. But it is within his heart that I shall be—forever devoted to the Father of the totality, together with those true Brothers and Sisters upon whom pours the love of the Father and among whom there is no lack of him. These are they who are genuinely manifest, being in the true and eternal life and speaking the perfect light which is filled with the seed of the Father, and who are in his heart and in the fullness and in whom his Spirit rejoices, glorifying him in whom they exist. He is good, and his Sons and Daughters are perfect and worthy of his Name. For it is children of this kind that he the Father desires.

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A different translation by Robert M. Grant (1961).

Gospel of Truth

The gospel of truth is joy to those who have received from the Father of truth the gift of knowing him by the power of the Logos, who has come from the Pleroma and who is in the thought and the mind of the Father; he it is who is called "the Savior," since that is the name of the work which he must do for the redemption of those who have not known the Father. For the name of the gospel is the manifestation of hope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him, because the All sought him from whom it had come forth. You see, the All had been inside of him, that illimitable, inconceivable one, who is better than every thought.

This ignorance of the Father brought about terror and fear. And terror became dense like a fog, that no one was able to see. Because of this, error became strong. But it worked on its hylic substance vainly, because it did not know the truth. It was in a fashioned form while it was preparing, in power and in beauty, the equivalent of truth. This then, was not a humiliation for him, that illimitable, inconceivable one. For they were as nothing, this terror and this forgetfulness and this figure of falsehood, whereas this established truth is unchanging, unperturbed and completely beautiful.

For this reason, do not take error too seriously. Thus, since it had no root, it was in a fog as regards the Father, engaged in preparing works and forgetfulnesses and fears in order, by these means, to beguile those of the middle and to make them captive. The forgetfulness of error was not revealed. It did not become light beside the Father. Forgetfulness did not exist with the Father, although it existed because of him. What exists in him is knowledge, which was revealed so that forgetfulness might be destroyed and that they might know the Father, Since forgetfulness existed because they did not know the Father, if they then come to know the Father, from that moment on forgetfulness will cease to exist.

That is the gospel of him whom they seek, which he has revealed to the perfect through the mercies of the Father as the hidden mystery, Jesus the Christ. Through him he enlightened those who were in darkness because of forgetfulness. He enlightened them and gave them a path. And that path is the truth which he taught them. For this reason error was angry with him, so it persecuted him. It was distressed by him, so it made him powerless. He was nailed to a cross. He became a fruit of the knowledge of the Father. He did not, however, destroy them because they ate of it. He rather caused those who ate of it to be joyful because of this discovery.

And as for him, them he found in himself, and him they found in themselves, that illimitable, inconceivable one, that perfect Father who made the all, in whom the All is, and whom the All lacks, since he retained in himself their perfection, which he had not given to the all. The Father was not jealous. What jealousy, indeed, is there between him and his members? For, even if the Aeon had received their perfection, they would not have been able to approach the perfection of the Father, because he retained their perfection in himself, giving it to them as a way to return to him and as a knowledge unique in perfection. He is the one who set the All in order and in whom the All existed and whom the All lacked. As one of whom some have no knowledge, he desires that they know him and that they love him. For what is it that the All lacked, if not the knowledge of the Father?

He became a guide, quiet and in leisure. In the middle of a school he came and spoke the Word, as a teacher. Those who were wise in their own estimation came to put him to the test. But he discredited them as empty-headed people. They hated him because they really were not wise men. After all these came also the little children, those who possess the knowledge of the Father. When they became strong they were taught the aspects of the Father's face. They came to know and they were known. They were glorified and they gave glory. In their heart, the living book of the Living was manifest, the book which was written in the thought and in the mind of the Father and, from before the foundation of the All, is in that incomprehensible part of him.

This is the book which no one found possible to take, since it was reserved for him who will take it and be slain. No one was able to be manifest from 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 which has not yet been opened, for the fortune of the deceased master of the house is hidden, so also in the case of the All which had been hidden as long as the Father of the All was invisible and unique in himself, in whom every space has its source. For this reason Jesus appeared. He took that book as his own. He was nailed to a cross. He affixed the edict of the Father to the cross.

Oh, such great teaching! He abases himself even unto death, though he is clothed in eternal life. Having divested himself of these perishable rags, he clothed himself in incorruptibility, which no one could possibly take from him. Having entered into the empty territory of fears, he passed before those who were stripped by forgetfulness, being both knowledge and perfection, proclaiming the things that are in the heart of the Father, so that he became the wisdom of those who have received instruction. But those who are to be taught, the living who are inscribed in the book of the living, learn for themselves, receiving instructions from the Father, turning to him again.

Since the perfection of the All is in the Father, it is necessary for the All to ascend to him. Therefore, if one has knowledge, he gets what belongs to him and draws it to himself. For he who is ignorant, is deficient, and it is a great deficiency, since he lacks that which will make him perfect. Since the perfection of the All is in the Father, it is necessary for the All to ascend to him and for each one to get the things which are his. He registered them first, having prepared them to be given to those who came from him.

Those whose name he knew first were called last, so that the one who has knowledge is he whose name the Father has pronounced. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how shall one hear if his name has not been uttered? For he who remains ignorant until the end is a creature of forgetfulness and will perish with it. If this is not so, why have these wretches no name, why do they have no sound? Hence, if one has knowledge, he is from above. If he is called, he hears, he replies, and he turns toward him who called him and he ascends to him and he knows what he is called. Since he has knowledge, he does the will of him who called him. He desires to please him and he finds rest. He receives a certain name. He who thus is going to have knowledge knows whence he came and whither he is going. He knows it as a person who, having become intoxicated, has turned from his drunkenness and having come to himself, has restored what is his own.

He has turned many from error. He went before them to their own places, from which they departed when they erred because of the depth of him who surrounds every place, whereas there is nothing which surrounds him. It was a great wonder that they were in the Father without knowing him and that they were able to leave on their own, since they were not able to contain him and know him in whom they were, for indeed his will had not come forth from him. For he revealed it as a knowledge with which all its emanations agree, namely, the knowledge of the living book which he revealed to the Aeons at last as his letters, displaying to them that these are not merely vowels nor consonants, so that one may read them and think of something void of meaning; on the contrary, they are letters which convey the truth. They are pronounced only when they are known. Each letter is a perfect truth like a perfect book, for they are letters written by the hand of the unity, since the Father wrote them for the Aeons, so that they by means of his letters might come to know the Father.

While his wisdom mediates on the logos, and since his teaching expresses it, his knowledge has been revealed. His honor is a crown upon it. Since his joy agrees with it, his glory exalted it. It has revealed his image. It has obtained his rest. His love took bodily form around it. His trust embraced it. Thus the logos of the Father goes forth into the All, being the fruit of his heart and expression of his will. It supports the All. It chooses and also takes the form of the All, purifying it, and causing it to return to the Father and to the Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness. The Father opens his bosom, but his bosom is the Holy Spirit. He reveals his hidden self which is his son, so that through the compassion of the Father the Aeons may know him, end their wearying search for the Father and rest themselves in him, knowing that this is rest. After he had filled what was incomplete, he did away with form. The form of it is the world, that which it served. For where there is envy and strife, there is an incompleteness; but where there is unity, there is completeness. Since this incompleteness came about because they did not know the Father, so when they know the Father, incompleteness, from that moment on, will cease to exist. As one's ignorance disappears when he gains knowledge, and as darkness disappears when light appears, so also incompleteness is eliminated by completeness. Certainly, from that moment on, form is no longer manifest, but will be dissolved in fusion with unity. For now their works lie scattered. In time unity will make the spaces complete. By means of unity each one will understand itself. By means of knowledge it will purify itself of diversity with a view towards unity, devouring matter within itself like fire and darkness by light, death by life.

Certainly, if these things have happened to each one of us, it is fitting for us, surely, to think about the All so that the house may be holy and silent for unity. Like people who have moved from a neighborhood, if they have some dishes around which are not good, they usually break them. Nevertheless the householder does not suffer a loss, but rejoices, for in the place of these defective dishes there are those which are completely perfect. For this is the judgement which has come from above and which has judged every person, a drawn two-edged sword cutting on this side and that. When it appeared, I mean, the Logos, who is in the heart of those who pronounce it - it was not merely a sound but it has become a body - a great disturbance occurred among the dishes, for some were emptied, others filled: some were provided for, others were removed; some were purified, still others were broken. All the spaces were shaken and disturbed for they had no composure nor stability. Error was disturbed not knowing what it should do. It was troubled; it lamented, it was beside itself because it did not know anything. When knowledge, which is its abolishment, approached it with all its emanations, error is empty, since there is nothing in it. Truth appeared; all its emanations recognized it. They actually greeted the Father with a power which is complete and which joins them with the Father. For each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the Father. His tongue is the Holy Spirit, who joins him to truth attaching him to the mouth of the Father by his tongue at the time he shall receive the Holy Spirit.

This is the manifestation of the Father and his revelation to his Aeons. He revealed his hidden self and explained it. For who is it who exists if it is not the Father himself? All the spaces are his emanations. They knew that they stem from him as children from a perfect man. They knew that they had not yet received form nor had they yet received a name, every one of which the Father produces. If they at that time receive form of his knowledge, though they are truly in him, they do not know him. But the Father is perfect. He knows every space which is within him. If he pleases, he reveals anyone whom he desires by giving him a form and by giving him a name; and he does give him a name and cause him to come into being. Those who do not yet exist are ignorant of him who created them. I do not say, then, that those who do not yet exist are nothing. But they are in him who will desire that they exist when he pleases, like the event which is going to happen. On the one hand, he knows, before anything is revealed, what he will produce. On the other hand, the fruit which has not yet been revealed does not know anything, nor is it anything either. Thus each space which, on its part, is in the Father comes from the existent one, who, on his part, has established it from the nonexistent. [...] he who does not exist at all, will never exist.

What, then, is that which he wants him to think? "I am like the shadows and phantoms of the night." When morning comes, this one knows that the fear which he had experienced was nothing. Thus they were ignorant of the Father; he is the one whom they did not see. Since there had been fear and confusion and a lack of confidence and doublemindness and division, there were many illusions which were conceived by him, the foregoing, as well as empty ignorance - as if they were fast asleep and found themselves a prey to troubled dreams. Either there is a place to which they flee, or they lack strength as they come, having pursued unspecified things. Either they are involved in inflicting blows, or they themselves receive bruises. Either they are falling from high places, or they fly off through the air, though they have no wings at all. Other times, it is as if certain people were trying to kill them, even though there is no one pursuing them; or, they themselves are killing those beside them, for they are stained by their blood. Until the moment when they who are passing through all these things - I mean they who have experienced all these confusions - awake, they see nothing because the dreams were nothing. It is thus that they who cast ignorance from them as sheep do not consider it to be anything, nor regard its properties to be something real, but they renounce them like a dream in the night and they consider the knowledge of the Father to be the dawn. It is thus that each one has acted, as if he were asleep, during the time when he was ignorant and thus he comes to understand, as if he were awakening. And happy is the man who comes to himself and awakens. Indeed, blessed is he who has opened the eyes of the blind.

And the Spirit came to him in haste when it raised him. Having given its hand to the one lying prone on the ground, it placed him firmly on his feet, for he had not yet stood up. He gave them the means of knowing the knowledge of the Father and the revelation of his son. For when they saw it and listened to it, he permitted them to take a taste of and to smell and to grasp the beloved son.

He appeared, informing them of the Father, the illimitable one. He inspired them with that which is in the mind, while doing his will. Many received the light and turned towards him. But material men were alien to him and did not discern his appearance nor recognize him. For he came in the likeness of flesh and nothing blocked his way because it was incorruptible and unrestrainable. Moreover, while saying new things, speaking about what is in the heart of the Father, he proclaimed the faultless word. Light spoke through his mouth, and his voice brought forth life. He gave them thought and understanding and mercy and salvation and the Spirit of strength derived from the limitlessness of the Father and sweetness. He caused punishments and scourgings to cease, for it was they which caused many in need of mercy to astray from him in error and in chains - and he mightily destroyed them and derided them with knowledge. He became a path for those who went astray and knowledge to those who were ignorant, a discovery for those who sought, and a support for those who tremble, a purity for those who were defiled.

He is the shepherd who left behind the ninety-nine sheep which had not strayed and went in search of that one which was lost. He rejoiced when he had found it. For ninety-nine is a number of the left hand, which holds it. The moment he finds the one, however, the whole number is transferred to the right hand. Thus it is with him who lacks the one, that is, the entire right hand which attracts that in which it is deficient, seizes it from the left side and transfers it to the right. In this way, then, the number becomes one hundred. This number signifies the Father.

He labored even on the Sabbath for the sheep which he found fallen into the pit. He saved the life of that sheep, bringing it up from the pit in order that you may understand fully what that Sabbath is, you who possess full understanding. It is a day in which it is not fitting that salvation be idle, so that you may speak of that heavenly day which has no night and of the sun which does not set because it is perfect. Say then in your heart that you are this perfect day and that in you the light which does not fail dwells.

Speak concerning the truth to those who seek it and of knowledge to those who, in their error, have committed sin. Make sure-footed those who stumble and stretch forth your hands to the sick. Nourish the hungry and set at ease those who are troubled. Foster men who love. Raise up and awaken those who sleep. For you are this understanding which encourages. If the strong follow this course, they are even stronger. Turn your attention to yourselves. Do not be concerned with other things, namely, that which you have cast forth from yourselves, that which you have dismissed. Do not return to them to eat them. Do not be moth-eaten. Do not be worm-eaten, for you have already shaken it off. Do not be a place of the devil, for you have already destroyed him. Do not strengthen your last obstacles, because that is reprehensible. For the lawless one is nothing. He harms himself more than the law. For that one does his works because he is a lawless person. But this one, because he is a righteous person, does his works among others. Do the will of the Father, then, for you are from him.

For the Father is sweet and his will is good. He knows the things that are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them. For by the fruits one knows the things that are yours, that they are the children of the Father, and one knows his aroma, that you originate from the grace of his countenance. For this reason, the Father loved his aroma; and it manifests itself in every place; and when it is mixed with matter, he gives his aroma to the light; and into his rest he causes it to ascend in every form and in every sound. For there are no nostrils which smell the aroma, but it is the Spirit which possesses the sense of smell and it draws it for itself to itself and sinks into the aroma of the Father. He is, indeed, the place for it, and he takes it to the place from which it has come, in the first aroma which is cold. It is something in a psychic form, resembling cold water which is [...] since it is in soil which is not hard, of which those who see it think, "It is earth." Afterwards, it becomes soft again. If a breath is taken, it is usually hot. The cold aromas, then, are from the division. For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he brought the hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but the unity of the Perfect Thought prevail.

This is the word of the Gospel of the finding of the Pleroma for those who wait for the salvation which comes from above. When their hope, for which they are waiting, is waiting - they whose likeness is the light in which there is no shadow, then at that time the Pleroma is about to come. The deficiency of matter, however, is not because of the limitlessness of the Father who comes at the time of the deficiency. And yet no one is able to say that the incorruptible One will come in this manner. But the depth of the Father is increasing, and the thought of error is not with him. It is a matter of falling down and a matter of being readily set upright at the finding of that one who has come to him who will turn back.

For this turning back is called "repentance". For this reason, incorruption has breathed. It followed him who has sinned in order that he may find rest. For forgiveness is that which remains for the light in the deficiency, the word of the pleroma. For the physician hurries to the place in which there is sickness, because that is the desire which he has. The sick man is in a deficient condition, but he does not hide himself because the physician possesses that which he lacks. In this manner the deficiency is filled by the Pleroma, which has no deficiency, which has given itself out in order to fill the one who is deficient, so that grace may take him, then, from the area which is deficient and has no grace. Because of this a diminishing occurred in the place which there is no grace, the area where the one who is small, who is deficient, is taken hold of.

He revealed himself as a Pleroma, i.e., the finding of the light of truth which has shined towards him, because he is unchangeable. For this reason, they who have been troubled speak about Christ in their midst so that they may receive a return and he may anoint them with the ointment. The ointment is the pity of the Father, who will have mercy on them. But those whom he has anointed are those who are perfect. For the filled vessels are those which are customarily used for anointing. But when an anointing is finished, the vessel is usually empty, and the cause of its deficiency is the consumption of its ointment. For then a breath is drawn only through the power which he has. But the one who is without deficiency - one does not trust anyone beside him nor does one pour anything out. But that which is the deficient is filled again by the perfect Father. He is good. He knows his plantings because he is the one who has planted them in his Paradise. And his Paradise is his place of rest.

This is the perfection in the thought of the Father and these are the words of his reflection. Each one of his words is the work of his will alone, in the revelation of his Logos. Since they were in the depth of his mind, the Logos, who was the first to come forth, caused them to appear, along with an intellect which speaks the unique word by means of a silent grace. It was called "thought," since they were in it before becoming manifest. It happened, then, that it was the first to come forth - at the moment pleasing to the will of him who desired it; and it is in the will that the Father is at rest and with which he is pleased. Nothing happens without him, nor does anything occur without the will of the Father. But his will is incomprehensible. His will is his mark, but no one can know it, nor is it possible for them to concentrate on it in order to possess it. But that which he wishes takes place at the moment he wishes it - even if the view does not please anyone: it is God`s will. For the Father knows the beginning of them all as well as their end. For when their end arrives, he will question them to their faces. The end, you see, is the recognition of him who is hidden, that is, the Father, from whom the beginning came forth and to whom will return all who have come from him. For they were made manifest for the glory and the joy of his name.

And the name of the Father is the Son. It is he who, in the beginning, gave a name to him who came forth from him - he is the same one - and he begat him for a son. He gave him his name which belonged to him - he, the Father, who possesses everything which exists around him. He possess the name; he has the son. It is possible for them to see him. The name, however, is invisible, for it alone is the mystery of the invisible about to come to ears completely filled with it through the Father`s agency. Moreover, as for the Father, his name is not pronounced, but it is revealed through a son. Thus, then, the name is great.

Who, then, has been able to pronounce a name for him, this great name, except him alone to whom the name belongs and the sons of the name in whom the name of the Father is at rest, and who themselves in turn are at rest in his name, since the Father has no beginning? It is he alone who engendered it for himself as a name in the beginning before he had created the Aeons, that the name of the Father should be over their heads as a lord - that is, the real name, which is secure by his authority and by his perfect power. For the name is not drawn from lexicons nor is his name derived from common name-giving, But it is invisible. He gave a name to himself alone, because he alone saw it and because he alone was capable of giving himself a name. For he who does not exist has no name. For what name would one give him who did not exist? Nevertheless, he who exists also with his name and he alone knows it, and to him alone the Father gave a name. The Son is his name. He did not, therefore, keep it secretly hidden, but the son came into existence. He himself gave a name to him. The name, then, is that of the Father, just as the name of the Father is the Son. For otherwise, where would compassion find a name - outside of the Father? But someone will probably say to his companion, "Who would give a name to someone who existed before himself, as if, indeed, children did not receive their name from one of those who gave them birth?"

Above all, then, it is fitting for us to think this point over: What is the name? It is the real name. It is, indeed, the name which came from the Father, for it is he who owns the name. He did not, you see, get the name on loan, as in the case of others because of the form in which each one of them is going to be created. This, then, is the authoritative name. There is no one else to whom he has given it. But it remained unnamed, unuttered, `till the moment when he, who is perfect, pronounced it himself; and it was he alone who was able to pronounce his name and to see it. When it pleased him, then, that his son should be his pronounced name and when he gave this name to him, he who has come from the depth spoke of his secrets, because he knew that the Father was absolute goodness. For this reason, indeed, he sent this particular one in order that he might speak concerning the place and his place of rest from which he had come forth, and that he might glorify the Pleroma, the greatness of his name and the sweetness of his Father.

Each one will speak concerning the place from which he has come forth, and to the region from which he received his essential being, he will hasten to return once again. And he want from that place - the place where he was - because he tasted of that place, as he was nourished and grew. And his own place of rest is his Pleroma. All the emanations from the Father, therefore, are Pleromas, and all his emanations have their roots in the one who caused them all to grow from himself. He appointed a limit. They, then, became manifest individually in order that they might be in their own thought, for that place to which they extend their thoughts is their root, which lifts them upward through all heights to the Father. They reach his head, which is rest for them, and they remain there near to it so that they say that they have participated in his face by means of embraces. But these of this kind were not manifest, because they have not risen above themselves. Neither have they been deprived of the glory of the Father nor have they thought of him as small, nor bitter, nor angry, but as absolutely good, unperturbed, sweet, knowing all the spaces before they came into existence and having no need of instruction. Such are they who possess from above something of this immeasurable greatness, as they strain towards that unique and perfect one who exists there for them. And they do not go down to Hades. They have neither envy nor moaning, nor is death in them. But they rest in him who rests, without wearying themselves or becoming involved in the search for truth. But, they, indeed, are the truth, and the Father is in them, and they are in the Father, since they are perfect, inseparable from him who is truly good. They lack nothing in any way, but they are given rest and are refreshed by the Spirit. And they listen to their root; they have leisure for themselves, they in whom he will find his root, and he will suffer no loss to his soul.

Such is the place of the blessed; this is their place. As for the rest, then, may they know, in their place, that it does not suit me, after having been in the place of rest to say anything more. But he is the one in whom I shall be in order to devote myself, at all times, to the Father of the All and the true brothers, those upon whom the love of the Father is lavished, and in whose midst nothing of him is lacking. It is they who manifest themselves truly since they are in that true and eternal life and speak of the perfect light filled with the seed of the Father, and which is in his heart and in the Pleroma, while his Spirit rejoices in it and glorifies him in whom it was, because the Father is good. And his children are perfect and worthy of his name, because he is the Father. Children of this kind are those whom he loves.


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