gospel of philip Converts

Converts

A Hebrew makes a Hebrew, and such a person is called a convert. A convert does not make a convert. [Some people] are as they [are] and make others [like them], while others simply are.

The father makes a son, and the son has not the power to make a son. For he who has been begotten has not the power to beget, but the son gets brothers for himself, not sons.

the distinction here seems to be between someone who is born a jew and someone who obtains it after birth, and also those who have something and can give it to others and those who have simply obtainted something for themselves

he who has not received the Lord is still a hebrew

Inheriting the Living and the Dead

A slave seeks only to be free and does not seek the master’s estate.
But the son is not only a son but lays claim to the inheritance of the father.
Heirs to the dead are dead, and what they inherit is dead. Heirs to the living are alive, and they inherit both the living and the dead. The dead inherit nothing, for how could a dead person inherit? If a dead person inherits the living, the living will not die and the dead will come to life.

this reminds us of the previous saying and gives us a parallel between a hebrew and a convert and a son and a slave

A Son of God, is all-important to Him, is a Co-owner of His property.

The slaves of unrightousness seek to be free from slavery to sin and enter into the rest of God

[The saints inherit the kingdom for themselves, having a position in its administration]

one is either a son or a slave. children and slaves are of course both part of a household but have very different rights and roles within that household. see Galatians 4:7 Therefore you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

the next we are told the dead inherit the dead but the living inherit both the living and the dead

this is not speaking about natural death but spiritual death. to be spiritually dead is the same as been a slave to sin


We find in the Gospel of Thomas :

111 Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death."


Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”


Jesus, Gentiles, Christians

A gentile does not die, never having been alive so as to die. One who has believed in truth is alive, but this person is at risk of dying just by being alive.
Since Christ came, the world has been created, cities have been beautified, and the dead have been buried.
When we were Hebrews we were orphans, with only a mother, but when we became Christians we had a father and a mother.

perhaps this gives us a hierarchy of gentile converts hebrew christian
a gentile is dead, a convert cannot convert others, but a hebrew can a hebrew has only a mother but a christian has a father and a mother the son inherits through the father but a slave does not inherit those who believe in truth are alive and the living inherit the living

A gentile is someone who is not a jew it also refers to someone who is not a christian. anyone who believes the truth is not a gentile

To die in this context means to go astray from the Path. This is a spiritual death, which is the only one of significance here

“The world has been created, the cities adorned, the dead carried out” can refer to the new visionary understandings Christ brought which created mystical, spiritual communities which buried the dead past.

Since Christ [the anointing] came, the world has been created [(re-created actually for the sons are considered “a new creation”) through Him as the “firstborn in many brothers” He became the door to spiritual birth for anyone who receives Him], the cities [our minds] beautified [“trusted in God” and becoming “subjected to our own husband” to do His will and not our own (the individual spirit consciousness is united in One)], the dead [the fleshly carnal nature (sarx) “the old man” and egoic nature] carried out.


the true followers of Christ are now sons of Abraham the True Father

[105]. Jesus says: "He who knows father and mother shall he be called: Son of a harlot!"?

 Jews only have mothers. A Jewish mother and a Gentile father is a Jew but Jewish father and Gentile mother is not a Jew as Christians we have both father and mother.

John 8.18 John 8.41


The Name “Christian”

The anointing is superior to baptism, for it is from the word "anointing" that we have been called "Christians," certainly not because of the word "baptism". And it is because of the anointing that "the Christ" has his name. For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses everything.

although baptism is often seen as the major expression of a convert’s faith, Philip regarded it as far less important than the anointing—it is only with the anointing that a convert can truly be termed a Christian.  Receiving this title is the most immediate effect of anointing.

If you say, “I am a Jew,” no one will be moved. If you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be disturbed. If you say, “I am a Greek, barbarian, slave, free,” no one will be troubled. If you say, “I am a Christian,” the [world] will be shaken. May I [receive the one] whose name the [world] cannot bear to hear.

Notice that the name “Christian” (coming only after the anointing) is one that will make everyone tremble and the “rulers” “will not endure hearing.”

this passage reflects a period when christians had begun to be persecute for the name at any rate they are thought of as standing apart from other people

In the early years of the church from the 1st century until the 4th century AD Christianity was still a new and unknown faith. it was viewed with suspicion by many and internally Christianity was full of divisions with a huge variety of sects calling themselves christian. Greek Romam Barbarian and jew are fundamentally ethnic categories whereas Christians could come from any race nationality or culture from slaves or free men and women