Becoming Christians according to the Gospel of Philip

How to become a Christian according to the Gospel of Philip

How does a person become a Christian according to the Gospel of Philip? We well answer this question below but first we will look at the meaning of the name Christian 

The Name “Christian”

The word christian is used three times in the New Testament (Ac 11:26, Acts 26:28; 1Peter 4:16) It was first Antioch in Syrian that Christ’s followers became known as Christians. 

5546. Χριστιανός Christianos [khris-tee-an-os’]; from 5547; a Christian, i.e. the exponents of Christ: —  Christian.

— Gr. christianous: "Christ-like; Christ-ones." the Bible shows that it was a God-given name; they "were divinely called first in Antioch Christians" (Young’s) it confirmed their identity (Acts 26:28; 1Peter 4:16).

In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ, messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed.

Acts 11:26  And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (KJV)

The word rendered "called" is chrematisai, defined by Strong as "to utter an oracle, i.e., divinely intimate; by impl. to constitute a firm for business; (gen.) to bear as a title." The word is rendered "warned from God" in ch. 10:22. 

The NWT and Young’s Literal Translation specify that God was involed with the court megerstes using  the name “Christian”

Acts 11:26 and having found him, he brought him to Antioch, and it came to pass that they a whole year did assemble together in the assembly, and taught a great multitude, the disciples also were divinely called first in Antioch Christians. (Young’s Literal Translation)

Acts 11:26 and, after he found him, he brought him to Antioch. It thus came about that for a whole year they gathered together with them in the congregation and taught quite a crowd, and it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians. (NWT)

From this we can see that the name christian was divinely appointed

The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus, referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" ( Josephus. "Antiquities of the Jews — XVIII, 3:3".)

Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan; and Tacitus, writing near the end of the 1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" (Tacitus, Cornelius; Murphy, Arthur (1836). The works of Cornelius Tacitus: with an essay on his life and genius, notes, supplements, &c. Thomas Wardle. p. 287.) and identifies Christians as Nero's scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. ( Bruce, Frederick Fyvie (1988). The Book of the Acts. Eerdmans. p. 228.)

We next see the word appear in other early Christian sources in Ignatius, Eph 11.2; Rom 3.2; Pol 7.3. Cf. too Did 12.4; MPol 3.1; 10.1; 12.1-2; EpDiog 1.1; 4.6; 5.1;

This brings us to the gospel of philip a lost christian text found in 1948 it has been classified as a Valentinian document the word Christian is used ten times in the Gospel of Philip the first few paragraphs in the Gospel of Philip make a distinction between a Hebrew and a Christian this is carried on later in the text which we will look at now

I am a Christian

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. (Gospel of Philip)

If you say, “I am a Jew,” no one will be moved. If you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be disturbed. 

no one will be disturbed because the world loves its own

The Gentile symbolizes the material, the Jew symbolizes soulical and the Christian typifies the spiritual  .

If you say, "I am a Christian," the world will tremble 

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.

The Anointing

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, the Gospel of 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.

Notice that the name “Christian” (coming only after the anointing) is one that will make everyone "tremble.”

"And it is because of the anointing that "the Christ" has his name." Jesus was anointed at his baptism with holy spirit and power ()

The verb xplw and the name Christ occur in association in 2 Corinthians 1:21.

Segelberg (193) compares Theophilus ad Autol. i. 12, where it is said that we are called Christians because we are anointed with the oil of God. Tertullian (de Bapt. 7) also derives the name of Christ from the chrism (c£ Iren. Dem. 53; Froidevaux 114 n. 8).

For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles [giving them the “power to become sons”], and the apostles anointed us [and still do to this day by the written Word].

"He who has been anointed possesses everything." is joint heir with Christ being joined together in union by the fellowship of the spirit

The anointing with literal oil is only symbolic of the anointing of the holy spirit. The anointing with the spirit appears to happen at the same time as the baptism:

Anyone who goes down into the water and comes up without receiving anything and says, “I am a Christian,” has borrowed the name. But one who receives the holy spirit has the name as a gift. A gift does not have to be paid back, but what is borrowed must be paid. This is how it is with us, when one of us experiences a mystery. (Gospel of Philip)

a definite going down and coming up, that is, it was not a baptism of sprinkling only.'

it is a baptism of full submersion in water

"he has borrowed the name at interest" his sin debt has not yet been forgiven (paid) and is accruing interest - this is what the christo-pagan community is all about.

it appears that at the same time a person goes down into the water they receive the holy spirit:

We are anointed through the spirit
"But one who receives the holy spirit has the name as a gift" 
The name of course is the "Christian" name the holy spirit is the anointing

no longer a Christian but is a Christ

We are born again through the holy spirit, and we are conceived through Christ in baptism with two elements. We are anointed through the spirit, and when we were conceived, we were united. No one can see oneself in the water or in a mirror without light, nor can you see yourself in the light without water or a mirror. So it is necessary to baptize with two elements, light and water, and light is chrism.(Gospel of Philip)

to be born again by the holy spirit is to receive the name christian.to be conceived by Christ is to become Christ

Those who receive the name of the father, son, and holy spirit and have accepted them must do this. If someone does not accept them, the name will also be taken from that person. A person receives them in the chrism with the oil of the power of the cross. The apostles called this power the right and the left. This person is no longer a Christian but is Christ. (Gospel of Philip)

receiving the name christian is only the beginning of the journey the end goal is to be come a Christ

People cannot see anything that really is without becoming like it. It is not so with people in the world, who see the sun without becoming the sun and see the sky and earth and everything else without becoming them.

Rather, in the realm of truth,
you have seen things there and have become those things,
you have seen the spirit and have become spirit,
you have seen Christ and have become Christ,
you have seen the [father] and will become father.

[Here] in the world you see everything but do not [see] yourself, but there in that realm you see yourself, and you will [become] what you see.



A Christian is a person who has been anointed with holy spirit
Christian means Christ-like; Christ-ones
A Christian as both Father and Mother

God is a Principle

God the uncreated and eternal spirit, the Creator; and the ruler of the universe, the creation is an emanation of God for all things are out of him out of his corporeal substance.

God is a person however there is another meaning to God that the Deity is also a Principle

The word AIL (El) means “power,” “force,” or plain old “energy.” The Hebrews used the same word to denote their Deity. They USED AIL (El) because that’s what the Deity of the Bible is. He is Desire, Direction, and Drive. There's no fire-flinging, brimstone-breathing behemoth. There's no gray- headed old geezer. There are no three different “Persons” who think they are one. The Deity of the Bible is not an entity in the common sense of the word at all. The Deity of the Bible is Desire, Direction, and Drive. The power becomes personal when it is manifest by a being. The beings whomanifest the power OF AIL (El) can be (and often are) taken for God. That may be how the misunderstandings began. That, as well as the blindness of Bible translators (together with thenaiveté of their readers) might be why such an obvious Truth has eluded so many.

It was Elohim who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, David, and Josiah, to name a few. EL (the Deity) has never been seen by anyone.

The Elohim handle all the personal appearances. We know this because Scripture clearly teaches that all creation was produced from One Power (out of and through which are all things) but this One Power operates by way of a multitude of agents (Elohim) who are spirit-embodiments of its power.

Principle meaning A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning:

This Principle is so to speak of God individualized in a believer however, this is both in a personal sense, and in the All-encompassing identification of ourselves with Him that we come into the God consciousness.

He is the underlying, unchangeable Truth "with whom there is no change or shifting shadow" (James 1:17). God as a principle is absolute goodness expressed in all creation. When a person knows God and worships Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24), they recognise Him as this great goodness, which is present everywhere, all-knowing, and all-powerful. "Blessed be . . . God . . . the Father of mercies and God of all comfort" (II Cor. 1:3)

We can have a personal relationship with God by reading his word praying and recognising his character

His character is taught in the name Father, representing the love, protection, and providing care of God for man, His offspring. He is life and love and wisdom and power and strength

The Almighty God is both a Principle, and a Person

God as principle--The unchangeable life, love, wisdom, and mercy. Principle does not occupy space; neither has it any limitations of time or matter, but it eternally exists as the one fundamental cause out of which come forth all true ideas.

God as the Divine Mind--The connecting link between God and the believer. The Divine-Mind embraces all knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and is the source of every manifestation of true knowledge and intelligence. God as principle cannot be comprehended by any of the outward senses, which is perceptible only by the intellect. The one Mind is a unit and cannot be divided. The individual mind is a state of consciousness in the one Mind.

By the term Mind, we mean God--the universal principle of causation, which includes all principles.

There is nothing but Mind and thought--Principle and its mode of expression. The things made, or externalized, are simply effects, and of themselves would quickly pass away; but Mind and thought are one and inseparable, self-existent and ever active, the cause of all that appears.

An understanding of God, or universal Mind, is a key to all scripture. In the story of creation as told by Moses, all things were brought forth by "God said"--Mind thought.

God as substance hypostasis or substance The Son is the character or exact representation, and the Father is the hypostasis. The archetype is the hypostasis, so that hypostasis is the basis or foundation of character; wherefore the same apostle in Col. 1:15, styles the character engraved the "Image" of Theos the Invisible. Where body and form do not exist, there can be no image; therefore, where image is predicated of hypostasis, that hypostasis must have both body and form. The Father-Spirit, unveiled, is, then, a bodily form; and as all things are "out of Him," He is the focal centre of the universe, from which irradiates whatever exists.

God, accessibility of--God is approachable, available, and usable to all who draw nigh unto Him. God is Spirit, the principle of intelligence and life, everywhere present at all times. He is, forever, as accessible as a principle of mathematics or music. "The Father abiding in me" (John 14:10).

God manifest--God manifestation is really greater than God principle; the man who has demonstrated the God-character is greater than the untried man. Jesus proclaimed, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). He had all the possibilities of Principle and, in addition, He demonstrated a large degree of its possibilities. In this respect, Jesus is the great Saviour and helper for all men.

Joined To An Angel The Gospel of Philip

Joined To An Angel

He said on that day in the thanksgiving, "You who have joined the perfect light with the Holy Spirit, unite the angels with us also, as being the images." The Gospel of Philip

So if the image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman. The Gospel of Philip

If we look at Hebrews 1:10, we can see that the Angels are our ministers. That is, each saint has his/her own personal angel, which ministers to him/her. This is not merely a fairy story taught to children as the world would have us believe, but it is clear Scriptural teaching. Consider these words of Messiah:

“take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat. 18:10).

The disciples who become as children before their Father have their own angels. We must not despise one of these little ones, for their Angel stands in the presence of God in heaven.

The Lord had his own Angel, spoken of in the book of Revelation:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Rev. 1:1).

It is evident that the Apostles believed that they each had an Angel. When Peter was released from prison, he came to Mary’s house, and knocked on the gate. A young damsel “when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, it is his Angel” (Acts 12:14-15). Thus, not believing that Peter had been released, in seeking for an explanation, they said “it is his Angel”. Mat. 18:10; 2:13, 19; Psa. 34:7; Heb. 1:14 (Diag.).

He said on that day in the thanksgiving, "You who have joined the perfect light with the Holy Spirit, unite the angels with us also, as being the images."

He said on that day in the thanksgiving, "You who have joined the perfect light [having received the knowledge of the truth i.e. conceived to the son by having “Christ in you”] with the Holy Spirit, unite the angels with us also [the veil is now rent within our hearts and we can see that we are one with “elohim” having the “power to become sons”], as being the images [of our heavenly Father and not of the world “in His image” humans are images of God and of the angels]."

So if the image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman.

So if the image [of God i.e. the heart of “man”] and the angel [holy spirit] are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman. (Philip 48) [Hence “What God has yoked together, let no man put asunder”

Excerpts of Theodotus 22 And when the Apostle said, “Else what shall they do who are baptised for the dead?” . . . For, he says, the angels of whom we are portions were baptised for us. But we are dead, who are deadened by this existence, but the males are alive who did not participate in this existence.

“If the dead rise not why, then, are we baptised?” Therefore we are raised up “equal to angels,” and restored to unity with the males, member for member.

Through mystical experience or gnosis, "we are raised equal to angels, restored to the males, member to member, to form a unity" (Excerpts of Theodotus 22:2).

Exegesis on the Soul Then, by the will of the father, the bridegroom came down to her in the bridal chamber, which had been prepared. And he decorated the chamber.

This marriage is not like carnal marriage, in which those who make love with each other become satiated in their lovemaking. And as if it were a burden, they leave behind the annoyance of physical desire. They turn their faces from each other. In this marriage once they join they become a single life. As the prophet said about the first man and woman, They will become a single flesh.

One is said to be joined to an angel just as a bride is joined to her bridegroom so that "once they unite with one another, they become a single life" (Exegesis on the Soul 132: 34-35 cf. Genesis 2:24).

A human being is born again when he is given an angelic body. This can occur without him realising it and whilst he is still in his human body. Or it can occur when he is resurrected from physical death. When a human is baptised in holy spirit, spirit sanctified, becomes a saint, he gains an angelic body.

For every physical body (which is owned by a spirit), there exists a spiritual body, an angelic body, which may or may not yet be owned by that spirit. The point is that said angelic body will already be in existence as soon as the spirit enters into the physical body.

Right hand Left hand The Gospel of Truth

Right hand Left hand  The Gospel of Truth 

The Gospel of Truth 

He is the shepherd who left behind the ninety-nine sheep that 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 expressed with the left hand. 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 is the symbol of the sound of the numbers. It is the father.

In general right was considered fortunate and left unfortunate in ancient thought. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus is said to separate the sheep from the goats (that is, the righteous from the unrighteous) by putting the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.

In the Roman system of counting on the fingers, the numbers one to ninety-nine were counted on the left hand, and the number one hundred entailed switching to the right. In Valentinian thought those of the right are psychical, people of soul, and those of the left are material, people of flesh

Kendrick Grobel writes:

The queer "exegesis" extending from 31:4-17 rests upon a folk custom, once universal in Latin-speaking lands, of counting on the fingers-not the naïve one-to-ten finger counting of the primitives and of small children, but an ingenious system by which the two hands at rest (i.e. without making any second or third gesture) could indicate to a single glance any number from 1 to 9,999. The units were made by nine positions of the little finger and the two adjacent fingers of the left hand (fingers five, four, three in piano nomenclature), the tens by nine positions of the index finger and thumb of the left hand, the hundreds by thumb and index finger of the right hand and the thousands by the remaining three fingers of the right hand. Hence the greatest shift in the whole system lay between ninety-nine and one hundred. In no other case could the addition or subtraction of a mere one change the whole digital gesture from one hand to the other. But by a tradition from very ancient superstition the left hand was "sinister," the right hand favorable, not merely in the minds of Gnostics but in those of all Greeks and Romans and of most peoples. Renatus Massuet (d. 1716) gave the correct interpretation to this matter in connection with an allusion in Ireneus ("they avoid the place of ninety-nine, i.e. the lack— a type of the left hand— but endeavor to secure one more, which when added to the ninety and nine, has the effect of changing their reckoning to the right hand." Iren. 1.16.2— see Massuet note 2 in Migne Pat. G. 7, pt. 1, col. 633.) A thousand years earlier Beda had explained the whole system in De loquela per gestum digitorum et temporum ratione libellus and recognized that Jerome in his commentary on Matt. 13 had used this system in just as strange a way to "explain" the numbers one hundred, sixty, and thirty. On the whole subject fascinating details are offered by Karl Menninger, Zahlwort und Ziffer, pp. 140 ff. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )
Quite literally, fingers five, four, three, of the left hand lie folded over the palm, thus holding "nine," while the index finger touches the root of the thumb, thus holding "ninety"— and the whole left hand holding "ninety-nine," the highest number it can. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )

The next higher number is, of course, one hundred. But all the hundreds are gestures of the index and thumb of the right hand. Just as in our system the decimal place of one hundred moves over one place to the left, from ninety-nine, so here, only much more dramatically, for it moves from the unlucky left hand to the lucky right. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )

In Valentinian thought, those of the right are the are psychical people, as opposed to those of the left, who are the people of flesh. In the Gospel of Truth, reference is made to the Roman system of counting on the fingers of the left hand for numbers 1-99 and switching to the right hand at 100. 

Right and left are also referred to in the Gospel of Philip.

Domestic animals may be the bull and the donkey and other species. Others are wild and live in the deserts. A man plows the field with a domestic animal, and from the fruit of his labor he feeds himself and the animals, tame or wild.
Compare the perfect human. Through submissive powers he plows and prepares for everything to come into being. So his world holds together, good or evil, the right and the left. The holy spirit shepherds everyone and rules all the powers, those tame and wild and running loose. He gathers them and shuts them in so, like it or not, they cannot escape.

Those who receive the name of the father, son, and holy spirit and have accepted them must do this. If someone does not accept them, the name will also be taken from that person. A person receives them in the chrism [anointing] with the oil of the power of the cross. The apostles called this power the right and the left. This person is no longer a Christian but is Christ.

Right hand Left the chrism of the fullness of the power of the cross what is obtained is not a type and shadows but the reality of Father, son and holy spirit


called "the right and the left" [they comprehended the Christ consciousness, the “right” (the will of the Father) and the individual spirit consciousness in man, the “left” (who likes to go according to his own will) would need to be united (in our hearts)]." For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ [“who does what he sees the Father doing” i.e. “not my will but yours” - AMEN!]. 

One becomes a Christ by finishing the baptism test throught the door of faith 

The Emanation of the Divine Mind

The Emanation of the Divine Mind 1Cor 2:16

In this study we will look at the aspects of the Mind of God which are referred to as the emanation of the aeons. First we will have an opening reading from 1cor 2:16

1Cor 2:16  For who hath come to know the mind of the Lord, that shall instruct him? But, we, have, the mind of Christ.

First the scriptures teach that all things are out of God: 

1Cor 8:6 there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, on account of whom all things are, and we because of him. (NWT)

All things being out of Deity, they were not made out of nothing. The sun, moon and stars, together with all things pertaining to each, were made out of something, and that something was the radiant flowing out of His substance, or active force, which pervades all things. By his active force, all created things are connected with the creator of the universe, which is light that no man can approach unto, so that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father, who is not far from every one of us.

Here in 1Cor 8:6 we see the doctrine of emanation

emanate--"To issue forth from a source" (Webster). (For more information on the meaning of emanation see https://www.gnosticdoctrine.com/2018/08/the-creation-is-emanation-of-god.html) 

In many Gnostic systems, aeons and other beings are emanated as an outpouring from the divine source, rather than created or begotten. The emanation usually refers to a primordial cosmogony which flows from the Father.  

This process of emanation first begins within the mind of the Father it is the silent thought which effusion from him. it is best understood like this the logos was "with God" in that it emanated from him 

The concept of emanation is that from the One (the Monad) sometimes referred to as the Depth issue forth all things. The first stage in the process, the Divine Mind, thinks, and thus from it emanate the reason (logos) and wisdom (Sophia). These are called aeons which are aspects or attributes of the Deity. There are 30 aeons altogether which make up the fullness (pleroma). The pleroma is the sum total of the aeons and emanations of the Deity. The divine pleroma is thus the full manifestation of the glory of the transcendent Deity. In Valentinian texts. With thought, depth constitutes the first Valentinian pairs called syzygies these are androgynous aspects of the mind of the Deity. 

The doctrine of Emanation was taught by early church fathers like Athenagoras, Origen, and Arnobius however this was in relation to the trinity. Another advocate of emanationism was Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake for his nontrinitarian cosmology.

God existed before he created the Heavens and the earth. God exists outside of time and space in the Bythos or depth.

First of all the Pleroma did not always exist it was produced and formed by the Eternal Spirit this we call the emanation.

"He created the holy Pleroma in this way" (The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex)

The word Pleroma means "fullness". It refers to all existence beyond visible universe. In other words it is the world of the Aeons, the heavens or spiritual universe. Bythos is the spiritual source of everything which emanates the pleroma,

The Pleroma is both the abode of and the essential nature of the True Ultimate Deity or Bythos. 

However there is another understanding to the Pleroma as well as being the dwellings place of the Aeons and the divine nature of the Deity it is also a state of consciousness. 

The Peroma is the total structure of the mind of the Deity. The emanations of the Aeons first happens within the consciousness of the Monad (The One) or the Deity. The emanation of the Aeons is the expanding of the Mind of the Deity. 

The Pleroma is the sum total of the divine attributes

The aeons are attributes of the Deity there are 30 divine attributes altogether each attribute is referred to as an aeon or an eternal these attributes emanate from the mind of the Deity.

In Jewish Mysticism known as kabbalah the Sefirot means emanations, which are the 10 attributes/emanations through which Ein Sof (The Infinite One) reveals Himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher spiritual realms.

To summaries this section the Pleroma is both a spatial and metaphysical

The Divine Mind

A spiritual understanding of God, the Divine Mind or logos, is the key to understanding the scriptures. In the account of creation as told by Moses, creation is brought forth by "God said"--Mind thought or logos.

John 1:1 Aramaic Bible in Plain English
In the origin The Word had been existing and That Word had been existing with God and That Word was himself God.

John 1:1 Rotherham's Emphasized Bible 
1 ¶  Originally, was, the Word, and, the Word, was, with God; and, the Word, was, God.
2  The same, was originally, with God.
3  All things, through him, came into existence, and, without him, came into existence, not even one thing: that which hath come into existence,
4  in him, was, life, and, the life, was, the light of men.--

The Greek word "logos" which is translated in the English as "word" can also be translated as reason. (See 1Peter 3:15)

1Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason <3056> of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

The term “word” in the Bible most frequently translates the Hebrew and Greek words davar´ and logos. These words in the majority of cases refer to an entire thought, saying, or statement rather than simply to an individual term or unit of speech. (In Greek a ‘single word’ is expressed by rhēma (ῥῆμα 4487) [Mt 27:14], though it, too, can mean a saying or spoken matter.) 

Logos signifies the outward form of inward thought or reason, or the spoken word as illustrative of thought, wisdom and doctrine. in the very beginning, God's purpose, wisdom or revelation had been in evidence. It was "with God" in that it emanated from him; it "was God" in that it represented.

A word is a spoken thought, or idea. therefore by the term Mind, we mean logos or God--the all-embracing principle of causation, which includes all principles. The Existing One is the Creator of all things, the great First Cause; hence he is un-created, without beginning and end. (Rev 4:11; Psalm 36:9 His name, Yahweh, means The Existing One or “He causes to become.”

God is Spirit. The Word of Spirit is the God's main thought. By and through this absolute thought (the Christ of God), all things are made manifest.

The Word of God; the divine archetype thought that contains all ideas: the Christ, the Son of God, life, light, truth, church, man makeup the Divine Mind. 

Logos is the Christ, the Son, the divine light, the living Word, or Word of the Infinite One, and it contains all divine qualities; all things were made by it. A believer can acquire some, or a part, as God chooses. Jesus was completed filled with the fullness of the divine quality without measure, and He became the Logos, or Word, made flesh.

The logos is not a person but a personification of the Father's reasoning or mind

Brain and Mind

The logos is the reasoning intelligence of the divine mind or spirit:

Isaiah 40:13  Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?  (Greek Septuagint Version)

Isaiah 40:13  Who hath directed the Spirit of Yahweh, and, [as] his counsellor, hath taught him?

Here we can see that the Hebrew text as the word "spirit" and the Greek translation known as the Septuagint uses the word "mind". This shows that the word spirit is used sometimes in the bible as a synonym for the mind or heart. The spirit comprises both heart and mind. 

Spirit and Mind are synonymous; therefore we know God--Spirit--as Mind, the one Mind, or Intelligence, of the universe.

Theos is the Brain, Logos is the Thought or Reasoning of the Spirit or Mind. Therefore the Logos is the mind of God. 

No Logos, then there would be no Theos; and without Theos, the Logos could have no existence. This may be illustrated by the relation of reason, or intelligence and speech, to brain, as affirmed in the proposition, No brain, -- no thought, reason, nor intelligence. Call the brain Theos; and thought, reason, and understanding intelligently expressed, Logos; and the relation and dependence of Theos and Logos, in John's use of the terms, may readily be conceived. Brain-flesh is substance, or the hypostasis, that underlies thought; so Theos is substance which constitutes the substratum of Logos. Theos is the substance called Spirit; as it is written, "Theos is Spirit;" and he who uttered these words is declared to be himself both substance and spirit. (Dr. John Thomas Eureka Volume 1 Of Deity Before Manifestation in Flesh.)

Thus the logos is the reasoning mind of God. Now reason has another name Sophia or the wisdom of God.

Here was the offspring of Yahweh, of whom it is said : " She is more precious than rubies. Length of days is in her right hand; in her left hand, riches and honor: a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her." Here is an existence previous to the existence of the earth and all that it contains. " By me," says Wisdom, " Yahweh formed the earth." " I am understanding ;" and "by understanding he established the heavens."

As a comment upon this, it may be remarked that in Job it is written : " By his SPIRIT he garnished the heavens;" or in the words of David, " By the WORD of Yahweh were the heavens made ; and all the host of them by the Spirit of his mouth." For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. From these premises, then, it is evident that Wisdom, the Word, and the Spirit, are but different terms, expressive of the same thing; so that the phrases, "the Spirit of Wisdom," and "the Spirit of Counsel and of Might" are combinations expressive of the relations of the Spirit in certain cases

The apostle John, in speaking of this, saith, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was made not any thing which exists. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." This appears to me to be a very intelligible account of the matter. The Word, Wisdom, Spirit, God, all one and the same; for He, being the fountain and origin, is as the emanation from himself.

The Word, Wisdom, Spirit are not separate beings or persons but personifications of the Father.

Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 The New Revised Standard Version 

26 For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.

Our attention is called to the 1st chapter of Genesis: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

The Father sees himself in the light of the water (compare Genesis 1:2 with John 1:4)  The Father is self-reflective self-consciousness.

God is spirit and the logos was God therefore we have Brain (Theos or God), Mind (spirit) and thought/reason (logos) The Word of Spirit is the Father's thought or plan. Spirit-Mind forms within itself the Thought or Reason that was expressed in Creation. This is the “Word,” that was and is with God.

Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus 

We have the Mind of Christ

We will look now at the text from our opening reading 

1cor 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.
15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

God's counsels are profound and inscrutable. Paul cites Isa. 40:13, "Who hath directed the spirit of Yahweh?" — a challenging statement showing that none have known the mind of Yahweh in the sense that they have dominated or governed it

How does a person merge their consciousness with the Divine Mind? A believer merges their consciousness with the Divine Mind through harmonizing all his thoughts with the will of the Christ Consciousness. This is accomplished through appropriating or thinking upon the teachings and parables of Jesus and meditating on the ways of God.

Valentinian interpretation of John chapter 1

This information will help us to understand the Valentinian interpretation of john chapter 1

Extracts from the Works of Theodotus:

7 Therefore, the Father, being unknown, wished to be known to the Aeons, and through his own thought, as if he had known himself, he put forth the Only-Begotten, the spirit of Knowledge which is in Knowledge. So he too who came forth from Knowledge, that is, from the Father's Thought, became Knowledge, that is, the Son, because “through' the Son the Father was known.” But the Spirit of Love has been mingled with the Spirit of Knowledge, as the Father with the Son, and Thought with Truth, having proceeded from Truth as Knowledge from Thought. And he who remained “ Only-Begotten Son in the bosom of the Father” explains Thought to the Aeons through Knowledge, just as if he had also been put forth from his bosom; but him who appeared here, the Apostle no longer calls “ Only Begotten,” but “ as Only-Begotten,” “Glory as of an Only-Begotten.” This is because being one and the same, Jesus is the” First-Born” in creation, but in the Pleroma is “Only- Begotten.” But he is the same, being to each place such as can be contained [in it]. And he who descended is never divided from him who remained. For the Apostle says, “For he who ascended is the same as he who descended.” And they call the Creator, the image of the Only-Begotten. Therefore even the works of the image are the same and therefore the Lord, having made the dead whom he raised an image of the spiritual resurrection, raised them not so that their flesh was incorruptible but as if they were going to die again.

Note the Only-Begotten is the father's own thought also called the the spirit of Knowledge

The Father could be known through the two Spirits proceeding from him, which were mingled together. These spirits are the Spirit of knowledge (πνεῦμα γνώσεως) and the Spirit of love (πνεῦμα ἀγάπης).

Now since the word "logos" means the entire thought it would be logical to conclude that this reasoning had within its self, foreknowledge, forethought, insight or gnosis, this is referred to as the spirit of knowledge also contained within the reasoning is life grace light which is the spirit of love

In Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 6-7, the principal Tetrad (a group or set of four aeons,) consisted of the Mind, the Truth, the Logos, and the Life but the Father was not counted as a member of the Pleroma. 

Maybe this Tetrad is where we get the name Barbelo from? Barbelo meaning (EL) God in four in the Sethian system 

The Extracts from the Works of Theodotus goes on to say: 

8 But we maintain that the essential Logos is God in God, who is also said to be “in the bosom of the Father,” continuous, undivided, one God.

God came forth, the Son, Mind of the All. This means that even his thought takes its existence from the root of the all, since he had him in mind (Valentinian Exposition from the Nag Hammadi Library)

The All preexisted within the Father, and the son who is the Father's Thought and Will, revealed it

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue

Now since he is speaking of the first origination, he does well to begin the teaching at the beginning, i.e with the Son and the Word. He speaks as follows: "The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning, with God." [Jn 1:1] First, he distinguishes three things: God; beginning; Word. Then he unites them: this is to show forth both the emanation of the latter two,( i.e. the Son and the Word), and their union with one another, and simultaneously with the Father. For the beginning was in the Father and from the Father; and the Word was in the beginning and from the beginning. Well did he say, "The Word was in the beginning", for it was in the Son. "And the Word was with God." So was the beginning. "And the word was God"; reasonably so, for what is engendered from God is God. This shows the order of emanation. "The entirety was made through it, and without it was not anything made." [Jn 1:3] For the Word became the cause of the forming and origination of all the aeons that came after it. (Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue)

The phrase “The Word was in the beginning” was not a temporal expression, but it “shows the order of emanation” (See Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue)

Since the term logos signifies an inward thought it would be logical to conclude that logos is Sige or silence in the Valentinian system. 

Silence has a partner or companion (syzygies, pair) with the Depth (Bythos)

The Depth is another aspects or attributes of Theos or Deity

Thus the logos is the silent thought of the Deity.  

The Deity was reasoning with himself this reasoning lead to the rest of the Emanations or attributes coming forth from the divine mind. The Deity was always self aware and had self knowledge

There is one life force: the creative all-embracing life, even the logos which is God. This life is eternal and without limit, from before time to everlasting.

The things made, or externalized, are from the one and inseparable Mind and thought or God and logos, the self-existent and ever active, the cause of all that appears.

The Divine Mind or logos the ever-present, all-knowing Mind; the Absolute, the unlimited. present everywhere at the same time, all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful Spirit.

There is but one Mind, and that Mind cannot be separated or divided. All that we can say of the one Mind is that it is absolute.

1 Corinthians 2:16 for, "Who has known the mind of Yahweh so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ

The Divine Mind, the creative power or Spirit in action. The Divine Mind first conceives the idea, then brings its external form to fulfilment. Believers, acting in accordance with the Divine Mind, place themselves under this same creative law and thus brings the divine ideas into manifestation.

The first Emanation is Logos, the masculine Father Principle of the Divine Mind that thinks and plans the molds for all expression through form. Mind builds form.

The second Emanation is Love, the feminine Mother Principle of the Divine Mind Love Substance that nourishes and sustains the molds formed by Mind. Love fills Form.

The Logos is Light, Life and Action.

The Logos is the Christ Principle, Holy Breath, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost. This is the beginning of the first Day of Manifestation.

As the Emanations completed their second circuit,
 The Deity begot Lesser Gods, the Elohim, who plan the rest of manifestation or the rest of creation.
The Deity is spirit as well as Logos, wisdom and life this is Sophia