When Eve Was in Adam The Gospel of Philip

When Eve Was in Adam

When Eve was in Adam, there was no death. When she was separated from him, death came. If <she> enters into him again and he embraces <her>, death will cease to be. The Gospel of Philip

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; Genesis 2:21

"And He took one of his ribs" — The word tsela, from tsala "to incline," is nowhere else used for "rib," but is translated "side" (e.g. Exod. 25:12). Exactly what part, or how much, of Adam's side was taken from him is not revealed. But whatever part it was, it transferred the feminine qualities of the man to Eve, his wife (Eph. 5:22). She became his counterpart; and she, complementing him, made him complete.

Likewise I became very small, so that through my humility I might take you up to the great height, whence you had fallen. You were taken to this pit. If now you believe in me, it is I who shall take you above, through this shape that you see. It is I who shall bear you upon my shoulders. Enter through the rib whence you came and hide yourself from the beasts. The Interpretation of Knowledge

In the The Interpretation of Knowledge Christ exhorts the believers: “Enter in through the rib, the place from which you came forth and hide yourself from the beasts.”

The flesh of the crucified Christ is connected with the veil of the Jerusalem Temple, Christ’s spear-wound is also being understood here as the mystical portal to the heavenly holy of holies, the concepts of the Edenic Paradise and the holy of holies were by no means mutually exclusive in antiquity

Jubilees 8.19: “And [Noah] knew that the garden of Eden was the holy of holies and
the dwelling of the Lord”; cf. 4.23–26; the Tree of Life) also appears alongside temple imagery (e.g. the throne of God) in John of Patmos’s vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1–5; in the New Testament (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7), “all of the texts seem to reflect the equation of the heavenly paradise with the heavenly temple”.

According to Gos. Phil., the living sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross obviated the earthly sacrificial cult that worshipped the beasts: “Indeed, the beasts (xNchrion) were the ones to whom they sacrificed. They were indeed offering them up alive, but when they offered them up, they died. As for man, they offered him up to God dead, and he lived.”

Similarly, “God is a man-eater. For this reason, men are sacrificed to him. Before men were sacrificed, beasts (xNchrion) were being sacrificed, since those to whom they were sacrificed were not gods

In these two passages, the beasts (chrion; Gk. θήριον; pl. θηρία) are identified with both the things being sacrificed, and the things being sacrificed to, suggesting that the earthly Temple cult is performed in the service of the beasts, the demiurge and his archons, by those who come from them and are consubstantial with them. 

Hence, Gos. Phil. says of the true heavenly Temple cult, “A bridal chamber is not for the beasts (Nchrion), nor is it for the slaves, nor for defiled women; but it is for free men and virgins.”95 Again the bridal chamber is identified as one of the “buildings for sacrifice” (Nhei Mma N+prosvora; Gos. Phil. 69.14–15) in the Temple, a place in which men and virgins can enter, but beasts cannot.

This corresponds well with the present interpretation of the imagery in Interp. Know. 10.34b–37a, namely, that once the Valentinian soul has entered through the veil of Christ’s flesh, it can hide itself from the beasts in the temple of his body, having ceased to be a slave (14.34–38). In the Excerpts of Theodotus, it is likewise clear that these “

the “rib” or “side” (speir) of Christ in 10.35 may be an allusion to Jesus’s assertion, “I am the gate for the sheep ... Whoever enters by me will be saved”

Exc. Theod. 26.2–3: “Wherefore whenever he would say, ‘I am the door’, he means that you, who are of the superior seed, shall come as far as the Limit where I am. And whenever he enters in, the superior seed also enters into the Pleroma with him, brought together and brought in through the door”

By a show of faith, the soul can re-enter the divine realm through the “rib” (speir) of the crucified Christ, hide itself from its adversaries, and have the burden of the flesh alleviated. 

This entry into the body of the crucified Christ is thought to facilitate a heavenly ascent. This soteriology is unpacked further in Interp. Know. 11–14, which as was mentioned above, has been called a “complex Midrash” on the sayings of 9.28–10.38.42

Moreover, when the great Son was sent after his small brothers, he spread abroad the edict of the Father and proclaimed it, opposing the All. And he removed the old bond of debt, the one of condemnation. And this is the edict that was: Those who made themselves enslaved have become condemned in Adam. They have been brought from death, received forgiveness for their sins, and been redeemed The Interpretation of Knowledge

Firstly, in being crucified, Christ inaugurated a new covenant, or “edict,” to replace the old Adamic one,which is here described as a “bond of condemnation.”50 That which was
inaugurated by Adam brought about slavery, death, and sin. Christ came to reverse this by means of his self-sacrifice. It is clear from the imagery in 10.34–36 that the evil Adamic covenant was not the result of his transgression of God’s will, but rather the separation of Eve from Adam’s side, which apparently brought death into the world.51 Hence we see in our saying, Christ, in his role as the Second Adam, exhorting the soul to return whence it came (his rib), and thereby restore the primal androgyne, overcome death, and receive redemption, being “reborn in the flesh and blood of (the Saviour)”

When Eve [the holy spirit (mother of everyone living)] was still with Adam [still in the creative thoughts of the Father], death did not exist [God does not die, hence His image and likeness would not die as long as it continued in Oneness with the Father]. When she was separated from him [when she was manifest in creation as individual spirit consciousness (i.e. was able to make independent choices)], death came into being [by making the wrong choice to follow a path contrary to Gods Law causing double mindedness – it is the separation of the will of the Father from the will of individual spirit]. If he enters again [into harmony with the will of the Father] and attains his former self [brings body, soul and spirit back together as One], death will be no more [this is victory over death]