Water and Fire The Gospel of Philip

Water and Fire

Soul and spirit have come into being from water and fire. The son of the bridal chamber has come into being from water, fire, and light. Water is baptism. Fire is chrism. Light is fire.  I do not mean ordinary fire, which has no form, but other fire, which is pure white in appearance, beautifully bright and imparting beauty.

 For water and fire c£ 105. 23; for fire and chrism 105. 27£ At 117. 12-14 there is a reference to baptisn1 in light and water, and there it is said that 'the light is the chrism.'On the end of the 'saying' Schenke suggests that it is possibly a reference to the mystery of the bridal chamber; but perhaps with our present lack of comparative material it would be unwise to ;ittempt to define some of these concepts too precisely.

Through water and fire this wide realm is purified, and the visible cleaned by the visible, and the hidden by the hidden, but there are elements concealed in the visible. There is water within water and fire in the oil of chrism. gospel of Philip 

It is from water [the water above “moving” our individual thoughts (conscience)] and fire [the conflict in ones conscience that comes from spiritual enlightenment] that the soul and the spirit came into being. It is from water and fire and light [spiritual enlightenment (knowledge of the truth)] that the son of the bridal chamber (came into being) [the forming of “Christ in you”]. The Water is baptism, fire is the chrism [the searing of your conscience compelling you to do according to the will of the Father], the light is the fire. I am not referring to that fire which has no form [the chaos of our individual thoughts through human reasoning unguided by holy spirit], but to the other fire whose form is white [spiritual and undefiled the “law of the spirit” which is a “lamp unto our feet”], which is bright and beautiful, and which gives beauty [wisdom]. (Philip 53)

A sanctified soul has emerged from Water, Fire, and Light. Water washes away the past. Fire consumes mortal nature. Light builds a new, radiant nature. Those who are sanctified are the children of the Bridal Chamber, where the mysteries of the Divine Nature are experienced. Those who ascend to these mysteries have left their mortal nature behind on the mortal plane, for it cannot ascend with them. Only those who follow the path of the Redeemer, ascending the cross and transcending mortality through the resurrection, can learn the reality of these things.