The Nature of Sin The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The Nature of Sin  

or

The Nature of Adultery 

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

A Study on The Nature of Sin from The Gospel of Mary Magdalene :  

An opening reading from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene Chapter 4

(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost. The extant text starts on page 7...)

. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.
23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.
24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?
26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.
27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.
28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.
29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.
30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.
31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.
32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

expositor of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene 

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.

Matter (hyle) and nature (physis) are two different Greek words

all natures all formations all creatures designates the totality of all that exists and has been created 

the message is that all this will pass away 

the word Root here denotes origin 

All nature will dissolve into its own Root that is a resolution into dust. 

The word root is used three times in the text. 3 times  in verses 22, 23 and 27 

Sin is described as the nature of adultery

25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?

the sin of the world about which Peter asks is defined by Jesus as the essence of fornication or the nature of adultery and death 

sin literally means to “miss the mark” (amatrion) like an archer shooting a bow and arrow missing the target. Sin, in it's most comprehensive definition is "to miss the mark" - whether morally (transgression) or physically. Mankind was initially created with the intention of sharing in God's glory, both physically and morally. Mankind has "missed the mark" both physically and morally. Due to the events in Eden, we are created (in the womb) in that fallen state, and thus born in sin.

.26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.

"There is no sin" that is there is no such thing as the transgression of the law

While insisting that no sin exists as such, the Savior goes on to clarify that people do produce sin when they wrongly follow the desires of their natural sinful nature instead of nurturing their spiritual selves

For the Gospel of Mary, therefore, sin is not a matter of right and wrong acts; rather it has to do with the body, the body of sin or the flesh which produces sin which brings forth death

"but it is you who make sin" the disciples themselves produce or make sin by acting in accordance with the nature of adultery

The unilluminated thinking of the flesh gives birth to the "works of the flesh; which are, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

The "the nature of adultery" is allegorical of those over whom sin reigns, thus shown in their obeying it in the lusts thereof. They are styled "the servants of sin" (Rom. 6:12,17,19); or, "the weeds" (Matt. 13:25,38).

Christ, in rebuking the Jews of his day, accused them of spiritual fornication: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:44). The Jews saw the point of the Lord's rebuke and denied that they were "born of fornication" (v. 41); but, in fact, their attitude demonstrated that they were.

Sin is that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. Inasmuch as this physical principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled 'sinful flesh'. that is, 'flesh full of sin'... Sin, I say, is an equivalent expression for human nature'

The flesh produces sin which brings forth death

27) For this reason, the Good came among you, pursuing (the good) which belongs to every nature. It will set it within its root.

The Good is the name that the Gospel of Mary Magdalene uses for God. When we are cut off from the Good, death and disease and other material things arise due to the false beliefs caused by the “sin of adultery”.

Here the root of perishable mater is contrasted with the proper root of a person's true spiritual nature which the good will establish

The closing words of Jesus's reply show that the starting point of Peter's question are his preceding reflections on mater nature and origin these conceptions are picked up in the word root (The Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction)

28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.
29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

28) This is why you get sick and die: because [you love] what deceives [you]. [Anyone who] thinks should consider (these matters)!

 "This is why you get sick and die" those physical effects produced by sin which Paul calls ‘sin that dwelleth in me,’

People's own fleshly bodies deceive them and lead them to a fatal love of perishable material nature which is the source of the passions as well as physical suffering and death. True knowledge can never be based upon unreliable senses

Sickness and death indicate an attachment to what is perishable; such attachment disturbs the whole body. This attachment arises because matter brings forth wrong thinking and ignorance, which give rise to the passions of fear, grief, desire, and bodily pleasures that lead the soul to align itself toward fleeting material concerns. Because passions are rooted in ignorance, they are contrary to the true nature of things instituted by God. The Savior teaches the disciples instead to align themselves (“become rooted”) toward the true nature (image) of the Good, which is divine and eternal. True contentment of heart comes from transforming to the true Images of nature that come from God (Romans 12:2)

30) Matter gave birth to a passion which has no Image because it derives from what is contrary to nature.

For the Gospel of Mary, the sinfulness of the human condition, the estrangement from God  is caused by matter giving birth to passion

Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, that they decree according to their desires. (The Concept of Our Great Power, The Nag Hammadi Library)

The Nature of Adultery or the begetting in the souls which defiles them should not be understood literally as natural human offspring's rather it is sin conceiving in the brain flesh  

Jas 3:15  This wisdom is not one, from above, coming down, but is earthly, born of the soul, demoniacal! (Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible)

Philo of Alexandria: Now the female offspring of the soul are wickedness and passion,

Psalm 7:14, ESV: Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 

(40) Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside of the father, but being unsound, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."

To say that passion has no image means that it is not part of the Father' planting or not a true reflection of the good

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

Ps 5:4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

Ps 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Because the passions are tied to suffering and deception and because no evil or falsehood belongs to the Good no divine image of passion can really exist because it lacks a heavenly origin. Everything which is true and good is an image of the true