The meaning of the good news in the gospel of truth

**The Meaning of the Good News in the *Gospel of Truth***

The *Gospel of Truth*, discovered among the Nag Hammadi texts, offers a deeply contemplative and spiritualized interpretation of what the early Christians called the “good news.” Rather than focusing on historical events or outward ritual, the *Gospel of Truth* centers its message on the revelation of knowledge (gnosis), the healing of forgetfulness, and the return of those who belong to the Father. The gospel proclaims salvation as the restoration of divine memory and reunion with the Pleroma, the fullness from which all came.

As the text states, **"The gospel of truth is joy to those who have received from the Father of truth the gift of knowing him by the power of the Logos, who has come from the Pleroma and who is in the thought and the mind of the Father"** (*Gospel of Truth*, 18.9–16). Here, knowledge of the Father is not an intellectual assent but a gift — a restoration of memory through the Logos, the divine Word. The Logos, originating in the Pleroma (the fullness of divine being), enters into the world to reveal the Father’s mind and lead the lost back to their source.

This knowledge is not public dogma but hidden wisdom: **"That is the gospel of him whom they seek, which he has revealed to the perfect through the mercies of the Father as the hidden mystery, Jesus the Christ. Through him he enlightened those who were in darkness because of forgetfulness"** (*Gospel of Truth*, 18.30–19.2). Forgetfulness is the condition of the world — a moral and spiritual blindness that causes alienation from the divine source. The gospel is thus the *reminder* and *awakening* given through Jesus, not merely a record of his deeds but the restoration of understanding itself.

The *Gospel of Truth* emphasizes that the very name *“gospel”* means the manifestation of hope: **"For the name of the gospel is the manifestation of hope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him"** (*Gospel of Truth*, 18.24–26). Hope is not just emotional longing but the active expectation of reunion with the Father. Those who recognize the voice of the Father through the Logos are the ones who are being saved, not through external works but through inner transformation.

In this vein, the text beautifully declares:

**"This is the word of the Gospel of the finding of the Pleroma for those who wait for the salvation which comes from above. When their hope, for which they are waiting, is waiting – they whose likeness is the light in which there is no shadow – then at that time the Pleroma is about to come."** (*Gospel of Truth*, 24.28–25.6).

Salvation is portrayed as a kind of homecoming. The Pleroma is not a place far away, but the true reality toward which the soul (understood as a corporeal entity, not an immaterial one) is drawn. This salvation is found through the revelation that awakens remembrance.

Even the New Testament gospels begin with this proclamation of the kingdom, not merely with Jesus' death and resurrection. As Jesus said in *Luke 4:43*, **“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”** Likewise, *Mark 1:15* records him saying, **“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.”** These statements show that the gospel originally centered on the kingdom — the reign of God breaking into the present — not just the events of the cross. Paul later broadened the gospel’s focus by incorporating Jesus' death and resurrection into his theology of new life (*Romans 6:5–11*), but the *Gospel of Truth* re-centers the message on knowledge, revelation, and healing from forgetfulness.

The core of the *Gospel of Truth* is the metaphor of the “living book”:

**"In their heart, the living book of the living was manifest, the book that was written in the thought and in the mind of the Father and, from before the foundation of all, is in that incomprehensible part of him."** (*Gospel of Truth*, 26.33–27.3).

This “book” symbolizes divine knowledge hidden from the world but revealed through Jesus. His mission is described as opening this book, as one would open a will, disclosing the inheritance of life:

**"No one could appear among those who believed in salvation as long as that book had not appeared. For this reason, the compassionate, faithful Jesus was patient in his sufferings until he took that book, since he knew that his death meant life for many."** (*Gospel of Truth*, 27.10–16)

The cross, then, is not merely a sacrifice but the moment when Jesus “put on that book,” embodying the divine message and revealing it by being “nailed to a cross” (*Gospel of Truth*, 27.18–19). This is not atonement through blood but healing through revelation. His death is the disclosure of hidden truth:

**"He became a fruit of the knowledge of the Father... He rather caused those who ate of it to be joyful because of this discovery."** (*Gospel of Truth*, 38.7–12)

Thus, the *Gospel of Truth* describes Jesus as both the revealer and the revelation. As the guide and teacher, **“he became the wisdom of those who have received instruction”** (*Gospel of Truth*, 30.4–5). Through him, the lost are found, the ignorant enlightened, and the forgetful awakened.

In contrast to the *Gospel of Thomas*, which records Jesus’ sayings, the *Gospel of Truth* is a theological reflection — a proclamation. It invites the reader not just to know *about* Jesus but to *experience* what he reveals: the truth of the Father made manifest.

In sum, the good news of the *Gospel of Truth* is not about escaping the world, but about remembering the Father, overcoming ignorance, and returning to the Pleroma. It is a message of hope, discovery, and joy — a gospel of healing knowledge through the Logos, Jesus the Anointed.