The Aeons Dwell in the Church as Spiritual Gifts

The Aeons Dwell in the Church as Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual Gifts

The Interpretation of Knowledge

By having a brother who regards us as he also is, one glorifies the one who gives us grace. Moreover, it is fitting for each of us to enjoy the gift that he has received from God, and that we not be jealous, since we know that he who is jealous is an obstacle in his (own) path, since he destroys only himself with the gift and he is ignorant of God. He ought to rejoice and be glad and partake of grace and bounty. Does someone have a prophetic gift? Share it without hesitation. Neither approach your brother jealously nor ... (8 lines missing)... chosen as they [...] empty as they escape [...] fallen from their [...] are ignorant that [...] in this way they have [...] them in [...] in order that they may reflect perforce upon the things that you want them to think about when they think about you. Now your brother also has his grace: Do not belittle yourself, but rejoice and give thanks spiritually, and pray for that one, in order that you might share the grace that dwells within him. So do not consider him foreign to you, rather, (as) one who is yours, whom each of your <fellow> members received. By loving the Head who possesses them, you also possess the one from whom it is that these outpourings of gifts exist among your brethren.

But is someone making progress in the Word? Do not be hindered by this; do not say: ''Why does he speak while I do not?", for what he says is (also) yours, and that which discerns the Word and that which speaks is the same power. The Word ... (13 lines missing)... eye or a hand only, although they are a single body. Those who belong to us all serve the Head together. And each one of the members reckons it as a member. They cannot all become entirely a foot or entirely an eye or entirely a hand, since these members will not live alone; rather they are dead. We know that they are being put to death. So why do you love the members that are still dead, instead of those that live? How do you know that someone is ignorant of the brethren? For you are ignorant when you hate them and are jealous of them, since you will not receive the grace that dwells within them, being unwilling to reconcile them to the bounty of the Head. You ought to give thanks for our members and ask that you too might be granted the grace that has been given to them. For the Word is rich, generous and kind. Here he gives away gifts to his men without jealousy, according to ... (11 lines missing)... appeared in each of the members [...] himself [...] since they do not fight at all with one another on account of their difference(s). Rather, by laboring with one another, they will work with one another, and if one of them suffers, they will suffer with him, and when each one is saved, they are saved together.

The Interpretation of Knowledge is fully aware that the community consists of individuals, and that, though they are all spiritual humans, some appear to have been given a greater share of the Spirit than others. Valentinian services evidently gave room for the display of such individual gifts. One has a prophetic gift. Another has an advanced understanding and speaks. 15 Interp. Knowl. 15.35–36. 16 Interp. Knowl. 16.31–38.

The unequal “outpouring of (spiritual) gifts” (Interp. Knowl. 16.30;) from the Head upon the members of the church may seem unjust, it is important that the members do not become “jealous” of one another. 

Since in reality the source of these gifts is always the same; the Logos who is “rich, not jealous, and kind”.

For, “in this place (i.e.the cosmos), he gives away gifts to his people without jealousy”

Instead of being jealous, those with inferior spiritual gifts are instructed to “pray” (Interp. Knowl. 16.22; ), or “ask” (Interp. Knowl. 17.32–33;), for the “grace” (Interp. Knowl. 16.23; Interp. Knowl. 17.34;) which flows from the crucified Christ

On the other hand, one who is jealous blocks their own “path” “since he excludes only himself from the gift, and he is ignorant before God” (Interp. Knowl. 15.31–33;

The community is exhorted not to be jealous over whether they have been put “in the class of a hand, or an eye, or a foot” (Interp. Knowl. 18.31–32;), but rather to be thankful that they exist as part of “the Body” (Interp. Knowl. 18.34; ), since when such members exist apart from the Body, “they die” (Interp. Knowl. 17.22;)

Prophecy is not the kind of activity that is most often associated with Valentinianism, since there has been a somewhat onesided tendency in scholarship to highlight the movement’s intellectual characteristics and its resemblance to a philosophical school. It is nevertheless

to be noted that prophecy is mentioned as a normal phenomenon in the Valentinian Church not only in Interpretation of Knowledge, but also in the Excerpts from Theodotus 24: “The Valentinians say that the Spirit which each of the prophets possessed as a special gift for his service, has been poured out upon all those who belong to the Church. For this reason the signs of the Spirit as well, healings and prophecies are carried out through the Church.”

“Don’t say, ‘Why does that one speak but I do not speak.’”25 What kind of speaking may be meant here? It is based on logos and must be different from the kind of prophetic speech that was separately mentioned previously.

Moreover, if they would wait for the exodus from the (earthly) harmony, they will come to the Aeon. If they are fit to share in the (true) harmony, how much the more those who derive from the single unity? They ought to be reconciled with one another. Do not accuse your Head because it has not appointed you as an eye but rather as a finger. And do not be jealous of that which has been put in the class of an eye or a hand or a foot, but be thankful that you do not exist outside the Body. On the contrary, you have the same Head on whose account the eye exists, as well as the hand and the foot and the rest of the parts. Why do you despise the one that is appointed as [...] it desired to [...] you slandered [...] does not embrace [...] unmixed body [...] chosen [...] dissolve [...] of the Aeon [...] descent [...] however plucked us from <the> Aeons that exist in that place. Some exist in the visible Church - those who exist in the Church of men - and unanimously they proclaim to one another the Pleroma of their aeon. And some exist for death in the Church on whose behalf they go - she for whom they are death - while others are for life. Therefore they are lovers of abundant life. And each of the rest endures by his own root. He puts forth fruit that is like him, since the roots have a connection with one another and their fruits are undivided, the best of each. They possess them, existing for them and for one another. So let us become like the roots, since we are equal [...] that Aeon [...] those who are not ours [...] above the [...] grasp him [...] since [...] your soul. He will [...] we gave you to him. If you purify it, it abides in me. If you enclose it, it belongs to the Devil. Even if you kill his forces that are active, it will be with you. For if the soul is dead, still it was enacted upon (by) the rulers and authorities.

2 Corinthians 1:21 But he who guarantees that YOU and we belong to Christ and he who has anointed us is God. 22 He has also put his seal upon us and has given us the token of what is to come, that is, the spirit, in our hearts.

1 John 2 :20 And YOU have an anointing from the holy one; all of YOU have knowledge. 21 I write YOU, not because YOU do not know the truth, but because YOU know it, and because no lie originates with the truth.

The word in the Greek is chrisma, "an anointing," In v. 27, John defines it as "truth" which abode in them. It is the holy spirit word (John 6:63), "the truth" (1 John 5:6), described as an "anointing" because the truth was revealed by the spirit in prophets, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles (Neh. 9:30; Heb. 1:1). 

John did not claim that his readers had been anointed with it, but that they "had" or possessed it, so that it "abode in them." The true members of the Ecclesia possessed it; but those of the antichrist faction did not. Jude sums the matter up: 'These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit" (y.19). 

Obviously Jude was referring to the spirit word, not to the outpouring of holy spirit power. The unction, or anointing, was the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17) given unto the Apostles, and proclaimed by them in the Gospel message.

The purpose of anointing the Apostles with the holy spirit was to bring "all things to remembrance" (John 14:26).

1 John 2 :27 And as for YOU, the anointing that YOU received from him remains in YOU, and YOU do not need anyone to be teaching YOU; but, as the anointing from him is teaching YOU about all things, and is true and is no lie, and just as it has taught YOU, remain in union with him.

The "anointing" is the spirit, which John later defines as the truth (1 John 5:6), and which has been received from Christ. This must "abide" in the believer (cp. notes on v. 20).

John's statement that the "anointing" (i.e. the spirit) teaches all things, and is truth, or true, aligns it with the "spirit of truth" that Jesus had promised the Apostles (John 14:17). 

by a threefold witness of spirit, water and blood because they were anointed (the symbol of the spirit — Lev. 8:12), washed (Lev. 8:6), and sprinkled with blood (Lev. 8:23).

The gospel of philip 

Chrism is superior to baptism. We are called Christians from the word “chrism,” not from the word “baptism.” Christ also has his name from chrism, for the father anointed the son, the son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. Whoever is anointed has everything: resurrection, light, cross, holy spirit. The father gave all this to the person in the bridal chamber, and the person accepted it. The father was in the son and the son was in the father. This is heaven’s kingdom.

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.


Chrism or anointing-- the pouring out of the holy spirit on one who has faith in God. Rubbing with oil; consecrating the body with the living Spirit of Christ. "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face" (Matt. 6:17).

anointed of God, the--One who is conscious of the real spiritual outpouring from the source of his being; a consecrated person, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me" (Luke 4:18).

spiritual gift, --The manifestation of Spirit in each of the members of the body of Christ according to each man's receptivity; giving to each member a particular work in the redemption of the individual.

Valentinian Cosmology Explained

Valentinian Cosmology

Valentinian Cosmology is pretty complicated doctrinal things and some modern Gnostics have a tendency to think that Gnosticism is post doctrinal and that dogma and doctrine are bad things but to the classical Gnostics they were important and and for us as modern Gnostics they're important because cosmology (Cosmogony is the study of the creation of the universe.) determines anthropology (Christian anthropology is the study of the human ("anthropology") as it relates to God) our view of mankind.

Valentinian Cosmology comes from a study of the prologue of the Gospel of John. It is a study of Creation and the Divine Attributes of God together they make up the Pleroma.

To Explain the Divine Attributes Valentinians would refer to the prologue in the Gospel of John when it says "the word was in the beginning," Valentinians believed that John was referring to mind and truth this we can see from Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 6 quoted below

Valentinians believed that some Greek words in the prologue in the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul form the totality of the Divine Attributes which they called the Pleroma

The Pleroma

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 (Ro 11:33) is the spiritual source of everything which emanates the pleroma, 

The Aeons are emanations of the Divine Mind as well as Divine Beings
(For each of the aeons is a name corresponding to each of the Father's qualities and powers the Tripartite Tractate)

The Pleroma is both the abode of and the essential nature of the True Ultimate Deity or Bythos.(Ro 11:33)
The Pleroma as well as being the the dwellings place of the Aeons is also a a state of consciousness

The lowest regions of Pleroma are closest to darkness—that is, the physical universe.

For more information on the Pleroma see my studies
The Pleroma the Waters Above the Heavens
The Concept of the Pleroma

Different myth

Different forms of this Cosmological myth appear in different Valentinian writings for example in the the Tripartite Tractate the fall is because of the actions of the Logos not Sophia as many other text say

Valentinians do not use the terms Barbelo or Yaldabaoth in their myths

Valentinian viewed the emanations we are going to looking at as syzygy that is pairs Logos male Zoe female Anthropos male and Ekklesia female.

This is not really a myth but a study of the mind of God pre-creation it would be best to call this a primordial drama instead of a myth.

 the pattern of heavenly things

The Pleroma the region of light, is the archetypal heavenly things, it is the pattern which was shown to Moses and is called the heavenly things themselves

Acts 7:44–7:4444“Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Heb 9:23 ¶  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Philo of Alexandria: The incorporeal world then was already completed, having its seat in the Divine Reason; and the world, perceptible by the external senses, was made on the model of it; and the first portion of it, being also the most excellent of all made by the Creator, was the heaven, which he truly called the firmament, as being corporeal; for the body is by nature firm....called it the heaven, either because it was already the Boundary{2} of everything, or because it was the first of all visible things which was created; and after its second rising he called the time day, referring the entire space and measure of a day to the heaven, on account of its dignity and honour among the things perceptible to the external senses. 

{philo means that ouranos was derived either from horos, a boundary, or from horaoµ, to see, horatos, visible.}

The Demiurge

In the prologue of the Gospel of John can be interpreted in two ways as a pre-creation myth in this case we should view words such as logos, life, light, man, not as separate beings but as Divine Attributes of the One True Deity. However if we look at this as a creation myth it should be in interpreted that the logos did not make the world this was done by the Craftsman or Demiurge, this can be seen from Heracleon's Commentary on the Gospel of John:

Heracleon Fragment 1, on John 1:3 (In John 1:3, “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.”) The sentence: "All things were made through him" means the world and what is in it. It excludes what is better than the world. The Aeon (i.e. the Fullness), and the things in it, were not made by the Word; they came into existence before the Word. . . “Without him, nothing was made” of what is in the world and the creation. . . "All things were made through Him," means that it was the Word who caused the Craftsman (Demiurge) to make the world, that is it was not the Word “from whom” or “by whom,” but the one “through whom (all things were made).”. . . It was not the Word who made all things, as if he were energized by another, for "through whom" means that another made them and the Word provided the energy.

This Fragment from Heracleon's Commentary on the Gospel of John is in agreement with the Tripartite Tractate:

Over all the archons he appointed an Archon with no one commanding him. He is the lord of all of them, that is, the countenance which the Logos brought forth in his thought as a representation of the Father of the Totalities. Therefore, he is adorned with every <name> which <is> a representation of him, since he is characterized by every property and glorious quality. For he too is called "father" and god" and "demiurge" and "king" and "judge" and "place" and "dwelling" and "law."

The Logos uses him as a hand, to beautify and work on the things below, and he uses him as a mouth, to say the things which will be prophesied.

The things which he has spoken he does

For more information on this see my study on the Demiurge

A brief summary of the Valentinian system

From the transcendent Deity there was emanated a male principle called Mind and a female principle called Thought. 

In these principles emanated others, in male and female pairs to the total of thirty knows as Aeons who collectively constitute the fullness or the divine realm which others would call the spirit world which is beyond the physical heavens it is also called the 3rd Heaven.

John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word (logos or the first thought or reason of God), and the Word was with God (the Monad [meaning the One] the transcendent Deity or the Uncreated Eternal Spirit), and the Word was God. (It was "with God" in that it emanated from him; )
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Note The word “beginning” in John 1:1 cannot refer to the “beginning” of God the Creator, for he is eternal, having no beginning. (Ps 90:2)

John 1:18 No one, hath seen, God, at any time: An Only Begotten God, The One existing within the bosom of the Father, He, hath interpreted him.

"Theos was the Logos."

In this text, then, there is ONE DEITY, and he is styled THE LOGOS. This word signifies, "the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed and made known; also, the inward thought or reason itself

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.

Theos is the Brain, Logos is the Mind or thought

Valentinian Commentary

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue: John, the disciple of the Lord, intentionally spoke of the origination of the entirety, by which the Father emitted all things. And he assumes that the First Being engendered by God is a kind of beginning; he has called it "Son" and "Only-Begotten God." In this (the Only-Begotten) the Father emitted all things in a process involving posterity. By this (Son), he says, was emitted the Word, in which was the entire essence of the aeons that the Word later personally formed.

"Only-Begotten God." meaning a begotten God of the unbegotten God

6 The verse, “In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God” the Valentinians understand thus, for they say that the “beginning” is the “Only Begotten” and that he is also called God, as also in the verses which immediately follow it explains that he is God, for it says, “The Only-Begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” (John 1:18) Now they say that the Logos in the beginning, that is to say in the Only-Begotten, in the Mind and the Truth, indicates the Christ, the Logos and the Life [Zoe]. Wherefore he also appropriately calls God him who is in God, the Mind. “That which came into being in him,” the Logos, “was Life,” the Companion. Therefore the Lord also says, “I am the Life.” (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition

The logos here is a personification of the mind of God or the Father's first thought. We will look more at personifications later.





This logos which is mind and truth can be compared with the The Tripartite Tractate:

The Father, in the way we mentioned earlier, in an unbegotten way, is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot him having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the perception of him, which is the [...] of his constitution forever. That is, however, in the proper sense, the silence and the wisdom and the grace, if it is designated properly in this way.

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 Know ledge, 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. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 7)

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. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

The first thought is the logos and also called Mind and Truth

The Father through that first thought brings forth the only begotten Son
Valentinian cosmology starts with this primal being primal being we're going to call the Monad meaning the One. "The Monad who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him." Valentinian Exposition.

From the Valentinian Exposition we can we that the primal ineffable Father has two components a male and a female component or aspects, attribute, the male aspects is called Bythos (Ro 11:33) meaning depth and the female aspect is called Sige (1Ki 19:12 ) meaning silence. Silence can be compared to wisdom thus Sige is also Sophia.
This describes the supreme Deity as being androgynous this is what the Valentinian Exposition means when it says "He dwells in the Dyad and in the Pair, and his Pair is Silence, "

This also describes the Deity has incomprehensible and cannot be seen cannot be heard since the Father-Mother is unfathomable and Silent

The primal Depth (the masculine principle) and Ennoia or Sige meaning Thought (the feminine principle) together make up the first Dyadic or a syzygy

This view of God being androgynous can be found in the Bible in the Book of Proverbs God has a feminine aspect wisdom (Sophia):

8:22 Yahweh possessed me," saith the Logos, "in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from olahm (the hidden period) from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the open places, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the deep; when he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the fountains of the deep; when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him as one brought up with him (the Logos was with the Theos): and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights with the sons of men" (Prov. 8:22).

Here wisdom is personified. Wisdom here is not a separate deity. but it is the personification of the attribute of wisdom displayed by God:  truth, justice, value, the beautiful, faithful, eternal companion and handmaid of God.

The personification begins with the love relationship she has with her followers is a guarantee of prosperity, provided they walk in her ways [vv 17-21]. Then, in the astounding passage in vv 22–31, she affirms her origins from God, and from of old before creation. The description of creation in vv 25–29 is not really important here; there is no concentration on creation itself, which merely serves to underscore Wisdom's preexistence. 

So from the Gospel of John chapter 1 and the Book of Proverbs chapter 8 we can see that the God of the Bible also incorporated masculine and feminine characteristics Logos and Sophia through these attribute the Father created the universe

This is the same as the Gnostic understanding

Getting back now to the the prologue of the Gospel of John 

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue "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. 

8 “All things were made by him”; things both of the spirit, and of the mind, and of the senses, in accordance with the activity proper to the essential Logos. “This one explained the bosom of the Father,” the Saviour and [Isaiah said, “And I will pay back their deeds into their bosom,” that is, into their thought, which is in the soul, from which it is first activated] “First-Born of all creation.” But the essential Only-Begotten, in accordance with whose continuous power the Saviour acts, is the Light of the Church, which previously was in darkness and ignorance. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 8)

“And darkness comprehended him not”: the apostates and the rest of men did not know him and death did not detain him.

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue: But furthermore (he says), "That which came into being in it was Life."[Jn 1:4] Here he discloses a pair [syzygy]. For he says that the entirety came into being through it, but Life is in it. Now, that which came into being in it more intimately belongs to it than what came into being through it: it is joined with it and through it it bears fruit. Indeed, inasmuch as he adds, "and Life [Zoe] was the light of human beings", [Jn 1:4] in speaking of human beings he has now disclosed also the Church by means of a synonym, so that with a single word he might disclose the partnership of the pair [syzygy]. For from the Word [Logos] and Life [Zoe], the Human Being [Anthropos] and the Church [Ekklesia] came into being. And he called Life the light of human beings because they are enlightened by her, i.e. formed and made visible. Paul, too, says this: "For anything that becomes visible is light." [Eph 5:13] So since Life made the Human Being and the Church visible and engendered them, she is said to be their light.

Now among other things, John plainly made clear the second quartet, i.e. the Word; Life; the Human Being; the Church.

But what is more, he also disclosed the first quartet. describing the Savior, now, and saying that all things outside the Fullness were formed by him, he says that he is the fruit of the entire fullness. For he calls him a light that "shines in the darkness" [Jn 1:5] and was not overcome by it, inasmuch as after he had fitted together all things that had derived from the passion they did not become acquainted with him. And he calls him Son, Truth, Life, and Word become flesh. We have beheld the latter's glory, he says. And its glory was like that of the Only- Begotten, which was bestowed on him by the Father, "full of grace and truth". [Jn 1:14] And he speaks as follows: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; we have beheld its glory, glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father." [Jn 1:14] So he precisely discloses also the first quartet when he speaks of the Father; Grace; the Only-Begotten; Truth. Thus did John speak of the first octet, the mother of the entirety of aeons. For he referred to the Father; Grace; the Only-Begotten; Truth; the Word; Life; the Human Being; the Church.


The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition:


That Tetrad projected the Tetrad which is the one consisting of Word and Life and Man and Church. Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence, and Man is for his own glory, while Church is for the glory of Truth. This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad. Moreover, it is the one from the Triacontad of the Aeons who bear fruit from the Triacontrad. They enter jointly, but they come forth singly, fleeing from the Aeons and the Uncontainable Ones. And the Uncontainable Ones, once they had looked at him, glorified Mind since he is an Uncontainable One that exists in the Pleroma.


You may be wondering why Ekklesia or Church used in the emanations described here this is because the church is the also part of the pleroma (Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.)


The ultimate transcendent deity Profundity (Βυθός), which is also called First-Beginning and First-Father (Προαρχή, Προπάτωρ) possesses Thought (Ἔννοια), which is also called Grace and Silence (Χάρις, Σιγή), which depicts the primal Deity as a self-thinking Unity.




In Irenaeus’s account, the Grace is mentioned as the conjugal pair of the Father, and they form together with the Mind and Truth the first Tetrad. In addition to the Logos and the Life, another pair, i.e. the Man and the Church, must be added in order to generate the second Tetrad. Consequently, the whole Ogdoad was completed, and it served as the Mother of all Aeons. The Savior was according to Iren. Haer. 1.8.5 the fruit of the entire Pleroma.

Who is Adam Kadmon?

Adam Kadmon 

Adam Kadmon, the architypal man was compounded of these qualities of the Spirit. Jesus, after his baptism, being the final repository of the Spirit, for it had rested in him, could now confer its several gifts on those who accepted him

Anthropos

A number of Hebrew and Greek terms refer to man. ´Adham´ means “man; human; earthling man; mankind” (generic); ´ish, “man; an individual; a husband”; ´enohsh´, “a mortal man”; ge´ver, “an able-bodied man”; za·khar´, “a male”; a few other Hebrew words are also sometimes translated “man.” 

The Greek anthropos means “man; mankind” (generic); aner´, “a man; a male person; a husband.”

444. ἄνθρωπος anthropos anth’-ro-pos; from 435 and ωψ ops (the countenance; from 3700); man-faced, i.e. a human being: —  certain, man. 

 Elohim (the Powers) said: “Let us make man [´a·dham´] in our image, according to our likeness.” (Ge 1:26, 27; Pr 8:30, 31; compare Joh 1:1-3; Col 1:15-17.) 

Man was made "in the image" of the Elohim (Powers), and inasmuch as they are "sons of God," the image is divine (though the nature of man is not). James makes the point that "we are made after the similitude of God," "even the Father" (James 3:9).


"While image, then, hath reference to form or shape, 'likeness' hath regard to mental constitution, or capacity... Adam's mental capacity enabled him to comprehend and receive spiritual ideas, which moved him to veneration, hope, conscientiousness, the expression of his views, affections, and so forth. Seth was capable of the like display of intellectual and moral phenomena; and of an assimilation of character to that of his father. He was therefore in the likeness as well as in the image of Adam; and, in the same sense, they were both 'after the likeness of the Elohim.

Adam was made in the likeness of his heavenly counterpart the Adam Kadmon, the architypal man, who is the logos or the anointing spirit (Messiah or Christ)

Adam and Seth being two versions of the "Archetypal Man" or Anthropos
Ro 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.


The word ''figure" signifies type. Rotherham translates this: "Adam, who is a type of the coming one". The Greek word tupos describes a pattern, or mould, into which a final product is fitted or poured; an impression, or mark, which is made by percussion.

the One created the Anthropos in its own image, as an androgynous angel (i.e. male and female). This was the First Man Adam Kadmon, "Adam Kadmon" (= אדם קדמון) and "Nakhash Kadmon" (= נחש קדמון), 

Anthrôpos is the pure mind a mind conceived hypostatically as emanating from God

the Anthropos -- an aeon in the Pleroma, one of the attributes of the Ultimate Oneness, 

Adam Kadmon

the Jewish concept of Adam Kadmon is the Christian concept of the “Mystical Body of Christ"

However the Christian understanding of Adam Kadmon is very different from the Jewish concept which is a primordial heavenly man. It is he that is the true “image of God,” a majestic vessel of divine glory, the ideal human (Deut. 4:32; PdRK 4:4, 12:1, Lev. R. 20:2). All earthly humans (Gen. 2-3) are in his image 

What is most striking to me is Paul’s insistence on the “order” of being. Paul pointedly states the “spiritual Adam” was not first.

So, too, it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being," the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 

The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. 

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. (I Corinthians 15:45-50)

This indicates to me that Paul is both aware of and modified an already well-known doctrine of a “spiritual Adam” that people believed preceded the earthly Adam. Since Jesus came millenia after human creation, Paul finds it necessary for the spiritual Adam be the crowning moment of humanity, rather then its origin.

Jesus sometimes use the term "Son of man" not to refer Himself but the Heavenly Adam Kadmon, the perfect man the full grown Christ


Therefore the true Adam Kadmon is a Corporate Being the mystical body of Christ

Jesus is the head of this Adam Kadmon or son of man the true believers are the body of Adam Kadmon


“Now you are Christ’s body, and members individually,” in a spiritual sense. 1Co 12:27


Adam Kadmon also refers to a the higher state of consciousness which Jesus' atonited message produces. Jesus is the first fruits or prototype of this higher consciousness the Christ-consciousness. Jesus' aonited teachings put the body of Christ-consciousness in reach of us all.


Adam Kadmon is a Corporate Being called the Son of Man (Dan 7 Rev 1) others call it the mystical body of Christ it refers to large number/body of people who are in the Christ consciousness or the Corporate Being the Son of Man the multitudinous Christ

What is Repentance?

What is Repentance?

Repent is, in the original Greek, "change your mind."

repentance can mean a reformation from within see Mt 3:8  bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation, Young's Literal Translation

Young's Literal Translation Mt 3:1 ¶  And in those days cometh John the Baptist, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,
2  and saying, ‘Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,’
3  for this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.’
4  And this John had his clothing of camel’s hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and honey of the field.
5  Then were going forth unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan,
6  and they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.
7 ¶  And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! who did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?
8  bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation,

Reformation The act of reforming, or the state of being reformed; change from worse to better; correction or amendment of life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt; as, the reformation of manners; reformation of the age; reformation of abuses. 

Jesus himself knew the heart of men and he knew that the revolution must come from within because defilement comes from within

Mark 7:17 When he had entered a house away from the crowd, his disciples began to question him about respecting this illustration.18 So he said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.” 20 And he said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man." 

The Greek word found in strong’s 3341 metanoia is translated "repentance," does not mean an admission to God of sorrow for past sin and a resolve to be good in the future. literally means is after-knowing (in contrast to foreknowing) and signifies a change in one’s mind, attitude, or purpose.

In Greek, two verbs are used in connection with repentance: me·ta·no·e´o and me·ta·me´lo·mai. The first is composed of me·ta´, meaning “after,” and no·e´o (related to nous, the mind, disposition, or moral consciousness), meaning “perceive, discern, mentally grasp, or be aware.” Hence, me·ta·no·e´o literally means afterknowing (in contrast to foreknowing) and signifies a change in one’s mind, attitude, or purpose. Me·ta·me´lo·mai, on the other hand, comes from me´lo, meaning “care for or have interest in.” The prefix me·ta´ (after) gives the verb the sense of ‘regretting’ (Mt 21:30; 2Co 7:8), or ‘repenting.’

Thus, repentance stresses the changed viewpoint or disposition, a rejecting of the past or intended course or action as undesirable. It is clear that the mission of John the baptist was to bring about a change of mind. The fundamental idea taught by the Scriptures is not that man must know sorrow, but rather that he must undergo a change, a change not merely of conduct but of the thinking and attitude.

Repentance means change of mind, transformation of the mind, change of thought and purpose.

A proper translation of the mission of John the baptist is: He came into all the region around the Jordan preaching submersion of reformation into a forgiveness of sins;





The Revolution of Consciousness is the FIFTH GOSPEL, we urgently need a radical, total and definitive change, and this is only possible through the Revolution of Consciousness. Intimate Self-Realization is only possible in isolated individuals with the help of adequate knowledge and methods. Such an intimate revolution can only occur within the individual and is in fact against the interests of Nature.

Symbolic Meaning to Henry Sulley's Temple

Symbolic Meaning to Henry Sulley's Temple

The squared circle has been a popular theme in the occult and in Alchemy for centuries and it still an important symbol within it. The square represents the physical world, because it represents the four elements, the four cardinal directions, the four seasons etc. The circle represents the spirit because it is infinite and it goes out in all directions. 

 In ICorinthians 6:19 and in II Corinthians 6:16 we learn that man's body is the temple or house of God

Ezekiel's Temple is a symbol of the spiritual body of man. when he attain it, he will never again leave. This enduring temple is built in the understanding of Spirit as the one and only cause of all things..

Here You can see a diagram of Henry Sulley's Temple it is a circle within a square 

Ezekiel 40-48:35. This section is in the tone of Love and it speaks of the city foursquare and the temple’s measurements.

The 4 corners of the square represents the 4 letter of the name of God YHWH Yahweh the divine name

The circle represents the fellowship of the believers and fellowship with God by sharing his divine nature 2 peter 1:4

The circle therefore represents infinite or the Pleroma 

A squared circle represents the perfection of spirit and flesh combined.

The altar is representative of the divine presence” - therefore it must be at the center

It represents the perfection of Man

The circle is the symbol of wholeness and completion

It is a symbol of the One becoming the Many without ever ceasing to be the One.

The Threefold Nature of Man

The Threefold Nature of Man

the flesh the soul and spirit

54 From Adam three natures were begotten. The first was the irrational, which was Cain's, the second the rational and just, which was Abel's, the third the spiritual, which was Seth's. Now that which is earthly is “according to the image,” that which is psychical according to the “likeness” of God, and that which is spiritual is according to the real nature; and with reference to these three, without the other children of Adam, it was said, “This is the book of the generation of men.” And because Seth was spiritual he neither tends flocks nor tills the soil but produces a child, as spiritual things do. And him, who “hoped to call upon the name of the Lord” who looked upward and whose “citizenship is in heaven” – him the world does not contain. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)


Man is a creation of the Demiurgus or the Elohim. He is formed from matter (hulê), receives a soul (psuchê) from the Demiurgus, and a spirit (pneuma) from Achamoth. The nature of man is thus a compound formed of three elements, Body, Soul, and Spirit.


Man has three natures spirit and soul and body


1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the very God of peace sanctify YOU completely. And sound in every respect may the spirit and soul and body of YOU [brothers] be preserved in a blameless manner at the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who is calling YOU is faithful, and he will also do it.



The “spirit” (Heb., ruach; Gr., pneuma) should not be confused with the “soul” (Heb., nephesh; Gr., psykhe´), for they refer to different things. Thus, Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word of God as ‘piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and their marrow.’ (Compare also Php 1:27; 1Th 5:23.) As has been shown, the soul (nephesh; psykhe´) is the creature itself. The spirit (ruach; pneuma) generally refers to the life-force of the living creature or soul, though the original-language terms may also have other meanings.

The spirit is the mind of man the soul is the heart or emotions and of course the body is a physical nature

The “spirit” (Heb., ruach; Gr., pneuma) should not be confused with the “soul” (Heb., nephesh; Gr., psykhe´), for they refer to different things.





Definition: A Body is a physical or spiritual vessel. In other words a human or angelic body.

Definition: A Soul is a human body.

Definition: A Dead Soul is a dead body

Definition: A Spirit is a character, a personality. It is 'you'.



"Operating upon the brain [physical (body)], it [indwelling sin] excites the 'propensities' (the outward senses), and these set the 'intellect' [mental (spirit)], and 'sentiments' [moral (soul)] to work. The propensities are blind, and so are the intellect and sentiments in a purely natural state; when therefore, the latter operate under the sole impulse of the propensities, 'the understanding is darkened through ignorance, because of the blindness of the heart'". Ephesians 4:18


Man has three natures spirit and soul and body


The Flesh or hylics

hylics, also called somatics (from Gk σώμα (sōma) "body"),

An extension of the idea that flesh composes the visible, tangible parts of the body is the use of the word “flesh” to refer in a general way to the whole body. (Le 17:14; 1Ki 21:27; 2Ki 4:34) It is also used to refer to the person, or individual, as a human of flesh. (Ro 7:18; Col 2:1, 5

. “Flesh” is often used in the Bible to represent man in his imperfect state, ‘conceived in sin’ as an offspring of rebellious Adam. (Ps 51:5; Ro 5:12; Eph 2:3) In humans who are trying to serve God, ‘the spirit [impelling force emanating from the figurative heart] is eager, but the flesh is weak.’ (Mt 26:41) Within these servants of God there is a constant conflict; God’s holy spirit is a force for righteousness, but the sinful flesh continually wars against the spirit’s influence and exerts pressure to induce the individual to perform the works of the flesh. (Ro 7:18-20; Ga 5:17) The works of sinful flesh are contrasted with the fruitage of the spirit, at Galatians 5:19-23.

The Spiritual Man and The soulful.

The apostle contrasts the spiritual man with the physical man. He says: “But a physical [literally, soulical] man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” (1Co 2:14) This “physical man” does not mean merely one living on earth, one with a fleshly body, for, obviously, Christians on earth have fleshly bodies. The physical man here spoken of means one who has no spiritual side to his life. He is “soulical” in that he follows the desires of the human soul to the exclusion of spiritual things.

Paul continues about the “physical man,” that he cannot get to know the things of the spirit of God “because they are examined spiritually.” Then he says: “However, the spiritual man examines indeed all things, but he himself is not examined by any man.” The spiritual man has understanding of the things God reveals; he sees also the wrong position and course of the physical man. But the spiritual man’s position, actions, and course of life cannot be understood by the physical man, neither can any man judge the spiritual man, for God only is his Judge. (Ro 14:4, 10, 11; 1Co 4:3-5) The apostle says by way of illustration and argument: “For ‘who has come to know the mind of Jehovah, that he may instruct him?’” No one, of course. “But,” Paul says of Christians, “we do have the mind of Christ.” By getting the mind of Christ, who reveals Jehovah and his purposes to Christians, they are spiritual men.—1Co 2:14-16.

James chapter 1 "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" — The word "double-minded" is a translation of dipsuchos which signifies two-souled! One soul is for God, and one is for self! The double-minded man has feet in both camps. Jas 3:15 This wisdom is not one, from above, coming down, but is earthly, born of the soul, demoniacal!


Jude 1:19 These, are they who make complete separation, mere men of soul, Spirit, not possessing.

The Unknown God

Acts 17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Justin Martyr says that men referred to Yahweh as "the completely hidden One."

The building of an altar to an unknown god indicated that the people of Athens desired to know God.

In his oration Paul said to the Athenians, “I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” In intellectual consciousness what does this altar indicate? The dedication of an altar to the unknown God is an admission of ignorance, but it is often boasted of as indicative of tolerance and religious generosity. The broad-minded man with a devotional turn of mind points to his altar to the unknown God and says, “Although we know nothing about your omnipresent, spiritual God, this altar shows that we are not narrow; that we welcome all concepts of God.”

“An Unknown God,” thereby avoiding all cause for offense. At the same time, he awakened in his listeners a desire to know something of the real God, which their idol typified

The character of God as Absolute Being cannot be comprehended by the intellect. The Truth, therefore, makes a total denial of all beliefs about God of a temporal character. God does not require anything at our hands, being the source of all. Even personality is not recognized by the Divine Mind; he knows only unity and oneness in all men and all nations.

Spiritual Evolution

Spiritual evolution

evolution--comes from the word evolve meaning to develop gradually.

The development obtained by a believer through accurate knowledge of the law of Christ. It is the result of the development of the divine Logos in mind. What we are and what we are to be come is the result of the evolving of our consciousness, and this state of mind or new awareness is the result of seed spirit-word sown in the mind.

God implanted His perfect word--developed this seed word in each true believer.

Jesus said: Look, the sower went out, he filled his hand (and) cast (the seed). Some fell upon the road; the birds came, they gathered them. Others fell upon the rock, and struck no root in the ground, nor did they produce any ears. And others fell on the thorns; they choked the seed and the worm ate them. And others fell on the good earth, and it produced good fruit; it yielded sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure.

Thus spiritual evolution is the unfolding in consciousness of that which God has implanted in a believer.

the evolving of our consciousness is the transforming of our mind

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Therefore spiritual evolution, is the unfolding of the Spirit of God into action. The mind of a believer is the garden of God, of which the seed is the spirit-word sown into our mind and heart. The Christ consciousness or Christ mind evolution in a believer is plainly taught in the Scriptures as the most important realization of every believer.

1 Corinthians 2:16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF YAHWEH, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 

11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 

13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 

14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Without some evidence in us of the Christ consciousness or the mind of Christ we are little better than animals. When through faith in the reality of things spiritual we begin conscious evolution there is great rejoicing; "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

The old man and the new man

The old man is the outward senses, the carnal mind, the thinking of the flesh, the ego or personality. The old man is separate in consciousness from God. This is a believer before he or she receives the new life that is in Christ.

We must crucify the old man and remove him out of our consciousness so that the Christ may be resurrected in us. This we do by the renewing of our mind.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

The "new man" is born of the word of God.  A birth is a coming into a state of being. The "new birth" is the coming into a higher state of being. The realisation by the believer of his or her spiritual identity, the Christ consciousness the real seal.

The contrast between the old man and the new man is similar to that which Paul draws in 1 Cor. 15:45 between the “first man”, Adam, and the “last” man, Christ. Therefore I suggest that the “old man” here is a reference to our status in Adam; by baptism we pass from that status to that of the “new man”, Christ. Eph. 4:22-24 exhorts baptized believers to put off the old man and put on the new man- i.e. to live out in practice the change in status which occurred in baptism.

“The new man” is composed of both Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:15; Col. 3:10,11)- connecting with how Gal. 3:27-29 explains that baptism into Christ likewise gives us a status of “in Christ” which thereby removes any difference between Jew and Gentile. If “the old man” refers to our status in Adam which has now ended, been crucified, then we need no longer be phased by the fact that no baptized believer manages to totally avoid sinning; none of us have put to death the old manner of life in totality. All our days we seek to respond to the change of status which has occurred, living appropriate to that change.

We must " put off the old man" (Eph. 4:22); and yet " ye have put off the old man" (Col. 3:9). Have we, or haven't we? In God's eyes we have, in that the new man has been created, and the old man died in the waters of baptism. But of course we are still in the flesh; and the old man must yet be put off. What happened at our baptism must be an ongoing process; of laying the old man to rest in death, and rising again in the newness of life. The Gospel 'instructs us to the intent that, having once and for all put away ungodliness (i.e. in baptism) and worldly lusts, we should live in a holy manner' (Tit. 2:12 Gk.). Having put these things off in baptism, we must live a life of putting them off.