What is Heaven?

What is Heaven? 

Literal meaning 

The usual Hebrew word for "heavens" is _shamayim_, a plural form meaning "heights," "elevations" #Ge 1:1 2:1

The heavens can be considered "a natural phenomena and not [always] as the dwelling of the deity." (131) (See Mat 10:29)

The heaven(s)” may apply to the full range of earth’s atmosphere in which dew and frost form (Ge 27:28; Job 38:29), the birds fly (De 4:17; Pr 30:19; Mt 6:26), the winds blow (Ps 78:26), lightning flashes (Lu 17:24), and the clouds float and drop their rain, snow, or hailstones (Jos 10:11; 1Ki 18:45; Isa 55:10; Ac 14:17).

 “The sky” is sometimes meant, that is, the apparent or visual dome or vault arching over the earth.—Mt 16:1-3; Ac 1:10, 11.

The physical “heavens” extend through earth’s atmosphere and beyond to the regions of outer space with their stellar bodies, “all the army of the heavens”—sun, moon, stars, and constellations. (De 4:19; Isa 13:10; 1Co 15:40, 41; Heb 11:12) The first verse of the Bible describes the creation of such starry heavens prior to the development of earth for human habitation. (Ge 1:1)

And these have a firmament corresponding to each aeon-heaven. They were given names according to the glory which belongs to heaven for the destruction of the powers. (apocryphon of John)

And a voice came forth from the exalted aeon-heaven: '

This is the hebdomad

 For these are those who have a firmament corresponding to each aeon.

These are the ones who have a firmament corresponding to each heaven and aeon according to the likeness of the Aeon which exists from the beginning, in the model of the indestructible ones.

Symbolic meaning

In the Old and New Testament, "the phrase 'heavens and earth' signifies, in analogy the whole political world. The aspects of the political world, the focus of the bible prophecy, are related to aspects we understand of the natural world. In the political world some are elevated above others into ruling positions. Those great ones that rule are 'high' above the ordinary person and are said to be in 'the heavens'. The Hebrew for 'heaven'(shâmayim) is from a word for 'lofty', or 'high'. One can rise in power into the political heavens, and likewise descend. The ordinary person is said to be of the earth. In Hebrew a word for 'earth' (ădâmâh) is related to the name Adam.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. (Psalm 96:11) 
Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: (Isaiah 1:2) 
Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! (Isaiah 44:23)

In all of these instances the heavens and earth have human emotions, and skills, which inanimate nature cannot have. They are poetry and prophecy are analogy. Isaiah particularly uses this analogy

Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; 
for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted. (Isaiah 49:13)

Isaiah is both poetry and prophecy. Note the poetic pairs: heavens - people, earth - afflicted.
In any instance when you read 'heavens' in a prophetic book, or a prophetic song, where it is speaking of the fate of nations, think first it means political heavens. There may be some instances where prophets speak of the natural world, but they will be rarer.

Daniel 8:9-12, where what has previously been shown to represent a political power is spoken of as “getting greater all the way to the army of the heavens,” and even causing some of that army and of the stars to fall to the earth

3772 ouranos οὐρανός, οὐρανοῦ, ὁ (from a root meaning 'to cover,' 'encompass'; cf. Vanicek, p. 895; Curtius, § 509),

Perhaps from the same as oros (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension, heaven (as the abode of God); by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel (Christianity) -- air, heaven(-ly), sky.

3772 ouranós – heaven (singular), and nearly as often used in the plural ("heavens"). "The singular and plural have distinct overtones and therefore should be distinguished in translation (though unfortunately they rarely are)" (G. Archer).

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, inasmuch as it is divisible into three parts; and what other idea of solidity and of body can there be, except that it is something which may be measured in every direction? therefore he, very naturally contrasting that which was perceptible to the external senses, and corporeal with that which was perceptible only by the intellect and incorporeal, called this the firmament. (37) Immediately afterwards he, with great propriety and entire correctness, 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.

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

Gen 1:6 ¶  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. [{firmament: Heb. expansion }
Gen 1:8  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

In the King James marginal reading gives the alternate reading “expansion,” and the American Standard Version gives “expanse” in its footnote. Other translations support such rendering—“expanse” (Ro; Fn; Yg; An; NW); “expansión” (VM [Spanish]); “étendue [extent or expanse]”

Heaven in the Greek is ouranos, which can mean expansion. Therefore, that is a way of understanding what heaven is being a beyond somewhere up there in a cloud with some angels and some harps. Which I personally do not think that is what is happening anyway. However, heaven really is about the expansion of consciousness. 

God visioned two planes of consciousness, the heaven and the earth, or more properly, "the heavens and the earth." One is the realm of pure ideas; the other, of thought forms. Heaven is the orderly realization of divine ideas. Earth is the manifestation of these ideas.

heaven and earth--Two states of mind, the ideal and the manifestation. According to Revelation 21:1 we are to have new ideals with manifestations in the earth to correspond.

The kingdom of heaven is an expanding consciousness of truth or, we might say, an expanding awareness. To be consistent in our interpretation we should keep in mind that heaven always relates to consciousness and consciousness is relative. Not everyone is at the same point of development in consciousness. Jesus represents the highest development of spiritual consciousness.

heaven--The Christ consciousness; the realm of Divine Mind; a state of consciousness in harmony with the thoughts of God. Heaven is everywhere present. It is the orderly, lawful adjustment of God's kingdom in man's mind, body, and affairs.

heaven, firmament of--The consciousness of Truth that has been formulated and established.

heaven, restoration to--Faith in Spirit and the ultimate dominance of the good in all men will finally restore man to the heavenly consciousness from which he descended.

What is the Sabbath

What is the Sabbath

Luke Chapter 6:5 And he said to them, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." The same day, observing someone working on the Sabbath, he told him, "My good man, if you know what you are doing you are blessed, but if you do not know you are accursed and a violator of the Law.

Gospel of Thomas Saying 27. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father's) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father."

The Gospel of Truth

He (Jesus) labored even on the Sabbath for the sheep which he found fallen into the pit. He saved the life of that sheep, bringing it up from the pit in order that you may understand fully what that Sabbath is, you who possess full understanding. It is a day in which it is not fitting that salvation be idle, so that you may speak of that heavenly day which has no night and of the sun which does not set because it is perfect. Say then in your heart that you are this perfect day and that in you the light which does not fail dwells.


The Interpretation of Knowledge

From being counted with the female, sleep brought labor and the sabbath, which is the world. For from being counted with the Father, sleep brought the sabbath and the exodus from the world of the beasts. For the world is from beasts and it is a beast. Therefore he that is lost has been reckoned to the crafty one, and that one is from the beasts that came forth. They put upon him a garment of condemnation, for the female had no other garment for clothing her seed except the one she brought on the sabbath. For no beast exists in the Aeon. For the Father does not keep the sabbath, but (rather) actuates the Son, and through the Son he continued to provide himself with the Aeons. The Father has living rational elements from which he puts on my members as garments. The man ... (11 lines missing)... this is the name. The [...] he emitted himself and he emitted the reproached one. The one who was reproached changed (his) name and, along with that which would be like the reproach, he appeared as flesh. And the humiliated one has no equipment. He has no need of the glory that is not his; he has his own glory with the name, which is the Son. Now he came that we might become glorious through the humiliated one that dwells in the places of humiliation. And through him who was reproached we receive the forgiveness of sins. And through the one who was reproached and the one who was redeemed we receive grace.

Sabbath observance required only of ancient Israel. The Sabbath first observed after Exodus. Ex 16:26, 27, 29, 30 Unique to natural Israel as sign. Ex 31:16, 17; Ps 147:19, 20
Sabbath years also required under Law. Ex 23:10, 11; Le 25:3, 4 Sabbath not necessary thing for Christians. Ro 14:5, 10; Ga 4:9-11


The Law abolished on basis of Jesus’ death. Eph 2:15 Therefore the Sabbath is not binding on Christians. Col 2:16, 17; Ro 14:5, 10 Some Christians were Reproved for observing Sabbath, etc. Ga 4:9-11; Ro 10:2-4 Believers Enter God’s rest by faith and obedience. Heb 4:9-11

God’s Sabbath rest (7th day of creative “week”) Began at close of earthly creation. Ge 2:2, 3; Heb 4:3-5 Continued past Jesus’ day on earth. Heb 4:6-8; Ps 95:7-9, 11 Christians rest from works of self-interest. Heb 4:9, 10 Ends when Kingdom completes work toward earth. 1Co 15:24, 28

The Sabbath of the Lord has nothing to do with any day of the week. God does not rest from His works every seventh day, and there is no evidence that there ever has been a moment's cessation in the activity of the universe.Those who stickle most for Sabbath day observance are met on every hand by the evidence of perpetual activity on the part of Him whom they claim to champion.

philo of alexandria 

And on this account too Moses calls the sabbath, which name being interpreted means "rest," "the sabbath of God."{25}{#le 23:2.} Touching upon the necessary principles of natural philosophy, not of the philosophy of men, in many parts of his law, for that among existing things which rests, if one must tell the truth, is one thing only, God. And by "rest" I do not mean "inaction" (since that which is by its nature energetic, that which is the cause of all things, can never desist from doing what is most excellent), but I mean an energy completely free from labour, without any feeling of suffering, and with the most perfect ease; (88) for one may say, without impropriety, that the sun and the moon, and the entire heaven, and the whole world labour, inasmuch as they are not endowed with independent power, and are continually in a state of motion and agitation, and the most undeniable proofs of their labour are the yearly seasons; for these things, which have the greatest tendency in the whole heaven to keep things together, vary their motions, making their revolutions at one time northern, at another time southern, and at other times different from both. (89) The air, again, being sometimes warmed and sometimes cooled, and being capable of every sort of change, is easily proved to labour by the variations to which we feel that it is subject, since the most general cause of change is fatigue, and it would be folly to enter into any long detail about terrestrial or aquatic animals, dwelling at any length upon their general or particular changes; for these animals very naturally are liable to weakness in a much greater degree than those sublime objects, inasmuch as they partake to the greatest extent of the lowest, that is of earthly essence. (90) Since therefore it is naturally the case that things, which are changed, are changed in consequence of fatigue, and since God is subject to no variation and to no change, he must also by nature be free from fatigue, and that, which has no participation in weakness, even though it moves everything, cannot possibly cease to enjoy rest for ever. So that rest is the appropriate attribute of God alone. 

The fact is that Divine Mind rests in a perpetual Sabbath and that which seems work is not work at all. When man becomes so at one with the Father-Mind as to feel it consciously he also recognizes this eternal peace in which all things are accomplished. He then knows that he is not subject to any condition whatsoever, but is "lord of the sabbath."

The Sabbath is the consciousness that we have fulfilled the divine law in both thought and act.


The Sabbath is a very certain, definite thing. It is a state of mind that man enters or acquires when he goes into the silence of his own soul, into the realm of Spirit. There he finds true rest and peace. The seventh day means the seventh or perfect stage of one's spiritual unfoldment. Man had become so lost in the darkness of sense consciousness that he could not save himself, so a Savior came. When man lays hold of the indwelling Christ, the Savior, he is raised out of the Adam consciousness into the Christ consciousness. He then enters the seventh stage of his unfoldment, where he finds rest and peace. The Sabbath can be enjoyed at any hour. Man shows his ignoranceand limits his happiness by confining the Sabbath to any one of the days of the week. He should learn to read theBible in the spirit, and pay less attention to the letter of it.



We are not to quarrel with our brother over observance of the Sabbath. If he insists that the Lord should be worshiped on the seventh day, let us joyfully join him on that day; and if he holds that the first day is the holy day, let us again acquiesce. Not only do we do God's service in praise, song, and thanksgiving on the seventh day and the first day, but every day. In the true Sabbath our souls are turned upward to God every moment, and we are ever ready to acknowledge His holy presence in our heart and life; we are ever praising the holy Omnipresence that burns its lamp of love perpetually in our heart and keeps the light of life before us on our way. This is the observance of God's holyday that the divinely wise soul a}ways recognizes. The true church is the heaven within one, where one meets theFather face to face, where one goes to Him at will, in closest fellowship.



On the other hand, the observance of every seventh day as a day of rest, or Sabbath, has its source deep in the constitution of things. Among nearly all peoples similar rest days have been instituted, and history proves that Moses was not the originator of the system. The observance of a weekly rest day is now very widely held to prove a natural basis in the needs of man. The consistency with which such an institution has been maintained for many centuries among Jews, Christians, Mohammedans, and some of the so-called pagan nations amply supports this view. It bast been found by experience that one day of rest in seven is the right proportion. During the French Revolution, when a ten-day period was substituted for the week, one day's rest in ten was found insufficient.



"And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it." This quotation from Genesis presentsin concise words a law that pervades the universe. According to some geologists the rock-ribbed earth beneath ourfeet bears record of six great creative periods, with a seventh in process of completion. Seven movements of thecreative law are found at the foundation of the world about us. The seven colors of the spectrum, the seven principal tones of music, the seven senses of man (two not yet universally used)--all point to these degrees or days of action and rest.



When man in his wisdom unites his thought with Divine Mind, as did Jesus, he has power to use the same creativelaw that God uses in bringing forth the universe. The seven elements of the body are found everywhere, and throughunderstanding that they are not fixed, material things, but forms of thought, man gains entrance to a realm where he can speak words that will give him the obedience of those elements, according to his power.



When you have gained power to still the stormy, undisciplined thoughts in your own mind you can speak to the winds and they will obey you. When you have arrested the scorching currents of anger that burn up your body cells you can quench the fire in a burning building. When you have ceased to drop into the weak, watery mental states called discouragement, despondency, and fear, you can command the waves and walk upon the waters, as did Jesus.



Before man can rise into his natural dominion, however, he must understand and realize that God's whole plan ofcreation is to bring forth the perfect man. This means that man is the supreme thing in creation and that all laws are for his convenience. The universal tendency of great men to manifest this inherent excellency proves that it is natural. Most of them miss the mark by seeking to dominate other men and nations before they have mastered themselves.



When men set up a law and make its observance burdensome they are slaves of their own creation. The Jews had become burdened with the observance of the letter of the Sabbath commandment, and had a multitude of ridiculous prohibitions and formalities, from which Jesus sought to rescue them by His example of bold freedom and disregard of certain man-made laws.



The Sabbath was instituted for man, not man for the Sabbath. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, whether it be preaching in a pulpit, healing the sick, or in any other way saving men from ignorance and its results. Luther said of the Sabbath: "Keep it holy for its use's sake both to body and soul. But if anywhere the day is made holy for the mere day's sake, if anywhere any one sets up its observance upon a Jewish foundation, then I order you to work on it, to ride on it, to dance on it, to feast on it, to do anything that shall reprove this encroachment on the Christian spirit and liberty."



To repeat, the true Sabbath is not the observance of an outer day; the outer is but the symbol. The true Sabbath is that state of mind in which we rest from outer thought and doings, and give ourselves up to meditation or to the study of things spiritual; it is when we enter into the stillness of our inner consciousness, think about God and His law, and commune with Him.

Moses and Jesus John 1:17,18

Moses and Jesus John 1:17,18

John 1:17   Because, the law, through Moses, was given, favour and truth, through Jesus Christ, came into existence.
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. (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible)

Some say (Jews,Ebionite and Christians) that it is legislation given by God the Father; others (Marcion Christians), taking the contrary course, maintain stubbornly that it was ordained by the opposite, the Devil who causes destruction, just as they attribute the fashioning of the world to him, saying that he is the Father and maker of this universe. Both are completely in error; they refute each other and neither has reached the truth of the matter.

Ptolemy begins by showing these two views are utterly in error

For it is evident that the Law was not ordained by the perfect God the Father, for it is secondary, being imperfect and in need of completion by another, containing commandments alien to the nature and thought of such a God. (Ptolemy's Letter to Flora)


First, you must learn that the entire Law contained in the Pentateuch of Moses was not ordained by one legislator - I mean, not by God alone, some commandments are Moses', and some were given by other men. The words of the Savior teach us this triple division. The first part must be attributed to God alone, and his legislation; the second to Moses - not in the sense that God legislates through him, but in the sense that Moses gave some legislation under the influence of his own ideas; and the third to the elders of the people, who seem to have ordained some commandments of their own at the beginning. You will now learn how the truth of this theory is proved by the words of the Savior.

In some discussion with those who dispute with the Savior about divorce, which was permitted in the Law, he said Because of your hard-heartedness Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife; from the beginning it was not so; for God made this marriage, and what the Lord joined together, man must not seperate. [Matt 19:8] In this way he shows there is a Law of God, which prohibits the divorce of a wife from a husband, and another law, that of Moses, which permits the breaking of this yoke because of hard-heartedness. In fact, Moses lays down legislation contrary to that of God; for joining is contrary to not joining.

The Savior also makes plain the fact that there are some traditions of the elders interwoven in the Law. For God,he says, Said, Honour your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, But you , he says addressing the elders, ...have declared as a gift to God, that by which you have nullified the Law of God through the tradition of your elders. Isaiah also proclaimed this, saying, This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, teaching precepts which are the commandments of men. [Matt 15:4-9].

Therefore it is obvious that the whole Law is divided into three parts; we find in it the legislation of Moses, of the elders, and of God himself. This division of the entire Law, as made by us, has brought to light what is true in it.

For if the Law was not ordained by the perfect God himself, as we have already thaught you, nor by the devil, a statement one cannot possibly make, the legislator must be some one other than these two. In fact, he is the demiurge and maker of this universe and everything in it; and because he is essentially different from these two and is between them, he is rightly given the name, intermediate. (Ptolemy's Letter to Flora)

 the demiurge is the intermediate just like the angels been the intermediary Galatians 3:19 

Moses and Angels

The Law was given through Moses by angles or the Elohim this can be seen from Stephen's speech in acts 7 and Moses’ testimony to his encounter with the Angel of Yahweh (Ex 3:16 Ex 14:19,20).    

Acts 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it

The word "disposition" is the Gr. diatagas and signifies "ordinance." It has the idea of constitution or arranging. The NIV has "the law that was put into effect by angels," whereas the NEB has "the law as God's angels gave it to you." In receiving the Law, Moses did not see the great Uncreated and Eternal Spirit personally, but an angelic representative (Num. 12:8; Exo. 20:1; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2; Acts 7:38). 

In the case of God's own Son, the circumstances were entirely different (Heb. 1:1 -2); he was elevated to become the medium of the divine will, described as the "Word made flesh" (Jn. 1:14).

Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. (English Standard Version)

By Angles: See Exo 3:2; 23:20; Isa 63:9; cp Heb 2:2-4.

Exodus 3:2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

"And the angel of Yahweh appeared unto him" — The angel spoke in the name of Deity, and therefore can be identified with the angel referred to in ch. 23:20-23.

Examples of angels speaking in the name of God are found throughout the Word. A typical example is given in Judges 2:1. The angel of Yahweh visited Israel with the message: "I made you to go up out of Egypt." The work is there attributed to the angel, whilst elsewhere it is declared as being of Yahweh. In fact, the work of deliverance was effected by Yahweh through "His ministers," the angels as the Elohim (cp. Psa. 103:20-21; Heb. 1:14).


The Law is given by the angels it is called the word spoken by angels in hebrews 2:2 that is, by the ministration of angels.. the

5 ¶  For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, 

This age or world is subjected  meaning  controlled by the angels 

 Because Angels control world rulers, "principalities and powers" can refer both to them and the Angels behind them. 

The words, “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” (John 1:18), were spoken, not by the Baptist, but by the disciple. 

No one, hath seen, God, at any time Not even Moses (Exo 33:18,20).

Moses’ experience of seeing a veiled manifestation of the Glory of God whilst he was hidden in a cleft of the rock (Ex. 33:22). “No man hath seen (and goes on seeing) God at any time”, not even Moses/ for the theophany he beheld was specifically limited (v.22, 23). When the covenant was made at Sinai a theophany was not only heard but also seen (Ex. 24:10,11);

 An Only Begotten God, The One existing within the bosom of the Father, He, hath interpreted him

 led him forth, i.e. into full revelation.

(Matthew 11:27) All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son but the Father, neither does anyone fully know the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.

"Exegeomai": to declare, interpret (cp English "exegesis"). In this final verse of the prologue is the climactic and ultimate statement of the career of the Logos, "the Word of God made flesh", Jesus of Nazareth. His whole life, all his teachings, and at last and especially his death and resurrection and ascension to heaven, all "expound" or "interpret" his heavenly Father.

This verse proves that, Jesus had a knowledge of God above that which any of the ancient prophets had, and that the fullest revelations of his character are to be expected in the gospel. By his Word and Spirit he can enlighten and guide us, and lead us to the true knowledge of God; and there is no true and full knowledge of God which is not obtained through his Son. Comp. #Joh 14:6 1Jo 2:22,23. 

God cannot be understood in his completeness by outer consciousness. The indwelling Word, the Christ, God's spiritual idea, declares God and makes him manifest to outer consciousness by redeeming the life and substance of the body and raising it to spiritual glory.

John 1:18 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him

Verse 18: No man hath seen the Creator at any time. "God" meaning "elohim" refers to angels. See Exod# 33. 11, 20. The showing of YHWH to Moses was the showing of a highly placed angel, typifying that the people would see the manifestation of God in Jesus.

The Grace Consciousness John 1-17

The Grace Consciousness John 1-17

'Grace', from the Greek word literally means "highly favoured", not an act of benevolence of God toward man. When Paul uses the word 'grace', he uses it in appreciation of God for allowing Jesus to teach us the principles of his/God's logos/mind. In effect, grace implies God giving us the right to comprehend and participate in his will (logos/logic).

"Wisdom can also be considered grace."

"Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17); that is, the real saving, redeeming, transforming power came to man through the work that Jesus did in establishing for the mankind a new Consciousness of Righteousness. We can enter into this consciousness by faith in Him and by means of the inner spirit of the law that He taught and practiced.

It is when we wake up to this truth that we are able to move out of a consciousness of sin and instead move into a consciousness of righteousness.

The grace of God extends to all people, not alone to one sect or creed. All men are equal in favour with God.

I have Faith: "Through the grace of God I am forgiven and healed."

Samaritan carrying a lamb Gospel of Thomas Saying 60

Saying 60 <They saw> a Samaritan carrying a lamb, who was going to Judaea. He said to his disciples: (What will) this man (do) with the lamb? They said to him: Kill it and eat it. He said to them: While it is alive he will not eat it, but (only) when he kills it (and) it becomes a corpse. They said to him: Otherwise he cannot do it. He said to them: You also, seek a place for yourselves in rest, that you may not become a corpse and be eaten.

Saying 60 is usually translated “They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his (i.e., the Samaritan’s) way to Judaea.’ But the text should certainly be restored to provide the following translation: 'He (i.e., Jesus) saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb, when he (i.e., Jesus) was on his way to Judaea.'"
The background for this saying may be Lu 17:11 “And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.” then He (i.e., Jesus) saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb, when he (i.e., Jesus) was on his way to Judaea.'"

This saying is similar to 2Clem 5:1-5: Wherefore, brethren, let us forsake our sojourn in this world and do the will of Him that called us, and let us not be afraid to depart out of this world. 5:2 For the Lord saith, Ye shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves. 5:3 But Peter answered and said unto Him, What then, if the wolves should tear the lambs? 5:4 Jesus said unto Peter, Let not the lambs fear the wolves after they are dead; and ye also, fear ye not them that kill you and are not able to do anything to you; but fear Him that after ye are dead hath power over soul and body, to cast them into the Gehenna of fire. 5:5 And ye know, brethren, that the sojourn of this flesh in this world is mean and for a short time, but the promise of Christ is great and marvellous, even the rest of the kingdom that shall be and of life eternal.

The saying as a whole is reminiscent of Saying 7. The lamb is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and the Samaritan is the world-rulers who killed Jesus, the Samaritan is both the rulers of the Jews and the Roman overseer both Jewish and Gentile for this is what the Samaritans were Jewish-Gentiles or Gentiles who say they are Jews but are not.

“While it is alive” Even a Samaritan must slaughter an animal properly, making sure the soul-blood Lev 17:10,11 has been purred out or drained from the animal, that it is a carcass and this is quite similar to that of the Jerusalem Church Acts 15:19,20,29 Paul 1Cor 8:8-13 10:25-29. In addition, 'alive' (v. 4) is a key word linking it to Logion 59, 60 and Logion 61.

“Corpse” as I have said above here and in Saying 7 the lion or lamb can be eaten only if it is killed and becomes a corpse. (Compare 7, 11.) So the disciples are only in danger of becoming a corpse only after eating the lamb or lion, after becoming alive by living from the Living One and being dead from their sins only than are they in danger of dieing cp. 51 111. Thus, the Carcass means that we have become dead in our sins.

Also the word “Corpse” links this saying with saying 56 'carcass' and that knowing the world is equivalent to finding a corpse (56) - the world is not worthy of those who find such a corpse. Add some thing here The Gnostic who has eaten what is dead has made it living (Saying 11). Therefore, by eating the dead lion, which may be the hostile world (cf., 1Peter 5:8: ‘Your adversary the devil, like a raging lion . . .’), you can overcome the world by assimilating it to yourself. If the true inner man is consumed by the lion, and the lion becomes the man, the world has overcome the true believer (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus, 84)."

But how does a person avoid death and the cruel fate of being eaten by worms ? Matt 6:19=20 by seeking the place of rest cp. Saying 50, 51 Note that the 'place' of rest is 'within,' as in Saying 24 90." A place within for rest and this rest is a regeneration or reaction within us and this is the perfect peace of the kingdom of heaven not merely in the age to come but right here right now in the present life. Seek the Christ centre within and living the way of holiness. It is this that brings the realization of eternal life on earth.

Jesus adds that they should seek a place to rest (hide) or they too will be sacrificed. So we should understand that it wasn’t necessarily fear that kept the disciples in hiding after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is likely that Jesus warned them to lay low for a while. This divine wisdom from the mouth of Jesus may have saved their life for the sake of the gospel. Many passages in the New Testament refer to even Jesus hiding himself from those who would do him harm before his appointed time.

60) <They saw> a Samaritan [a worldly spiritual leader still bound in the types and images of the Old Covenant trying to heal others with physical (carnal) understandings of the "letter"] carrying a lamb [the teachings of Messiah - the New Covenant] on his way to Judea ["celebrated" - he is going to slaughter the lamb (the Word) in an attempt to gain life by his own works of righteousness] . He said to his disciples, "(Why does) that man (carry) the lamb around [why does he pretend to understand what it is for]?" They said to him, "So that he may kill it [with his own traditions and carnal teachings from the Old Testament] and eat it [consume it as truth]." He said to them, "While it is alive [the unleavened Word (Truth) - which is able to make them alive], he will not eat it [won't accept it for it hits too close to the bone for his liking and he will lose all of his worldly power and status if he accepts it as is], but only when he has killed it [leavens it with his own carnal interpretation\teachings] and it has become a corpse [part of the "corpus" of scriptures only - lacking spirit and life]." They said to him, "He cannot do so otherwise [being carnal in nature he cannot possibly discern the spiritual (Living Word) and find life in the scriptures no matter how hard he looks]." He said to them, "You too, look for a place for yourself within the Repose [His rest - i.e. remain fast in His teachings and doctrine - learn from Him and no one else], lest you become a corpse [stripped of your understanding of higher/inward (spiritual) substance of things] and be eaten [accepted by others of the world on the level of their lifeless understanding]." 

Apocryphal Gospels

Apocryphal Gospels

In the most recent decades, there has an astonishing rebirth of scholarly interest in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The renewed interest has been and continues to be stimulated in part by new manuscript discoveries. One thinks of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library. These have provided access to much more extensive knowledge of Judaism and Christianity in the period immediately following the close of the Old and New Testaments. 

Apocrypha (Apocrypha a Greek word meaning hidden or concealed) 

2. WRITING GOSPELS

- Each of the disciples wrote his own gospel, recounting what the saviour said to him ‘in secret or in the open: James (after the crucifixion): “...the twelve disciples were all sitting together and recalling what the Savior had said to each one of them, whether in secret or openly, and putting it in books - But I was writing that which was in [my book] - lo, the Savior appeared...” (Apocryphon of James 2:8)

- The disciples wrote down his words ‘according to their desire’: “Then many will follow him (the saviour), and they will labor in their birthplaces. They will go about; they will write down his words according to (their) desire.” (Concept of Our Great Power 42:31)

- There are no canonical books. Rather, each may write through ‘grace’ and ‘the gift of prophecy’, without fear of provoking jealousy: “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). 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.” (Interpretation of Knowledge)
- This explains the appearance of many Gnostic Gospels, attributed to different disciples, with divergent points of view.

3. READING GOSPELS
- Just as divine prophecy allows the Gnostic to write a gospel, it also inspires his reading of the gospel, allowing him ‘to discern the Word’: “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.” (Interpretation of Knowledge)

4. TESTIMONY OF VISION
- Some Gnostic texts are the testimony of a vision: “... and he said to me, ‘Write down the things that I shall tell you, and of which I shall remind you, for the sake of those who will be worthy after you. And you will leave this book upon a mountain and you will adjure the guardian: "Come Dreadful One"’. And after he said these (things), he separated from me. But I was full of joy, and I wrote this book which was appointed for me, my son Messos, in order that I might disclose to you the (things) that were proclaimed before me in my presence. And at first I received them in great silence, and I stood by myself, preparing myself. These are the things that were disclosed to me, O my son Messos ... (13 lines missing)... proclaim them, O my son Messos, as the seal for all the books of Allogenes.” (Allogenes)

4. DIVINE INSPIRATION
- The Gospel of the Egyptians is called a ‘God-written book’. See GOD-WRITTEN BOOK.
- The Gospel of the Egyptians is also attributed to the saviour-figure Seth. It will be placed ‘in a high mountain’ until its message is revealed ‘at the end of times’ for the salvation of ‘the holy race’: “This is the book which the great Seth wrote, and placed in high mountains on which the sun has not risen, nor is it possible (that it should do so). And since the days of the prophets and the apostles and the preachers, the name has not at all risen upon their hearts, nor is it possible (that it should do so). And their ear has not heard it. The great Seth wrote this book with letters in one hundred and thirty years. He placed it in the mountain that is called 'Charaxio,' in order that, at the end of the times and the eras, by the will of the divine Autogenes and the whole pleroma, through the gift of the untraceable, unthinkable, fatherly love, it may come forth and reveal this incorruptible, holy race of the great savior, and those who dwell with them in love, and the great, invisible, eternal Spirit, and his only-begotten Son, and the eternal light, and his great, incorruptible consort, and the incorruptible Sophia, and the Barbelon, and the whole pleroma in eternity. Amen.” (Gospel of the Egyptians)


Canonicity of a book therefore does not rest in whole or in part on whether some council, committee, or community accepts or rejects it. The voice of such no inspired men is valuable only as witness to what God has already done through his accredited representatives. 

the Living One Gospel of Thomas Saying 59

Saying 59

(59) Jesus said: Look upon the Living One so long as you live, that you may not die and seek to see him, and be unable to see him.

Sayings 59 and 60 deny the Pagan-Pseudo-Christian doctrine that one’s encounter with God and one’s divine rest occur after death in heaven. “You must find the knowledge of the living one” this has a double meaning first It applys to God and therefore individuals are called “Sons of the living Father” as in Saying 3 and it is also applys to the Lord Jesus. Jesus and the father are one so here the Living one is both Jesus and the Father (saying 0, 3 cp. Jn 17:3).

By knowing the living father and the living Jesus we become sons of the living one (cp. 24 37 38 50 59) and this must happen before death you must do it before you die for when you die you will not be able to see him. So we must look upon the Living One before we die in order not to be left in the grave forever but whither you die a second death this again is up to you whither you be a good servant or a wicked one. Thus in saying 60 at the conclusion of the dialogue, we hear that unless you seek and find a place of rest you will become a corpse. This is a very similar observation to that in this saying telling us that unless you find the living one while you live for when you die you will be unable to do so.

For death is death and not another journey in life death is unconsciousness and the dead know nothing so “The dead are not alive” Saying 11, Cp. 15, 51, 52, 59, 85 Ecc 9:5, 10 Ps 115:16,17 146:3, 4.

And death is compared to sleep in the bible "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:1-2). Jesus also agreed with Daniel, who had declared that "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake" (12:21). This is how John's Gospel records his saying:
". . . The hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his (Jesus') voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29). (Jesus' "all" is the same as Daniel's "many": it is all who during their lifetime have "heard the voice of the Son of God", v.25.)

Look where the dead are: "in the tombs" ("sleep in the dust of the earth", Daniel); they "come forth" by resurrection ("they awake", Daniel); they come forth either to life or to judgement. The harmony between Jesus and Daniel is complete; the Lord is endorsing the teaching of the Old Testament on this important matter of the place, the state, and the fate of the dead.

59)## Jesus said, "Take heed of [listen to and obey] the Living One while you are alive [while you have the Keys to the mystery within you - before you are robbed of them], lest you die [go back under subjection to the false teachings of a dead religion] and seek to see Him and be unable to do so [see v-44]."

The Pleroma a City Revelation 21

The Pleroma a City 

First read Revelation 21:9-27

Original text

Paul revealed that there is a “Jerusalem above,” which he speaks of as the “mother” of all believers. (Ga 4:25, 26) This places the “Jerusalem above” in the position of a wife to the great Father and Life-Giver.

In the Book of Revelation, we find the Lamb in the centre of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” can be seen only from a high place in consciousness (“a mountain great and high.)

In their highest significance, the "cities of Judah" (2 Sam 2:1) represent spiritual centers of life in consciousness.

"The city which hath the foundations whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10) is the spiritual body, the body of Christ.

So in revelation 21 we are not dealing with a real city but a city which is made up of the true Believers this is the Heavenly Jerusalem which is the mother of us all

The Pleroma

The Pleroma is also compare to a city in the Untitled Text from the Bruce Codex

He created the holy Pleroma in this way (The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex)

The Pleroma did not always exist it was produced and formed by the Eternal Spirit this we call the emanation.

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 is the spiritual source of everything which emanates the pleroma,

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

The Pleroma has two different meanings the first the dwellings place of the Aeons the abode of and the essential nature of the True Ultimate Deity or Bythos. The second an elevated state of consciousness)

The city; the First Father of the All; the self-originated place: the deep; silence: the first space; the first sound. And it is the house of the Father, and the garment of the Son, and the power of the Mother, and the image of the Pleroma. (The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex)

Similarly in the prophetic visions of God's Old Testament spokesmen the eternal kingdom-city is characterized by pleroma

Daniel 2:35 and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

the wife of  the lamb shares with God in his identity as the cosmic temple city Rev 21:9-12,22 compare 1 cor 31 2 cor 6:1 eph 2:20-22 the two simultaneously filling the cosmos

Jesus Christ who is God manifestation is than mediator of a union of the human pleroma with he divine pleroma. this wondrous oneness is the fulfilling of the

Revelation 21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Twelve is the number of orderly government

The patriarch Jacob had 12 sons, who became the foundations of the 12 tribes of Israel. 

The names of the twelve sons of Jacob form a sentence, conveying an important message. Throughout the Scriptures they are set forth in various orders, changing the message of the names as this is done

1. Reuben - behold a vision of a son; meta. understanding through seeing.
2. Simeon - harkening, obeying; meta. understanding through hearing.
3. Levi - joining, clinging; meta. the love faculty in human consciousness.
4. Judah - praise Jehovah; meta. prayer and praise faculty.
5. Issachar - he will bring reward, he who brings recompense; meta. activated zeal.
6. Zebulum - habitation, dwelling; meta. order faculty.
7. Joseph - Jehovah shall bring increase; meta. imagination. Joseph is the only one of this list of 12 who starts out on the mountain. He is the only clear cut symbolism in this first presentation and naturally be becomes the main character of the story because he really does symbolize a formulated awareness of one of the twelve powers, the one that almost all human beings first have an awareness of.
8. Benjamin - son of good fortune; meta. active accomplishing faith.
9. Dan - a judge; meta. judgment.
10. Naphtah - wrestling; meta. elimination or renunciation.
11. Gad - pertaining to good fortune; meta. power on.the physical plane.
12. Ashar - straight forward; faculty of understanding.
    

The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex

This is he [Monogenes] who dwells in the monad which is in the Setheus. It is this which came forth from the place of which it is not possible to say where it is, which came forth from that which is before the All. This is the Only One. This is he from whom the monad came, like a ship laden with all good things, or like a city filled with every race of man and every king`s image.

Setheus” is a name for God, meaning “creator.”

The Monogenes meaning the only begotten God that is the Son of God.

This is the manner in which they are all within the monad : there are twelve monads making a crown upon its head ; each one makes twelve. And there are ten decads surrounding its shoulders. And there are nine enneads surrounding its belly. And there are seven hebdomads at its feet, and each one makes a hebdomad. And to the veil which surrounds it like a tower, there are twelve gates. There are twelve myriad powers at each gate, and they are called archangels and also angels.

This is the mother-city of the only-begotten one. This is the only-begotten of whom Phosilampes spoke : "He exists before the All" It is he who came forth from the endless, characterless, patternless and self-begotten aeon who has begotten himself, who came forth from the ineffable and immeasurable one, who exists verily and truly. It is he in whom exists the truly existent one; that is to say, the incomprehensible Father exists in his only-begotten Son. The All rests in the ineffable and unutterable, unruled and untroubled one, of whose godhood which is itself no godhood, no one is able to speak. And when Phosilampes understood, he said : "Those things which verily and truly exist and those which do not exist are for his sake. This is he for whose sake are those that truly exist which are secret, and those that do not truly exist which are manifest."

This truly is the only-begotten God. This is he whom the All knew. They became God, and they raised up his name : God. This is he of whom John spoke: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This one without whom nothing exist, and that which has come into existence in him is life"<John 1.1,3,4>

This is the only-begotten one in the monad,. Dwelling in it like a city.  And this is the monad which is in Setheus like a concept. This is Setheus who dwells in the sanctuary like a king, and he is as God. This is the creative Word which commands the All that they should work. This is the creative Mind, according to the command of God the Father. This is he to whom the creation prays as God, and as Lord, and as Saviour, and as one to whom they have submitted themselves. This is he at whom the All marvels because of his beauty and comeliness. This is he whom the All - those within being a crown upon his head, and those outside at his feet, and those of the midst surrounding him - bless, saying ; "Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, Thou art living within those that live, thou art holy within the holy ones, thou dost exist within those that exist, and thou art the father within the fathers, and thou art God within the gods, and thou art Lord within the lords, and thou art a place within all the places"This is the only-begotten one in the monad,. Dwelling in it like a city. 

The comparison of the Monad with to city corresponds to the idea of the temple and the new Jerusalem

Also, the Monad is crowned see Rev 14:14

the Monad is feminine like the bride of christ

The Son of God, God made manifest or God manifestation dwells in the temple or heart. In the Book of Revelation, we find the Lamb in the centre of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

And in our Coptic text we are told that Setheus dwells in the innermost and holiest recesses of the Pleroma, a city with four gates or aeons

In each gate there is a Monad.

four gates with four monads within it, one monad to each gate and six helpers (parastatai) to each gate, and twelve dodecads to each gate, and five pentads of powers to each gate, making 24 helpers (parastatai) ; and 24 myriad powers to each gate, and nine enneads to each gate, and ten decads to each gate, and twelve dodecads to each gate, and five pentads of power to each gate, and an overseer who has three aspects - an unbegotten aspect, a true aspect and an unutterable aspect - to each gate. 

equivalent to the 144,000, by a city lying four-square, and 144 cubits -- that is, these numbers are symbolical of the saints

The limbs of the Anthropos born of the Autogenes (= Monogenes) correspond to the four gates of the city.

An invocation runs: “Thou art the House and the Dweller in the House.”

The Monogenes stands on a table or platform with four pillars corresponding to the quaternion of the four evangelists.

Adam and Cain The Gospel of Philip

Adam and Cain

[The one] created was [noble, and you would] expect his children to be [61] noble. If he had not been created but rather had been conceived, you would expect his offspring to be noble. But in fact he was created, and then he produced offspring.

And what nobility this is! First came adultery, then murder. One was born of adultery, for he was the son of the serpent. He became a murderer, like his father, and he killed his brother. Every act of sexual intercourse between those unlike each other is adultery.

He who has been created is beautiful [Adam was created in the image and likeness of the Father – in harmony with the will of the Father], but you would <not> find his sons noble creations [his sons are created in the image and likeness of their parents, i.e. they acquire the traits of their parents at the time of conception which in this case was a deranged fallen state of adultery]. If he [Adam] were not created, but begotten [as Messiah was], you would find that his seed was noble [he would be able to pass on righteous seed]. But now he was created (and) he begot [he was never perfected in righteousness before he begot]. What nobility is this? First, adultery came into being [through the “serpent” (a fallen man of God who beguiled Eve into intercourse with him], afterward murder [both physical and spiritual for when Adam who was not deceived took of the same fruit he and all his descendants were sentenced to death i.e. cut off from the tree of life]. And he [Cain] was begotten in adultery, for he was the child of the Serpent [Literally it appears that Eve had twins in her womb as a result of what happened in the garden and Cain was of the seed of misplaced desire]. So he became a murderer/manslayer, just like his father, and he killed his brother [Abel the seed of hope]. Indeed, every act of sexual intercourse which has occurred between those unlike one another is adultery' [the term "unlike one another" must apply to the difference between single eyed i.e. spiritual man and double eyed which would be the natural man i.e. spirit consorting with flesh – we are all suffering from this today as our feminine elohim spirit is in a death battle with the serpent (sarx) who is the lust of the flesh in this physical body]. (Philip 30)

Note: we do not yet fully apprehend all of the deeper spiritual meanings of this and did not venture into it here as this particular passage did not seem to indicate for us to do so.  Suffice to say that Daniel made it clear that that in what we believe to be this time (of the end) “knowledge should increase” so a little light here may help us comprehend.  Adam represents the “body”; Eve the “spirit”; the serpent represents the confusion of thoughts that comes from the flesh and its desires.  The tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the thoughts and feelings we get in our heart when considering or doing an act that might be beneficial or detrimental to our selves or others; Cain represents the causality resulting from evil thoughts and actions (his offering) while Abel represents the causality that results from good thoughts and actions (his offering) these are demonstrated in our “outward manifestations” of acts. Now the body simply benefits or suffers from either of these.  Now the spirit is constantly at odds with the flesh (which is demonstrated quite well in the story of Jacob and Esau with regard the bowl of soup).  And Cain’s only goal is to destroy Abel that he not be reproved by his conscious which is done with ease until Seth comes along which you can probably guess what he represents by now!


You are the descendants of the Elohim, and their beauty radiates from you. This was not true of Cain, for his father was the serpent. The serpent adulterated the race of the Elohim, and from his adultery proceeded murder, for the enmity of darkness versus Light was reproduced in Cain's enmity toward his brother Abel. This same enmity caused Judas, Cain's son, to betray the Son of the Elohim. When the children of darkness engage in sexual intercourse with the children of Light, it is an adulterous act which produces death. 

The Wedding Chamber The Gospel of Philip

The Wedding Chamber

Animals do not have a wedding chamber, nor do slaves or defiled women. The wedding chamber is for free men and virgins.

A bridal chamber is not for the animals [faithless and unreasoning ones], nor is it for the slaves [those with faith but have not been set-apart i.e. they are still slaves to sin in the world], nor for defiled women [those who have been set apart but have not yet gotten mastery over their flesh]; but it is for free men [those who have “Christ in them” and holy spirit anointing who “coming to the accurate knowledge of truth” have left the “beggarly things of the world and the lusts thereof behind”] and virgins [the “overcomers” who have matured in Christ enough to have been “given white robes” and are “unspotted from the world”]. (Philip 59)