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(Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript,
containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost.
The
extant text starts on page 7...)
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Chapter 4
. . .
Will matter then be destroyed or not?
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The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and
with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.
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For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature
alone.
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He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this
also: What is the sin of the world?
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The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do
the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.
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That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature
in order to restore it to its root.
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Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you
are deprived of the one who can heal you.
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He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.
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Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from
something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole
body.
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That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged
be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.
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He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them all, saying, Peace be
with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.
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Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo there! For the Son
of Man is within you.
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Follow after Him!
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Those who seek Him will find Him.
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Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.
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Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed you, and do not give a
law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it.
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When He said this He departed.
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Chapter 5
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But they were
grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the Gentiles and
preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare
Him, how will they spare us?
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Then Mary stood
up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not
grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will
protect you.
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But rather, let
us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into Men.
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When Mary said
this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the
words of the Savior.
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Peter said to
Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of
woman.
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Tell us the words
of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have
we heard them.
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Mary answered and
said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.
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And she began to
speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I
said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He answered and said to me,
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Blessed are you
that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the mind is there is
the treasure.
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I said to Him,
Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it, through the soul or through
the spirit?
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The Savior
answered and said, He does not see through the soul nor through the
spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what sees the vision
and it is [...]
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(Pages 11 - 14 are missing
from the manuscript) |
Chapter 8
. . . it.
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And desire said,
I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie
since you belong to me?
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The soul answered
and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as
a garment and you did not know me.
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When it said
this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly.
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Again it came to
the third power, which is called ignorance.
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The power
questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you
bound. But you are bound; do not judge!
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And the soul
said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged?
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I was bound,
though I have not bound.
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I was not
recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both
the earthly things and the heavenly.
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When the soul had
overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which
took seven forms.
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The first form is
darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the
excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is
the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are
the seven powers of wrath.
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They asked the
soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror
of space?
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The soul answered
and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been
overcome,
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and my desire has
been ended, and ignorance has died.
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In a aeon I was
released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of
oblivion which is transient.
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From this time on
will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in
silence.
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Chapter 9
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When
Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the
Savior had spoken with her.
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But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what
you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that
the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.
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Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.
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He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really
speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about
and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?
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Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter,
what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my
heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?
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Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always
been hot tempered.
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Now I see you contending against the woman like the
adversaries.
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But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed
to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.
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That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be
ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and
preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what
the Savior said.
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And when they heard
this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.
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