Sermon 14—Philip 12
Today’s sermon concludes our survey of The Gospel of Philip. Although we have been unable to detect any over-arching structure to this so-called “gospel” which has proven to be more of a catechesis—an instruction manual for new Christian converts, this last section definitely has the flavor of a reprise. The first verses we will review, 124-125 summarize all the points previously made about levels of consciousness: last will be first, first last; the secrecy of the bridal chamber; the role of images in the structure of divine knowledge; and the rending of the veil between God and Man. This is the Isenburg translation.
“124 At the present time, we have the manifest things of creation. We say, "The strong who are held in high regard are great people. And the weak who are despised are the obscure."
Contrast the manifest things of truth: they are weak and despised, while the hidden things are strong and held in high regard.
The mysteries of truth are revealed, though in type and image.
125. The Bridal Chamber is hidden. It is the innermost.
At first, the veil concealed how God controls the Creation.
But when it is rent (for spiritual warriors who come close to it), and the One Who is inside reveals Himself, then one leaves this house of separation (the body). Moreover, it will be destroyed (dematerialized).”
At this point Philip takes us through the steps involved in entering the Bridal Chamber:
“… But the Divine of a spiritual warrior does not enter the Holy of the Holiest at once, because It cannot unite (at once) with the Light, with Which It has not been united yet, and with the Primordial Consciousness, the gate to
Which has not been opened yet (for entering). The Primordial Consciousness will be under the wings of the Cross and under Its Arms. This meditation will be the saving ark for the spiritual warrior even if the flood comes.
There are some of the companions of Christ who then will be able to enter inside behind the veil together with the High Priest (Christ).”
The next paragraph is of interest because it affirms the DEMOCRATIC aspect of Christianity—that is the idea that the Abode of the Father is accessible to everyone, not only those of social rank and position. This is one of the many radical ideas that Jesus brought into the world. We have to remember that human society has always been divided into graduated strata of privilege and favor; slave and free, aristocrat and commoner, rich and poor. Jesus came to declare that ALL souls are created equal under the dominion of God the Father, and one’s position in the social hierarchy was not an impediment to spiritual salvation. This is an IMPORTANT aspect of the kingdom on Earth that Jesus made possible—Jesus did not change the outer structure of human society, He changed the inner attitude that society had imprinted on people from birth—thus, as we have seen many times before, Jesus favors the mode of transformation that begins with the inner Man and proceeds outward into his deeds. In previous sermons we have suggested that spiritual transformation can go both ways—from outer to inner as well as inner to outer; and on some levels of consciousness, the outer to inner works pretty well. But on Jesus’ level the inner to the outer is always preferred.
“The veil (of Jerusalem temple) was not rent at the top only. If it were so, then the entrance would have been opened only for those who are of high rank (on the Earth).
And it was not rent at the bottom only, because then it would have pointed only to the lower ones (of social hierarchy).
But it was rent from the top to the bottom. The entrance is opened also for us who are low, so that we may enter the Treasury of the Truth. In it, there is the One Who is by right held in high regard, Who is Imperishable.
Yet, we make the Way to that place through disdained symbols and ephemeral images. They are disdained by those who hold the earthly glory. Yet, there is Glory above glory, and there is Power above power.
The Perfection opened for us the Treasury of the
Truth. The Holy of Holiest was opened for us, and the
Bridal Chamber invited us in!”
I love the expression “Treasury of the Truth”. Truth is indeed the most precious treasure we can acquire in this dimension. Remember that Jesus said:
Matthew 6:4-6, 18-21:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Notice that this scripture divides consciousness into the same discrete levels that Philip does—the secret inner prayer manifesting in the physical. This truncated quotation uses the expression, “reward thee openly” THREE times. To Jesus the treasures of the heart resonate not only in higher dimensions but lower as well, once more affirming what we have just said about Jesus’ preference for the inner to outer declension. It also reaffirms His commitment to inspiring the people to become aware of the Heaven on Earth that is available to those with the right attitude!
Going on:
“… As long as all this is hidden from people, evil leads them to the futile. And they have not separated it from that which was sown by the Holy Spirit. Such people are slaves of evil.
But when This approached, the Perfect Light embraces every one (of those who enter It). And those who are in
It receive the blessing. Thus slaves become free, and those who were captured become liberated!
126. Every plant that was not planted by My Heavenly
Father will be torn out. Let they who are separate — unite (in the highest eons) having become Perfect! All Who enter the Bridal Chamber will kindle the Light of Truth more, for They are not begotten in the darkness as those begotten in earthly marriages! The Fire will burn in the night and flare up stronger, because the mysteries of this Marriage are performed in the Light of Day! That Light of Day will never cease (for Them)!
127. If one becomes a Son of the Bridal Chamber, it means that this One has cognized the Light (of the Holy Spirit) before. The one who has not cognized It in the world of matter will not receive It in That place.”
Here is another reference to the role that the physical dimension plays in the overall drama of spiritual progress. “The one who has not cognized It in the world of matter will not receive It in That place.” In other words, you have to receive enlightened knowledge IN THE PHYSICAL in order for it to translate to the spiritual. Antonov has repeatedly declared that spiritual progress can only be made while the soul is wedded to a physical body. Here, contrary to the strategy Jesus has preferred of working from the inner Man outward, we see the suggestion that the physical is necessary to effect change on the soul. In previous sermons we have noted the following paragraphs: from an early comment of Antonov we read:
“The meaning of that which we call organic life on the planet Earth consists in the development of consciousness incarnated in its containers — the living bodies. Having begun their evolution as primitive energetic microformations on the lattice of minerals, having passed then through many incarnations in vegetal, animal, and human bodies, some souls finally become Godlike and flow into the Creator — the Primordial Universal Consciousness, thus being consumed by Him. This constitutes His Evolution. We are its participants. It is thanks to this that the process of qualitative and quantitative growth of the consciousness can take place. The development of man can take place only in the incarnate state.
The point is that the body is a “factory” for transformation of energy. In the body, the energy extracted, first of all, from ordinary food can become the energy of the consciousness, of the soul. It is thanks to this that the process of qualitative and quantitative growth of the consciousness can take place.
Moreover, spiritually developed people, at the final stages of the personal evolution, sacrifice themselves, their individualities— for the sake of Merging in Love with the Primordial Consciousness. For such people it is natural, because they are in the state of highest love for the Highest Beloved! From the outside, it may seem as sacrificial self-annihilation.”
My comment on Antonov’s comment ran thus:
“He doesn’t say why or how this energy transformation takes place, and he doesn’t say how the physical food is transformed into spiritual food--and this is a problem for those of us who would like a straight rational answer to doctrinal questions. Nevertheless, if we go deeper into his logic, we might eventually stumble onto an essentially truthful answer, if only an answer that raises new questions.
Recently, in meditation, I was given a metaphor that helped me get closer to an understanding of why “the development of man can take place only in the incarnate state.” I have always thought of carnal life and the afterlife as separate things—first one then the other; but if we think of the carnal life as an appendage of the spiritual life, a permanent imprint on the face of the Cosmic host, then a transcendental relationship between death and life may be perceived. As such, we can see that the experiences in the body do not simply disappear when we pass on to the higher planes, but they continue to resonate in the Mind and Memory of God.
It was explained to me the activities of Earthly life are kind of like the slow repetitious process of practicing on a musical instrument—a mechanical process which is tedious and essentially meaningless for its own sake, but which is necessary to prepare us for the performance onstage. Without the physicalization of technical practice, spirit would have no channel to express itself through the physical; that is to say, without this physicalization, the body would have no channel through which it could access the ecstasy of musical expression which is purely spiritual. Hence, Terrestrial Life=Practice, Heavenly Life=Performance. These are comfortable thoughts, which work to validate Earthly existence, and which affirm the spiritual resonance of everything we DO on this plane.”
Hence, this idea of resonance in the Mind and Memory of God, necessarily references the outside-time quality of predestination. Obviously the Mind and Memory of God are timeless, and yet there is a sequential parameter to both mind and memory that implies a multi-layered structure, i.e. an outside-Time and an inside-Time quality, some kind of physical/non-physical dimension that flows back and forth between Time and Eternity. Predestination must exist, in essence, outside time, and, in expression, inside Time. Moreover, the notion that, “all what you mentioned is this Flesh. And one must rise in this very Flesh, since everything is in It,” refers to the idea that “Pleroma”, the Fullness of God, includes the Flesh.
Going on with the Antonov translation of Philip, we repeat the verse that says, “The one who has not cognized It in the world of matter will not receive It in That place.”
“127. If one becomes a Son of the Bridal Chamber, it means that this One has cognized the Light (of the Holy Spirit) before. The one who has not cognized It in the world of matter will not receive It in That place.”
And here is the ecstatic grand finale:
“The One Who has cognized the Light (of the Holy Spirit) cannot be seen and captured (by evil spirits). And (evil spirits) cannot torment such a Perfect One even if this One still abides in the world of matter (in a body). Such a Perfect One has cognized the Truth and dwells now in the Abode of the Primordial Consciousness! And It is opened for such a Perfect One — in the Light of the Holy Day!”
Summarizing the many wide-ranging episodes of Philip is a daunting prospect for me, so I have grabbed a number of summaries off the internet which should help remind us of the main points of this deep and many-layered book.
Wesley Center Online
The Gospel Of Philip
Summary:
“Though called a gospel, The Gospel of Philip is a random anthology of mystical statements of many literary genres. Its main focus is the restoration of humanity's original androgynous nature as God created it. This book claims that death is the result of the division of the sexes. Jesus is the first one to overcome this division of the sexes and has made available to his followers the resurrection by which they too may attain an androgynous nature. The author refers to the "Bridal Chamber," which is the instrumental, yet mysterious, sacrament by which men and women enter into knowledge of their new sexless state. Four other sacraments are also identified - baptism (by immersion), Eucharist, chrism (anointing with oil for immortality), and ransom. The resurrection is understood as spiritual in nature, and so able to be experienced before physical death. The author speculates on the meanings of Jesus' names.”
This summary hits the nail on the head with its declaration that Philip is an “anthology of mystical statements”, that the "Bridal Chamber, is an instrumental, yet mysterious, sacrament”, and most importantly, that “the resurrection is understood as spiritual in nature, and so able to be experienced before physical death.” It is provided by The Wesley Center, which we had presumed to be a phalanx of the Methodist Church, but we discovered, surprisingly, it is also connected to the Northwest Nazarene University. This said, in order to buy into this encapsulation we must consider the word, “androgynous”, and the term “sexless”. Indeed, most of us casually define “androgynous” as “sexless”, but an alternate dictionary definition is:
“partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex.
having the physical characteristics of both sexes; hermaphrodite.”
I would like to emphasize the definition of the word as, “partly male and partly female”. Clearly this is NOT the same thing as “sexless”, but rather more like “sexful”. I stress this because of the discussion we had some weeks ago about the role the element of gender plays in characterizing spiritual identity. The feminine principle of Creation is mentioned and developed numerous times in Philip, and we cannot ignore the two sermons we heard concerning the divinity of Mary Magdalene. Certainly we cannot forget Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22:30:
30 “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
But I am not sure this means the same thing as “sexless”. The terminology “Bridal Chamber” carries with it a heavily sexual connotation, and the constant references to the bride and groom are certainly not without gender identity. We have also looked into the Gnostic concepts of the Father/Mother God, not a meaningless distinction. The beauty of Philip, (a quality of which am not aware, in any of the other gospels I know), is in its conception of the multi-dimensional structure of existence; nowhere in any of the other gospels are so many levels of consciousness described and integrated into such an homogeneous whole as in Philip. The effort Philip makes to awaken the devotee’s awareness of his place in the celestial hierarchy can only reinforce the idea that the lines of demarcation between levels are fuzzy if not invisible to the literal eye of the conscious mind.
Moreover, it must be remembered that the Nicean Council of 325 was dedicated to aggressively expunging from the canonical texts the many mysteries of the preceding age that seemed to encourage superstitious beliefs among the people. Thus, much of the complexity of the religions of Jesus’ time was resolved by simply ignoring much of the more high-minded insights—insights which the church fathers thought might confuse and confound the common man. Consequently Jesus’ plea for a democratic religion accessible to everyone was vulgarized by the same impulses by which Hollywood has been motivated to cheapen the artistic output of our present era; for yea these many centuries, the word democratic has become equated with mediocre; I do not think this is what Jesus meant.
What follows is a lengthy excerpt from the introduction to The Gnostic Gospels by anthropologist Elaine Pagels, foremost expert on Dead Scrolls. This section explains some of the reasons the Gnostic Gospels were rejected by the Nicean Council, and focusses on some of the central perspectives declared in The Gospel of Philip. It begins with a comment on why certain texts were outlawed by the church fathers:
“But those who wrote and circulated these texts did not regard themselves as "heretics." Most of the writings use Christian terminology, unmistakably related to a Jewish heritage. Many claim to offer traditions about Jesus that are secret, hidden from "the many" who constitute what, in the second century, came to be called the "catholic church." These Christians are now called gnostics, from the Greek word gnosis, usually translated as "knowledge." For as those who claim to know nothing about ultimate reality are called agnostic (literally, "not-knowing"), the person who does claim to know such things is called gnostic ("knowing").
But gnosis is not primarily rational knowledge. The Greek language distinguishes between scientific or reflective knowledge ("He knows mathematics") and knowing through observation or experience ("He knows me"), which is gnosis. As the gnostics use the term, we could translate it as "insight," for gnosis involves an intuitive process of knowing oneself. And to know oneself, they claimed, is to know human nature and human destiny. According to the gnostic teacher Theodotus, writing in Asia Minor (c. 140-160), the gnostic is one who has come to understand who we were, and what we have become; where we were . . . whither we are hastening; from what we are being released; what birth is, and what is rebirth. Yet to know oneself, at the deepest level, is simultaneously to know God; this is the secret of gnosis.
Another gnostic teacher, Monoimus, says:
“Abandon the search for God and the creation and other matters of a similar sort. Look for him by taking yourself as the starting point. Learn who it is within you who makes everything his own and says, "My God, my mind, my thought, my soul, my body."
Learn the sources of sorrow, joy, love, hate . . . If you carefully investigate these matters you will find him in yourself.”
What Muhammad ‘Ali discovered at Nag Hammadi is, apparently, a library of writings, almost all of them gnostic. Although they claim to offer secret teaching, many of these texts refer to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and others to the letters of Paul and the New Testament gospels. Many of them include the same dramatis personae as the New Testament—Jesus and his disciples.
Yet the differences are striking. Orthodox Jews and Christians insist that a chasm separates humanity from its creator: God is wholly other. But some of the gnostics who wrote these gospels contradict this: self-knowledge is knowledge of God; the self and the divine are identical.”
Thus, the main message of Philip, “Let us seek Oneness with the Father in the Bridal Chamber, the Abode-of-the-Father”, is echoed in this general description of the Gnostic writings as a whole.
The primary benefit I have enjoyed from the study of Philip has been the fluid entry into states of consciousness which were less vividly accessible to me before I read the book. I have learned to be less rigid in my thinking and more tolerant of thinking with which I disagree. I have been encouraged to contemplate the big picture of every episode of my life, and have been able to hear the repercussions of my acts as they reverberate down the corridors of time.
In conclusion I would like to reiterate the final verse of Phlip, serving as its own benediction. Let us pray:
“The One Who has cognized the Light (of the Holy Spirit) cannot be seen and captured (by evil spirits). And (evil spirits) cannot torment such a Perfect One even if this One still abides in the world of matter (in a body). Such a Perfect One has cognized the Truth and dwells now in the Abode of the Primordial Consciousness! And It is opened for such a Perfect One — in the Light of the Holy Day!”
Amen.”
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