Exploring the Gnostic Gospel of Philip

[Beth]

The Christian Trinity in The Gospel of Philip

The Christian Trinity presents us with a very important Paradox, a paradox that could be explored through the research into and knowledge of our astral bodies and the astral planes.

Here is the paradox:

How can, in the doctrine of the Trinity, there be 3 persons in 1 person? In other words, how can there be:
God the Father+
God the Son+
God the Holy Spirit= One person

This is the result of a very complex philosophical paradox, a paradox created by all the things that were claimed about Jesus. And this is an honest to goodness real paradox! How? Although it runs counter to common sense, it could still be true. But HOW can it be true? Since the Church Fathers NEVER could figure it out and agree across the board what to do with it, the answer for this paradox has yet to be solved. For them, there were no matching words in Latin for the main principles of this problem that had been originally conceived of in other languages. Further, and probably more important, were the claims that this was not something that only applied to Jesus. So, amidst serious controversy (causing some bishops to leave the newly forming church,) the remaining bishops just hammered it out as best as they could, ultimately leaving the paradox unsolved. It has come to be known as The Trinity. This paradox still stands unsolved today--1,700 years later.

This paradox raises many questions, but here are just a few to get us started:

1-HOW COULD the MAN Jesus, AFTER HE DIED, appear to his disciples?

2-WHAT IS the nature of resurrection?

3-HOW can this apply to us?

The Gnostic Gospel of Philip explains it like this:

"What is the resurrection? The image must rise again through the image. The bridegroom and the image must enter through the image into the truth: this is the restoration. It is appropriate that those who do not have it not only acquire the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but that they have acquired it on their own. If one does not acquire the name for himself, the name "Christian" will also be taken from him."

A bit earlier in the Gospel is says:

"Those who say that the Lord died first and then rose up are in error, for he rose up first and then died. If one does not first attain the resurrection will he not die? As God lives, he would already be dead...Compare the Soul. It is a precious thing and it came to be in a contemptible body. Some are afraid lest they rise naked. Because of this they wish to rise in the flesh, and they do not know that it is those who wear the flesh that are naked."

And further:

"But you saw something of that place and you became those things. You saw the Spirit and you became Spirit. You saw Christ and you became Christ. You saw the Father and you shall become Father. So in this place you see everything and do not see yourself--and what you see you shall become."

There are of course, a lot of things about these verses that need clarification and understanding. Some of which I can address, but some I have yet to totally understand. But, my reading which is based on my own personal experiences, is that this is talking about our astral bodies and those astral regions we find ourselves in and how we must recognize and know our astral selves and our true home before we die--lest when we do die, we will indeed be dead.

There is a tremendous amount that can be discussed here from just this Gospel alone. I encourage anyone who is interested in exporing this topic to read this text and contribute any thoughts or questions they may have. I can help with the texts and contribute from my own experience, but I will definitely need help from all of you. My experiences are my own, and together perhaps we can begin to understand better the full nature of our existence.

[Beth]

In December 1945, an Arab peasant found the location of an earthenware jar in a cave in the town of Naj 'Hammadi in Upper Egypt.  In this jar were 13 leather-bound books, or codices.  At least five of these texts are truly extraordinary and shed a tremendous amount of new light on early Christianity.  These are most likely some of the gospels that did not make the final cut into the bible that we have today.

This thread has been started to explore the many implications of the Gospel of Philip.  Copies of this can be obtained from the net if you choose not to purchase a book that contains it.  Here is a link for it:

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gop.html

There are a lot of things in this Gospel that would interest the members of this board.  I will start by copying a post on the "The Trinity" that I made in another section.  This could all be very important stuff for those interesting in OBE and the Astral at large.