201:. Repentance, which is seen as the beginning of salvation, should come from distress and sorrow. The text mentions that the father is good and loves humankind and will hear the soul that calls him. It cites passages from scripture that emphasize the importance of returning to the father and sighing, so that one may be saved. The text mentions that the lord will have pity on those who lament and that those who deceive will not be able to harm those who have repented.
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they make love, producing the seed (life-giving spirit). This union is the soul's rejuvenation and leads to her salvation, which is not dependent on human efforts or knowledge but rather a gift from a merciful God. The soul will eventually rise, praising the father and her brother, who rescued her, and be saved through rebirth. This is the soul's resurrection from the dead, ransom from captivity, and ascent to heaven and the father. Salvation only comes through the
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true love and adorns herself so that he may be pleased to stay with her. She is told to turn away from her former people and the gang of adulterers, to devote herself to her king and remember her father in heaven. The soul is encouraged to leave her earthly ties and kin and to forget her father's house.
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The text encourages people to pray to God night and day, with sincerity and without hypocrisy, so that they can be worthy of salvation. God examines their inner selves and bottom of their hearts to see who is worthy. The soul needs to turn away from the deception and return to its perfect husband by
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The text then describes a spiritual marriage between the soul and her true love and master, who is sent down to her by the father. This marriage is different from carnal marriage and reunites the soul with her true love and master, bringing her back to her former happiness. The soul recognizes her
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indicate that it may well have been produced by a school which accepted
Gnostic cosmology. In this context, the female personification of the soul resembles the passion of Sophia, which is a theme pervasively found in Gnostic cosmology. Also, the text's placement toward the back of the codex may
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The writing continues with a description of the soul's journey towards spiritual renewal and salvation. The soul is compared to a bride who must turn away from her past promiscuity and be cleansed, waiting for her true love (the divine). This true love then comes to her in the bridal chamber and
138:. Despite attempting to leave these relationships, the soul found herself in a helpless and desolate state, with offspring from the adulterers being disturbed. The soul then called out to her father for help and was deemed worthy of his mercy due to her afflictions from abandoning her house.
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Discussion of the prostitution of the soul continues with how it leads to the troubles and punishment of the soul. The text explains that when the soul perceives her troubles and repents, the father will cleanse her and turn her womb inward. This is her
101:, which is given equally authoritative weight. These quotes indicate that the author viewed Greek legend and mythology as a type of scripture, just as the author also viewed large portions of the Old and New Testaments as scripture.
39:. It states that prayer should be done not just with words but with the spirit, which comes from within, and should involve confessing sins, recognizing past deception, mourning past actions, and even hating oneself. The beginning of
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The author and date are not certain, however is likely from between the 1st century AD and the 4th century AD. Although it is silent concerning the typical
Gnostic cosmology, its placement in the same codex with such texts as the
86:, which Simon viewed as so important that he actually married a prostitute and elevated her in society in order to demonstrate the point. Hence, it is possible that the text was written by the Simonian school of
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about avoiding association with whores. The greatest struggle is said to be the prostitution of the soul, which is not against flesh and blood but against the world rulers of darkness and evil spirits.
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The text continues to address the issue of the prostitution of the soul, which is seen as a major issue. The holy spirit is said to prophesy about this in different places, such as in the prophets
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will have pity on the soul and restore it to its original state. The text concludes by emphasizing God's mercy and His willingness to hear the prayers of those who truly repent.
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and house of bondage by sighing to God and weeping about its oppressive labors. If people repent, God will hear them and help them, because he is merciful.
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Prayer and repentance are important in achieving salvation. It is emphasized that prayer should be made from within, with the soul and not just with the
178:, who has cleansed herself in the bridal chamber. She no longer engages in promiscuous behavior, but instead waits for the true groom and dreams of him.
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form while alone with her father. However, when the soul fell into a body and entered this life, it was taken advantage of by various men and became a
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170:, which involves regaining her original nature and becoming pure again. The father then sends down the firstborn, who is the
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153:. The messengers of the savior command to guard against both the prostitution of the body and especially the soul, as
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indicate that it was written later and/or was of relatively lesser importance than the other texts in the codex.
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The text quotes copiously from the Old
Testament prophets, from the New Testament gospels, and from the
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The opening describes the soul as having a feminine nature, with a
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71:. It is said that through repentance and sighing,
59:to illustrate its points, such as the story of
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51:that calls out to him. The text references
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238:. Cambridge University Press. p. 33.
16:Ancient text from the Nag Hammadi Library
31:. The text emphasizes the importance of
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194:, who will raise them on the last day.
205:sighing and repenting. The example of
47:is good and loving, and will hear the
578:The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth
23:is one of the ancient texts found at
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808:Cultural depictions of Helen of Troy
301:Barnstone, Willis; Meyer, Marvin.
14:
609:Second Treatise of the Great Seth
234:van den Broek, Roelof (2013).
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236:Gnostic Religion in Antiquity
97:. The text also quotes from
549:Acts of Peter and the Twelve
438:Book of Thomas the Contender
385:Treatise on the Resurrection
130:, and initially being in an
703:Interpretation of Knowledge
614:Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter
307:The Gnostic Society Library
829:
813:Works based on the Odyssey
762:On the Origin of the World
583:The Prayer of Thanksgiving
564:Concept of Our Great Power
528:Second Apocalypse of James
470:The Sophia of Jesus Christ
428:On the Origin of the World
370:Prayer of the Apostle Paul
303:"The Exegesis on the Soul"
190:, who draws people to the
115:On the Origin of the World
55:passages and stories from
645:Letter of Peter to Philip
554:The Thunder, Perfect Mind
523:First Apocalypse of James
423:Hypostasis of the Archons
309:. The Nag Hammadi Library
111:Hypostasis of the Archons
559:Authoritative Discourse
497:Gospel of the Egyptians
475:Dialogue of the Saviour
460:Gospel of the Egyptians
251:"1 Corinthians 6:12-20"
43:is repentance, and the
708:Valentinian Exposition
757:Trimorphic Protennoia
619:Teachings of Silvanus
513:Eugnostos the Blessed
465:Eugnostos the Blessed
783:1st-millennium books
624:Three Steles of Seth
433:Exegesis on the Soul
209:is given, which was
21:Exegesis on the Soul
793:Nag Hammadi library
734:Sentences of Sextus
390:Tripartite Tractate
375:Apocryphon of James
356:Nag Hammadi library
275:The Apostle, Paul.
249:The Apostle, Paul.
671:Testimony of Truth
604:Paraphrase of Shem
533:Apocalypse of Adam
518:Apocalypse of Paul
491:Apocryphon of John
454:Apocryphon of John
408:Apocryphon of John
107:Apocryphon of John
788:Gnostic apocrypha
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456:(shorter version)
174:, to be with the
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666:Thought of Norea
493:(longer version)
418:Gospel of Philip
413:Gospel of Thomas
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571:The Republic
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311:. Retrieved
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284:. Retrieved
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258:. Retrieved
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188:grace of God
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718:Hypsiphrone
661:Melchizedek
211:brought out
159:Corinthians
132:androgynous
84:Simon Magus
25:Nag Hammadi
777:Categories
749:Codex XIII
640:Zostrianos
633:Codex VIII
313:1 February
286:1 February
260:1 February
221:References
172:bridegroom
67:, and the
37:repentance
727:Codex XII
713:Allogenes
597:Codex VII
573:588A-589B
447:Codex III
41:salvation
803:Odysseus
696:Codex XI
687:Marsanes
654:Codex IX
542:Codex VI
484:Codex IV
400:Codex II
143:Jeremiah
88:Gnostics
80:Irenaeus
61:Odysseus
53:Biblical
29:Codex II
680:Codex X
569:Plato,
506:Codex V
363:Codex I
213:of the
168:baptism
151:Ezekiel
122:Summary
207:Israel
192:savior
149:, and
113:, and
69:Psalms
45:Father
33:prayer
798:Souls
176:bride
147:Hosea
136:whore
65:Helen
27:, in
315:2023
288:2023
262:2023
199:lips
155:Paul
128:womb
63:and
49:soul
35:and
19:The
73:God
779::
305:.
279:.
253:.
145:,
109:,
90:.
348:e
341:t
334:v
317:.
290:.
264:.
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