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The New Testament in The Nag Hammadi Gospel ofPhilip

R. McL. Wilson

New Testament Studies / Volume 9 / Issue 03 / April 1963, pp 291 - 294DOI: 10.1017/S002868850000179X, Published online: 05 February 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S002868850000179X

How to cite this article:R. McL. Wilson (1963). The New Testament in The Nag Hammadi Gospel of Philip.New Testament Studies, 9, pp 291-294 doi:10.1017/S002868850000179X

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NEW TESTAMENT IN NAG HAMMADI GOSPEL OF PHILIP 20,1lichen Sinn. Mit ihm wird in kritischer Stunde ein kleiner Ausschnitt ausIsraels Geschichte, eschatologisch gedeutet, als Gottes Wort verkundigt, daseinen unzeitgemafien Enthusiasmus niederhalt und somit wenn man sosagen will selbst zum Katechon wird. OTTO BETZ

JVieu/ Test. Stud. 9, pp. 291-4.

THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THENAG HAMMADI GOSPEL OF PHILIP

The purpose of this paper is to examine, so far as may be done in brief com-pass, the New Testament echoes and allusions in the Gnostic Gospel ofPhilip discovered at Nag Hammadi.1 These echoes and allusions are fairlynumerous, although not always easy to detect. In some cases, indeed, whatappears to one scholar a clear and unmistakable echo may to another seemquite insignificant. To take but two examples, when we read 'Then theslaves will be free, and the captives delivered' (133. 28-9 Labib), are we tothink of Luke iv. 18? Or Rom. vii. 23? Or of Eph. iv. 8? Does a contrast ofslave and son, with a reference to inheritance in the context, of necessityindicate a knowledge of Gal. iv. 7 ? As it happens, there is other evidence forthe author's knowledge of three at least of these four books, and possibly forthe fourth. There are cases where the reference is certain, as in the quotation'Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God' (104. 33); there areothers in which we have a free rendering which is yet recognizable: ' He whoshall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no life in him' (105. 4 f.); butthere are others where the possibility of an echo or an allusion depends on ourassessment of a phrase, or even of a single word.

The range of the author's knowledge of the New Testament seems toreflect a fairly early stage in the history of the Canon. Among the Gospels hispreference is for Matthew and John. For Mark there is no apparent evidence,since most of the possible echoes are of passages which have parallels in otherGospels, but there is at least one clear reference to Luke: 'The Samaritangave nothing to the wounded man except wine and oil' (126. 7 ff.). This ishowever immediately interpreted as referring to the ointment used at the

1 Photographic edition: P. Labib, Coptic Gnostic Papyri in the Coptic Museum at Old Cairo (Cairo,

1956), plates 99-134. German translation: H. M. Schenke, T.L.Z- ('959); reprinted in Leipoldt-Schenke, Koplisch-gnostische Schriften aus den Papyrus-Codices von Nag-Hamadi (Hamburg-Bergstedt, 1960).English translation: C. J. de Catanzaro, J.T.S. xni (1962), 35 ff. English translation with introduc-tion and notes: R. McL. Wilson, The Gospel of Philip (London, 1962). Edition of Coptic text: W. C.Till, Das Evangelium des Philippus. Koptischer Text mit Vbersetzung und Worterverzeichnis (Berlin (deGruyter)); to be published shortly. References in this paper are given according to the plate andline of Labib's photographic edition.

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R. McL. WILSON

chrismand the passage continues with a reference to I Peter iv. 8: 'lovecovereth a multitude of sins.' In addition to the Fourth Gospel the authorshows knowledge also of the First Epistle of John, and not merely because it isthe one book in the New Testament in which the word 'chrism' occurs.

Among the Pauline letters there is fairly clear evidence for Romans, I andII Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians. Ephesians, Colossians and theThessalonian letters are more doubtful, although a reference to ' putting onthe living man' (123. 22) may recall Eph. iv. 24 and Col. iii. 10, the descrip-tion of Christ as the perfect man (103. 11 f.) may echo Eph. iv. 13, and thewhole speculation on the subject of Bride, Bridegroom and Bridal Chambermay have its germ in Eph. v. 32. For Hebrews we may quote references to'entering into his rest' (119. 15) and to going within the veil with the highpriest (133. 3 ff.). For the remaining books of the New Testament no clearechoes or allusions have yet been noted, although the statement that it isnecessary to attain to resurrection in this life recalls the doctrine denouncedin II Tim. ii. 8 (cf. 104. 15 ff., 121. 1-5).1

As already noted, the allusions vary from explicit quotations to echoes,more or less clear, which are worked into the context and give the impressionof a man steeped in the Scriptures, to whom their language and phrases cameas the natural vehicle for the expression of his own ideas. Since Schenke hasshown that Philip is fairly certainly Valentinian, it is not without interest thata few of these allusions appear among those collected by Carola Barth fromother Valentinian sources,2 although they are not always given the same in-terpretation; which serves to confirm Barth's comment that the Gnostics didnot feel themselves bound to any one exegesis of any particular passage. Onthe contrary, they make use of literal or allegorical interpretation to suit theirown requirements. On the Cry of Dereliction, for example, Barth writes thatfor the Gnostic it had on the lips of the Redeemer a blasphemous ring, andwas therefore assigned to Sophia;3 but Philip quotes it with the expressstatement 'He said these words on the Cross' (116. 26 ff.). Luke i. 35 alsowould seem to have been differently interpreted by Philip and in theExcerpta ex Theodoto.i At one point5 Barth draws a contrast between the

1 Koester (N.T.S. vin (196a), 323) concludes that Paul in Phil. iii. I O - I I is arguing 'against a

group which thinks of the resurrection as already achieved', and similar conclusions have beendrawn from passages in other letters. A few pages later (art. cit. p. 329) Koester finds in Col. iii. 1 apresupposition which would have been quite unacceptable to Paul, in whose genuine letters 'theresurrection of the believer remains a future expectation'. It would not however be difficult for areader to draw from Rom. vi. 1 ff. the conclusion that as we have been buried with Christ, andChrist is now risen, so we too have the resurrection now behind us; we are dead to sin and live toGod. This may be a distortion of Paul's teaching, but Paul is not the only author to have sufferedmisunderstanding and misinterpretation.

2 Die Interpretation des Neuen Testaments in der valentinianischen Gnosis (TU 37. 3, Leipzig, 1911).

3 Op. cit. p. 68. 4 Cf. 103. 23 ff.; Barth, op. cit. 71 f.

6 Op. cit. p. 52: ' Erkenntnis der Wahrheit ist fur den griechisch empfindenden Menschen gleich-

bedeutend mit Leben und Wirken in der Wahrheit. Die tiefe, sittliche Empfindung fur den Zwie-spalt zwischen Erkennen und Handeln, der ein Paulus die erschiitternden Worte verlieh [here Rom.vii. 18 f. is quoted], ist fur ihn verwischt. "Der Unwissende glaubt nicht" [quoted from the Corpus

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NEW TESTAMENT IN NAG HAMMADI GOSPEL OF PHILIP 293

ethical tension of Paul's words in Rom. vii. 18 f. and the 'intellectualism' ofJohn viii. 32; but both these passages are echoed in Philip, and in the samecontext (Rom. vii. 19 at 131. 27 f., John vu'i. 32 at 132. 8 f.; in Schenke'sdivision both belong to 'saying' 123). The Nag Hammadi library, it wouldseem, will require us to revise some of our accepted theories.

Only a few of the allusions have anything in the nature of an introductoryformula, and most of these are sayings ascribed to Jesus. Generally the for-mula is simply 'He said', with or without some indication of the ostensibleoccasion. At some points however we find 'The Lord said', and the title' Lord' is applied to Jesus in some six or eight other cases.1 In one passage wehave the explicit statement 'The Lord is the Son of Man' (129. 16). In twocases the introduction is 'The logos said'. One of them is the quotation ofJohn viii. 32 already mentioned; in the other the words which follow are inMatthew spoken by John the Baptist: 'The axe is laid at the root of the tree'(131. 12 f.).

New Testament themes to which reference is made2 include first theBaptism of Jesus. The passage is fragmentary, but there is a clear quotation ofMatt. iii. 15 ('fulfil all righteousness'), and there appears to be a reference towater in the context (120. 30 ff.). A second is possibly the Transfiguration,but in a Gnostic document a reference to Christ appearing to his disciples ' inglory on the mount' (106. 5 ff.) need not necessarily have this significance; inGnostic texts a mountain is a common place for revelations of the risenChrist. A third theme is certainly the contrast of Christ and Adam (106.17 ff.; 119. 16 ff.; 122. 2 ff.). The three theological virtues of I Cor. xiii arementioned more than once, and at one point 'knowledge' is added to faith,hope and charity (127. 22 ff). Nevertheless, although the author is familiarwith several New Testament books, his theology is not that of the NewTestament. The document rather gives the impression that he knows thelanguage without having penetrated very deeply into the content of Christianthought. That he counts himself a Christian is clear; he can contrast hispresent state, and that of his readers, with the period before they becameChristians: ' When we were Hebrews, we were orphans and had (only) ourmother, but when we became Christians we obtained a father and a mother'(100. 21 ff.; cf. 123. 32 ff.). He draws a distinction between the mere nameof Christian and the reality (112. 22 f.). Indeed, he can go further, and speakof becoming not merely a Christian, but a Christ (115. 26 f.). As R. M.Grant has noted, there are signs of a movement here from Judaism throughChristianity to Gnosticism, and it is difficult to avoid his conclusion that in

Hermeticum], "denn die Intelligenz ist der Glaube. Nicht glauben, das heifit nicht verstehen. Die,die gottlichen Worte verstehen, haben den Glauben, die nicht verstehen, sind die Unglaubigen."Friih ist diese Stimmung ins Urchristentum eingedrungen' [then follows a quotation of John viii. 32].

1 In contrast, the title CTCOTI^P, often considered the hall-mark of a Gnostic text, appears to occur

only once (112. 3).2 See further Puech in Hennecke-Schneemelcher, JV.7". Apokryphen, 1 (Tubingen, 1959), 198.

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294 R- M c L - WILSONPhilip 'we find little reason to regard Gnosticism as a pre-Christian pheno-menon. It looks like a special way of viewing materials which are largelyChristian in origin'.1

Two passages may possibly have some interest for the textual critic. InMatt. ix. 15 some manuscripts read not ulol TOU vuu