{"id":980,"date":"2026-06-08T02:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:29:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-08T02:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:29:14","slug":"the-apocryphon-of-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/?p=980","title":{"rendered":"The Apocryphon of John"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 102, 153);\"><strong>The Nag Hammadi Library (1945)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">&ldquo;I have come to teach you about what is, <br \/>\nand what was, and what will be<br \/>\nin order for you to understand the invisible world, <br \/>\nand the world that is visible,<br \/>\nand the immovable race of perfect humanity.&rdquo;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"155\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G9-pzKcmr-E\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 102, 153);\"><strong>The Secret\/Hidden Book (Apocryphon) of John <br \/>\nThe Secret Revelation to John<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Translated by Frederik Wisse (1995)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gnosis.org\/naghamm\/nhl_sbj.htm\"><strong><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\">http:\/\/gnosis.org\/naghamm\/nhl_sbj.htm<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">There are four surviving Coptic manuscripts of  this text: two shorter versions  found in the Berlin Codex and Nag Hammadi Codex III; and two longer version, found in Nag Hammadi Codex II and Codex IV. This translation prepared by Dr. Wisse  for the Gnostic Coptic Library Project uses all four manuscripts to produce a single text.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Among the several dozen ancient Gnostic manuscripts rediscovered in modern times, the Secret Book of John is generally agreed to be the most important. It has been called the locus classicus for the Gnostic mythological system &ndash; in sum, it is the preeminent &ldquo;Gnostic Gospel&rdquo;, a sacred reservoir for the defining essence of Gnostic myth and revelation.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">It breathes with the life of vision that vitalized early Christianity, a life deliberately suppressed and then largely forgotten. From a modern reading of this crucially important &quot;Gospel&quot;, we are granted fundamental insights into the lost foundations of Christian tradition.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Like the Apocalypse, this too is a revelation text, a secret and sacred vision.  It is the story of God, and by reflection, the story of Humankind &ndash; a penetrating psychological reflection on the source of consciousness and the existential predicament of an eternal light indwelling life. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">It is not an intellectual curiosity, to be &quot;surfed&quot; quickly.&nbsp;In antiquity, readers studied the Secret Revelation of John in order to perfect the divine image of their souls; it was composed, translated, and distributed largely to further salvation&mdash;or to refute its claims to aid in salvation. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Modern readers do not stand outside the work&#8217;s history, but take it to a new historical stage. In early Christianity, nothing of what would later define it existed: no fixed canon, creed, or ritual, no established institutions or hierarchy of bishops and laity, no church buildings or sacred art. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The story of Christian origins is the story of the formation of these ideas and institutions. It is a story fraught with conflict and controversy. Early Christians hotly debated the meaning of Jesus&#8217; teachings and his violent death; they experimented with ways of organizing their communities and determining who should be in charge; they disagreed about the roles of women and slaves; and they constructed boundaries between themselves and others in different ways, especially with regard to Judaism and Roman power. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">They developed ways of contesting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TgNMWSkuIds#t=768.046943\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\">orthodoxy<\/span><\/a> and heresy, and in so doing created discourses of identity and difference that would pervade the West for millennia to come.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Our information about these controversies came largely from the writings of the side that won and claimed for itself the title of orthodoxy. The views of other Christians were either refracted through the accounts of their detractors or lost to history. But this situation has changed dramatically with the discovery of manuscripts written by the historical losers, the &quot;heretics.&quot;&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Beginning in the 18th century, archaeologists and scholars exploring the Ancient Near East or traveling the silk route to China returned to Europe with ancient manuscripts containing lost works written by these early Christians. European wealth also created a lucrative market in antiquities. Many of these documents found their way into the libraries and museums of London, Paris, Berlin, and other European cities.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">In 1945, the most important single discovery for the history of early Christianity was made. A peasant digging for fertilizer in the hills near the village of Nag Hammadi in Egypt uncovered a clay jar containing a collection of fourth-century papyrus books. As it turned out, these books contained a wealth of early Christian writings that had been buried by monks from the local Pachomian monastery in order to save them from the censors of the fifth-century Church.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The Secret Revelation of John was the first writing to formulate a comprehensive narrative of Christian theology, cosmology, and salvation. It describes Christ&#8217;s revelation of God and the divine world, the origins of the universe and humanity, the cause of evil and suffering, the nature of the body and sexuality, the path to salvation, and the end of all things. At the heart of this deeply spiritual story lies a powerful social critique of injustice and a radical affirmation of God&#8217;s compassion for suffering humanity. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">In contrast to Roman rulers who declared themselves the authors and enforcers of universal justice and peace, the story describes the world as a shadowy place ruled by ignorant and malevolent beings. It exposes their lies and violence as violations of the true Divine purpose, and offers knowledge of humanity&#8217;s true spiritual identity and destiny. Divine emissaries frequent this dark world, bringing revelations and working in secret to lift the soul out of ignorance and degradation, and restore it to its rightful place in the world of light.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\"><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">At the beginning of the story John is filled with doubt and perplexity. By the end he is confident, knowing the truth. Like John, those who gain salvation know who they truly are, where they belong, and how to gain peace and stability in a world of violence and deception. They know that they are the undimmed light of the world, the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Their goal is to be freed, no longer to be pawns and dupes of the powers that rule the world, but purified from all sin and evil. Baptismal ritual conveys the power of the Spirit, sealing and protecting humanity against the evil machinations of the world rulers and against all suffering.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\"><strong>Story:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"> Disciple John is going up to the temple. He encounters a Pharisee named Arimanios who taunts him, charging that John&#8217;s teacher has led him astray from the traditions of his fathers and now has abandoned him. John is so deeply disturbed by the Pharisee&#8217;s charges that he goes out alone into a mountainous place in the desert, feeling lost and perplexed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Suddenly the heavens open, a heavenly light shines, and the Savior appears to him in multiple forms. The Savior comforts him and reveals to him the entire nature of the universe. He discloses the completely perfect and utterly transcendent nature of God the Father and describes the appearance of a multitude of divine beings who derive from Him. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">He explains that first appeared Pronoia-Barbelo, the Mother. From her came forth the Son, the divine self-generated Christ (Autogenes). He brought forth 4 great Lights, each with 3 androgynous (male and female) pairs (<a href=\"?p=738\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\">twin stars<\/span><\/a>) of eternal Aeons. The last of the eternal Aeons to appear is called Sophia, whose name in Greek means &quot;wisdom.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">She desired to produce a likeness of herself, but acted without the consent of the Father or her male partner (the male side of her aeonic pair). Although her intention was good, she acted in ignorance and as a result her product was an ignorant and evil being, a <span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\"><em>lion-faced serpent with eyes that flashed fire<\/em><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">This is the creator God of Genesis, named Yaldabaoth, and he is called &quot;the Chief Ruler.&quot; Possessing only a soul but not the higher power of the Spirit, Sophia&#8217;s offspring is arrogant and ignorant of his own mother. His first act is to steal some of her Spirit in order to create seven minions, called Archons, to serve him along with a host of angels and archangels. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">He then shapes the world below.&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Although he uses the Divine Realm as a pattern, the lower world is deficient like its creator.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The Chief Ruler demonstrates his profound ignorance by boasting to his minions, &quot;I am a jealous God and there is none except me.&quot; When Sophia hears this lie, she realizes her error and repents. In an attempt to comfort her, Autogenes-Christ descends to instruct the lower creation. His luminous image is revealed in the form of a human being in the waters below, and immediately Yaldabaoth and his minions seek to possess it. They now create a human likeness according to the image that they have seen in the waters, but their molded form cannot move because it has no life in it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The divine Lights persuade Yaldabaoth to breathe into the human form, and Adam becomes a living being, for the breath that Yaldabaoth breathes into Adam is the Spirit he had stolen from his mother, Sophia. Left again with only soul substance, the spiritually bereft world ruler immediately sees that his creation is superior to him, and he imprisons Adam in a body of flesh in order to strengthen his faltering hold over him. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Therefore, humanity is composed of Spirit from the mother, Sophia, soul from the psychic substance of Yaldabaoth and his angels, and flesh from the four elements of the earth. Humanity is thus made in the image of the Divine, but formed in the likeness of the lower world rulers. Enclosed in matter, Adam is ignorant of his true nature and origin, and becomes subject to passion, suffering, and death.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">In order to save humanity from this fate, the divine Mother Pronoia sends down a female savior, the Epinoia of Light, to instruct Adam, enlightening him about his true nature and the existence of the Divine Realm above. The world rulers dimly perceive her presence within Adam, but they do not understand exactly who and what she is. They foolishly attempt to remove the female savior from Adam surgically, which results in the birth of Eve, who is &quot;bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.&quot;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2014%20pics\/Anunnaki%20Gods.jpg\" width=\"277\" height=\"170\" alt=\"\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">Taking the form of an eagle on the Tree of Knowledge, Epinoia continues to instruct them both in the true knowledge. But now the world rulers try a new strategy to maintain their domination over the humans; <a href=\"?p=986\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 255);\">they invent food, wealth, and labor. They rape Eve and attempt to trap humanity with sexual lust. <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">But again they fail, for Adam recognizes his own spiritual essence in Eve and their sexual union produces Seth, a child in the image of the true Human. In contrast to the sexual violence and lust of the false world rulers, true sexuality consists in spiritual generation following the pattern of the Divine Realm.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">At last Pronoia sends down her own Spirit to instruct humanity. Those souls who receive her Spirit reject the things of this world and cultivate the Spirit within them; and do not become subject to the counterfeit spirit which binds humanity to the power of the wicked world rulers. They chain people to fate in order to blind them further and lead them into sin and suffering. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">However, the Secret Revelation of John offers hope, for in the end all humanity will be saved and brought into the eternal light. After a period of instruction and purification, each soul will ascend up to the Divine Realm, taking its rightful place in the Aeons of the great Lights. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">The situation of alienation in the world does not signal nihilism and hopelessness, because salvation awaits all who recognize the true Spirit within, renounce evil, and grasp living hope.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">When Christ completed this revelation, he commands John to write it down and pass it on to his fellow spirits. No longer in doubt or sorrow, John immediately goes forth to his fellow disciples and tells them everything the Savior had revealed. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana;\">With this happy ending, the book closes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/userfiles\/image\/2014%20pics\/Caduceus.gif\" width=\"123\" height=\"253\" style=\"font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nag Hammadi Library (1945) &ldquo;I have come to teach you about what is, and what was, and what will be in order for you to understand the invisible world, and the world that is visible, and the immovable race of perfect humanity.&rdquo; The Secret\/Hidden Book (Apocryphon) of John The Secret Revelation to John Translated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c2creset.ondigit.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}