It exists in two Coptic translations, a Subakhmimic rendition surviving almost in full in the first codex (called the "Jung Codex" because it was acquired by the Jung Foundation in Zurich) and a Sahidic in fragments in the twelfth codex.
It was probably written in Greek between 140 and 180, either by Valentinian Gnostics or, perhaps, by Valentinus himself.
It was among the manuscripts listed by Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, in his 180 CE list of heresies, "Adversus Haereses". He objected to its Gnostic content, and concluded that it was created by Valentinius' disciples rather than their master; the lack of similarity of the work to others thought to be by Valentinus and his followers has made many scholars agree with Irenaeus on this point.
Irenaeus wrote about its content that
"the followers of Valentinus, putting away all fear, bring forward their own compositions and boast that they have more Gospels than really exist. Indeed their audacity has gone so far that they entitle their recent composition the Gospel of Truth, though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the apostles, and so no Gospel of theirs is free from blasphemy. For if what they produce is the Gospel of Truth, and is different from those the apostles handed down to us, those who care to can learn how it can be show from the Scriptures themselves that what is handed down from the apostles is not the Gospel of Truth."It is not, anyway, a "Gospel" in the sense of a narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus, but rather an extremely poetic work focused on specific themes, and written in the manner of a homily.
Regardless of its position within Christian theology, it is a document of immense literary value, and its commentaries on several other Gospels, both Canonical and non-Canonical, also render it significant.
Nor is it absolutely clear that the work is Gnostic, though the Valentinians were a major force in the development of Christian Gnosticism. The affirmation of the reality and sanctity of incarnate life, for example, might well be considered heretical to other Gnostics, who normally consider these things illusory or evil.
References and allusions in the text include Matthew and John, as well as 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 John and the Book of Revelation; "The Gospel of John" is the most frequently cited. Of the non-Canonical works, there is much apparent influence of "The Gospel of Thomas", and at one point (22:13-19) the text cites John 3 and Thomas 28 in parallel.
Theologically the text develops Valentinus' view of original sin, in the form of the rise of Error in personified - which is to say female form - and the ignorance and yearning to see the Father which bred fear; error and fear then coalesced into a fog by which Error gained power, and will continue to hold power, until such time as human beings achieve Gnosis and are able to return to divine harmony.
The second theme is the possibility of attaining this Gnosis ("knowledge" or "enlightenment") through acknowledgement of Jesus, who was sent by God to remove the ignorance (the point at which the Cross of Jesus becomes the Bodhi Tree of Gautama, and both of them of course variants on the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden - see my notes to Genesis 3).
Within this second theme, Jesus is described as a teacher who confounded the other scribes and teachers, proving their foolishness in their continuing attempt to reduce the universe to laws, both legal and scientific. The text describes how Error grew angry at this, and nailed Jesus to a tree. It also describes how it is knowledge that grants salvation, which constitutes eternal rest, describing ignorance as a nightmare, and expressing a very modern and humanistic view that most if not all of the world's problems are a consequence of ignorance, and can be resolved by the acquisition of knowledge - in this case, specifically the knowledge of Jesus in the Valentinian sense:
"Having entered into the empty territory of fears, he [Jesus] passed before those who were stripped by forgetfulness, being both knowledge and perfection, proclaiming the things that are in the heart of the Father, so that he became the wisdom of those who have received instruction."The third theme focuses on a retelling of the parable of the good shepherd, but does so in a rather esoteric manner, going on to explain how feeding the hungry and giving rest to the weary is to be understood as feeding spiritual hunger, and resting the world-weary. Then follows another parable on the subject of anointing (and remember that both the Kohanim and the kings of the Beney Yisra-El throughout their history were anointed):
"But those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect. For full jars are the ones that are usually anointed. But when the anointing of one is dissolved, it is emptied, and the reason for there being a deficiency is the thing by which its ointment goes. For at that time a breath draws it, a thing in the power of that which is with it. But from him who has no deficiency, no seal is removed, nor is anything emptied, but what he lacks, the perfect Father fills again."The reader is at liberty to understand this parable as best he or she can.
Aside from a final description of achieving rest by Gnosis, the remainder of the text is a treatise on the connection between the relationship of the Son to the Father, and that of a name to its owner. Like most Gnostic texts, "Truth" proclaims predestination:
"Those whose name he knew in advance were called at the end, so that one who has knowledge is the one whose name the Father has uttered. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how is one to hear, if his name has not been called?"It also follows - or perhaps establishes - the conventional Gnostic emphasis on the importance of knowledge (Gnosis) for salvation:
"Having knowledge, he does the will of the one who called him, he wishes to be pleasing to him, he receives rest. Each one's name comes to him. He who is to have knowledge in this manner knows where he comes from and where he is going."
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In brief, he rejected both Elohim and the Demiurge, describing his divinity as a Bythos or Primal Being, who spent millennia in silence and contemplation before the effect caused his spirit to emanate energy of such intensity that the universe came into being, first in a series of thirty beings called aeons, in fifteen male and female pairs. Unfortunately, because of an error by Sophia, who may be Wisdom but was also one of the lowest aeons, and the ignorance of Sakla, one of the angels in the cosmological system described in the Gnostic Gospel of Judas, the lower world with its emphasis on materiality was brought into being, with Human, the highest in that world, allowed to participate in both the psychic (spiritual) and the hylic (material) realms, in order to undertake the work of redemption that will bring the higher and lower worlds together again in harmony. Silence, contemplation and tikkun olam (repairing of the world through good deeds and acts of charity) are thus the highest Valentinian virtues; the pursuit of knowledge and carpe diem (living in the material world) its greatest evils.
The complete writings of the School of Valentinus, inluding "The Gospel of Truth", can be found here.
The complete writings of the School of Valentinus, inluding "The Gospel of Truth", can be found here.
Copyright © 2020 David Prashker
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The Argaman Press
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