Sacramental Language and Verbs of Generating, Creating, and Begetting in the Gospel of Philip1 Jorunn J. Buckley (bio) and Deirdre J. Good (bio) The Gos Phil provides a series of observations on practices of Valentinian Christianity.2 Since sacraments appear prominently, scholarly investigations of the sacramental system abound.3 Segelberg, for example, suggests that there are five sacraments or mysteries in Gos Phil: baptism, chrism, eucharist, redemption, and bride-chamber. Each is an element in an ascending series. Grant follows this model in principle, rightly [End Page 1] observing that the distinctive aspect of the "mystery of marriage" in Gos Phil, whether human or spiritual, is its equivalence to salvation. Turner agrees that the five sacraments are arranged in ascending order: chrism is superior to baptism (74,12–13) and the bridal chamber "is in that which is superior to . . ." (69,28–29); later he points out that according to 86,1– 18, becoming a child of the bridal chamber is the only way to receive the light. He notes that there is some overlap, for baptism can include redemption (69,25–26), and chrism the eucharist (74,36–75, 11).4 However, while these and other discussions often cite the relevant texts, they overlook a distinctive feature of Gos Phil: the explanation of sacraments by means of verbs of generating, creating, and begetting. We agree that the five sacraments in Gos Phil are part of an ascending series. We posit that each sacrament effects union by overcoming separation; verbs emphasizing union describe the function of sacraments. Moreover, these verbs occur in the context of gender. This is particularly true of descriptions of the sacrament of the bridal chamber, in which male unites with female. Thus, as a prolegomenon to further work on the text, we propose first, to discuss sacramental theory in general; second, to identify the verbs describing sacraments in Gos Phil; third, to suggest consistent translations for these verbs which we see as technical terms in Gos Phil; fourth, to set these verbs within the wider context of derivation both from earlier creation texts and from sacramental language in early Christian texts; and finally, to explore the sacramental understanding of Gos Phil itself. Our argument is that the author understands sacraments to unite hitherto separate elements. Separation of female from male in the beginning results in death, says the text (70,14–16), and sacraments effect the unity of the separated by enacting their union. For example, the union of male and female in the bridal chamber overcomes the original separation of female from male as described in creation (Gen 2.18–25). Male and female participants (and possibly onlookers at the periphery) are present. Since Christ performs the sacraments, no minister or priest need serve as conduit for the presence of Christ at the sacrament or as the guarantor of the sacrament's efficacy. Absence of human agents distinguishes Gos Phil from ancient and modern descriptions of sacraments. [End Page 2] As we shall show, modern translators have difficulty with this notion and therefore read human agents into the text. Verbs of generation and creation in Gos Phil not only describe sacraments, they also shed light on Valentinian Christianity. The link between verbs of creation and sacraments begins with the soteriology of Gos Phil, as previously noted: "Christ came to repair the separation (of Eve from Adam) which was from the beginning and again unite the two" (70,14–16), and reaches its highest point with the uniting of the Father of all with the virgin in the bridal chamber. Separation is overcome by unity in the bridal chamber; sacraments and generation go together. The verbs "to receive" (), "beget" (), and "unite" (), all occur in sacramental contexts and these verbs presuppose creation and separation. Thus, careful attention must be paid to the consistent translation of verbs of separation, creation, union and generation particularly when they appear in sacramental contexts.5 Sacrament First, however, the word "sacrament" itself requires discussion. It is the translation for the Greek word μυστήριον (Coptic: ). For some instances in the Greek biblical text where μυστήριον means "secret," some Latin bibles rendered it sacramentum, while the Latin mysterium was used in other passages. Originally a...
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