Analogue 25: Original Nobility & Its Tragic Loss

ANALOGUE 25: Original Nobility and its Tragic Loss

Adam was formed in creation and then there were those begotten through him, but you cannot find nobility in his progeny. If Adam had been begotten instead of made, his seed would likewise have been noble-minded, but he was made and they were begotten, so where is the nobility? First there occurred adultery and then murder, for the Slayer was begotten in adultery, being the son of the serpent. Thus he became a murderer like his true father and killed his brother. Any partnership, therefore, between unlike beings is a form of adultery.

• This analogue contains a curious argument with an interesting “logic” all its own.
• Perhaps it is related to gardens, farming and the cultivation discussed in Analogue 24, or a remembering of the original garden experience.
• The memory of Adam in these analogues is a reflection on our ancient past in relationship to the human condition.
• Upon remembering, questions arise: Who and what were our ancient ancestors? Why did trouble begin for humanity? Why do murder and adultery exist in the world?
• This analogue gives us another viewpoint on the beginning of human fault (sin) wherein humanity lost its nobility. This loss is the origin of evil. This contrasts, perhaps, with the way that St. Paul and others have expressed it in the early tradition. These may be competing narratives. 
• It appears this analogue is suggesting sexual intercourse with the serpent is at the root of evil—either Cain’s or Adam’s intercourse with the serpent became the cause for the first murder. 
• Adam had nobility, but there is a “step-down” from Adam. Adam was “unbegotten” or made, but was nonetheless noble-minded. The “logic” is that those begotten from what is made, however, are ignoble. 
• Since human beings then have lost their nobility, the work is to reclaim it: to restore the dignity, majesty, greatness of humankind through the work of the first realized human.

COMMENTARY

Origins of the Human Condition

Who has not pondered their own origins—their roots into the past? We are fascinated by the question and research of our ancestral trees, wondering who and what formed us and from where our own proclivities came. The author of this Gospel is similarly reflecting on the origins of humankind and on its faults and foibles. Perhaps echoing Yeshua’s own telling of the mysteries, he provides an answer to the question, who was it that made us as we are? He sees a noted lack of nobility in the human race and attributes it to the way in which we developed as a species from our origins—but to our ears it is a strange telling. 

At many points in this Gospel text, surprising points of view and asides are made which often lead in unexpected directions. The curious arguments expressed here about the origins of the problems found in the history of humankind are related to the first two chapters of Genesis, which explore the creation of humankind from the angle of what are two different creation stories. These arguments are also found in the multiple mythologies that existed in early Jewish tradition as well as in the broader context of the ancient Middle East. Though these links are not spelled out explicitly in this analogue, they are implied; this analogue points toward Jewish mythological traditions that resulted from their sojourns across and among the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. 

In our contemporary western traditions. which rely exclusively on the Bible’s Genesis accounts,  we are unaware of what are perhaps competing and complex mythologies and so this and other parts of the Gospel of Philip, while rooted in Jewish lore, are foreign to our thinking. One such myth is that of  Lilith who, according to Jewish mythology, was said to be the first wife of Adam, created in the first telling of the creation story of Adam and his wife (or woman), followed in Genesis by a second account where a second creation story is told. According to this mythological telling, another woman that we call Eve became Adam’s second wife. These mythological elements have been basically unknown and lost to us, but seem to be implied here in this text and stand as a backdrop for some of this analogue’s nuanced suggestions that appear strange to us now. 

The Legend of Lilith

According to the legend, which has its roots in the mythology of the ancient Sumerians, there was a demonic figure, Lilith, who was the first making of womankind who changed, turning against Adam. Not only did she refuse to obey Adam, but she fled Adam, separating herself after she had begot children by him. These children did not possess the same spirit (or breath) as Adam, and one of them was Cain the murderer. Cain killed Abel, who was either Lilith’s second child or one born from Eve, depending on the telling of the legend. Lilith escaped into the wilderness and transfigured into the Serpent to tempt Eve, whom she hated. As an estranged spirit, Lilith continues to roam our wildernesses to this day, an evil and demonic force and a mortal enemy of Eve and her lineage. 

According to the legends, Adam was characterized by nobility, being made and enlivened by divine Breath, but the children born from Lilith (or also from Eve, now tempted by the Serpent) do not carry that same spirit; they are diminished by their lost nobility. Thus from the very beginning, there is a deep fissure and trouble brewing in the human because of this loss, Adam’s separation from Lilith, and Lilith’s relationship (transfigured as a Serpent) with Eve troubles the second mother of humankind. This strange mythology of Lilith was strong in Jewish lore in Yeshua’s day, and it grew stronger in later centuries, especially in the teachings of the Kabbalah. Mothers and children, in particular, must be protected at all times from Lilith’s influence and malevolence, since she is the antagonist of Eve and her children. However it is Chochma-Sophia who is Lilith’s greatest Enemy and ultimately reigns over her even in the wild lands which appear to be untamed by Spirit (This is implied in the previous Analogue 24).

Practices, prayers, amulets and warding spells against Lilith’s evil-eye exist to this day in Judaism and across the Middle East. These various mythologies appear to be behind the this passage, perhaps reflecting Yeshua’s teachings about the origins of humankind, and make this text an alternative to interpretations offered in western Christianity based upon the writings of St Paul. 

Further Diminishment and the Doctrine of “Original Sin”

It seems here that the author is aware of Paul’s arguments about Eve and Adam’s original sin, which creates what appears to be intractable capacity for evil in humankind, an inborn propensity to act sinfully to this day. Fundamentally, Paul’s teachings and the western traditions based upon them, express a deep pessimism about the human condition, seeing Eve’s (and Adam’s) disobedience of God’s first commands as the original act of sin which results in an ontological change called “total depravity” against which God’s eternal wrath is directed. Philip, however, does not appear to accept the full extent of Paul’s thinking.

Using the story of Genesis and other legends and mythologies, Philip says that the Slayer (Cain, who killed Abel) was conceived in adultery (sexual relationships with an un-like being) which contributed to his murderous and demonic nature—perhaps due also to his own later illicit affair with the Serpent. These are convoluted arguments for us now, but they appear to be the hidden narrative that is the mythological context for the assertions about adultery being made here. Another aspect of the argument is that because Adam was a being that was made, versus one that was birthed, he is not capable of passing on his original nobility. It is not sin, therefore, which is transmitted, but the need for the lost quality of nobility. Philip’s text focuses on the subject of being birthed from the Sacred Spirit as Mother and the teachings of Yeshua about being born from above. Adam’s creation (instead of his birth, whether natural or spiritual) raises the central issue of possessing a new spiritual lineage gained now (accompanied by its original nobility) from spiritual birth.  

In Philip’s telling, as the human species propagates from its place of origination in the Garden of Paradise, a diminishment takes place in human nature, since Adam’s progeny clearly do not share his nobility. This diminution in the quality of humankind manifests in what we see in the world around us today. Is this, then, a doctrine similar to the western tradition of original sin? Perhaps, but if so, it is an entirely different perspective from the writings of Paul and the western tradition. This analogue, like the Lilith myth, places the blame not on Eve (and Adam’s) disobedience, but in a kind of demonic disruption that not only keeps humankind in an ignoble state but denies us access to the Spirit of true Wisdom. Philip’s Gospel sees the Sacred Spirit as restoring humanity’s ultimate inheritance through the energy and work of Yeshua, the second Adam and the first fully realized human being, through whom shall come all other re-born beings. Thus though there is perhaps a similar system of fault and blame, for Philip the outcomes are entirely different in the past, through the ages, now, and into Eternity.

Nobility

This analogue suggests a speculative reflection, spoken either by Philip (and by Yeshua himself), with a stronger explanatory value to us now. The central theme of this teaching is the exploration of human nature in terms of its nobility and loss (not in terms of disobedience and wrath). This is a different perspective from the moral loss of goodness through sin, which is at the heart of the doctrine of original sin and for which humanity must atone.  In Philip there are those with noble character, and those who lack the qualities of nobility—nobility of being. That lack, however, is not necessarily permanent or ontological.

Earlier in this text (Analogue 14) Yeshua is said to have displayed his nobility on the Mountain of Transformation (or Transfiguration). This nobility is said to have come from the fact that he had been given spiritual birth. He was not only “made” like the rest of us, but he was also born from the Sacred Spirit, thus becoming a new kind of human being, for he had been begotten in God’s heart and then given spiritual birth by the Sacred Spirit. 

According to this text, humankind is destined to regain its nobility once again as a gift of Spirit and the work of the Anointed One. For that to happen, a new birthing process is needed. Human beings lack certain qualities that only spiritual birth can give. They need a noble birth from which the qualities of dignity, majesty and greatness can flow. This appears to be a developmental upgrade, an evolutionary movement forward, from a simple state into a new form of being that is eternal and birthed from the divine. Perhaps Adam’s mistake was to seek mortality by liaison with the Serpent (perhaps tricked into believing that he could attain immortality in that manner). The result, however, was not only an adulterous relationship but its outcome ending in murder—the dissolution of life. It is a sad tale, from which there appears to be no full recovery unless one comes to experience the waters of a new birth by the Sacred Spirit who ultimately triumphs over Lilith as the Serpent, according to the lore.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. Have you ever probed the ancestral tree of your family of origin? What have you found that fascinates you? Can you see characteristics of your ancestors turning up in later generations and even in yourself? Journal your findings. 
2. As you read this analogue and its references to mythologies, legends and tales of our ancient past, what do you hear? What strikes you as important? Philip is clearly looking for answers for the questions about the human condition. What is your interpretation of these reflections about our past?
3. Have you had dreams similar in tone to what is being described here? Even if the metaphors and symbols appearing in your own dreams appear strange to you, what feelings, impressions and insights do they leave you?
4. In your understanding and experience of life, where does nobility come from? What is it? How would you define it? Is it an inherited characteristic? How is it created or formed in an individual? What do you make of the arguments made in this analogue? If this is an attempt to answer the age-old questions about the difficulties we humans perennially endure, are you persuaded by any of these arguments?
5. Do you think these statements support or contradict the doctrine of original sin that the Pauline corpus seems to suggest (and which was built upon in the later writings of St. Augustine and the Catholic and Protestant traditions)? Is this another argument? If so, how is this different?
6. The analogue seems to support the idea that the quality of being (or the inherent qualities in a human being) determines the behavior of an individual. Do you agree with this? Is there such a thing as qualities inherent in different levels of being?
7. What is your answer to the question as to why the human condition seems so difficult or problematic? 

Notes for Further Reference and Study

1. In Jewish folklore there exists the legend of Lilith, another female figure at the beginnings of the human story. It was developed in later centuries and yet seems to have its roots in Babylonian mythology. Although it does not appear specifically to be a basis for Philip’s descriptions in this analogue, it could be indicative of other stores of legends and folklore about which we are not aware. You might want to read accounts online concerning this legend of which there are many. In addition, C.S. Lewis wrote a fascinating novel based on the legend. 
2. In our contemporary view of ourselves, we know that we each possess a reptilian brain as part of our own anatomy which affects not only our psyche but also our behavior. It could be that this modern knowledge was also somehow encoded in ancient texts and culture, perhaps in mythological and metaphoric form. Stories about the serpent-snake (and dragons) in our beginnings abound in world literature. There are tales throughout the centuries of curious relationships between the reptilian world and the human world. There are even indications that some believed humans had intercourse with alien reptilian species; some of these stories are alive today. Might these references indeed have a degree of historical resonance or foundation? It is interesting to wonder if any dinosaur species survived into late enough ages that early anthropoids had contact with them. If that memory exists, and if these creatures had intelligence and sentience, then they would definitely have affected humankind and human culture in interesting ways. 
3. It appears that Philip is attributing the murderous behavior of Cain to an illicit affair (perhaps sexual) between unlike beings and in particular with Lilith the Serpent—the same demonic Serpent that affected his father Adam. If the telling of this mythology is indeed part of the meaning found in this Gospel, it parallels the complexity of Jewish thought fully developed in later Kabbalah. The mythologies around the story of Lilith are highly complicated, streaming from the ancient past and many traditions, including the Jewish world and its legends and mythologies. To understand this more fully, listen to the work of Dr. Justin Sledge in his channel Esoterica concerning Lilith on YouTube. While Lilith is mentioned in Isaiah 34:12-17. It is also found in the Talmud and in later Jewish pseudepigraphal writings such as the Alphabet of Ben Sira. Another interesting study is in a text by the title of The Case for Lilith by Mark Wayne Biggs. There are many wonderful contemporary women’s studies on this same topic which take up the mythology of Lilith and its cultural implications. 
4. The statements in this analogue are in some ways strongly related to Jungian psychology or depth psychology: they are not based in historical-critical or logical thought at all (or the simple interpretations of Genesis that we are used to), but flow from the unconscious realm as do our dreams. It could be that we are descending here into the realm of dreams and mythologies that only the unconscious mind can interpret and understand. We tend to make the measure of all human discourse the rational mind. It cannot be that this is the only truth (or even the most important) and this analogue may be pointing towards another realm lying deeply inside of us. Poetry does not, for example, fit easily into rational categories, nor does our dreaming. The understanding of these are clearly not subject to logic, but based on a manifold world of multi-layered references and interpretations outside of ordinary logic and rationality. Perhaps this analogue is the same. 
5. Teaching concerning the divine virtues which are available to human beings is venerable and strong. In the Abrahamic traditions these appear to relate to how a human being needs to align him or herself to the divine Reality. All of this is encoded in the Torah, the Gospels (for example in the Sermon on the Mount) as well as in the Sharia of Islam. Though living by these formal instructions may seem legalistic, in their truest and most fundamental sense they are meant to help us align not only to divine Reality but also to natural law. They thus bring about a measure of peace and understanding concerning our own nature, which otherwise often appears “lawless.” We can either weaken or strengthen inner virtue, and this certainly has to do with living a life following the divine precepts that have been given as revelation to humankind. In addition, however, there is the important spiritual practice of deeper intentional contemplative living and the integration of the divine qualities. These qualities are said to be given to us to know and to build into the structure of our very being and consciousness. 
6. The doctrine of original sin is deeply embedded in the conventional theologies of both Judaism and Christianity. The sacrificial system of Judaism is based upon the thought that human beings are carrying loads of sin which needs to be expiated in some way, and the systems of sacrifice and scapegoating are a means of carrying off the sins which have accumulated in the human psyche. Whether or not the Jewish tradition saw that each human was fatally flawed is not clear, but that humankind is continuously in need of redemption appears to be at the heart of the tradition. In the western world, after the crucifixion of Yeshua, St. Paul sees that his suffering and crucifixion is similar in kind to the sacrificial systems: in his dying, once for all, he made an infinite sacrifice to God for the sins of the whole world. In his letter to the Romans, Paul is very clear that he sees the flaw and fault line in the human condition going all the way back to Adam’s fall, and that because of Adam, all humankind subsequently suffered a similar fate and died. Later western tradition clarifies this as the original sin, which not only determines everything afterward for humanity, but which marks humanity’s inward taint from which there is no escape without the innocent blood of Yeshua being sacrificed to “pay” the cost. Atonement theology and original sin are tied together in this way and were increasingly made the foundation for all later soteriological doctrines. Clearly the Gospel of Philip in some fundamental way disagrees with this assessment. This text is making a very different case: that the work of Yeshua is not based upon the sacrificial system but upon the doctrine of his loving self-giving which leads humankind in a new direction. These are critical, though sometimes subtle, arguments which differentiate theologies from one another. 
7. Adam had nobility. Cain did not. The question was why? Why would Cain become murderous? We often ascribe behavior and nobility to an inherited social class, but it is not being used in this Gospel in exactly that way. It is a category of character determined not by birth into a ranking assigned by society, but is an inner divine quality resulting from spiritual birth. When we think of a noble being, we can imagine someone who is both honorable and dignified, filled with virtuous qualities that are expressed in daily living. There is an elevated quality which lifts an individual out of the mundane and ordinary into a state described by magnificence and largeness of spirit. Philip sees that human beings often (and sometimes so quickly) lose these qualities and characteristics, descending into a devolved state from their original, higher status as creations from the divine hand. As we have seen, Philip is probing the reasons for this descent, attempting to understand and describe the underlying causes for  the current state of human affairs. 

Notes for the Translation

1. The word for nobility in Greek could also be translated as honor or well-born.
2. The implication is that if Adam had been begotten (born of God), not made by God, he would have had noble progeny.
3. The word partnership is the word koinonia in Greek.