Apocryphon of John

The Savior unveils the true meaning of the Garden, the making of Eve from Adam, the begetting of Cain and Abel by the archon, and the birth of Seth — the image of the Son of Man.

1Their enjoyment is deceit, and their trees are godlessness, and their fruit is deadly poison, and their promise is death.

2And the tree of their life they had set in the midst of Paradise. And I shall teach thee what is the mystery of their life, which is the counsel they make together — the likeness of their spirit.

3The root of this tree is bitter, and its branches are death, its shadow is hatred, and deception is in its leaves; its fruit is the ointment of evil, and its seed drinketh of darkness, and the dwelling place of those who taste it is the under-world.

4But the tree which they call the knowledge of good and evil, which is the Afterthought of the light — they remained before it, that Adam might not perceive his fullness, and might not recognize his shame, and might not be stripped naked of his fullness.

5But I was the one who brought about that they ate.

6And I said to the Savior, "Lord, was it not the serpent that taught Adam to eat?" The Savior laughed and said, "The serpent taught them to eat of the wickedness of begetting, of desire, of destruction — that he might be useful to him.

7But he knew that Adam would not obey him, because of the light of the Afterthought which was in him, which made him in his thinking stronger than the first archon.

8And the archon wished to bring about the power which he himself had given him. And he brought a forgetfulness upon Adam.

9And I said unto the Savior, "What is this forgetfulness?" And he said, "It is not as Moses wrote, and thou didst hear. For he said in his first book, 'He caused him to sleep' — but it was in his senses.

10For he said through the prophet, 'I will make their hearts heavy, that they may not pay attention and may not see.'

11Then the Afterthought of the light hid herself in him. And the first archon wished to bring her out of his rib.

12But the Afterthought of the light cannot be grasped; though the darkness pursued her, it did not overtake her.

13And he brought a part of his power out of him, and he made another creature in the form of a woman, after the likeness of the Afterthought which had appeared to him.

14And he brought the part which he had taken from the power of the Man into the female creature, and not as Moses said, 'his rib bone.'

15And he saw the woman beside him. And at once the luminous Afterthought appeared, and she uncovered the veil which lay upon his mind.

16And he became sober from the drunkenness of the darkness. And he recognized his counter-image, and he said, "This is indeed bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."

17Therefore the man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall become one flesh. For they will send him his consort, and he will leave his father and his mother.

18And our sister Sophia is she who came down in innocence, that she might correct her deficiency. Therefore she was called Life — that is, the mother of the living — through the Forethought of the sovereignty of heaven.

19And through her they have tasted the perfect Knowledge.

20I appeared in the form of an eagle upon the tree of knowledge, which is the Afterthought of the pure light of the Foreknowledge, that I might teach them and awaken them out of the depth of sleep.

21For they two were in a fallen state, and they recognized their nakedness.

22The Afterthought appeared to them as light; she awakened their thinking.

23And when Yaldabaoth knew that they had withdrawn from him, he cursed his earth. He found the woman preparing herself for her husband, and he was lord over her.

24He did not know the mystery which had come to pass through the holy decree.

25And they were afraid to blame him, but he displayed to his angels the ignorance which was in him, and he cast them out of Paradise, and he clothed them with heavy darkness.

26Then the first archon saw the virgin who stood by Adam, and he was filled with ignorance. He wished to raise up a seed from her. He defiled her, and he begot the first son, and likewise the second — Yave the bear-faced, and Eloim the cat-faced.

27The one is righteous but the other is unrighteous. Yave he set over the fire and the wind; and Eloim he set over the water and the earth. These are the ones whom, unto this day, the generations of men call Cain and Abel.

28Sexual intercourse was established unto this present day by the first archon. And he sowed a desire for begetting in her who belongs to Adam, and through intercourse he raised up two bodies through the counterfeit spirit.

29And the two archons he set over principalities, that they might rule over the tomb.

30Now when Adam knew the likeness of his own foreknowledge, he begot the likeness of the Son of Man. He called him Seth, after the race which is in the aeons.

31Likewise the Mother also sent down her Spirit, which is in her likeness, as a copy of the one who is in the fullness — for she will prepare a dwelling for the aeons who will descend.

32And he made them drink of the water of forgetfulness — which the first archon brings — that they might not know from whence they had come.

33Thus for a season the seed continued, assisting him, that when the Spirit should descend from among the holy aeons, he might raise up and heal him of the deficiency, that the whole fullness might again become holy and without deficiency.

34And I said unto the Savior, "Lord, shall all the souls be brought safely into the pure light?" He answered and said unto me, "Great are the things which have arisen in thy mind. For it is difficult to reveal them to others, except to those who are of the unwavering race.

35Those upon whom the Spirit of Life shall descend, and with whom the power shall be joined — they shall be saved and shall become perfect, and be accounted worthy of greatness, and cleansed in that place from all evil and the care of wickedness.

36They shall take no care for anything save for the incorruption alone, laboring after it from this present moment, without anger, without envy, without jealousy, without desire, and without greed for anything.

37They shall not be restrained by any save the flesh alone, which they bear while they wait for the time at which they shall be met by the receivers. They shall be worthy of the eternal, imperishable life, and of the calling.

38For they endure all things, and they bear all things, that they may finish the good fight and inherit eternal life."

39I said to him, "Lord, will the souls of those upon whom the power of the Spirit of Life did not come be rejected?" He said unto me, "If the Spirit comes upon them, they shall be saved in any case, and they shall change; for the power will descend upon every man, for without it no one can stand.

40And after they have been born, then, if the Spirit of Life increases, and the power comes and strengthens that soul, no one can lead it astray into the works of wickedness.

41But those upon whom the counterfeit spirit descends — they are drawn by him, and he leads them astray."

42And I said, "Lord, when the souls of these go out of their flesh, where will they go?" And he smiled and said unto me, "The soul in which the power becomes stronger than the counterfeit spirit — she is strong, she flees from evil, and through the aid of the Incorruptible One, she is saved, and brought up into the rest of the aeons."

43I said, "Lord, what of those who have not known unto whom they belong — where will their souls go?" And he said unto me, "In them the despicable spirit has prevailed, seizing upon them when they first came astray. He burdens the soul, and draws her to the works of wickedness, and casts her into forgetfulness.

44And after she has come out of the body, she is given over unto the authorities which came into being through the archon, and they bind her with chains, and cast her into prison, and go about with her until she awakens from forgetfulness and receives knowledge.

45And in this way, she becomes perfect, and is saved.

46I said, "Lord, how does the soul become small, and return again into the nature of her mother, or into man?" Then he rejoiced when I asked him this, and he said unto me, "Truly, thou art blessed, for thou hast understood.

47The soul is made to follow another one in whom the Spirit of Life dwells; she is saved through that one. Thereafter she is not cast into another flesh."

48And I said, "Lord, those who have known, and have yet turned away — where will their souls go?" Then he said unto me, "They will be taken to the place where the angels of poverty go — the place where there is no repentance.

49And they will be kept there unto the day when those who have blasphemed against the Spirit shall be tormented, and punished with eternal punishment."

50And I said, "Lord, from whence has the counterfeit spirit come?" Then he said unto me, "The Mother-Father, the rich in mercy, the Holy Spirit in every form — he who is compassionate and has mercy upon you — the Afterthought of the Foreknowledge of light — awakened the seed of the perfect race and its thinking, and the eternal light of Man.

51When the first archon understood that they were exalted above him, and thought better than he, then he wished to take their thinking, being ignorant that they were wiser in thought than he.

52He took counsel with his authorities, even his powers, and together they committed adultery with Sophia, and through them was begotten bitter fate — the last and varied bond.

53And it is such that one differs from the other. It is grievous and strong, to which the gods, and angels, and demons, and all the generations unto this day are bound.

54For from that fate came forth every iniquity and injustice and blasphemy, and the bond of forgetfulness and ignorance, and every grievous command and heavy sins, and great fears.

55Thus was the whole creation made blind, that they might not know the God who is above them all.

56And because of the bond of forgetfulness, their sins were hidden. For they are bound with measures and times and seasons, since fate is lord over all.

57And fate repented of all that she had made. Again, she took counsel to bring a flood upon the creation of man.