Gospel of the Holy Twelve

1AGAIN Iesus sat near the sea, in a circle of twelve palm trees, where he oft resorted, and the Twelve and their fellows came unto him, and they sat under the shade of the trees, and the holy One’ taught them sitting in their midst.

2And Iesus said unto them, Ye have heard what men in the world say concerning me, but whom do ye say that I am? Peter rose up with Andrew his brother and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, who descendeth from heaven and dwelleth in the hearts of them who believe and obey unto righteousness. And the rest rose up and said, each after his own manner, These words are true, so we believe.

3And Iesus answered them saying, Blessed are ye my twelve who believe, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you, but the spirit of God which dwelleth in you. I indeed am the way, the Truth and the Life; and the Truth understandeth all things.

4All truth is in God, and I bear witness unto the truth. I am the true Rock, and on this Rock do I build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, and out of this Rock shall flow rivers of living water to give life to the peoples of the earth.

5Ye are my chosen twelve. In me, the Head and Corner stone, are the twelve foundations of my house builded on the rock, and on you in me shall my Church be built, and in truth and righteousness shall my Church be established.

6And ye shall sit on twelve thrones and send forth light and truth to all the twelve tribes of Israel after the Spirit, and I will be with you, even unto the end of the world.

7But there shall arise after you, men of perverse minds who shall through ignorance or through craft, suppress many things which I have spoken unto you, and lay to me things which I never taught, sowing tares among the good wheat which I have given you to sow in the world.

8Then shall the truth of God endure the contradiction of sinners, for thus it hath been, and thus it will be. But the time cometh when the things which they have hidden shall be revealed and made known, and the truth shall make free those which were bound.

9One is your Master, all ye are brethren, and one is not greater than another in the place which I have given unto you, for ye have one Master, even Christ, who is over you and with you and in you, and there is no inequality among my twelve, or their fellows.

10All are equally near unto me. Strive ye not therefore for the first place, for ye are all first, because ye are the foundation stones and pillars of the Church, built on the truth which is in me and in you, and the truth and the law shall ye establish for all, as shall be given unto you.

11Verily when ye and your fellows agree together touching anything in my Name, I am in the midst of you and with you.

12Woe is the time when the spirit of the world entereth into the Church, and my doctrines and precepts are made void through the corruption of men and of women. Woe is the world when the Light is hidden. Woe is the world when these things shall be.

13AT that time Iesus lifted his voice and said, I thank thee, O most righteous Parent, Creator of Heaven and Earth, that though these things are hidden from the wise and the prudent, they are nevertheless revealed unto babes.

14No one knoweth thee, save the Son, who is the Daughter of man. None do know the Daughter or the Son save they to whom the Christ is revealed, who is the Two in One.

15Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is equal and it is easy, my burden is light and presseth not unequally. LECTION 44. 4. -In the Syrian Paschito, accepted by all Christians, in the Aramaic, the very language spoken by the Lord while on earth, the passage reads thus -"Thou art Kepha (rock), and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Sheol shall not prevail against her." In the Aramaic original there is but one word for rock or stone, not two petros and petra, as in the Greek -on which anti-Catholic controversialists found their views. Rather do these words, "petros" and "petra," being simply the masculine and feminine forms, denote a duality, viz. Intuition and Intellects conjoined in the one human Individual; or in philosophy, the inductive and the deductive methods, the one of Plato, the other of Aristotle.