274 LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOMBEING
The lord said, "Blessings on you
who were before you came into being.
Whoever is, was, and will be."^39HUMANS AND ANIMALS
The superiority of humans is not obvious to the eye
but lies in what is hidden.
Consequently they have mastery over animals
who are stronger and larger in ways apparent
and hidden. So the animals survive.
When humans withdraw, the animals slay and devour
each other, because they do not find food.
Now they have food because humans plow the soil.WATER AND MYSTERY
If you go down into the water and come up,
receiving nothing, and say, "I am a Christian,"
you have borrowed the name at interest.
But if you receive the holy spirit,
you have the name as a gift. And a gift
you do not pay back.
But if you have borrowed at interest,
you must pay. So it works
when you have passed through mystery.MARRIAGE
Great is the mystery of marriage! Without it,
the world would not be.
The existence of the world depends
on marriage.- See Gospel of Thomas 19.