LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM 411
This is ransom from captivity. This is the ascent to heaven. This is the ascent
to the father. As the prophet said,^12
Praise the lord, O my soul and all within me, praise his holy
name. O my soul, praise god, who forgave all your sins, who
healed all your sicknesses, who ransomed your life from death,
who crowned you with mercy, who satisfies your longing for
good things. Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's.
When she becomes young again she will rise, praising the father and her
brother who rescued her. Through rebirth the soul will be saved. And salva-
tion will not be because of rote phrases or professional skills or learned books.
Rather, it will come from the grace and gift of the merciful god. Such is the
heavenly way. So the savior cries out,^13
No one can come unless my father draws him and brings him to
me. I myself will raise him on the last day.PRAYING FROM THE SOUL
So it is right to pray to the father and to call on him with our soul—not exter-
nally with our lips but with the spirit, which is inside and comes from the
depths, sighing, repenting for the life we led, confessing sins, recognizing
the deception we were in as shallow; perceiving the empty zeal; weeping over
how we lived in darkness and in the wave; mourning for what we were so that
he might pity us; hating ourselves for what we still are.
The savior said,^14Blessings on those who mourn, for they will be pitied. Blessings
on the hungry, for they will be filled.And he said,^15
If one does not hate one's own soul, one cannot follow me.
The beginning of salvation is repentance. So it says,^16
Before Jesus came John, preaching the baptism of repentance.- Psalm 103:1-5.
13- John 6:44.
14- Matthew 5:4, 6; Luke 6:21.
15- Luke 14:26. - Acts 13:24.