348 LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM
"Or maybe you think that the father is a lover of people, or that he is won
over by prayers, or that he is gracious to one because of another, or that he tol-
erates whoever is seeking?
"He^28 knows about desire and what the flesh needs. Does it not desire the
soul? The body does not sin apart from the soul just as the soul is not saved
apart from the spirit. But if the soul is saved from evil and the spirit too is
saved, the body becomes sinless. The spirit animates the soul but the body kills
it. The soul kills itself.^29
"I tell you the truth, he will never forgive the sin of the soul or the guilt of
the flesh, for none of those who have worn the flesh will be saved. Do you
think that many have found the kingdom of heaven?
"Blessings on one who has seen oneself as a fourth one in heaven."^30KNOW YOURSELVES
When we heard this, we became sad. But when he saw that we were sad, he
said, "I say this to you that you may know yourselves.^31
"The kingdom of heaven is like a head of grain that sprouted in a field. And
when it was ripe, it scattered its seed, and again it filled the field with heads of
grain for another year. So with you, be eager to harvest for yourselves a head
of the grain of life that you may be filled with the kingdom.
"And as long as I am with you, pay attention to me and trust in me, but
when I am far from you, remember me. And remember me because I was with
you and you did not know me.
"Blessings will be on those who have known me.
"Shame on those who have heard and have not believed.
"Blessings will be on those who have not seen but yet have believed.
"And once again I appeal to you. I am disclosed to you as I am building a
house useful to you when you find shelter in it, and it will support^32 your
neighbors' house when theirs threatens to collapse.
- That is, "the father."
29. In this paragraph it is assumed that a person is composed of a body of flesh, an animating
soul, and a vivifying spirit, as in Valentinian sources. To indulge the flesh and the soul is to
court death, but to live a life of spirit is to realize life for the whole person. - This may be a way of stating that few are saved, and it may be an indication of one who is
alone with god the father, mother, and child. - "Know yourself" was a maxim from the oracular center dedicated to Apollo at Delphi,
Greece. See also Gospel of Thomas 3. - Or "stand alongside."