Philip 95
I think I must have had post-Philip depression or something. Once I had submitted the final manuscript I lost interest in the Gospel of Philip for a while. This often happens to me when I complete a project: it's finished, and I can only think of what I will be doing next.
In any case, my interest is returning. At some point I will put up a web page on Philip. In the meantime I wanted to pass on a link to a fascinating essay that touches on the themes displayed in a section of Philip. (Note, I use Bentley Layton's numbering throughout the Philip book.
The following is my translation.)
95. The children born of a woman will resemble the man whom she loves. If it is her husband whom she loves, then her husband will love her; if it is an adulterer then they will resemble the adulterer. Often, if a woman sleeps with her husband out of necessity, yet her heart is with the adulterer, and she unites with him, and bears children, then the one to whom she gives birth will resemble the adulterer. Then you who live with the son of god, do not love the world; rather, love the Lord, so that those whom you beget will not be made to resemble the world but will be made to resemble the Lord.
As I note in the annotations, "The folk belief that the children born of a woman who while making love sees or imagines another man or some other image will resemble the man or image rather than the biological father, turns out to be extraordinarily widespread. Evidence for this belief extends from Aristotle and Empedocles, who discuss children who do not resemble their parents, to the Bible and rabbinical writings, to the Mahabharata, and even to modern European writers such as Goethe."
Although April de Conick also mentions some of these, my main source was a fascinating article from Daedalus magazine. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3671/is_199801/ai_n8800373
Funnily enough, the gospel of Philip isn't listed in their survey of this persistent belief.
In any case, my interest is returning. At some point I will put up a web page on Philip. In the meantime I wanted to pass on a link to a fascinating essay that touches on the themes displayed in a section of Philip. (Note, I use Bentley Layton's numbering throughout the Philip book.
The following is my translation.)
95. The children born of a woman will resemble the man whom she loves. If it is her husband whom she loves, then her husband will love her; if it is an adulterer then they will resemble the adulterer. Often, if a woman sleeps with her husband out of necessity, yet her heart is with the adulterer, and she unites with him, and bears children, then the one to whom she gives birth will resemble the adulterer. Then you who live with the son of god, do not love the world; rather, love the Lord, so that those whom you beget will not be made to resemble the world but will be made to resemble the Lord.
As I note in the annotations, "The folk belief that the children born of a woman who while making love sees or imagines another man or some other image will resemble the man or image rather than the biological father, turns out to be extraordinarily widespread. Evidence for this belief extends from Aristotle and Empedocles, who discuss children who do not resemble their parents, to the Bible and rabbinical writings, to the Mahabharata, and even to modern European writers such as Goethe."
Although April de Conick also mentions some of these, my main source was a fascinating article from Daedalus magazine. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3671/is_199801/ai_n8800373
Funnily enough, the gospel of Philip isn't listed in their survey of this persistent belief.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home