Pleroma Pathways

Happy Christmas

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This is very different to other Christian understanding https://youtu.be/HTOTWKMDb64

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Meeting of the Minds

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New study not a re-upload

**The Birth and Sonship of Jesus in the Gospel of Philip and the Gospel of Thomas**

The understanding of Jesus’ birth and sonship in early Christian literature varies significantly from later orthodox formulations. Two key texts—the *Gospel of Philip* and the *Gospel of Thomas*—present a theology that is distinctively non-Trinitarian and adoptionist, emphasizing Jesus’ dependence upon the Father and the spiritual, rather than physical, nature of his divine identity. These writings preserve early Jewish Christian interpretations shared by groups such as the Ebionites, who understood Jesus as a righteous man chosen, anointed, and adopted by The Deity rather than eternally divine by nature.

This passage from the *Gospel of Philip* reflects an early Jewish Christian belief held by the Ebionites known as Adoptionism:

*“Some said, ‘Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.’ They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema to the Hebrews, who are the apostles and the apostolic men. This virgin whom no power defiled [...] the powers defile themselves. And the Lord would not have said ‘My Father who is in Heaven’ (Matthew 16:17), unless he had had another father, but he would have said simply ‘My father’.” — Gospel of Philip*

This passage exposes the absurdity of imagining that a woman could conceive by a female spirit. While Greek *pneuma* is neuter, the author of *Philip* was not writing in Greek alone; Coptic, the language of the surviving manuscript, uses a feminine noun for “spirit,” as does Syriac (*ruḥa*). Thus, within the linguistic world of this text, the “Holy Spirit” is grammatically feminine, and the rhetorical question—“When did a woman ever conceive by a woman?”—functions precisely because spirit was understood as feminine in these languages. This linguistic environment strengthened the author’s argument that the virgin birth tradition was incoherent and therefore the biological father must have been Joseph.

The passage from *Philip* clearly rejects the doctrine of the virgin birth as understood in later orthodoxy. Joseph, not a divine person, is implicitly acknowledged as the biological father of Jesus. The Deity is described as the adopted Father rather than the biological progenitor. The text maintains that the life, authority, and purpose Jesus possesses are gifts from the Father rather than innate qualities. This framing underlines the adoptionist character of the text: Jesus’ sonship is contingent, relational, and granted through election, not essential or eternal.

The *Gospel of Thomas* contains a saying of Jesus that further emphasizes the difference between earthly origin and spiritual sonship. Saying 101 states:

*(101) <Jesus said>, “Those who do not hate their [father] and their mother as I do cannot be [disciples] of me. And those who [do not] love their [father and] their mother as I do cannot be [disciples of] me. For my mother gave me [death] but my true [mother] gave me life.”*

Jesus’ biological mother could only give him death. This means Jesus inherited cellular decay—the physical processes of ageing and mortality shared by all humans—showing that Jesus was not inherently divine or immortal. His natural birth placed him under the same physical conditions as every human being. It was only at his resurrection from the dead that Jesus was made immortal, though not divine in essence. His true “Mother,” in the symbolic language of Thomas, is the spiritual power or heavenly source that granted him new life—immortality given by The Deity.

### Adoption at Baptism

Adoptionism often identifies the baptism of Jesus as the moment when he was chosen and anointed by The Deity. At Jesus’ baptism, according to early traditions, the heavens opened and the voice declared:

**Luke 3:22 — “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”**
(quoting Psalm 2:7)

This wording comes from an ancient textual variant in Codex Bezae and is cited by multiple early Church Fathers. In this version, the voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism says, *“Today I have begotten you.”* This aligns perfectly with adoptionist belief: Jesus becomes the Son of The Deity not through preexistent divine nature, but through a decisive moment in time when he is chosen and empowered.

This is not eternal sonship—it is adoption.

Jesus is “begotten” spiritually, not physically. He receives spirit, life, authority, and status. This is the moment he becomes “Son.” The baptismal descent of the spirit is not a metaphysical merging of divine natures, but the bestowal of authority and mission upon a righteous man.

### Full Sonship at the Resurrection

The adoptionist understanding of sonship reaches its climax in the resurrection. Paul explains that Jesus was:

**“Declared to be Son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead.”
(Romans 1:4)**

The resurrection marks the moment when Jesus is transformed from mortal into immortal. This transformation is not the revelation of eternal deity but the granting of new life, power, and status by The Deity. This can be summarized as:

* **Earthly mother = mortal birth**
Jesus inherits ageing, sickness, and death.

* **True mother = divine rebirth**
Baptism and resurrection confer identity, authority, and immortal life.

Thus Jesus becomes Son in stages: chosen at baptism, empowered through ministry, and exalted at the resurrection.

### The Significance of the Two Gospels

The *Gospel of Philip* and the *Gospel of Thomas* present complementary angles on the same underlying theology:

*Jesus is born as a mortal man through natural conception. He becomes Son through adoption, empowerment, and resurrection.*

The *Gospel of Philip* refutes the virgin birth and stresses that Jesus had an earthly father. It highlights his dependence upon “another Father”—the heavenly Father who adopted him. The *Gospel of Thomas* emphasizes the distinction between the mortal birth that results in death and the spiritual rebirth that confers true life, suggesting that Jesus’ divine identity is something received, not inherent.

Both texts reflect a Jewish Christian worldview in which Jesus’ humanity is taken seriously, and divine sonship is understood relationally rather than metaphysically. They reject later orthodox claims that Jesus was eternally begotten or ontologically identical with The Deity. Instead, they preserve a theology in which adoption, righteousness, obedience, and divine election define Jesus’ unique role.

### Conclusion

The Gospel traditions represented in Philip and Thomas preserve early streams of thought where Jesus’ birth, identity, and sonship are framed through adoption rather than essence. Jesus is a man born into mortality, inheriting the physical processes of ageing and death from his earthly mother. His relationship with The Deity develops through baptism, obedience, and ultimately resurrection. Immortality is bestowed; it is not innate. Authority is given; it is not inherent. Sonship is conferred; it is not eternal.

These texts illuminate a profoundly different early Christian understanding—one in which The Deity is the source of life, power, and exaltation, and Jesus is the faithful man who receives these gifts through adoption, becoming Son not by nature but by grace.


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Pleroma Pathways

The Godhead is just God's Family John 17:20-23 https://youtu.be/tmvEwmtHZGU

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Adoptionism: Advocates of this heresy believed that God the Father adopted the human child Jesus (either at conception or during his baptism), and that Jesus then became divine. The tenth-century Bogomils were adoptionists who did not believe Mary was the mother of God nor Jesus part of a Trinity. Some say the French Cathars were adoptionists as well

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Death existed in Our Terrestrial System Before the Fall

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How mathematical computations can affect reality

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