Gospel of MaryGnostic / Alternative Early ChristianAlternative Early ChristianGreek tradition preserved substantially in CopticShareGospel of Mary 4Mark M. Mattison - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableMark M. MattisonLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Gospel of Mary 1Gospel of Mary 2Gospel of Mary 3Gospel of Mary 4Gospel of Mary 5›Gospel of Mary: Overcoming the PowersGospel of Mary 4ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1"And Desire said, 'I didn't see you going down, but now I see you're going up. So why are you lying, since you belong to me?' 2"In response the soul said, 'I saw you, but you didn't see me or know me. I was to you just a garment, and you didn't recognize me.' When it said these things, it left, rejoicing greatly. 3"Again, it came to the third power, which is called 'Ignorance.' [It] interrogated the soul and [said], 'Where are you going? In wickedness you're bound. Since you're bound, don't judge!' 4"[And] the soul said, 'Why do you judge me, since I haven't judged? I was bound, even though I haven't bound. They didn't recognize me, but I've recognized that everything will dissolve – both the things of the [earth] and the things of [heaven].' 5"When the soul had overcome the third power, it went up and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms: 6The first form is Darkness; The second, Desire; The third, Ignorance; The fourth, Zeal for Death; The fifth, the Kingdom of the Flesh; The sixth, the Foolish 'Wisdom' of Flesh; The seventh, the 'Wisdom' of Anger. 7"These are the seven powers of Wrath. 8"They ask the soul, 'Where do you come from, you murderer, and where are you going, conqueror of space?' 9"In response the soul said, 'What binds me has been killed, what surrounds me has been overcome, my desire is gone, and ignorance has died. In a [world] I was released from a world, [and] in a type from a type which is above, and from the chain of forgetfulness which exists only for a time. From now on I'll receive the rest of the time of the season of the age in silence.'" 10When Mary said these things, she fell silent because the Savior had spoken with her up to this point. ‹Previous chapterGospel of Mary 3Next chapterGospel of Mary 5›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Translation committed to the public domain by Mark M. Mattison