Any theological anthropology must begin with Christ, for in Him we see the 'full' man, man complete, the New Adam, yet so much humanity is compressed within Christ that if it became expanded out it would fill a universe.

We should not see Christ as one man among many, his path as one path among many. The fullness of Christ contains all of humanity: he is an ocean within which we plunge; he is a vast forest within which we may walk; he is a teeming city overflowing with life. In Christ the prophet, priest, king, preacher, healer, singer, artist, tax collector, fisherman, worker, politician, businessman all find their full humanity. To be aware of this fullness, this vastness, is to see Christ as a mighty fire: "our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29), the baby Jesus opened his mouth and inside Mary saw the universe, "Jesus said: Whoever is near to me is near to the fire" (Thomas log 82), "Jesus said: I have cast fire upon the world and see, I guard it until the world is afire" (Thomas log 10).

Thus in the Fall we see the reduction of humanity, in Christ we see its fullness. This reduction of humanity is characterised by Gnosticism, eg rejection of childbirth, non-participation in society, asceticism etc, in Christ we see the ascetic in the desert, the worker in the carpenter's shop, the preacher, the healer, the judge, the prophet; he both does and does not participate in society, he does not father children but he is not against children. Christ shows being-with-others, being-in-the-world and being-with-God, three ways (and perhaps many more but let us look at it from this perspective to see what we may) that characterise different modes of life. The Satanic tries to reduce this multiplicity of life, this varying, changing participation in God and creation, but love is always being for others, and in opening ourselves to others we experience the infinite variety of life.

"Faith receives, love gives. No one will be able to receive without faith. No one will be able to give without love. Because of this, in order that we may indeed receive, we believe, but it is so that we may love and give, since if one does not give in love, he has no profit from what he has given." (The Gospel of Phillip, 61:36,62:1-5)

If we are only concerned with our faith we live a shallow life. When we turn from ourselves and show love for others our humanity must grow and develop for if we give ourselves to others, we must have a self worth giving. "He who has knowledge of the truth is a free man, but the free man does not sin, for "he who sins is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Truth is the mother, knowledge the father. Those who think that sinning does not apply to them are called "free" by the world. Knowledge of the truth merely makes such people arrogant, which is what the words "it makes them free" mean. It even gives them a sense of superiority over the whole world. But "love builds up" (1 Cor 8:1). In fact, he who is really free through knowledge is a slave because of love for those who have not yet been able to attain to the freedom of knowledge. Knowledge makes them capable of becoming free. Love never calls anything its own, and yet it may actually possess that very thing. It never says "This is mine" or "That is mine" but "All these are yours". Spiritual love is wine and fragrance. All those who annoint themselves with it take pleasure in it. While those who are annointed are present, those nearby also profit from the fragrance. If those annointed with ointment withdraw from them and leave, then those not annointed who merely stand nearby, still remain in their bad odor. The Samaritan gave nothing but wine and oil to the wounded man. It is nothing other than the ointment. It healed the wounds, for "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8)" (The Gospel of Phillip, 77:15-35,78:1-11)

There are those who have a "knowledge of the truth" but do not understand that love plunges into life, mixes with the sinner and outcast. Because of our faith we do not become pulled down by that sin but we shine a light in a dark place, "while those annointed (with love) are present, those nearby also profit from the fragrance". That is why we cannot be concerned with those shallow souls who cannot touch life for they fear they will be tainted with sin, they do not participate - "we played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge for you, and you did not mourn" (Matt 11:17) because they see faith as a flickering candle likely to be extinguished by the smallest breeze from the world, they do not understand love conquers all, "when the spirit of death blows, it brings winter. When the Holy Spirit breathes, the summer comes" (Phillip 77:13-15) for "The Son of Man came eating a drinking, and they say 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 'sinners'". But wisdom is proved right by her actions" (Matt 11:19), "I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32)

The great temptation is to lose humanity, to reduce it, to hide it, to bind it and kill it. Christ showed humanity in its overflowing fullness, not as some weak shadow, but as a raging fire, blazing a witness to God. When we enter the Truth we take up that vastness of humanity that we lost in the Fall, that is why we take up freedom for we are no longer bound by fear and timidity but become full of the Spirit. Yet as the waters of God flood into us our new birth is meaningless unless we ourselves become emersed in life. We may now rest from fear, "there remains then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God", Heb 4:9, "if you keep not the Sabbath as Sabbath you will not see the Father" Thomas log 27, but love does not itself rest from participating in life "what is the Sabbath, on which it is not fitting for salvation to be idle, in order that you may speak from the day from above, which has no night, and from the light which does not sink because it is perfect. Say, then, from the heart that you are the perfect day and in you dwells the light which does not fail" Gospel of Truth 32:24-35.

We may see the law as a holding of humanness, a barrier against any sort of exclusion or reduction of our humanity. In command after command we clearly read that work is good, food is good, laughter is good, justice is good, sex is good, worship is good, humility is good, mercy is good, love is good, and that those who try to deny parts of life as being evil or unclean do not come from God. The law shows many types of humanity, within its signposts we may guide our life away from fear, anxiety and superstition, so in Christ we also may see a power that breaks the barriers of the Fall and gives man back a Spirit to live. Against being-in-the-world and living ablaze in the fullness of God there exists a way of life that leads to destruction: being- against-the-world - thanatos, death, pain, the repression of being-with-God which gives rise to imbalance, disfunction and antagonism, the antichrist is the antiman.

Christ has revealed that our humanity is not a feeble thing, but a vast galaxy he has created in us wherein we may find the unfallen Being created at the beginning; sanctification is an explosion of the Spirit into every distant vacuum of our being. When God enters us we come to know

    He is sustenance;
    he is joy;
    he is truth;
    he is rejoicing;
    he is rest.
    That which he conceives,
    that which he sees,
    that about which he speaks,
    the thought which he has,
        transcends all wisdom,
        and is above all intellect,
        and is above all glory,
        and is above all honour,
            and all sweetness,
            and all greatness,
            and any depth,
            and any height.


(The Tripartite Tractate 55:15-26)