Rending the Veil (The Mysticism of the Gospel of Philip)

Reveals Jesus’ secret teachings to his closest disciples

For the many Christians longing to move beyond traditional messages of the Church, “The Gospel of Philip,” found buried in the Egyptian desert, tells of Jesus’ hidden design for human transformation. Here is a glimpse into the early Jesus movement grounded in a metaphysical understanding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Through insights from early Christian mystics, we are invited into a tradition celebrating an experience of enlightenment, triumphing over the rigidity of orthodoxy. While the imperial Church, established under the rule of the emperor Constantine, focused on external rites and set beliefs, the first Jewish followers of Jesus emphasized an esoteric experience of those rites. “The Gospel of Philip” text, illumined here, is an initiation into those mysteries where Christ is born anew, bringing a new future, a new hope, and a new world, restoring the earth as the Garden of Paradise.

It is arguably the earliest work of Christian mysticism. And like mysticism in all times and places it is susceptible to misunderstandings and erroneous accusations. Declared heretical after the church councils in the fourth century, Philip was suppressed and banned and laid hidden until being rediscovered in 1945 for a new consideration. Reexamined through the lens of a longer arc of Christian mysticism we see it at the heart of the Jesus movement based secret teachings Jesus gave to his disciples.