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The Gnostics and Their Remains

By Charles William King

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State After Death of the Uninitiated

(261) "Then stood forth Mary and said, Lord, as concerning just men and perfect in all righteousness; such a man in whom there is no sin at all, shall they torment him with all these judgments and punishments, or shall they not? Or shall they carry such a man into the kingdom of heaven or not?

"The Saviour answered and said unto Mary, The just man perfect in all righteousness, that hath never committed sin, but yet hath never obtained any one mystery of Light, when his time cometh for departing out of the body, straightway there shall come for him the Gatherers belonging to that one of the great Triple Powers who is the greatest amongst them, in order that they may take away that soul from the Contentious Gatherers, and during three days they shall go about with that soul amongst all the creatures of the world (i.e. throughout all creation). After the three days they shall lead him down into Chaos, so that they may deliver him out of * all the punishments therein, and out of the judgments, and they shall bring him unto all the judgment-places, but no flame of Chaos shall afflict him greatly; (262) nevertheless they shall in some wise afflict him for a little space, but speedily shall they have compassion upon him, and draw him up out of Chaos so as to take him out of the Road of the Middle-space, and from all the Rulers thereof. And these shall not punish him with their cruel torments, but the flame of their regions shall afflict him in some measure; and after they have brought him into the unmerciful place ΑΧΘΑΝΑΒΑΣ they shall not torment him with the cruel torments therein, but they shall keep him there a little while, and afflict him in some measure with the heat of the torments of that place. But they shall quickly have compassion upon him, and bring him forth out of all those places, neither shall they lead him by the way that goeth from out of the Æons, for fear lest the Rulers of the Æons should hold him too firmly, but they shall conduct him by the path of the Sun's light, in order to bring him before the Virgin of Light. And she doth try that soul that she may find it free from sin, and she ordereth it not to be carried unto the Light because the mark of the Kingdom of Light is not upon it; but she sealeth it with a special seal, and takes care that it be put into a body of righteousness belonging to the Æons. (263) This man will be good, so that he will obtain the seals of the mysteries of the Light, and inherit the kingdom for ever and ever.

"But if he shall have sinned once, twice, or thrice, they shall reject that soul, sending it back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it may have committed; the form whereof I will declare unto you hereafter. But verily, verily I say unto you, that even the righteous man that hath committed no sin at all cannot be brought into the Kingdom of Light, forasmuch the seal of the mysteries of that kingdom is not found upon him. Once for all, I say unto you, a soul cannot be brought into the kingdom, if it be without the mysteries of the Kingdom of Light."

Footnotes
355:* Protect him against any suffering from.