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The Sophia of Jesus Christ · 2 of 11
He Who Is
1.Matthew said to him: “Christ, none are able to discover the truth but through you, so instruct us in the truth.”
2.The Savior said: “He Who Is is inexpressible. No power knew him, no authority, nothing contingent, or power or anything created since the foundation of the world until now, but he alone and any he wishes through me, who originated from the First Light.
3.Beginning now, he will grant revelation to you through me, because I am the Great Savior.
4.Because he is deathless and eternal.
5.‹He is› eternal, without birth, because anyone who has been born will be destroyed (in death).
6.And as unbegotten, he is without beginning, because anyone who had a beginning will have an end.
7.And no one rules him: He is nameless, because anyone with a name is the ‹creation› of someone else, (so) he is nameless.
8.He possesses no human form, because whoever possesses human form is the creation of someone else.
9.He possesses an appearance peculiarly his own unlike anything you have seen and comprehended, yet it is an enigmatic appearance that transcends everything and that excels the Totalities.
10.It gazes at all sides (simultaneously) and beholds itself from itself.
11.And he is infinite and indestructible.
12.He is ungraspable and eternal, and nothing resembles him.
13.He is the good that never changes.
14.He is without defect.
15.He is eternal.
16.He is blessed.
17.He cannot be known, but he knows himself continually.
18.He is beyond measure; he cannot be traced out.
19.He is perfect, without imperfection.
20.He is blessed, without fault,
21.who is called ‘Father of the World.’”
Asked of Guide
Why does the Savior call this supreme being both 'nameless' and 'Father of the World'?
The chapter says the supreme being is nameless because any name would mark him as created by someone else; his essence is unbegotten, eternal, and beyond human form or categories. The title ‘Father of the World’ names his relation and function: he is the source and sustainer of all things while remaining ontologically beyond those things.
Calling him ‘Father’ signals intimate origin and authority over the world without reducing his ineffability; the text insists he “knows himself continually” and “beholds itself from itself,” so ‘Father’ describes his role without confining his nameless, uncreated nature. This move resembles the Gospel of John’s language about the Father who is beyond yet reveals through the Son.
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