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Gospel of Thomas · 23 of 114 · tr. Thomas O. Lambdin

Logion 23

Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one."
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Themes
Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The statement that the chosen 'shall stand as a single one' implies a merging of the individual self with the divine or a state of ultimate oneness.

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Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

[auto] Specific numerical ratios are used to symbolize the scarcity and spiritual significance of the chosen few.

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Pneumatic Electsoteriology

A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.

[auto] The passage explicitly describes a rare selection of individuals ('one out of a thousand'), reflecting the Gnostic distinction of the spiritual elite predestined for salvation.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

Becoming 'a single one' suggests a reintegration into the divine origin from which multiplicity arose.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The instruction that the chosen shall 'stand as a single one' points toward an ultimate state of non-dual unity.

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Related passages · 3 parallels
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Tree of the Sephiroth-g
“Thomas Maurice reproduces the above engraving, which is modification of the elaborate tree on the preceding page. The Sephiroth are here superimposed, decreasing in size as they decrease in power and dignity. Thus, the Crown is the greate…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)
hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount|Section 1a
“The Key <This longer tractate presents itself explicitly as a summary or abridgement of the General Sermons (CH II-IX), and discusses the Hermetic view of knowledge and its role in the lives and afterlives of human beings. The attentive re…”
Shared concept: Pneumatic Elect — A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter VIII-r
“But there are a certain few who by employing a certain supernatural power of intellect, are removed from nature , &c. The class to which these few belong is beautifully unfolded, as follows, by Plotinus, in the beginning of his Treatise on…”
Shared concept: Pneumatic Elect — A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons. (derived)