Added also Maria, said she to the Saviour, My Lord, then a man who received mystery, and did not that which is worthy of the mysteries, but turned (away), he did sin: after these (things) also he repented and he became in a great repentance, is it lawful also, my brothers, to repeat the mystery which he received, or otherwise indeed to give to him a mystery among the mysteries which are below him.
Is it lawful therefore or otherwise.
But answered the Saviour, said he to Maria, Amen amen I say to you, Neither the mystery which he received nor that which is below him are wont to hear him to forgive his sins, but the mysteries which are high(er) than those which he received, they are those which are wont to hear him, and they forgive his sins.
Now therefore Maria [283 ] let thy brothers give to him the mystery which is high(er) than that which he received, and they will receive his repentance from him, and they will forgive his sins.
That (one) indeed because he received another time, and the others because he surpassed them above.
This indeed is not wont to hear him to forgive his sins, but the mystery which is high(er) than that which he received, that is that which is wont to forgive his sins.
But if he, having received three mysteries in the two Spaces or in the third (reckoning from) within, and this (one) turned (away) he transgressed, is (are, MS ) wont not any mystery to hear him, for to help him in his repentance, neither those which are high, nor those which are below him, except the mystery of the First Mystery with the mystery of the Ineffable: they are those which are wont to hear him and receive from him his repentance.
158 Answered Maria, said she, My Lord, then a man, having received mystery up to two or up to three in [283 ] the second Space or the third Space, and this (one) turned (away) and transgressed, but yet being in his faith in directness and without hypocrisy.
(shall he continue to receive?) Answered the Saviour, said he to Maria, Every man who received mystery in the second Space and in the third, and also he did not transgress, but yet being in his faith without hypocrisy, it is lawful for these of this kind to receive mystery in the Space which he willeth from at first, even until to last, because that he (they, MS ) did not transgress.
Added also Maria, said she, My Lord, then a man having known the Godhead, and he received from the mysteries of the Light, and he turned (away) he transgressed he lawless became, he did not turn unto repentance: and a man also who found not the Godhead nor knew it, and that man being a sinner, and also impious [284 ] is, and they came out of body both, which of them is he who will receive (tribulation, M ) more the judgments?
Answered also the Saviour, said he to Maria, Amen amen I say unto thee, The man who knew the Godhead, this who received the mysteries of the Light, and he did sin, not having turned to repent, he will receive tribulation in the punishments of the judgments in great tribulations with judgments manifold, greatly greatly beyond the impious man and lawbreaker, this who knew not the Godhead.
Now therefore he who hath ear to hear let him hear.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The text explicitly states that 'they came out of body both' regarding the impious man.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The passage explicitly discusses 'tribulations in the punishments of the judgments' and 'judgments manifold' as consequences for transgression.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The passage describes the soul's condition when it has 'turned (away)' and 'came out of body', indicating a state of exile from divine connection.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The promise of receiving mysteries implies a transformation into a state worthy of divine reception.