The library · Edition and sources
The Secret Book of James
Mark M. Mattison · Translated text
Outside the canon. The Secret Book of James is not in the Bible of any tradition on the Scriptures shelf. It is hosted here as a historical record. The Scriptures shelf →
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Prophecies and Parables
Then I asked him, “Lord, how can we prophesy to those who ask us to prophesy to them? Because there are many who ask us, and who look to us to hear a message from us.”
In response the Lord said, “Don’t you know that the head of prophecy was cut off with John?”
But I said, “Lord, is it possible to remove the head of prophecy?
The Lord told me, “When you realize what ‘head’ means, and that prophecy comes from the head, understand what ‘its head was removed’ means. 7 At first I spoke to you in parables, and you didn’t understand. Now I speak to you openly, and you still don’t perceive. But to me you were a parable among parables and something visible out in the open.
“Be eager to be saved without being urged. Rather, be ready on your own and, if possible, get there before me, because the Father will love you.
“Come to hate hypocrisy and evil intention, because intention is what produces hypocrisy, and hypocrisy is far from the truth.
“Don’t let the kingdom of heaven wither, because it’s like a date palm shoot whose fruit has poured down around it. It sent out some leaves, and after they sprouted, they made their productivity dry up. This is also what happened with the fruit that came from this single root; when it was picked, many acquired fruit. Wouldn’t it truly be good if you could produce the new plants now? <You> would find it.
“Since I’ve already been glorified like this, why do you hold me back in my eagerness to go? 8 For after the [labor], you’ve made me stay with you another eighteen days because of the parables. For some people, it was enough <to listen> to the teaching and understand ‘The Shepherds,’ ‘The Seed,’ ‘The Building,’ ‘The Lamps of the Young Women,’ ‘The Wage of the Workers,’ and ‘The Silver Coins and the Woman.’
“Be eager about the message! The first stage of the message is faith, the second is love, and the third is works, because from these comes life.
“The message is like a grain of wheat. When someone sowed it, they believed in it, and when it sprouted, they loved it, because they saw many grains in place of one. And after they worked, they were saved because they prepared it as food, then kept enough left over to be sown. This is also how you yourselves can receive the kingdom of heaven. Unless you receive it through knowledge, you won’t be able to find it.