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SCRIPTURES
Chapter 3
(1st Indictment begins) Humankind chased by precepts of foolish men – Azrael sent
to break chains – Sing and dance and fear no longer – JY gives first indictment:
man filled with lusts and perversions – Sex for procreation only – Women to be ruled
over – Men to labor constantly – Controlled by shame and guilt – AZ gives his defense:
Demiurge dissimilar and unable to comprehend Man – Sex not just for procreation –
The harmful doctrine of polygamy – Salvation found in the heart of the woman – Why
the Demiurge fear women – The dangers of overpopulation – God’s desire regarding
the passions of the flesh
1 Thus, my children, did I speak to the Demiurge for all your sake; for I knew already that by your life in this world far beyond, had there been placed upon the heart, a burden too grievous to bear.
2 For you were ever chased and driven about by the precepts of foolish men who knew not God, being overwrought yourselves by every kind of guilt and shame regarding that nature which was born in you from the very beginning.
3 Thus by many means were there laid upon the mind of man a great many chains and constrictions which did bind the very heart; filling the mind with dark shadows and endless fears which would strangle the soul within;
4 Being encompassed round about by all manner of hesitations and doubts; being beset by limitations and boundaries which did chafe and vex the heart at every turn; even until there came to dwell in the very soul of you, a dark and gloomy shadow filled with despair.
5 For this cause did God determine aforetime that even I should come down to walk among you; that I might break in pieces the chains which held you bound; to cast within the darkness of your mind, the light which comes from above;
6 That being instructed wisely and well, you might remove the boundaries and limitations within, and by some holy effort, reach forth unto God, even until you should obtain them; becoming in your very soul like unto the Father and the Mother which dwell forever in the light.
7 Therefore, my children, if it so be that you should see goodness in all my word, then be you wise to do them. For why will you dwell in darkness when I have brought for your good the light which dwells beyond?
8 Or why will you sit fettered and bound when I would give forth unto you such knowledge as would set free the soul forever? Is not light better than darkness, or freedom more to be desired than all your bondage?
9 Sing therefore, and dance you round about in such light as even God would give for your benefit, and fear no longer; but seize with eager heart the joy beyond, that you may take into your keeping a life made rich through deep understanding.
10 For there are many which even now are bound in the darkness, being pressed about by all manner of dark despair; seeking forth and reaching out, hoping that by some subtle means they might find a way of escape;
11 Being filled with prayers and longing, being made most anxious for relief against such hard and bitter shadows as do fill the mind; searching here and going there, ever looking for such light as even you do now possess.
12 Therefore, my children, if you would do service unto God and man, then sing and dance in such light as I would give; that all those who abide in darkness still may see the joy within, and find in you the path to endless glory.
13 For this I would have you know most surely, that joy is like a beacon in a dark and fearsome land; and if it so be that you are filled with joy, then shall those who dwell in darkness see for themselves the light beyond, and seek most earnestly to find it.
14 Give forth therefore your soul unto joy that you might shine forth in the darkness; that all those who should come seeking might find in you the wisdom which comes from God alone.
15 Come now, and attend with ready heart the words which I would write; for it came about that the Demiurge would bring against man a strong indictment filled with bitterness, and I, alone, must answer him.
16 And the Darkness spoke, saying: “Come and tell me plainly: Have you not seen the ways of men, how that they are filled with passions and perversions of every kind? For a man, when he sees a woman, is filled with wanton lusts and hunger, seeking constantly to find in her the release of all his seed.
17 For this reason is the man made weak before the subtle temptations of the woman; being ever driven and led about by such sexual appetites as would fill the heart with craving; which cravings do cause that both the man and the woman should entwine themselves one with another, consorting in such vile passions as would taint the soul forever.
18 By such means as this is the man made no better than the beasts of the field; being compelled by sinful urges to seek relief, to find in sexual perversion the fulfillment of their evil nature.
19 For this cause alone did I command that the man should not lay with the woman except to bring forth children unto himself; that having to themselves a great many offspring, the man might labor day and night for the care of them.
20 For if it so be that a man be filled with anxiety and worry for the sake of his children, then is he preserved from sin and leisure, having no time for such foolish passions as would compel the man to certain doom, to be consumed in the fires of endless torment.
21 Thus did I command that the man should rule harshly over the woman, lest she, by beguiling and enticing with all her parts, seduce the man to sin before me, to be devoured in the woman’s lusts; to have his soul made vile and corrupt forever and ever.
22 If therefore the man, of necessity, must lay with the woman to cast forth seed, then let not the woman find pleasure in it; lest she discover for herself that certain power whereby she might make herself the equal to the man.
23 Let the woman therefore be pure and chaste before me, to seek no pleasures in the passions of the body; for I delight in the chastity of women whereby they might make cold the soul within; to give to the man in the heat of all his passions and desires neither satisfaction nor fulfillment.
24 By such means shall the woman preserve her soul from judgment and death; for it is better that the woman be ruled harshly over by the man, than that the woman should face, alone, the fierceness of my wrath.
25 And the man, finding in the woman no degree of pleasure, shall turn again to his labors and thereby preserve his soul forever; being made to labor constantly without relief for the sake of all his lineage; earning through sweat and toil such mercy as even I would grant unto him.
26 For man, by his nature, is unworthy of me; being undeserving and without merit. Let the man therefore refrain from sin, to control with sternness the passions of the body; and even I shall rush forth to save him, to bind his soul in service to me forever.
27 See then, how though the man be made unworthy, yet am I made to care for him, to grant unto him the forgiveness of sin if only he would worship me in fear and trembling; to turn his soul from the vile passions of the flesh, to turn his thoughts unto me alone.
28 For through the sternness of my word, which word I caused that many prophets, priests and preachers should spread throughout the world, have I established that the man and the woman should be strongly bound through all manner of guilt and shame regarding that nature which is born in them already.
29 For shame does hinder the ways of men, causing that they should refrain from such pleasures as the flesh would crave; and guilt is the dark speaker which even now would haunt the guilty, to fill them with awful dread; filling the mind with constant judgment and reproach.
30 Thus by shame and guilt would I cause that man should walk straightly before me; to turn aside from the fulfillment of bodily passions and to seek after me instead; ever hopeful that by so doing, he might preserve his soul from hell.
31 All these things would I have you consider regarding the ways of man, for even the whole of all mankind is made as vile and loathsome creatures, being tossed to and fro by such sexual appetites as do afflict them always; for it is certain that it is in man’s nature to be perverse and degenerate.”
32 Such was the first charge which the Demiurge brought against the nature of man. And hearing all these things I did reflect most deeply concerning them, and knowing for myself the mind of God upon these matters, I spoke unto the Darkness, saying:
33 “Why will you speak falsely against the whole of man regarding these things, pretending in yourself that you, alone, would reach forth to save him?
34 For you, of yourself, have no part with man, being unlike the man in every fashion, possessing to yourself neither body, parts nor passions like unto men; being unable to understand or comprehend this noble seed from which all glory is made to flow.
35 What communion therefore would you seek with man, seeing that you are made dissimilar in every fashion; being unable within your mind to comprehend the hidden mysteries of all his ways?
36 For all the ways of man have you judged already, being fixed and predetermined against him from the very beginning; breathing out such constant threats as would make you altogether unworthy and undeserving of such fear and worship as you would, by force, take from him.
37 Come then and I will make known in you the true ways of man, that you might hear for yourself a strong defense against such charges as you would foist upon the minds of men regarding their sexual natures.
38 For I am most determined to set man free of you forever; being resolved and quite determined to break in pieces such chains as you would place about the minds of all who fear you.
39 That being free at last of such fears and torments, man might come to a knowledge of the only true God which dwells beyond; and in such knowledge be made most joyful, being filled continually with hope and glory, even worlds without end.
40 Consider then the words which I shall speak, and ponder deeply the intent of all my meaning; for man is not perverted as you would claim, neither is he compelled by sinful lusts to seek out the company of women whereby he might cast forth seed in sin and degradation.
41 For by the harshness of your word concerning these things is man afflicted constantly by all manner of grave distress, being moved and broken by endless trials and tribulations, being consumed by such misery and suffering, as you would inflict by cunning design.
42 For by your command alone would you ensure that the man should be as the beasts of the field forever; for you know most certainly that only animals have sexual intercourse for purposes of procreation.
43 And if by your command the children of men should be so restricted, then is it most certain that the man should never rise above your own smallness, being retarded and without any growth of the soul within; for the pathways of the heart have you hedged up round about with all manner of shame and guilt.
44 Hear then and I will tell you plainly, for even I would make known to every man and every woman the meanness of your intent; revealing unto all, the cruel strategy of your commands regarding the sexual nature of man.
45 For if a man have intercourse with a woman for the sake of children only, then is he tempted to take unto himself a great many wives whereby he might satisfy the passions of the body; making certain that the woman become no better than mere beasts, becoming in her flesh but the breeding stock of man.
46 Thus by such beliefs as you would impose upon the mind of man, might there be forced upon the soul the curse of polygamy, wherein every woman might be strongly bound to the dictates of the man;
47 Bringing forth unto the man only children, enslaving themselves always to labor and heaviness, taking to themselves neither joy nor pleasure; for in such doctrines as you would impose have you made no place for the woman except in servitude and sorrow.
48 This then is the first of many deceits which lay hidden in the very depth of you; being in yourself ever hopeful that if a man should do according to your word, then might you inflict upon the whole of man a multitude of pain and misery.
49 Yet the truth of all your ways shall I proclaim aloud throughout the land, evensomuch that for a thousand generations hereafter shall no man be made to fear you, or to remember your name forever.
50 For there is a truth which even now I shall speak, for there lies deep in the soul of you a fear greater than your fear of man, for it is the woman which you fear most of all; knowing full well that in the heart of the woman is the salvation of every man found.
51 Thus would you set forth most subtly the means by which you might oppress the woman continually, commanding most fiercely that no man should lay with her except to bring forth offspring unto themselves.
52 Yet even upon these deceptions would you add still further, even more seeds of misery and despair; for you know that if a man have intercourse for the sake of children only, then are there added unto the whole of man a multitude of sorrows and tribulations.
53 For even every man would bring forth unto himself a multitude of children, being unable to contain the natural passions of the flesh; that from the overabundance of his kind there might be inflicted upon the whole of man a sorrow greater than any other;
54 Turning the hearts of man away from the things of God, to be swallowed up in a sea of hopelessness, having no vision greater than their own misery; surrendering themselves to meanness and cruelty forever.
55 For out of the overpopulation of man have you caused to spring up all manner of war and pestilence and disease and starvation; which things do breed in the minds of many a terrible inhumanity, causing that some should become like unto yourself. For you, Jehovah-Yahweh are not human, possessing to your soul neither care nor tenderness for any man.
56 And all those which do believe in you, even they are made to become even as you are, being filled with cruelty and hurt against all those who do not believe in you.
57 Possessing unto themselves neither kindness nor mercy towards the children of man; speaking out constant judgments of fire and torment in endless hell, being made themselves most fearful because of you;
58 Being overburdened themselves with constant shame and guilt, being filled by some immutable loathing against the flesh of their body, believing themselves to be unclean and filled with sin because of it.
59 Thus by such enmities as you have born against the whole of man, have you sought to steal away from the heart of man all love and mercy, all kindness and gentle expression, all wisdom and understanding.
60 For this cause alone have I come forth unto you, that I might strike from off the heart and mind of man, such chains as you have carefully crafted through sly deceit; for even I shall make an end of you, to set the soul of every man and woman free of you forever.
61 Come now, Jehovah-Yahweh, and gird your mind for battle; for even now would I speak for your learning of God’s desire for the children of man regarding the passions of the flesh wherein the spirits of men are made to reside while in the mortal life.”