Uncover the Beautiful Gnostic Bridal Chamber Hymn

Most Christians have attributed significant importance to sacraments and rituals; however, groups of Christians have prioritized or even defined them differently. One of the most esoteric and fascinating sacraments from some of the earliest forms of Christianity is the Bridal Chamber, which was observed by several groups but in particular the Valentinians.

In the scriptures found at Nag Hammadi, a work called the Authoritative Discourse ends with a beautiful poem which sounds almost a bit like hymn. This hymn describes the reward awaiting a “rational soul” which has achieved gnosis, a goal of many Christians who were called “Gnostic”.

What is the Hymn of the Bridal Chamber, and how should we interpret it? Click below to learn more!

The Hymn of the Bridal Chamber

The Authoritative Discourse (or Authentikos Logos) is a Coptic tractate found in Nag Hammadi Codex VI. Madeleine Scopello notes in her introduction to the work in the Meyer translation the two important concepts contained in the title:

• Authentikos, meaning that it was understood to be an authoritative work of true statements for a faith community, and
• Logos, a speech or teaching in written form

At the very end of the Authoritative Discourse is the following verse, which references the sacrament of the bridal chamber:

She has found her rising.

She has come to rest in the one who is at rest.

She has reclined in the bridal chamber.

She has eaten of the banquet

for which she has hungered.

She has partaken of immortal food.

She has found what she has sought.

She has received rest from her labors,

and the light shining on her does not set.

To the light belongs the glory

and the power and the revelation,

forever and ever.

Amen.

This passage, which I’m calling a hymn, is unique in the work; nowhere else does similar prose occur– no prayers or verse or liturgy.

What does it mean? To start with, let’s reflect on the subject of the work: the “she” in the hymn, the rational soul.

The Gnostic Understanding of the Corrupt Soul

According to the Authoritative Discourse, “Death and life are placed before everyone, and people choose for themselves which of these two they want.”

Unfortunately, people– through their souls– often choose corruption. Souls which give into sensual pleasures and worldly vices, such as drinking too much wine, forget gnosis and live like beasts.

Corruption, by its very nature, infests one’s soul, for just as chaff being mixed with wheat contaminates the wheat, so too corruption contaminates the entire soul.

Those who are corrupted and who have rejected gnosis, are unable to obtain value through sacraments like the bridal chamber– even if they were to participate in the sacraments, it would be an outward exercise without interiority. As the text says, “the mindless person hears the call, but is ignorant of the place to which he or she has been called”.

These things “prevent the person’s mind from recovering and being capable of working at seeking and understanding hope”.

Why Does God Allow Souls to Be Corrupted?

The Authoritative Discourse explains that, originally, the Father alone existed, but as he permitted powers and principalities to appear in accordance with his will, they produced new ones.

The Father, wishing to reveal his glory to the powers, created a challenge for those in the world: to transcend beyond it and leave creation behind, choosing instead gnosis of “the one who is” (the Father).

Thus, the tractate explains that…

We are to be triumphant over the ignorance of those who contend with us, the adversaries who content against us, through our knowledge [gnosis], for we already have known the inscrutable one from whom we have come. We have nothing in this world, or else the world’s authority that came to be might hold us back in the worlds of the heavens, where death is universal…

Thus, the work notes, we are like fish who are being constantly lured by fisherman’s bait– which looks incredibly appealing but in reality holds our damnation and will lead to our being consumed. Just as fish are led from freedom to slavery by giving into the temptation of bait, so too do the things which look appealing to us become lures from the adversaries of humans.

Such souls eventually may realize, to their horror, that they spent their entire lives molding their body in such a way that their souls cannot house the spirit of the Father. They didn’t understand that souls themselves have “invisible spiritual” bodies, and their indulgence in corruption precluded that body from manifesting.

The Bridal Chamber and the Food of Life

According to this Gnostic perspective, God wants us to become greater than creation and thus holds allows us to be tested to identify those who can overcome the world.

What becomes, then, of the soul which does not give into the temptations and is able to house the invisible spiritual body of the Father?

She seeks the kinds of food that will bring her life, and she leaves behind the food of falsehood. She learns about the light, and she goes about and strips off this world. Her true garment clothes her within, and her bridal gown reveals beauty of mind rather than pride of flesh. She learns about the depth of her being.

Here, we should draw attention not only to the “bridal gown”– a reference to the Bridal Chamber– but also to the “true garment” which “clothes her within”. This is a reference to another sacrament, to baptism. I explored this concept further in my post on another Valentinian text, the Gospel of Philip. This text in the Authoritative Discourse neatly ties together several Valentinian Christian sacraments including both baptism and the bridal chamber.

Who is this soul, then, that wears the bridal gown and is baptized by God? It is the rational soul.

The Rational Soul

The rational soul, as explained in the Authoritative Discourse, has the following properties:

• She has worked at seeking
• She has learned about God
• She has struggled to inquire
• She has endured bodily distress
• She has pursued the Gospel (or as the text states, “wearing out her feet after the evangelists”)
• She has learned about the “inscrutable one” (the Father)

This is the soul which has rejected the sensual and diminishing temptations of the adversaries, who has rejected the indulgences of the world’s banquets and has refused to be reduced to an animal.

By what strength can the rational soul do this? It is from the strength of the bridegroom, from Christ. The Authoritative Discourse offers several ways that the recipient of the sacrament of the bridal chamber, the rational soul, benefits:

Secretly her bridegroom obtained the word. He helped it to her mouth to make her eat it like food. He applied it to her eyes like medicine to make her see with her mind, and perceive those who are kind to her, and learn about her root, that she may be able to hold onto the branch from which she has come, receive what is hers, and renounce matter.

There is a lot going on in the above, but a few things worth noting:

• The rational soul does not consume the food of God by itself; it requires the help of the bridegroom
• The bridegroom obtains the word in secret. It is not intended to be on public display.
• The food enables the rational soul to identify other rational souls
• The food empowers the rational soul to learn about its source, God
• The food enables the rational soul to cling to its source
• The food entitles the rational soul to receive its inheritance
• The food empowers the rational soul to renounce matter

That last one may sound a bit odd. Why would the rational soul renounce matter? Because, for these Christians, the material world is, functionally, a prison and a proving ground which Christ came to free us from. As we noted above, the writer of the Authoritative Discourse believed that the material world is full of lures and baits– the pleasures of the flesh and matter– meant to corrupt our bodies and deny us our true spiritual birthright.

So, then, what ought one do? One should reject the temptations of the world, observe the sacraments (including the Bridal Chamber), and cling to the source of true gnosis– God.

Thanks for reading. After reading this post, I hope you gain much from the Hymn of the Bridal Chamber:

She has found her rising.
She has come to rest in the one who is at rest.
She has reclined in the bridal chamber.
She has eaten of the banquet
for which she has hungered.
She has partaken of immortal food.
She has found what she has sought.
She has received rest from her labors,
and the light shining on her does not set.
To the light belongs the glory
and the power and the revelation,
forever and ever.
Amen.