Saying 50 — The Children of Light
Thomas Saying 50 provides the response the Gnostic soul should give when questioned about its origin — establishing identity as a child of light who came from the light and whose sign is movement and rest.
Gospel of Thomas Saying 50: 'If they say to you: Where did you come from? Say to them: We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and became manifest through their image. If they say to you: Is it you? Say: We are its children, and we are the elect of the living Father. If they ask you: What is the sign of your Father in you? Say to them: It is movement and repose.' This saying has a clearly ritual or initiatory character — it provides the answer to questions that will be posed to the soul, either by Archons during the post-mortem ascent or by initiators in a Gnostic ritual context. The triple answer establishes identity (from the light), lineage (children of the living Father), and recognition sign (movement and repose — a paradox combining activity and stillness that echoes the divine nature itself). The Gnostic practitioner memorizes and internalizes this identity statement, making it not just a formula but a living self-understanding.
We came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself. We are its children, and we are the elect of the living Father.
Scholar DeConick's research on Thomas within the context of Jewish mysticism (Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas) shows that Saying 50 reflects early Jewish mystical traditions about the divine throne-chariot (Merkavah) journey — the Gnostic ascent through the heavens draws on specifically Jewish mystical precedents.
Nag Hammadi Library
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- What Gnosticism says about loneliness
Saying 50 is not a doctrine but a script: asked where you came from, say from the light; asked for the sign of the Father in you, say movement and repose. It reads like something memorised for an interrogation. The tradition's answer to being unable to explain yourself is to hand you the sentences to say.