The Gospel of Perfection is a currently lost text from the New Testament apocrypha. The text is mentioned in ancient anti-heretical works by the church fathers. It is thought to be a gnostic text of the Ophites, and is believed by some to be the same as the Gospel of Eve, though the words of Saint Epiphanius implied that they were separate Gospels. Some others also believe that it was the same as the Gospel of Philip. In regards to the Gospel, Epiphanius stated,
"Some of them (i.e. of the Gnostics) there are who vaunt the possession of a certain fictitious, far-fetched poem which they call the Gospel of Perfection, whereas it is not a Gospel, but the perfection of misery. For the bitterness of death is consummated in that production of the devil. Others without shame boast their Gospel of Eve.
—Saint Epiphanius
The Gospel of Perfection is also briefly discussed in the Gospel of the Infancy where, after a "lengthy account of the miracles performed by Christ while a child in Egypt", it states,
"And the Lord Jesus did many miracles in Egypt, which are neither to be found in the Gospel of the Infancy, nor in the Gospel of Perfection."
—Gospel of the Infancy, Chapter 25
In mystery religions, the term perfect had a special meaning, namely that someone who was a perfect had achieved total enlightenment. This is similar in some ways to the concept of achieving Nirvana within Buddhism.
Famous quotes containing the words gospel of, gospel and/or perfection:
“The technologist was the final guise of the white missionary, industrialization the last gospel of a dying race and living standards a substitute for a purpose in living.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“The drama’s altar isn’t on the stage: it is candle-sticked and flowered in the box office. There is the gold, though there be no frankincense or myrrh; and the gospel for the day always The Play will Run for a Year. The Dove of Inspiration, of the desire for inspiration, has flown away from it; and on it’s roof, now, the commonplace crow caws candidly.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)
“You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers,
We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate
hence-forward,
Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves
from us,
We use you, and do not cast you aside—we plant you permanently within us,
We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also,
You furnish your parts, toward eternity,
Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)