Tripartite Tractate 14

1The fall experienced by the aeons of the Father of the Totalities happened only as if it were their own experience, planned by the Father with care, generosity, and great kindness. [] […] the Totality, to teach them about [the deficiency] through the one [from whom alone they] all received power to remove deficiencies.

2His own [order came] into being from <him> who hastened on high, from what produced itself from him, and from complete perfection. The one who hastened on high became an intercessor for the deficient one, together with the emanation of the aeons that had come into being in agreement with the things that exist. When he prayed to them, because they were united, they joyfully and eagerly agreed, in harmonious accord, to help the deficient one. They assembled and pleaded with the Father of generous intention that help would come from the Father above, for his glory, because there was no other way for the deficient one to become perfect except by the will of the Fullness of the Father. He had moved it toward himself, revealing and bestowing <it> on the deficient one.

3From the harmony that had come into being through their joyful inclination, they produced the fruit as an offspring of that harmony, a unity possessed by the Totalities, revealing the face of the Father. The aeons thought about the Father as they glorified him and prayed for help for their brother, asking that the Father would join with them. In this way, they eagerly and joyfully produced the fruit. He then revealed the manifestation of the agreement arising from their mutual union, who is his beloved Son. [] The Son in whom the Totalities are well pleased clothed them with himself as with a garment, imparting perfection to the deficient one and giving strength to the perfect ones. Strictly speaking, he is called “Savior,” “Redeemer,” “the Well-Pleasing One,” “the Beloved,” “the Paraclete,” “the Christ,” and “the Light for the Appointed Ones.” He is congruent with those who produced him because he became the names of the places granted to him. But what other name can be given to him except “the Son”? As we said before, this is because he is the knowledge of the Father, whom he desired that they know.

4The aeons generated both the face of the Father whom they glorify, as we wrote earlier, and their own face, because the aeons who glorify generated <his> appearance and their own face. They were formed as his army, like the army of a king, because the beings from the thought possess a powerful unity and a harmony blended together. They were produced in a complex form so that the one who would receive help could behold those for whom he had interceded. He also beholds the one who bestowed it on him. The fruit of the agreement with him that we mentioned earlier is subordinate to the power of the Totalities, because the Father was able to place the Totalities within him: those who existed beforehand, those who are, and those who will be. [] He revealed those whom the Father had placed within him, not giving them away but entrusting them to him. He carried out the universal plan of salvation with the authority granted to him from the beginning and with the power needed for the work. In this way, he began to accomplish his revelation.

5The one in whom the Father dwells and in whom the Totalities dwell <was> created before the one who is without sight. He taught him about those who sought their sight through the radiance of the perfect light. First, he perfected him in unspeakable joy. He perfected him for his own sake as a perfect one, and he also bestowed on him what is appropriate for each individual. This is the nature of the first joy.