Studies in the Bible and Antiquity Volume 1 Article 6 2009 The Valentinian Bridal Chamber in the Gospel of Philip Gaye Strathearn Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sba BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Strathearn, Gaye (2009) "The Valentinian Bridal Chamber in the Gospel of Philip," Studies in the Bible and Antiquity: Vol. 1 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sba/vol1/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in the Bible and Antiquity by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
[email protected],
[email protected]. Title The Valentinian Bridal Chamber in the Gospel of Philip Author(s) Gaye Strathearn Reference Studies in the Bible and Antiquity 1 (2009): 83–103. ISSN 2151-7800 (print), 2168-3166 (online) Abstract The Gospel of Philip, a Valentinian tractate found in the Nag Hammadi library, has sparked the interest of some Latter-day Saints because of its numerous refer- ences to a bridal chamber associated with the holy of holies in the temple (Gospel of Philip 69.14–70.4), such as to a “mirrored bridal chamber” (Gospel of Philip 65.12) and a sacred kiss (Gospel of Philip 59.1–5). The purpose of this paper is to examine the bridal chamber refer- ences within their Valentinian context. While there may be some interesting parallels with LDS teachings about eternal marriage, it is important to understand that the Valentinians understood these references in substantially different ways.