Long before any concept of the Trinity entered the human consciousness, Valentinus reflects on the mystery of the relationship between the Father and Son and deftly explores the paradoxical nature of how they can be One and yet, somehow, distinct persons that exist symbiotically together as God.
“It is he who, in the beginning, gave a name to the one who came forth from him, who was himself. And he birthed him as a son. He gave him his name which belonged to him. All that exists with him belongs to the Father. The name belongs to him; the child belongs to him. It is possible to see the son, but the name is invisible, for it alone is the mystery of the invisible which comes to ears completely filled with him. For they do not speak the Father’s name, but it is revealed through a child. In this way, the name is great.” [23:2-9]
The Father, the Son, and the Name are the Triune elements at play here. “In the beginning,” the Father gives a name to the Son, who both “came forth from him,” and “who was himself,” at the same time. The Father births the Son – without mention of a Mother’s help – and gives him “his name which belonged to him [because] all that exists with [within] him belongs to the Father.” Both, the name, and the child belong to him. So, the name of the Son is the Father.
We can see the Son, but we cannot see the Name. The Name of the Son is the Father, and this “alone is the mystery of the invisible which comes to [our] ears [which are] completely filled with him.”
In other words, this mystery which cannot be seen fills everything in every way. Our ears are filled with this Name, even if we cannot see it, or know it, or speak it.
This mystery is everything and everywhere. It is unseeable but not yet unknowable. It is unspeakable, but still on the tip of every human tongue.
The Name is a mystery that we cannot fathom even though we are all immersed in it. It is the very fabric of reality itself. It is the Logos that was spoken into the darkness before light was formed.
This Name has no composition of letters or sounds, but it resonates throughout the fiber of every living thing in the universe.
We know the Name as we know ourselves. We are the reflection of the image of this great mystery that is mirrored in the glass, darkly seen and blurred by the distance between atoms and molecules that are forever in proximity but never quite touching.
“Who, then, has been able to pronounce a name for him, this great name, except him alone to whom the name belongs and the children of the name in whom the name of the Father is at rest, and who themselves are at rest in his name? Since the Father has no beginning, it is he alone who birthed him to himself as a name before he set the generations in order, so that the name of the Father might have authority. This is the real name which is secure by his perfect power. For the name is not simply words, or name-making, but his name is invisible.” [23:10-13]
The Father rests in the completion of the Name; the Name which gives rest to everything. The One without beginning or end has given birth to One who is before all generations and to whom and for whom and from whom all creation was created.
Even if we cannot know how, or why, we know this: The Name of the Son is the Father, and the Name of the Father is the Son, and we are all at rest in this mystery of the Name that we – and all things – are made of.
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Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”