Three Categories of Humans

1. Humans came to be divided into three categories of nature: the spiritual, the soulish, and the material, congruent with the triple inclination of the Word, from which were produced those who are the material ones, and the soulish ones, and the spiritual ones.

2. Each of the three categories of nature is known by its fruit, although they were not yet known from the first, but only when the Savior came, who shone upon the saints and revealed (to which category) each belonged.

3. The spiritual category is like light from light and spirit from spirit.

4. When its head appeared, it at once hastened toward (its appropriate category).

5. Of a sudden it grew a body for its head, immediately obtaining knowledge from the revelation.

6. Being like light from fire, the soulish category, by contrast, was reticent to recognize the one who appeared to it, being all the more (reticent) to hasten toward him through faith.

7. Instead, although a voice taught it, [it] was satisfied, because it was not far from the hope of the promise, because it obtained, as it were, the assurance of the things to come in the form of a pledge.

8. The material category, by contrast, is alien in every way, because it resembles darkness, spurning the light that shines, since its manifestation extinguishes it.

9. And because it did not embrace his [coming], it is [immoderate] and full of spite for the revelation of the Lord.

10. The spiritual category will obtain thorough salvation in all aspects.

11. The material category will be destroyed in all aspects, as is the case with an adversary.

12. The soulish category, owing to its middle position both as to how it was produced and as to its nature, is duality, congruent with its inclination for both good and evil.

13. And what has been determined for it is ambiguous [...] and its full escape [from] what is good.

14. Those the Word produced in accord with the pre-existent pattern in his thought, when he remembered the Exalted One and prayed for salvation, they gained salvation immediately.

15. [Owing] to the salvific thought, they were saved thoroughly by what it produced.

16. It is the same regarding [the ones] these in their own turn produced, whether angels or humans.

17. Agreeing with the acknowledgement that one exists who is more exalted than themselves, and agreeing with the prayer and the seeking after him, they, too, will receive the same salvation those who were produced receive, because they are from the good inclination.

18. They were assigned the service of preaching the future coming of the Savior and his revelation after he had come.

19. Whether angels or humans, when he appointed this service to them, they indeed obtained the nature of their being.

20. By contrast, those who came from the thought of lust for control, who came into being from the strike by his opponents, were produced by that thought.

21. Given that they are mixed, they will obtain an ambiguous end.

22. Those who cast off the lust for control that was granted them but for a time and for particular periods, and who will glorify the Lord of glory, and who will renounce their anger, they will obtain the reward for their humility, which is unending existence.

23. By contrast, those who are arrogant because of lust for ambition and who love passing glory, and who forget that it was only for particular periods and times that they were delegated authority, and hence did not confess that the Son of God is the Lord of all and Savior, and did not renounce their anger and cease imitating the evil ones, they will experience retribution for their ignorance and their foolish passion, together with those who have erred and wandered off.

24. Even more evil are those who perpetrated inappropriate things against the Lord, like the powers of the left perpetrated against him, even putting him to death.

25. They thought to themselves, “We shall become masters of the Totality, if the one who has been proclaimed king of the Totality is slain.”

26. And they worked to this end, even the humans and angels who are not of the good inclination of the ones of the right, but from the mixture.

27. They opted for self-glory, despite it being but a passing glory and a lust, whereas the way to eternal repose is through humility (that results in) salvation, being of those who are to be saved, those of the right.

28. After they praise the Lord and have thought of what is pleasing to the Church, and have sung the hymn of the humble together with her as fully as possible, doing what is pleasing to her, they will share in her agonies and her anguishes like those who take into account what is good for the Church; they will enjoy a share in her hope.

29. This pertains to humans and angels.

30. Those of the order of the left, their path leads to loss, because they not only rejected the Lord and devised an evil plot against him, they also aimed their hatred and envy and jealousy at the Church.

31. And this is the cause of the condemnation of those who have troubled the Church, even stirring up themselves to create [trials] for the Church.