The Book of the Secret Supper is a
first-person narrative beginning "I, John…" in which
John the Evangelist poses a series of questions to
Jesus at a secret supper in the
kingdom of heaven.
Creation The book begins with the story of the
opposing cosmic forces:
God, the Invisible Father and creator of good, and
Satan, the creator of evil. The book exhibits a
mitigated dualism by stating that Satan was a former
angel of God before falling, shining white before his fall and burning red after. Jesus tells John how Satan took over the semi-created world, descending from the
third heaven and recruiting angels to join him “according to the plan of the Governor Most High.” Satan brought forth all living things, plants, animals, fish and birds, then created man and woman from clay in order to serve him, animating the man with an angel from the
second heaven and the woman with an angel from the
first heaven. The angels were distressed at having to inhabit material forms. Satan encouraged them to
sin, but they did not know how, so Satan filled the woman with a longing for sin, then created a serpent from his spittle, inhabited it and seduced her with its tail. He then filled Adam with lust for debauchery with the result that all their children were offspring of the devil and of the serpent.
Nativity Jesus then describes his own birth, telling John that the Father sent an angel, in the form of
Mary, to receive Him in the
Holy Spirit. Jesus descended from the
seventh heaven and came forth from her ear. Satan then sent
Elijah in the form of
John the Baptist to give a false
baptism by water, but John is warned that only baptism in spirit by Jesus can bring about the
remission of sin:
"Can man be saved through the baptism [of John?" He replied:] "Without my baptism, with which I baptize unto the remission of sins, I affirm that no one can receive salvation in God". Those baptized with water marry, but those baptized in the spirit remain celibate:
"The followers of John marry and are given in marriage, whereas my disciples marry not at all but remain as the angels of God in the heavenly kingdom." Last Judgement The final part of the book is a description of the
Last Judgement when those who have followed an angelic life shall be honored, while those who lived a life of iniquity shall find wrath, fury and distress in everlasting fire. Satan, after waging war upon the just, will be bound with unbreakable bonds and cast into a pool of fire. Then the Son of God will sit on the right hand of his Father, the righteous will be set among the choirs of angels, God shall be in the midst of them and wipe away their tears, and of His kingdom there shall be no end for ever and ever. ==See also==