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The Leucian Acts of John pertain to the latter stream of tendencies, and "John" is the personification, so to say, of one of the lines of tradition of that protean Docetism, which had its origin in one of the best-known and most important facts of the spiritual life, or of "occult" experience, and of those marvellous teachings of initiation which became subsequently historicized or woven into historic settings, and which "John" in our fragment, sums up in the words:
"I held firmly this one thing in myself, that the Lord contrived all things symbolically and by a dispensation towards men, for their conversion and salvation."
That is to say, that all truly inspired narratives of the Doings and Sayings of the Christ are typical; or again, that He who is Christ, in all He does and says, as Christ, acts with the Cosmic Order. This is His "economy" and "ministry"--the doing of His "Father's business."
We will now turn to the Hymn itself, and first give a version of it from Bonnet's text. In the newly-recovered fragment it is introduced as follows:
"Now before He was taken by the lawless Jews--by them who are under the law of the lawless Serpent--He gathered us together and said:
"'Before I am delivered over unto them we will hymn the Father, and so go forth to what lieth before [us].'
"Then bidding us make as it were a ring, by holding each others' hands, with Him in the midst, He said:
"'Answer "Amen" to Me.'
"Then He began to hymn a hymn and say:
THE HYMN.
Glory to Thee, Father!
(And we going round in a ring answered to Him:)
Amen!
Glory to Thee, Word ( Logos )!
Amen!
Glory to Thee, Grace ( Charis )!
Amen!
Glory to Thee,
Spirit!
Glory to Thee, Holy One!
Glory to Thy Glory!
Amen!
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