. . . I still give preference to a
strong Johannine influence with a reminiscence of Mt. and Paul, and that is
because of the following verse of Hermas in Sim. 9.12.4, which reads, “For that
reason also, nobody enters the Kingdom of God without receiving the Name of His
son (ουτω φησιν, εις την
βασιλειαν του
θεου ουδεις
εισελευσεται, ει
μη λαβοι
το ονομα
του υιου
αυτου).” There is an important parallel to this
statement in Jn. 3:5: ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν
εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεου. In Hermas, the expression λαβειν το
ονομα του
υιου του
θεου is certainly linked to Christian baptism; now
Jn. 3:5 also refers to Christian baptism. Furthermore, this Johannine text
includes Hermas’s expression εισελθειν
εις την
βασιλειαν του
θεου. It is, therefore, easy to assume that Hermas
refers to this declaration of Christ to Nicodemus; he simply replaced the
formula εαν μη γεννηθη
εξ υδατος with one of
his usual expressions to designate baptism.
. . .
Having commented on the Spirit in Hermas, and referring to the
consideration of Sim. 9.12-16 in the literary climate of Jn. 3.5, I wonder
whether Hermas finds in the Johannine text two elements necessary to enter the
Kingdom: the first is baptism, and it corresponds to εξ υδατος in Jn.; the second, equivalent to εκ πνευματος, is what may be designated by a single expression:
“acting according to the Spirit.” Hermas describes this second element in
various forms, namely to put on the virgins’ garments, to bear their names, to
carry their virtues, and to follow the commandments. But let us examine those
texts.
First of all, the first element required to enter the Kingdom is
baptism. Hermas expresses it with two formulas; in the first, it is necessary
to bear or have to received the Name; in the second, it is necessary to carry or
to have received the seal.
The first formula (it is necessary to carry or to have received the
Name) reappears several times in the following chapters of the Shepherd: in
Sim. 9.12.4: “For that reason also, nobody enters the Kingdom of God without
receiving the Name of His Son”; in Sim. 9.12.5: “no human being can enter the
Kingdom of God, except by means of the Name of His Beloved Son”; in Sim.
9.12.8: “Anyone who fails to receive His Name will not enter the Kingdom of
God.”
The second formula (it is necessary to carry or to have received the
seal) appears in Sim. 9.16.3: “Those, also, who were deceased so received the
seal of the Son of God and entered the Kingdom of God”; in Sim. 9.16.4:
“Therefore, this seal was proclaimed to them and they put it to use to enter
the Kingdom of God.”
Yet this final element, baptism, does not suffice to enter the Kingdom.
It is not enough to have the Name or the seal; something more is required to
enter into the Kingdom. Considering the concept of the Spirit as it is
formulated by Hermas, this is at least what emerges from certain texts of the Shepherd
which mention a second necessary element that corresponds to an “action
according to the Spirit,” and may correspond to εκ πνευματος in Jn. 3.5.
Listen to the Shepherd on this subject: Sim. 9.13.2: “no man will enter
the Kingdom of God in any other way, unless they clothe him with their
raiment.” “These virgins,” he says in the same verse, “are holy spirits, . . .
(they) are the powers of the Son of God. If you bear the Name without His
power, you are bearing the Name to no purpose.” Sim. 9.13.2: “Even the Son of
God Himself bears the names of these virgins.” In Sim. 9.15.1-2, we find the
list of the virgins: “Faith, Continence, Fortitude, Long-suffering, Simplicity,
Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, and Love.” A
second element necessary to enter into the Kingdom must include, therefore, the
garments of the virgins which must be worn, the virtue of the Son of God which
we must possess, the names of the virgins which we must carry.
Both aforementioned elements, baptism
and “action according to the Spirit,” must be present together in order to
enter the Kingdom of God. Hermas says it best, namely in Sim. 9.13.2: “If you bear
the Name (first element), without His power (second element), you are bearing
the Name (first element) to no purpose.” The Shepherd established this last
statement with the help of features he drew from the parable he set forth,
namely in exposing the significance of the stones which were rejected: “Now,
the stones which you saw rejected,” says Sim. 9.13.2-3, “are those who bore the
Name (first element), but did not put on the virgins’ raiment (second
element).” The Shepherd then resumes his statement: “Anybody who bears the Name
of the Son of God (first element) is also bound to bear their names. Even the
Son of God Himself bears the names of these virgins (second element).” This is
how he then explains a part of his parable in Sim. 9.13.4: “All the stones . .
. that you saw going into the building of the tower and distributed by the
hands of the virgins to remain in the building are clothed with the power of
the virgins (second element).” Hermas refers many times to this important
statement, sometimes combining it with the Pauline image of the unity of the
body: Sim. 9.13.4: “And so, those who believed in the Lord through His Son, and
have clothed themselves with these spirits, will be one spirit, one body, with
a single color to their garment.” Sim. 9.15.2: “The person who bears these
names (the virgins’) (second element) and that of the Son of God (first
element) can enter into the Kingdom of God.”
. . .
In short, Hermas, who is under the
literary influence of Jn. 3.5 in Sim. 9.12-16, quite probably understands this
Johannine teaching in his own personal way. He saw in the first part of the
Johannine verse two conditions needed to enter into the Kingdom: water and the
Spirit. The first of these conditions is baptism, which Hermas expresses with
his own formulas: to bear or to receive the Name, to bear or to receive the
seal. The second condition requires that man put on the garments of the
virgins, that he put on their virtues, that he put on their spirits, that he
bear their names, that he follows the commandments. The expression εκ πνευματος means all
that to Hermas, because, as far as he is concerned, there is a close
relationship between the Spirit and the virtues whose images are symbolic; they
represent, in fact, the condition of the indwelling of the Spirit, and this is
how Hermas can easily establish in his mind an identity between the presence of
these virtues and that of the Spirit: where there are virtues, there is the
Spirit. For Hermas, admission to the Kingdom is conditioned not only by
receiving baptism but also by “acting according to the Spirit.” (Édouard Massaux, The Influence of the
Gospel of Saint Matthew on Christian literature Before Irenaeus, Book 2: The
Later Christian Writings [trans. Norman J. Belval and Suzanne Hecht; New
Gospel Studies 5/2; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1990, 1992], 135,
138-40, 142)
