15. Philip then said: "My Lord, you have honoured us greatly and concealed nothing from us. We want you to tell us about when man dies: is his body first taken to heaven before punishment or not ?" The Saviour replied: "Philip, my holy deacon, you twelve, I will tell you everything. When man completes the days assigned to him and lies down to die and give up his body, I send the angels for him. The wicked angels stand over him with the good ones. If the good find a place in him, the wicked are expelled. If the wicked find a place in him, the good (38) are expelled and they take him to the firmament. The gatekeepers of darkness open up for him and escort him to punishment. Woe is that man born into the world - that hour will be worse than all the time he has spent on earth.63

He

will transfer to the aeon of darkness, the first being the firmament. He is taken to the aeon where the fire is burning brightly, like a large river. He is ferried across. They are consumed by fire, which scorches and boils them in the great foul odour that envelops them until they reach the tribunal and worship. A voice then comes forth from within the veil: 'Take them, cast them into punishment of some sort until they pay for the sins they committed on earth. The angels of wrath take them64

and

hurl them into the river of fire so that they are submerged in it for twenty-four months. They are the brought to the aeon of darkness, the place of the ocean, and brought to punishment to be punished and tortured for all the sins they have committed during their lifetime. Their place of (39) punishment will be like a machine that turns round and round.65 forgive their sins in reponse to the prayers of Michael and his army."