▁extremely ▁unlikely ▁to ▁be ▁his ▁writing . ▁Most ▁sch ol ars ▁hold ▁a ▁ 3 rd - century ▁date ▁of ▁composition . ▁ ▁History ▁and ▁context ▁ ▁A ▁single ▁manuscript ▁of ▁the ▁G ospel ▁of ▁Philip , ▁in ▁Co ptic ▁( CG ▁II ), ▁was ▁found ▁in ▁the ▁Nag ▁Hamm adi ▁library , ▁a ▁cache ▁of ▁documents ▁that ▁was ▁secret ed ▁in ▁a ▁jar ▁and ▁buried ▁in ▁the ▁Egypt ian ▁desert ▁at ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 4 th ▁century . ▁The ▁text ▁was ▁bound ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁code x ▁that ▁contained ▁the ▁better - known ▁G ospel ▁of ▁Thomas . ▁ ▁From ▁the ▁mix ▁of ▁a ph or isms , ▁par ables , ▁brief ▁po lem ics , ▁narr ative ▁dialog ue , ▁bib lic al ▁ex eg esis ▁( es pecially ▁of ▁Gen esis ), ▁and ▁dog m atic ▁propos itions , ▁Wes ley ▁T . ▁Is enberg , ▁the ▁editor ▁and ▁transl ator ▁of ▁the ▁text , ▁has ▁attributed ▁sevent een ▁say ings ▁( log ia ) ▁to ▁Jesus , ▁nine ▁of ▁which ▁ ▁character izes ▁as ▁cit ations ▁and ▁interpret ations ▁of ▁those ▁found ▁in ▁the ▁canonical ▁g osp els ▁The ▁new ▁say ings , ▁" ident ified ▁by ▁the ▁formula ▁introdu cing ▁them ▁(' he ▁said ', ▁' the ▁Lord ▁said ', ▁or ▁' the ▁Sav iour ▁said ') ▁are ▁brief ▁and ▁en ig m atic ▁and ▁are ▁best ▁interpreted ▁from ▁a ▁g nost ic ▁perspective . ▁ ▁Much ▁of ▁the ▁G ospel ▁of ▁Philip ▁is ▁concerned ▁with