Gnosticism In The Secret Book

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Gnosticism was a prominent movement during the 2nd century that claimed that the demiurge was a lesser divinity held responsible for the creation of the universe. Gnostics taught and preached that matter is evil, and that salvation and return to the spiritual world can only be obtained through gnosis. Although the demiurge is linked to the material universe, which is evil, the demiurge itself is considered to be a consequence of something else. Sophia, or wisdom, an aeon of Christ Self-Originate, desired to create. The Secret Book according to John (BJn), written sometime before or around 180, describes John the Apostle gaining gnosis from Jesus. Formatted in the structure of a fairytale, the story of how Sophia disrupted harmony by engaging …show more content…

When Sophia decides to produce, she does not have intentions to bring evil into the world. She simply wished to “externalize ‘a thought she conceived from herself and her rational consideration’” and as a result, miscarries (Pleše 114). Sophia is considered a heroine in Gnostic myth. Wisdom is a rational, knowledgeable part of the Invisible Spirit, the spirit who has no boundaries or limitations. Sophia is a part of the whole, but this concept is beyond Sophia’s knowledge. Therefore, the wisdom Sophia represents is incomplete. Because Sophia’s thought to recreate came solely from her own desires, and was not in conjunction with the Invisible Spirit, her wisdom was automatically flawed. The way in which Sophia’s creation, Ialtabaoth, was formed differed in primary texts. The two main texts that discussed these series of events was the BJn and The Reality of Rulers (RR). In BJn, Ialtabaoth was the imperfect product of Sophia: “And compared to the image of its mother, it was misshapen, having a different form” (BJn 35 Layton). When Sophia realized the consequences of her actions, her immediate response was to cast Ialtabaoth away. As a result, Ialtabaoth stole power from its mother, and created the materialistic

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