In this text, as long points out, sophia takes over the powers and function of god and the creation story is told using the word she. The apocryphon of john was still used in the eighth century by the audians of mesopotamia. It boasts of powerful female saviorsand even identifies christ among them. Gnosis is the yeast that lifts the dough of revelation above the arid flatland of religious convention. The gnostic movement was made up of diverse sects and movements within early christianity. The secret book of john, also called the apocryphon of john or the secret revelation of john, is a secondcentury sethian gnostic christian text of secret teachings.
Perhaps johns gospel draws the strongest connection between the two. It is best known from gnosticism, where it signifies a knowledge or insight into humanitys real nature as divine, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence. The gospel of john and the gnostic myth of redemption stottilien. The sophia anthologyis a remarkable collection of rare texts that reveal what we well may call the nag hammadi library of modern times. The greek word gnosis is usually translated as insight. The apocryphon of john the gospel of the egyptians codex v. These systems believed that the material world is created by an emanation of the highest god, trapping the divine spark within. It is not only knowledge of the divine, but also of thyself, the world, nature and the great work great arcanum or. Since that time the ancient truths have been released to the masses of humanity in the form of allegory. Eve is not the cause of humankinds fall, but of its redemption. O lord, command me also that i say the interpretation of the words which thy lightpower once prophesized through david. There were found twelve books bound in leatherplus eight pages of a thirteenth book. The retelling below follows the version in the secret book of john, which is quite representative of the perspective of the classic gnostic school of thought.
Books books of samael aun weor, gnostic, esoteric, spiritual and sacred ebooks pdf samael aun weor books and lectures on gnosis. It came to pass, when jesus had risen from the dead, that he passed eleven years discoursing with his disciples, and instructing them only up to the regions of the first commandment and up to the regions of the first mystery, that within the veil, within the first commandment, which is the four and twentieth. The secret revelation of john is replete with imagery of the divine mother alongside the father god and his son christ. By refusing to procreate, humans assist in restoring sophia s divine sparks to their rightful place. The gnostic goddess, female power, and the fallen sophia. Click here for longer detailed paper on this subject. Jul 20, 2017 the secret book of john, gnostic texts giving voice to the wisdom of the ages. Christ persuades yaldabaoth to breathe sophias spirit into adam. Commentary on tau jean ii and the gnostic mass by robert m. The apocryphon of gnosis, the gnostic dictionary piper. We will now proceed to see what the gnostic johnfolk have to say about the person of yohana and concerning their early palestinian community, and will conclude with some typical extracts from their johnbook collection, of which the most characteristic and important will be what may be called the sagas of the fisher of souls and of the good. Commentary on the ninth chapter of the gospel of john. Along the way, we have sought to raise the quality of the books, increase their availability, and reduce their cost.
Prayer to the christos from the acts of john 30 ode to sophia from the. It has always seemed to me that the secret book of john evolved to be more difficult to. This text recounts the words of the risen jesus to his disciples, during which he tells of the fall and redemption of sophia wisdom and describes numerous spiritual mysteries. A special and richly coloured development is given to the mythical form of the sophia of the gnostic book pistis sophia. Gnostic sophia book of jesus volume i jesus of nazareth chapter. Aug 02, 2018 this is a rerecorded version better sounddelivery of an older talk by dan attrell based on his paper what athens has got to do with jerusalem. Meads translation of the pistis sophia, the most extensive gnostic scripture available until the discovery of nag hammadi texts in 1945 the pistis sopha is a startling blend of primitive christianity and hellenic paganism, with other elements such as reincarnation, astrology, mystery religion and hermetic magic. This translation is presented in the gnostic society library by exclusive permission of the author. Gnosticism, christianity, and sophia kenyon college.
The second book of pistis sophia john further interpreteth the same scripture 106 of sabaoth, barbelo, yabraoth and the lightvesture 107 gabriel and michael are summoned to help pistis sophia 108 the lightstream restoreth the lightpowers to sophia 109. The creator is ignorant and malevolent, the serpent in eden was sophia or jesus, noah was a faithless jerk, and the creators angels are agents of violence and repression. The secret book of john the first time i read the nag hammadi library i was immediately drawn to the saga of the heroine and antiheroine that is the character of sophia. For there is a virtually unknown spiritual sophianic tradition that has developed since the seventeenth century and that still exists today. The counterfeit spirit and why you must defeat it to survive.
It describes jesus appearing and giving secret knowledge gnosis to john the. The gnostic goddess, female power, and the fallen sophia 2010 max dashu 3 throughout gnostic scriptures, we find strong echoes of hebrew traditions of khokhmah, wisdom. The secret book of john, also called the apocryphon of john or the secret revelation of john, is a secondcentury sethian gnostic. Nov 26, 2017 john lash the gnostic myth of sophia and the birth of the archons posted on november 26, 2017 by uponthefaceofthewaters 2019 updatecaveat it is quite possible lash is another gatekeeper for the flat earth or just misinformed himself about the true cosmology, nevertheless there is some valid info here that should be satisfactory for. Resources on gnosis, gnosticism, and the french gnostic. Third, we are told that sophia, the wisdom of god, seeks to know god objectively. The secret revelation of john harvards dash harvard university. The secret book of john, gnostic texts giving voice to the wisdom of the ages. Some texts from the valentinian school of gnosticism connect the story of sophias fall to the fate of nongnostic christians that is, christians who have the baseline christian virtue of faith but not the higher mystical insight of gnosis, the root of the word gnostic. In this document secret book of john too there is reference to the coming into being of three men. Jesus hitherto instructeth his disciples only up to the regions of the first mystery. It came to pass then, when john had finished speaking these words to jesus in the midst of his disciples, that he said unto him. The secret book of john s description of the mind of god, called the fullness or, in greek, the pleroma, is conceptual and therefore below the level of the indescribable god. Philo refers to this as secret knowledge gnosis and wisdom sophia of god.
Annotated and explained breathes new life into the gnostic gospel message their good news. By refusing to procreate, humans assist in restoring sophias divine sparks to their rightful place. The secret book of johns description of the mind of god, called the fullness or, in greek, the pleroma, is conceptual and therefore below the level of the indescribable god. Gnosis is the common greek noun for knowledge, gnosis, f. The physical mother of jesus was an external image of manifestation of the virgin sophia the word sophia stemming from sophos, wisdom. The text in question is a secondcentury sethian gnostic christian text. The two first books of this writing to which the name pistis sophia properly belongs, treat for the greater part pp. But this leads to crisis because god is purely subjective. The pistis sophia unveiled is samael aun weors explanation and commentary on the pistis sophia, an ancient sacred text which has been referred to as the gnostic bible. The term is used in various hellenistic religions and philosophies. As one becomes more familiar with the gnostic creation myth and the gnostic belief that the world was created by an ignorant, false god, one will also be able to better appreciate the myth of sophia. As jesus tells his crossdressing disciple in the secret book of john, gnosis is the only way to defeat this bizarro sophia. This is a rerecorded version better sounddelivery of an older talk by dan attrell based on his paper what athens has got to do with jerusalem. Stevan davies the secret book of john is very yeasty.
Jul, 2016 as jesus tells his crossdressing disciple in the secret book of john, gnosis is the only way to defeat this bizarro sophia. The gnostics, whose language was greek, identified the holy spirit with sophia, wisdom. In the gnostic myth of how the world works, sophia, the feminine personification of wisdom, lives happily with spirits of light especially her twin brother, in the unified limitless potential of her fathers radiance, created by the twin powers of depth and silence. The word gnosis is a greek word for knowledge which usually refers to any type of direct communion with the divine.
Dec 29, 2014 the secret book of john the first time i read the nag hammadi library i was immediately drawn to the saga of the heroine and antiheroine that is the character of sophia. It may be thought that algebra has little similarity to religion, however, if we. The gnostic valentinus paired the primal father, the word, with mother of the all, who was grace, silence, womb. The book of wisdom of solomon, written by alexandrian jews in the hellenistic era, renames khokhmah as sophia, the greek word for wisdom. Gnostic goddess, female power, and the fallen sophia. This site includes the entire hammadi library, as well as a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. Well said, john, the virgin, who shalt rule in the kingdom of the light.
Her fall and redemption parallel that found in versions of the sophia myth such as that in the apocryphon of john, but the actions all take place in the material aeons, and she can only be. But this cannot happen until divine wisdom sophia and fiery reason lucifer are united in the sacred marriage that some have called gnosis, within the underworld of the unconscious and above the temporal paradises of the ego. Thanks to samael aun weor and the support of students around the world, our translator and team have spent decades correcting, refining, and publishing all the books by samael aun weor. The second book of pistis sophia john further interpreteth the same scripture. Now, my counterfeit spirit destined me to write this drivel, so i wonder if this means the situation can only get worse. Explain fundamentals of gnosticism, moses talked with lesser god, existence of a. Eventually, one of the aeons, sophia of the epinoia, disrupts the harmony of these processes by engaging. Every story she appeared in was different but oddly familiar. John lash the gnostic myth of sophia and the birth of the.
The first english translation of the gnostic religious document that was the most influential of all gnostic studies be. The spiritual meaning behind the story of sophia aeon byte. As a member of the pleroma sophia greek for wisdom represents the means of gnosis. Algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses letters etc to represent numbers and quantities. Book two chapter 63 john also came forward, he said. Since it was known to the church father irenaeus, it must have been written before around 180 ce. John lash the gnostic myth of sophia and the birth of the archons posted on november 26, 2017 by uponthefaceofthewaters 2019 updatecaveat it is quite possible lash is another gatekeeper for the flat earth or just misinformed himself about the true cosmology, nevertheless there is some valid info here that should be satisfactory for. John milton famously wrote in paradise lost that lucifer claimed, better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. The gnostic myths of sophia also have important gender implications. In some gnostic myths a partner, christos, was created for sophia and that partnership is an aid to humans. Algebraic is ultimately from arabic aljabr reunion of broken parts. The creation stories of the valentinians, the other early christian sect or school that can be considered gnostic, still adhere to this same basic model, although many of the.
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