The Region of Barbelo
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies
Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Editors Johannes van Oort & Einar Thomassen Editorial Board A. D. DeConick—W.-P. Funk—I. Gardner C. W. Hedrick—S. N. C. Lieu—A. Marjanen P. Nagel—L. Painchaud—B. A. Pearson S. G. Richter—J. M. Robinson—M. Scopello W. Sundermann—J. D. Turner—G. Wurst VOLUME 68 Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence By Tuomas Rasimus LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rasimus, Tuomas. Paradise reconsidered in Gnostic mythmaking : rethinking Sethianism in light of the Ophite evidence / by Tuomas Rasimus. p. cm. — (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; v. 68) Revision of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—University of Helsinki and Université Laval, 2006. Includes bibliographical (p. ) references and indexes. ISBN 978-90-04-17323-1 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Sethians. 2. Ophites. I. Title. II. Series. BT1390.R38 2009 273'.1—dc22 2009029148 ISSN 0929-2470 ISBN 978 90 04 17323 1 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. -
Archons (Commanders) [NOTICE: They Are NOT Anlien Parasites], and Then, in a Mirror Image of the Great Emanations of the Pleroma, Hundreds of Lesser Angels
A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES WATCH THIS IMPORTANT VIDEO UFOs, Aliens, and the Question of Contact MUST-SEE THE OCCULT REASON FOR PSYCHOPATHY Organic Portals: Aliens and Psychopaths KNOWLEDGE THROUGH GNOSIS Boris Mouravieff - GNOSIS IN THE BEGINNING ...1 The Gnostic core belief was a strong dualism: that the world of matter was deadening and inferior to a remote nonphysical home, to which an interior divine spark in most humans aspired to return after death. This led them to an absorption with the Jewish creation myths in Genesis, which they obsessively reinterpreted to formulate allegorical explanations of how humans ended up trapped in the world of matter. The basic Gnostic story, which varied in details from teacher to teacher, was this: In the beginning there was an unknowable, immaterial, and invisible God, sometimes called the Father of All and sometimes by other names. “He” was neither male nor female, and was composed of an implicitly finite amount of a living nonphysical substance. Surrounding this God was a great empty region called the Pleroma (the fullness). Beyond the Pleroma lay empty space. The God acted to fill the Pleroma through a series of emanations, a squeezing off of small portions of his/its nonphysical energetic divine material. In most accounts there are thirty emanations in fifteen complementary pairs, each getting slightly less of the divine material and therefore being slightly weaker. The emanations are called Aeons (eternities) and are mostly named personifications in Greek of abstract ideas. -
GNOSIS and NAG HAMMADI Anne Mcguire
12 GNOSIS AND NAG HAMMADI Anne McGuire Introduction Introductory remarks on “gnosis” and “Gnosticism” “Gnosticism” is a modern European term that !rst appears in the seventeenth-century writings of Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614–87). For More, “Gnosticism” designates one of the earliest Christian heresies, connected to controversies addressed in Revelation 2:18–29 and in his own day.1 The term “gnosis,” on the other hand, is one of several ancient Greek nouns for “knowledge,” speci!cally experiential or esoteric knowledge based on direct experience, which can be distinguished from mere perception, understanding, or skill. For Plato and other ancient thinkers, “gnosis” refers to that knowledge which enables perception of the underlying structures of reality, Being itself, or the divine.2 Such gnosis was valued highly in many early Christian communities,3 yet the claims of some early Christians to possess gnosis came under suspicion and critique in the post-Pauline letter of 1 Timothy, which urges its readers to “avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of falsely so-called gnosis.”4 With this began the polemical contrast between “false gnosis” and “true faith.” It is this polemical sense of “false gnosis” that Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons took up in the title of his major anti-heretical work: Refutation and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Gnosis, or Against Heresies, written c. "# 180.5 Irenaeus used 1 Timothy’s phrase not only to designate his opponents’ gnosis as false, but, even more important, to construct a broad category of -
Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and New Testament Interpretation
Grace Theological Journal 8.2 (1987) 195-212 Copyright © 1987 by Grace Theological Seminary. Cited with permission. NAG HAMMADI, GNOSTICISM AND NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION WILLIAM W. COMBS The Gnostic heresy alluded to in the NT and widely repudiated by Christian writers in the second century and after has been in- creasingly studied in the last forty years. The discovery in upper Egypt of an extensive collection of Gnostic writings on papyri trans- formed a poorly known movement in early Christianity into a well documented heresy of diverse beliefs and practices. The relationship of Gnosticism and the NT is an issue that has not been resolved by the new documents. Attempts to explain the theology of the NT as dependent on Gnostic teachings rest on ques- tionable hypotheses. The Gnostic redeemer-myth cannot be docu- mented before the second century: Thus, though the Gnostic writings provide helpful insight into the heresies growing out of Christianity, it cannot be assumed that the NT grew out of Gnostic teachings. * * * INTRODUCTION STUDENTS of the NT have generally been interested in the subject of Gnosticism because of its consistent appearance in discussions of the "Colossian heresy" and the interpretation of John's first epistle. It is felt that Gnosticism supplies the background against which these and other issues should be understood. However, some who use the terms "Gnostic" and "Gnosticism" lack a clear understanding of the movement itself. In fact, our knowledge of Gnosticism has suffered considerably from a lack of primary sources. Now, however, with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi (hereafter, NH) codices, this void is being filled. -
A Commentary on Jerome's Contra Vigilantium by Amy
A COMMENTARY ON JEROME’S CONTRA VIGILANTIUM BY AMY HYE OH DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classical Philology with a concentration in Medieval Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Danuta Shanzer Professor Ralph Mathisen Professor Jon Solomon Professor Stephan Heilan, University of Osnabrück ABSTRACT Innkeepers inspired this dissertation. After working on ‘innkeepers’ as a topic for a research seminar paper, I soon discovered that the term caupo counted as an insult according to several church fathers, including Jerome. In the Contra Vigilantium, Jerome mocked his enemy, Vigilantius, by calling him a caupo who mixed water with wine; I wondered whether the title was true and the insult was deserved. What remained was to figure out who this man was and why he mattered. The dissertation is comprised of four parts: introductory chapters, a text with an en face translation, a philological/historical commentary, and appendices. The first chapter introduces Vigilantius, discusses why a commentary of the Contra Vigilantium is needed, and provides a biography, supported by literary and historical evidence in response to the bolder and more fanciful account of W.S. Gilly.1 The second chapter treats Vigilantius as an exegete. From a sample of his exegesis preserved in Jerome’s Ep. 61, I determine that Jerome dismissed Vigilantius’ exegesis because he wanted to protect his own orthodoxy. The third chapter situates Vigilantius in the debate on relic worship. His position is valuable because he opposed most of his contemporaries, decrying relics instead of supporting their translation and veneration. -
5 Fragments of a Forgotten Aiÿn an Outline on a Gnostic Myth
Kervan – Rivista Internazionale di studii afroasiatici n. 2 – luglio 2005 FRAGMENTS OF A FORGOTTEN AIŸN AN OUTLINE ON A GNOSTIC MYTH di Ezio Albrile Gnostics regard the cosmos as the result of an «error» or of a hybris begotten in the transcendent world. Reality is perceived as a great dream intentionally moulded by the Demiurge in order to forget the Light concealed in the creations. By consequence, the power of the Demiurge consists precisely in being the creator and keeper of a level of existence limited in space and time. Gnostic imagination plastically depicts the homicide and ignorant Demiurge with the features of an abnormous creature with the head of a lion and wings, enveloped in the coils of a snake. Thus, Gnostics reinterpreted a key figure in the syncretic pantheon of late Hellenism, i. e. AiŸn, the god of endless eternity, the Saeculum, the Iranic Zurw…n, the Jewish ‚Ol…m. This means that AiŸn involved contacts with two different visions: the AiŸnes are the creations that populate the gnostic pl‡rŸma, immortal and eternal entities, and outside the pl‡rŸma the demiurgic AiŸn arises as the result of a divine «fault», a monstrous being whose somatic features can be found in the Orphic and Mithriac iconography. The central idea of Gnosticism, as of all the mystery religions, is that of salvation; a or inner knowledge was offered to the elect, through which the soul might be delivered from its condition of bondage. Salvation, as understood by Christianity is fundamentally ethical or «religious» in its meaning (Gnoli 1967: 290), but in Gnosticism the ethical aspect of redemption falls almost completely into the background of a ritual praxis. -
The Nag Hammadi Library
The Nag Hammadi Library The Apocryphon of John (The Secret Book of John - The Secret Revelation of John) Translated by Frederik Wisse The Apocryphon of John is commonly referenced by two other names: The Secret Book of John and The Secret Revelation of John, depending upon how the word "Apocryphon" is translated. Their are four surviving Coptic manuscripts of this text: two shorter version found in the Berlin Codex; and Nag Hammadi Codex III, and two longer version, found in Nag Hammadi Codex II and IV. This translation prepared by Dr. Wisse for the Nag Hammadi Library in English uses all four manuscripts to produce a single text. Separate translations of the short and long version, along with extensive additional resources, are available in the Apocryphon of John Collection of the Gnostic Society Library. Visit the Apocryphon of John Collection for more information The teaching of the savior, and the revelation of the mysteries and the things hidden in silence, even these things which he taught John, his disciple. And it happened one day, when John, the brother of James - who are the sons of Zebedee - had come up to the temple, that a Pharisee named Arimanius approached him and said to him, "Where is your master whom you followed?" And he said to him, "He has gone to the place from which he came." The Pharisee said to him, "With deception did this Nazarene deceive you (pl.), and he filled your ears with lies, and closed your hearts (and) turned you from the traditions of your fathers." When I, John, heard these things I turned away from the temple to a desert place. -
Thrice-Male…Thrice-Powerful”: Gender and Authority in Apocryphon of John
“Thrice-Male…Thrice-Powerful”: Gender and Authority in Apocryphon of John A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies University of Regina By Roxanne Lee Korpan Regina, Saskatchewan January 2016 Copyright 2016: R.L. Korpan UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Roxanne Lee Korpan, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies, has presented a thesis titled, “Thrice-Male…Thrice-Powerful”: Gender and Authority in Apocryphon of John, in an oral examination held on August 27, 2015. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: *Dr. Heidi Marx-Wolf, University of Manitoba Supervisor: Dr. William Arnal, Department of Religious Studies Committee Member: Dr. Darlene Juschka, Department of Religious Studies Committee Member: **Dr. Franz Volker Greifenhagen, Department of Religious Studies Chair of Defense: Dr. Emily Eaton, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies *Via SKYPE **Not present at defense i Abstract The following paper examines Apocryphon of John through two different analytic frameworks that make this complex and at times, seemingly bizarre 2nd century C.E. Egyptian text intelligible: (Middle) Platonism and gender. First, the text is analyzed in continuity with the ideological content and rhetorical strategies of contemporary Middle Platonic literature. Next, the text is analyzed as a gendered piece of literature, with attention paid to the rhetorical usefulness of gender in deploying motifs of femininity, masculinity, and androgyny in Apocryphon of John and other contemporary literature. -
Barbelo 1 Barbelo
Barbelo 1 Barbelo Part of a series on Gnosticism History • Early • Syrian-Egyptic • Mandaeism • Manichaeism • Sabians of Haran • Modern schools Proto-Gnostics • Philo • Simon Magus • Cerinthus • Valentinus • Basilides • Menander Scriptures • Gnostic Gospels • Nag Hammadi library • Pseudo-Abdias • Clementine literature • Gnosticism and the New Testament Codices • Codex Tchacos • Askew Codex • Bruce Codex • Berlin Codex Lists • Gnostic sects • Gnostic terms Related articles • Gnosis • Jnana • Esoteric Christianity • Theosophy • Neoplatonism and Gnosticism • v • t [1] • e Barbelo 2 The Gnostic term "Barbēlō" (Greek: Βαρβηλώ)[2] refers to the first emanation of God in several forms of Gnostic cosmogony. Barbēlō is often depicted as a supreme female principle, the single passive antecedent of creation in its manifoldness. This figure is also variously referred to as 'Mother-Father' (hinting at her apparent androgyny), 'First Human Being', 'The Triple Androgynous Name', or 'Eternal Aeon'. So prominent was her place amongst some Gnostics that some schools were designated as Barbeliotae, Barbēlō worshippers or Barbēlōgnostics. The nature of Barbēlō Nag Hammadi Library In the Apocryphon of John, a tractate in the Nag Hammadi Library containing the most extensive recounting of the Sethian creation myth, the Barbēlō is described as "the first power, the glory, Barbēlō, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation". All subsequent acts of creation within the divine sphere (save, crucially, that of the lowest aeon Sophia) occurs through her coaction with God. The text describes her thus: This is the first thought, his image; she became the womb of everything, for it is she who is prior to them all, the Mother-Father, the first man (Anthropos), the holy Spirit, the thrice-male, the thrice-powerful, the thrice-named androgynous one, and the eternal aeon among the invisible ones, and the first to come forth. -
The Diagram of the Ophites: a Synthesis
16 Australian Religion Studies Review The Diagram of the Ophites: a Synthesis Mark A. Vassallo, University of New England The Ophite Diagram: The Plight for Restoration. The term 'Ophite' derived from the Greek ophis (serpent), rather than being a self-designation was a title imposed upon this Gnostic movement by Christian writers. 1 These early Church fathers, who allowed a significant bias to pervade their work, portrayed the Ophites as a cult of serpent worship; even though the serpent played a minor role within the Ophite religious system. 2 This essay will focus on the work of one such Christian heresiologist, especially his exposition of an important facet of the Ophite tradition; the Ophite diagram - a blueprint that was instrumental in the ritual life of the Ophites and which reflects many of the sentiments of Gnosticism at large. Scholars perceive the diagram of the Ophites "as the classic account of the Gnostic-initiatory ascent through the spheres".3 Serving a dual function (i) it provides a comprehensive view of the Ophite cosmos, which in tum, (ii) elaborates the path an initiate travelled for communion with the Supreme God. Although invaluable to Ophite religious practices, no original sketch of the diagram exists today.4 The only evidence we have of the Ophite's diagram is the brief extract in Contra Celsum, written by the eminent Church father, Origen, in refutation of the heretical material produced by Celsus the Epicurean. 5 Celsus familiarised his audience with the belief system of this Gnostic sect, including the ritual use of a diagram that he outlined in his work.6 Any documents produced by Celsus have long since vanished and the selected excerpts in Contra Cetsum are all that remains. -
Download a Pdf File of This Issue for Free
Issue 96: The Gnostic Hunger for Secret Knowledge Gnostics: Did You Know? Interesting and Little Known Facts about the Gnostics Compiled by Jennifer Trafton and Rebecca Colossanov LOST AND FOUND. In 2006, a published English translation and a documentary by the National Geographic Society sparked a storm of public interest in the "lost Gospel of Judas." The third- or fourth-century Coptic manuscript (probably translated from a second-century Greek text) was discovered in the 1970s, but it suffered three decades of mishandling, robbery, deterioration, and neglect before scholars could finally study, authenticate, and translate it. This may be the same Gospel of Judas mentioned by the Christian writer Irenaeus in his book Against Heresies in AD. 180. The Gospel of Judas is the latest in a number of Gnostic manuscript discoveries in the last center the most important of which was a collection of over 40 Gnostic writings in caves near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. (See The Secret Is Out) PRO-JUDAS. NOT PRO-JEWISH. Because the Gospel of Judas portrays Judas as a hero rather than a villain, some people have given the impression that it is somehow an antidote to historic Christian anti- Semitism. This response is ironic, since much of early Gnosticism was deeply critical of traditional Judaism. Gnostics believed that there were actually two Gods, and that the God of the Jews was an evil or ignorant creator who deceived people. One Gnostic text calls the Hebrew patriarchs a "joke"! Because of this, Gnostics interpreted the Jewish Scriptures in ways that seem very strange to us. -
The Secret Book of John: the Gnostic Gospel—Annotated and Explained (Both Skylight Paths) and the Revolt of the Widows: the Social World of the Apocryphal Acts
1 2 Thank you for purchasing this SkyLight Paths e-book! Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive special offers and information on the latest new books and other great e-books from SkyLight Paths. Sign Up Here or visit us online to sign up at www.skylightpaths.com. 3 Looking for an inspirational speaker for an upcoming event, conference or retreat? SkyLight Paths authors are available to speak and teach on a variety of topics that educate and inspire. For more information about our authors who are available to speak to your group, visit www.skylightpaths.com/page/category/SLP-SB. To book an event, contact the SkyLight Paths Speakers Bureau at [email protected] or call us at (802) 457- 4000. 4 Contents Preface Introduction Timeline Title Prologue 1. The Inexpressible One 2. The Origin of Reality 3. Primary Structures of the Divine Mind 4. Secondary Structures of the Divine Mind 5. Tertiary Structures of the Divine Mind 6. A Crisis That Became the World 7. The Fashioning of This World 8. Sophia Repents 9. Humanity Begins 10. The Construction of the Human Body 11. Yaldabaoth Deceived 12. The Beginning of Salvation 13. Adam in Yaldabaoth’s Paradise 14. Woman Comes into Being 5 15. The Children of Seth Populate the World 16. Six Questions about the Soul 17. Three Plots against Humanity 18. The Providence Hymn Conclusion Notes Suggestions for Further Reading About the Author Copyright Also Available About SkyLight Paths Sign Up for E-mail Updates Send Us Your Feedback 6 Preface Perhaps you are one of those remarkable people who experience an overpowering realization of the divinity of existence.