The Carnal Mind?

THE CARNAL MIND.
"The thinking of the flesh is enmity against God."
When the Lord God bestowed the faculty of speech upon the serpent, He enabled it to give utterance to its thoughts. The possession of this power did not, however, confer upon it moral accountability. This depends on a different constitution of "the flesh." Where no "moral sentiments" exist as a part of "the flesh," or brain, there is no ability in the creature to render an account for its aberrations from the requirements of moral, or spiritual institutions. Speech only enabled it to utter the thinkings of its unsentimentalized intellect. It spoke like Balaam's ass, under the impulse of the sensations excited by what it had seen and heard. The thinkings of its flesh could not ascend to faith, being destitute of the organic ability to believe; therefore its speech could express only fleshly thoughts. Faith was too high an attainment for it. The light of God's law could not shine into it. Like all the inferior animals, it was a creature of mere sensation, and could utter only sentences formed of combinations resulting from the impressions of sensible objects transmitted to its sensorium by the five senses; it transcended them, however, in being more observant and reasoning than they.
The carnal mind is an expression used by Paul; or rather, it is the translation of words used by him, in his epistle to the Romans. It is not so explicit as the original. The words he wrote are to fronhma thV sarkoV the thinking of the flesh. In this phrase, he intimates to us, that the flesh is the thinking substance, that is, the brain; which, in another place, he terms "the fleshly tablet of the heart." The kind of thinking, therefore, depends upon the conformation of this organ. Hence, the more elaborate and perfect its mechanism, the more precise and comprehensive the thought; and vice versa. It is upon this principle such a diversity of mental manifestation is observable among men and other animals; but after all, how diverse soever they may be, they are all referable to one and the same thing -- the thinking of the flesh, whose elaborations are excited by the propensities, and the sensible phenomena of the world.

Now, the law of God is given, that the thinking of the flesh, instead of being excited by the propensities within, and the world without, may be conducted according to its direction. So long as Adam and Eve yielded to its guidance, they were happy and contented. Their thoughts were the result of right thinking, and obedience was the consequence. But when they adopted the serpent's reasonings as their own, these, being at variance with the truth, caused an "enmity" against it in their thinkings, which is equivalent to "enmity against God." When their sin was perfected, the propensities, or lusts, having been inflamed, became "a law in their members;" and because it was implanted in their flesh by transgression, it is styled "the law of sin;" and death being the wages of sin, it is also termed, "the law of sin and death;" but by philosophy, "the law of nature."

Whom are Your disciples like gospel of thomas saying 21

"Whom are Your disciples like?" is the equivalent of “what are those who correctly understand like?” or it could be the opposite:  Whom are they who claim to be your disciples like? So here the disciples may represent illegitimate claimants to Christian understanding, and the field they stand in may possibly be the church as Thomas understands it.

Those who have settled in a field and sown the Word, anger those who plant their own outside the Father on the fields they proclaim to be theirs! Be prepared, and stand the ground that is yours to tend, for they will come asking you to repent to them and leave, thus rob you of your harvest, a place in the light as children of God.

The motif of nakedness is introduced here and plays an important role in other sayings in the GTh. In the Bible nakedness conveys different things. In this context it signifies either innocence or integrity, depending on how those terms are defined.

2Sa 13:18 Jos 7:21 Jos 7:24 2Sa 13:19 2Sa 20:8 2Ki 9:13 1Ki 11:29 1Ki 11:30 Zec 13:4

21) Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are Your disciples like?" He said, "They are like children who have settled in a field [in the world] which is not theirs [they are not of the world]. When the owners [the Pharisees and scribes/Christo-pagen leaders] of the field [the world] come [these are worldly (stately) in nature - merchants of the earth who serve the god of mammon], they will say, 'Let us have back our field [the world of religion - excommunicates the Elect from within].' They [the disciples] (will) undress in their presence [remove their "religious" clothing/affiliations] in order to let them have back their field and give it back to them [this is a wearing down of the saints that occurs in all organized religion for they who love the darkness cannot tolerate the light within their midst - effectively influencing them the Elect to; "come out from her my people"]. ##Therefore I say to you, if the owner [Jesus] of a house [one Covenanted to Him] knows that the thief [the Christo-pagen leaders] is coming [to steal God's Word and hide the Keys of Knowledge - v.39], he will begin his vigil [as High Priest he both enlightens (reveals His plan to) and prays for His disciples that they might discern the coup attempt over their spirits] before he [the thief] comes and will not let him into his house [the body of His Elect who are now His] of his domain [the Kingdom of God] to carry away his goods [any fruit gained from those of spiritual insight]. You [this is for any who read this], then, be on your guard against the world [for those of the world will never stop persecuting and killing any who lift up a candle of truth]. Arm yourselves with great strength [un-quenching faith in God and HIs Christ] lest the robbers [spiritual thieves who control the religions of the world] find a way to come to you [snare you in one of the many devices they have for appealing to you physical and emotional senses], for the difficulty which you expect will (surely) materialize [this is part of the refining fire that all of the Elect must suffer]. Let there be among you a man of understanding [a discerning spirit of both the higher/inward and the lower/outward meanings of the Word]. #When the grain ripened [the end of the season came], he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it [called His Elect into His barn]. Whoever has ears [two ears giving depth of hearing both higher/inward (spiritual) sounds and lower/outward (physical) sounds] to hear, let him hear."

When Eve Was in Adam The Gospel of Philip

When Eve Was in Adam

When Eve was in Adam, there was no death. When she was separated from him, death came. If <she> enters into him again and he embraces <her>, death will cease to be. The Gospel of Philip

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; Genesis 2:21

"And He took one of his ribs" — The word tsela, from tsala "to incline," is nowhere else used for "rib," but is translated "side" (e.g. Exod. 25:12). Exactly what part, or how much, of Adam's side was taken from him is not revealed. But whatever part it was, it transferred the feminine qualities of the man to Eve, his wife (Eph. 5:22). She became his counterpart; and she, complementing him, made him complete.

Likewise I became very small, so that through my humility I might take you up to the great height, whence you had fallen. You were taken to this pit. If now you believe in me, it is I who shall take you above, through this shape that you see. It is I who shall bear you upon my shoulders. Enter through the rib whence you came and hide yourself from the beasts. The Interpretation of Knowledge

In the The Interpretation of Knowledge Christ exhorts the believers: “Enter in through the rib, the place from which you came forth and hide yourself from the beasts.”

The flesh of the crucified Christ is connected with the veil of the Jerusalem Temple, Christ’s spear-wound is also being understood here as the mystical portal to the heavenly holy of holies, the concepts of the Edenic Paradise and the holy of holies were by no means mutually exclusive in antiquity

Jubilees 8.19: “And [Noah] knew that the garden of Eden was the holy of holies and
the dwelling of the Lord”; cf. 4.23–26; the Tree of Life) also appears alongside temple imagery (e.g. the throne of God) in John of Patmos’s vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22:1–5; in the New Testament (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7), “all of the texts seem to reflect the equation of the heavenly paradise with the heavenly temple”.

According to Gos. Phil., the living sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross obviated the earthly sacrificial cult that worshipped the beasts: “Indeed, the beasts (xNchrion) were the ones to whom they sacrificed. They were indeed offering them up alive, but when they offered them up, they died. As for man, they offered him up to God dead, and he lived.”

Similarly, “God is a man-eater. For this reason, men are sacrificed to him. Before men were sacrificed, beasts (xNchrion) were being sacrificed, since those to whom they were sacrificed were not gods

In these two passages, the beasts (chrion; Gk. θήριον; pl. θηρία) are identified with both the things being sacrificed, and the things being sacrificed to, suggesting that the earthly Temple cult is performed in the service of the beasts, the demiurge and his archons, by those who come from them and are consubstantial with them. 

Hence, Gos. Phil. says of the true heavenly Temple cult, “A bridal chamber is not for the beasts (Nchrion), nor is it for the slaves, nor for defiled women; but it is for free men and virgins.”95 Again the bridal chamber is identified as one of the “buildings for sacrifice” (Nhei Mma N+prosvora; Gos. Phil. 69.14–15) in the Temple, a place in which men and virgins can enter, but beasts cannot.

This corresponds well with the present interpretation of the imagery in Interp. Know. 10.34b–37a, namely, that once the Valentinian soul has entered through the veil of Christ’s flesh, it can hide itself from the beasts in the temple of his body, having ceased to be a slave (14.34–38). In the Excerpts of Theodotus, it is likewise clear that these “

the “rib” or “side” (speir) of Christ in 10.35 may be an allusion to Jesus’s assertion, “I am the gate for the sheep ... Whoever enters by me will be saved”

Exc. Theod. 26.2–3: “Wherefore whenever he would say, ‘I am the door’, he means that you, who are of the superior seed, shall come as far as the Limit where I am. And whenever he enters in, the superior seed also enters into the Pleroma with him, brought together and brought in through the door”

By a show of faith, the soul can re-enter the divine realm through the “rib” (speir) of the crucified Christ, hide itself from its adversaries, and have the burden of the flesh alleviated. 

This entry into the body of the crucified Christ is thought to facilitate a heavenly ascent. This soteriology is unpacked further in Interp. Know. 11–14, which as was mentioned above, has been called a “complex Midrash” on the sayings of 9.28–10.38.42

Moreover, when the great Son was sent after his small brothers, he spread abroad the edict of the Father and proclaimed it, opposing the All. And he removed the old bond of debt, the one of condemnation. And this is the edict that was: Those who made themselves enslaved have become condemned in Adam. They have been brought from death, received forgiveness for their sins, and been redeemed The Interpretation of Knowledge

Firstly, in being crucified, Christ inaugurated a new covenant, or “edict,” to replace the old Adamic one,which is here described as a “bond of condemnation.”50 That which was
inaugurated by Adam brought about slavery, death, and sin. Christ came to reverse this by means of his self-sacrifice. It is clear from the imagery in 10.34–36 that the evil Adamic covenant was not the result of his transgression of God’s will, but rather the separation of Eve from Adam’s side, which apparently brought death into the world.51 Hence we see in our saying, Christ, in his role as the Second Adam, exhorting the soul to return whence it came (his rib), and thereby restore the primal androgyne, overcome death, and receive redemption, being “reborn in the flesh and blood of (the Saviour)”

When Eve [the holy spirit (mother of everyone living)] was still with Adam [still in the creative thoughts of the Father], death did not exist [God does not die, hence His image and likeness would not die as long as it continued in Oneness with the Father]. When she was separated from him [when she was manifest in creation as individual spirit consciousness (i.e. was able to make independent choices)], death came into being [by making the wrong choice to follow a path contrary to Gods Law causing double mindedness – it is the separation of the will of the Father from the will of individual spirit]. If he enters again [into harmony with the will of the Father] and attains his former self [brings body, soul and spirit back together as One], death will be no more [this is victory over death]  

Mary Conceiving the Gospel of Philip

Mary Conceiving the gospel of philip, gospel of thomas, 

Mary Conceiving

Some said Mary became pregnant by the holy spirit. They are wrong and do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever get pregnant by a woman?

Mary is the virgin whom none of the powers defiled. This is greatly cruse to the Hebrews, who are the apostles and apostolic persons. This virgin whom none of the powers defiled [wishes that] the powers would defile themselves.

My Father

The master [would] not have said, “My [father who is] in heaven,” if [he] did not also have another father. He would simply have said, “[My father].”

Some said, "Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit." They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman [she was not defiled when the holy spirit impregnated her through David's seed see my study The Artificial Insemination of Mary with David's semen. Because David's seed and Mary's egg were implanted. Later the embryo was holy but still Adamic by which we mean our fall sinful nature].
[Mary was impregnated by the Father however Mary is not the true mother of Jesus, the true mother of Jesus is the Holy Spirit ]

Jesus has two Mothers: Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to Me. And whoever does [not] love his father and his mother as I do cannot become a [disciple] to Me. For My mother [gave me falsehood], but [My] true [Mother] gave me life." Gospel of Thomas Saying 110

In Hebrew the word spirit is a feminine noun. That is why it can be spoken of as a Mother giving birth. Therefore Jesus has 2 mothers Mary is Jesus' natural mother according to the flesh who could only give him falsehood or death by genetic inheritance. By falsehood we understand this to mean adamic condemnation which brings forth death which Jesus needed to be saved from Hebrews 5:7

when the holy spirit overshadowed Mary this was a miracle however Jesus was made of human nature his flesh was the same as our flesh he did not an immaculate nature or angelic nature. Therefore he would need to be born of the spirit to have eternal life

However the holy spirit is Jesus' mother by his resurrection from the dead by being born again.

The Lord was conceived (born again) from what is imperishable, from God. The [Lord arose] from among the dead. But [He did not come into being as he was. Rather [his body] was [completely] perfect. It was of flesh, and this [flesh is indeed] true flesh.¹ [Yet our flesh] is not true, but rather a mirror-image of the true [flesh]. (¹Jn 1:14, 20:27, II-Jn 7; NHS p. 174 Gospel of Philip

Romans 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Jesus came in the flesh of the seed of David when he was resurrected from the dead by the spirit of holiness he was born of the spirit

John 3:6 What has been born from the flesh is flesh, and what has been born from the spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel because I told you, YOU people must be born again.
8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone that has been born from the spirit.”

Notice the feminine description of the spirit in v8 one is born of the spirit. to use the langue of being born is describing the holy spirit as a mother

Mt 11:19 But wisdom is justified by her children.

Therefore the holy spirit is a feminine aspect of God

The holy spirit is a force, the invisible power and energy of the Father by which God is everywhere present. The chosen messengers have been given only the power and authority from Yahweh they need to accomplish their mission. Gen 1:2; Num 11:17; Mt 3:16; John 20:22; Ac 2:4, 17, 33. The Spirit is not a 'separate' or 'other' person. Ac 7:55, 56; Re 7:10 It is God's own radiant power, ever out flowing from Him, by which His 'everywhereness' is achieved. Ps 104:30; 1 Cor 12:4-11.
The Spirit is personal in that it is of God Himself: it is not personal in the sense of being some other person within the Godhead"

Mary is the virgin whom no power defiled [she was a Righteous woman]. She [Mary – the symbolic “womb” of spiritual birth] is a great anathema to the Hebrews, who are the apostles and the apostolic men [even these were anathema because they were all still “double minded” and could not comprehend what Mary truly represented at the time]. This virgin whom no power defiled [...] the powers defile themselves.

And the Lord would not have said "My Father who is in Heaven" (Mt 16:17), unless he had had another father [the other father was the “first man Adam” through His physical “genetic” seed line for one must first be born of flash for "that", says Jesus himself, "which is born of the flesh is flesh" (John 3:6)  and this Paul explains in another place by saying, that "He sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3) in the offering of his body once (Heb. 10:10,12,14). Sin could not have been condemned in the body of Jesus, if it had not existed there. His body was as unclean as the bodies of those for whom he died; for he was born of a woman, and "not one" can bring a clean body out of a defiled body;], but he would have said simply "My father"  [Jesus also had a physical father in Eli and was adopted in the Royal family by Joseph].

The Gospel of Thomas Saying 104

The Gospel of Thomas Saying 104

[104]. They said [to him:] "Come, let us pray and fast today!" Jesus says: "What then is the sin that I have committed, or in what have I been at fault? But when the bridegroom comes out of the bridal chamber, then they must fast and pray!"

Notice that “they” rather than “you” is the form used here, so that Jesus is implicitly is speaking about people outside the immediate audience of the saying that is the Pharisees.  

"Jesus is asked to pray and fast (see Sayings 5 and 14). Since he has committed no sin, he refuses

Although we do not know the particulars regarding this fast, it seems from Jesus’ response, that Jesus is telling these Pharisees that he had no personal reason to fast on that day. In addition, Jesus indicates that their timing for the fast was inappropriate. But when  the bridegroom comes out of the bridal chamber at the second coming than the false believers will fast and pray"


104) They [the Pharisees] said [to Jesus], "Come, let us pray today and let us fast [thinking in their fleshly minds that these lower/outward forms of worship are beneficial]." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed [that I should join with you in prayer], or wherein have I been defeated [when was I overcome by the flesh]? But when the bridegroom [the Word] leaves the bridal chamber [of your heart - as a result of turning back to the rudiments of the world], then let them [those who have fallen to the robbers losing the Keys of Knowledge] fast and pray." (Lk 5:33-39; Mt 9:14-17; etc..)

The Heavenly Jerusalem Gospel of Thomas Saying 105

The Heavenly Jerusalem is the Mother of Us All 

The Gospel of Thomas 

Saying 105  Jesus said: He who knows father and mother will be called the son of a harlot.


In Saying 101 the true mother refers to the holy spirit but in this Saying we can not assume that these words refer to God and the holy spirit that is why father and mother are not capitalized. 

Jews only have mothers. A Jewish mother and a Gentile father is a Jew but Jewish father and Gentile mother is not a Jew as Christians we have both father and mother. 

“In the days when we used to be Hebrews we were orphans brought about through our mother only, but as Christians we have both father and mother.” (Gospel of Philip)

The father is not God or Christ but Abraham the father of us all Rom 4:16 Gal 3:16,29 4:26,27 Heb 12:22 Ps 87:5,6 Isa 54:1 60:1 Rev 21:9,10

The Mother is the heavenly Jerusalem

The heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of us all which we have come to by faith, every immered believer is an adopted citizen of the Holy City, the holy city represents the members of the community thus all true believers collectively are the Holy City.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Sarah the wife of Abraham represents the New Jerusalem one from above under the new constitution of the Hebrew commonwealth. She is the mother of us all, of those who will enjoy the blessings of Abraham in Christ. Those who make up the holy City are the elect taken out of the nations, by obedience of faith, by which faith they have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem. They come by faith because we walk by faith not by sight at the moment. Acts 14:22 15:14 8:12 Rom 1:5 2Cor 5:7 Heb 12:22 Gal 4:26

SHE IS OUR MOTHER: Cp "Eve", figurative bride of Christ: the "mother" of all living (Gen 3:20n), as regards Christ the seed of Gen 3:15. Cp idea, Rom 16:13 (his mother, and mine); Isa 66:7,8,13; Psa 87:2-6

In this passage the apostle speaks of Abraham’s free wife and of his concubine Hagar and says that Hagar symbolizes the literal city of Jerusalem under the Law covenant, her “children” being the citizens of the Jewish nation. Abraham’s wife Sarah, Paul says, symbolizes “the Jerusalem above,” who is the spiritual mother of Paul and his brothers those born of the spirit. This heavenly “mother” would be also the “mother” of Christ, who is the oldest among his spiritual brothers, all of whom spring from God as their Father.—Heb 2:11, 12

The Mother is also symbolized by wisdom

Mt 11:19  The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Pr 8:32 ¶  Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

105) Jesus said, "He who knows the [spiritual] father [Abraham] and the [spiritual] mother [the Jerusalem above or heavenly Jerusalem] will be called the son of a harlot [by the world for these are His "people" "who come out from her..." - anyone who has left the great whore of Babylon (religion) is considered a lost soul and a son of a harlot]." 

Gnostic Prophecies about Jesus

Prophecies about Jesus

Eugnostos’s own theological discussion about the nature of the supernal realms, ending in a prophecy of the coming of a revealer who will bring further revelation.

Eugnostos is made to prophesy about the coming of Christ as interpreter: “Now all these things that I have just told you (sing.),44 I have said in a way that you will be able to bear, until the one who is unteachable appears to you, and he will speak all of these things to you joyfully and in pure knowledge” (Eugnostos III 90,4–11).

Gospel of Thomas (52) His students said to him, Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel and they all spoke of you.  He said to them, You have disregarded the living one among you and have spoken of the dead.

This saying in the Gospel of Thomas it is not really a prophecy, it first confirms the Old Testament prophets all speaking about Jesus this show us that the writer of the text believed that the OT prophets prognosticated information about Jesus. next Jesus himself declares his own prophetic status   

The Nag Hammadi Library Melchizedek:

 Furthermore, they will say of him that he is unbegotten, though he has been begotten, (that) he does not eat, even though he eats, (that) he does not drink, even though he drinks, (that) he is uncircumcised, though he has been circumcised, (that) he is unfleshly, though he has come in the flesh, (that) he did not come to suffering, <though> he came to suffering, (that) he did not rise from the dead, <though> he arose from the dead.

This is an anti docetism prophecy 


On the Origin of the World

Now the Word that is superior to all beings was sent for this purpose alone: that he might proclaim the unknown. He said, "There is nothing hidden that is not apparent, and what has not been recognized will be recognized." And these were sent to make known what is hidden, and the seven authorities of chaos and their impiety. And thus they were condemned to death.

The Revelation (Apocalypse) of Adam

Once again, for the third time,  the illuminator of knowledge passes by in great glory to leave some of the seed of Noah and the sons of Ham and Japheth—to leave fruit-bearing trees for himself.  And he redeems their souls from the day of death. The whole creation that came from the dead earth will be under the authority of death. But those who reflect on the knowledge of the eternal god in their hearts will not perish. They have not received spirit from this kingdom  but from something eternal, angelic. . . . The illuminator will come . . . Seth. And he will perform signs and wonders to scorn the powers and their ruler.
Then the god of the powers  is disturbed and says, “What is the power of this person who is higher than we are?”  Then he brings a great wrath against that person. And glory withdraws and lives in holy houses it has chosen for itself. The powers do not see it with their eyes, nor do they see the illuminator. They punish the flesh of the one over whom the holy spirit has come.

Valentinian Cosmology Explained

Valentinian Cosmology

Valentinian Cosmology is pretty complicated doctrinal things and some modern Gnostics have a tendency to think that Gnosticism is post doctrinal and that dogma and doctrine are bad things but to the classical Gnostics they were important and and for us as modern Gnostics they're important because cosmology (Cosmogony is the study of the creation of the universe.) determines anthropology (Christian anthropology is the study of the human ("anthropology") as it relates to God) our view of mankind.

Valentinian Cosmology comes from a study of the prologue of the Gospel of John. It is a study of Creation and the Divine Attributes of God together they make up the Pleroma.

To Explain the Divine Attributes Valentinians would refer to the prologue in the Gospel of John when it says "the word was in the beginning," Valentinians believed that John was referring to mind and truth this we can see from Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 6 quoted below

Valentinians believed that some Greek words in the prologue in the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul form the totality of the Divine Attributes which they called the Pleroma

The Pleroma

First of all the Pleroma did not always exist it was produced and formed by the Eternal Spirit this we call the emanation.
(He created the holy Pleroma in this way The Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex)

The word Pleroma means "fullness". It refers to all existence beyond visible universe. 
In other words it is the world of the Aeons, the heavens or spiritual universe. 

Bythos (Ro 11:33) is the spiritual source of everything which emanates the pleroma, 

The Aeons are emanations of the Divine Mind as well as Divine Beings
(For each of the aeons is a name corresponding to each of the Father's qualities and powers the Tripartite Tractate)

The Pleroma is both the abode of and the essential nature of the True Ultimate Deity or Bythos.(Ro 11:33)
The Pleroma as well as being the the dwellings place of the Aeons is also a a state of consciousness

The lowest regions of Pleroma are closest to darkness—that is, the physical universe.

For more information on the Pleroma see my studies
The Pleroma the Waters Above the Heavens
The Concept of the Pleroma

Different myth

Different forms of this Cosmological myth appear in different Valentinian writings for example in the the Tripartite Tractate the fall is because of the actions of the Logos not Sophia as many other text say

Valentinians do not use the terms Barbelo or Yaldabaoth in their myths

Valentinian viewed the emanations we are going to looking at as syzygy that is pairs Logos male Zoe female Anthropos male and Ekklesia female.

This is not really a myth but a study of the mind of God pre-creation it would be best to call this a primordial drama instead of a myth.

 the pattern of heavenly things

The Pleroma the region of light, is the archetypal heavenly things, it is the pattern which was shown to Moses and is called the heavenly things themselves

Acts 7:44–7:4444“Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Heb 9:23 ¶  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Philo of Alexandria: The incorporeal world then was already completed, having its seat in the Divine Reason; and the world, perceptible by the external senses, was made on the model of it; and the first portion of it, being also the most excellent of all made by the Creator, was the heaven, which he truly called the firmament, as being corporeal; for the body is by nature firm....called it the heaven, either because it was already the Boundary{2} of everything, or because it was the first of all visible things which was created; and after its second rising he called the time day, referring the entire space and measure of a day to the heaven, on account of its dignity and honour among the things perceptible to the external senses. 

{philo means that ouranos was derived either from horos, a boundary, or from horaoµ, to see, horatos, visible.}

The Demiurge

In the prologue of the Gospel of John can be interpreted in two ways as a pre-creation myth in this case we should view words such as logos, life, light, man, not as separate beings but as Divine Attributes of the One True Deity. However if we look at this as a creation myth it should be in interpreted that the logos did not make the world this was done by the Craftsman or Demiurge, this can be seen from Heracleon's Commentary on the Gospel of John:

Heracleon Fragment 1, on John 1:3 (In John 1:3, “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.”) The sentence: "All things were made through him" means the world and what is in it. It excludes what is better than the world. The Aeon (i.e. the Fullness), and the things in it, were not made by the Word; they came into existence before the Word. . . “Without him, nothing was made” of what is in the world and the creation. . . "All things were made through Him," means that it was the Word who caused the Craftsman (Demiurge) to make the world, that is it was not the Word “from whom” or “by whom,” but the one “through whom (all things were made).”. . . It was not the Word who made all things, as if he were energized by another, for "through whom" means that another made them and the Word provided the energy.

This Fragment from Heracleon's Commentary on the Gospel of John is in agreement with the Tripartite Tractate:

Over all the archons he appointed an Archon with no one commanding him. He is the lord of all of them, that is, the countenance which the Logos brought forth in his thought as a representation of the Father of the Totalities. Therefore, he is adorned with every <name> which <is> a representation of him, since he is characterized by every property and glorious quality. For he too is called "father" and god" and "demiurge" and "king" and "judge" and "place" and "dwelling" and "law."

The Logos uses him as a hand, to beautify and work on the things below, and he uses him as a mouth, to say the things which will be prophesied.

The things which he has spoken he does

For more information on this see my study on the Demiurge

A brief summary of the Valentinian system

From the transcendent Deity there was emanated a male principle called Mind and a female principle called Thought. 

In these principles emanated others, in male and female pairs to the total of thirty knows as Aeons who collectively constitute the fullness or the divine realm which others would call the spirit world which is beyond the physical heavens it is also called the 3rd Heaven.

John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word (logos or the first thought or reason of God), and the Word was with God (the Monad [meaning the One] the transcendent Deity or the Uncreated Eternal Spirit), and the Word was God. (It was "with God" in that it emanated from him; )
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Note The word “beginning” in John 1:1 cannot refer to the “beginning” of God the Creator, for he is eternal, having no beginning. (Ps 90:2)

John 1:18 No one, hath seen, God, at any time: An Only Begotten God, The One existing within the bosom of the Father, He, hath interpreted him.

"Theos was the Logos."

In this text, then, there is ONE DEITY, and he is styled THE LOGOS. This word signifies, "the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed and made known; also, the inward thought or reason itself

No Logos, then there would be no Theos; and without Theos, the Logos could have no existence. This may be illustrated by the relation of reason, or intelligence and speech, to brain, as affirmed in the proposition, No brain, -- no thought, reason, nor intelligence. Call the brain Theos; and thought, reason, and understanding intelligently expressed, Logos; and the relation and dependence of Theos and Logos, in John's use of the terms, may readily be conceived. Brain-flesh is substance, or the hypostasis, that underlies thought; so Theos is substance which constitutes the substratum of Logos. Theos is the substance called Spirit; as it is written, "Theos is Spirit;" and he who uttered these words is declared to be himself both substance and spirit. Dr. John Thomas Eureka Volume 1 Of Deity Before Manifestation in Flesh.

Theos is the Brain, Logos is the Mind or thought

Valentinian Commentary

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue: John, the disciple of the Lord, intentionally spoke of the origination of the entirety, by which the Father emitted all things. And he assumes that the First Being engendered by God is a kind of beginning; he has called it "Son" and "Only-Begotten God." In this (the Only-Begotten) the Father emitted all things in a process involving posterity. By this (Son), he says, was emitted the Word, in which was the entire essence of the aeons that the Word later personally formed.

"Only-Begotten God." meaning a begotten God of the unbegotten God

6 The verse, “In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God” the Valentinians understand thus, for they say that the “beginning” is the “Only Begotten” and that he is also called God, as also in the verses which immediately follow it explains that he is God, for it says, “The Only-Begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” (John 1:18) Now they say that the Logos in the beginning, that is to say in the Only-Begotten, in the Mind and the Truth, indicates the Christ, the Logos and the Life [Zoe]. Wherefore he also appropriately calls God him who is in God, the Mind. “That which came into being in him,” the Logos, “was Life,” the Companion. Therefore the Lord also says, “I am the Life.” (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

God came forth: the Son, Mind of the All, that is, it is from the Root of the All that even his Thought stems, since he had this one (the Son) in Mind. The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition

The logos here is a personification of the mind of God or the Father's first thought. We will look more at personifications later.





This logos which is mind and truth can be compared with the The Tripartite Tractate:

The Father, in the way we mentioned earlier, in an unbegotten way, is the one in whom he knows himself, who begot him having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the perception of him, which is the [...] of his constitution forever. That is, however, in the proper sense, the silence and the wisdom and the grace, if it is designated properly in this way.

7 Therefore, the Father, being unknown, wished to be known to the Aeons, and through his own thought, as if he had known himself, he put forth the Only-Begotten, the spirit of Knowledge which is in Knowledge. So he too who came forth from Know ledge, that is, from the Father's Thought, became Knowledge, that is, the Son, because “through' the Son the Father was known.” But the Spirit of Love has been mingled with the Spirit of Knowledge, as the Father with the Son, and Thought with Truth, having proceeded from Truth as Knowledge from Thought. And he who remained “ Only-Begotten Son in the bosom of the Father” explains Thought to the Aeons through Knowledge, just as if he had also been put forth from his bosom; but him who appeared here, the Apostle no longer calls “ Only Begotten,” but “ as Only-Begotten,” “Glory as of an Only-Begotten.” This is because being one and the same, Jesus is the” First-Born” in creation, but in the Pleroma is “Only- Begotten.” But he is the same, being to each place such as can be contained [in it]. And he who descended is never divided from him who remained. For the Apostle says, “For he who ascended is the same as he who descended.” And they call the Creator, the image of the Only-Begotten. Therefore even the works of the image are the same and therefore the Lord, having made the dead whom he raised an image of the spiritual resurrection, raised them not so that their flesh was incorruptible but as if they were going to die again. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 7)

8 But we maintain that the essential Logos is God in God, who is also said to be “in the bosom of the Father,” continuous, undivided, one God. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

The first thought is the logos and also called Mind and Truth

The Father through that first thought brings forth the only begotten Son
Valentinian cosmology starts with this primal being primal being we're going to call the Monad meaning the One. "The Monad who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him." Valentinian Exposition.

From the Valentinian Exposition we can we that the primal ineffable Father has two components a male and a female component or aspects, attribute, the male aspects is called Bythos (Ro 11:33) meaning depth and the female aspect is called Sige (1Ki 19:12 ) meaning silence. Silence can be compared to wisdom thus Sige is also Sophia.
This describes the supreme Deity as being androgynous this is what the Valentinian Exposition means when it says "He dwells in the Dyad and in the Pair, and his Pair is Silence, "

This also describes the Deity has incomprehensible and cannot be seen cannot be heard since the Father-Mother is unfathomable and Silent

The primal Depth (the masculine principle) and Ennoia or Sige meaning Thought (the feminine principle) together make up the first Dyadic or a syzygy

This view of God being androgynous can be found in the Bible in the Book of Proverbs God has a feminine aspect wisdom (Sophia):

8:22 Yahweh possessed me," saith the Logos, "in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from olahm (the hidden period) from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the open places, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the deep; when he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the fountains of the deep; when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him as one brought up with him (the Logos was with the Theos): and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights with the sons of men" (Prov. 8:22).

Here wisdom is personified. Wisdom here is not a separate deity. but it is the personification of the attribute of wisdom displayed by God:  truth, justice, value, the beautiful, faithful, eternal companion and handmaid of God.

The personification begins with the love relationship she has with her followers is a guarantee of prosperity, provided they walk in her ways [vv 17-21]. Then, in the astounding passage in vv 22–31, she affirms her origins from God, and from of old before creation. The description of creation in vv 25–29 is not really important here; there is no concentration on creation itself, which merely serves to underscore Wisdom's preexistence. 

So from the Gospel of John chapter 1 and the Book of Proverbs chapter 8 we can see that the God of the Bible also incorporated masculine and feminine characteristics Logos and Sophia through these attribute the Father created the universe

This is the same as the Gnostic understanding

Getting back now to the the prologue of the Gospel of John 

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue "The entirety was made through it, and without it was not anything made." [Jn 1:3] For the Word became the cause of the forming and origination of all the aeons that came after it. 

8 “All things were made by him”; things both of the spirit, and of the mind, and of the senses, in accordance with the activity proper to the essential Logos. “This one explained the bosom of the Father,” the Saviour and [Isaiah said, “And I will pay back their deeds into their bosom,” that is, into their thought, which is in the soul, from which it is first activated] “First-Born of all creation.” But the essential Only-Begotten, in accordance with whose continuous power the Saviour acts, is the Light of the Church, which previously was in darkness and ignorance. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus 8)

“And darkness comprehended him not”: the apostates and the rest of men did not know him and death did not detain him.

Ptolemy's Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue: But furthermore (he says), "That which came into being in it was Life."[Jn 1:4] Here he discloses a pair [syzygy]. For he says that the entirety came into being through it, but Life is in it. Now, that which came into being in it more intimately belongs to it than what came into being through it: it is joined with it and through it it bears fruit. Indeed, inasmuch as he adds, "and Life [Zoe] was the light of human beings", [Jn 1:4] in speaking of human beings he has now disclosed also the Church by means of a synonym, so that with a single word he might disclose the partnership of the pair [syzygy]. For from the Word [Logos] and Life [Zoe], the Human Being [Anthropos] and the Church [Ekklesia] came into being. And he called Life the light of human beings because they are enlightened by her, i.e. formed and made visible. Paul, too, says this: "For anything that becomes visible is light." [Eph 5:13] So since Life made the Human Being and the Church visible and engendered them, she is said to be their light.

Now among other things, John plainly made clear the second quartet, i.e. the Word; Life; the Human Being; the Church.

But what is more, he also disclosed the first quartet. describing the Savior, now, and saying that all things outside the Fullness were formed by him, he says that he is the fruit of the entire fullness. For he calls him a light that "shines in the darkness" [Jn 1:5] and was not overcome by it, inasmuch as after he had fitted together all things that had derived from the passion they did not become acquainted with him. And he calls him Son, Truth, Life, and Word become flesh. We have beheld the latter's glory, he says. And its glory was like that of the Only- Begotten, which was bestowed on him by the Father, "full of grace and truth". [Jn 1:14] And he speaks as follows: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; we have beheld its glory, glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father." [Jn 1:14] So he precisely discloses also the first quartet when he speaks of the Father; Grace; the Only-Begotten; Truth. Thus did John speak of the first octet, the mother of the entirety of aeons. For he referred to the Father; Grace; the Only-Begotten; Truth; the Word; Life; the Human Being; the Church.


The Nag Hammadi Library A Valentinian Exposition:


That Tetrad projected the Tetrad which is the one consisting of Word and Life and Man and Church. Now the Uncreated One projected Word and Life. Word is for the glory of the Ineffable One while Life is for the glory of Silence, and Man is for his own glory, while Church is for the glory of Truth. This, then, is the Tetrad begotten according to the likeness of the Uncreated (Tetrad). And the Tetrad is begotten [... ] the Decad from Word and Life, and the Dodecad from Man, and Church became a Triacontad. Moreover, it is the one from the Triacontad of the Aeons who bear fruit from the Triacontrad. They enter jointly, but they come forth singly, fleeing from the Aeons and the Uncontainable Ones. And the Uncontainable Ones, once they had looked at him, glorified Mind since he is an Uncontainable One that exists in the Pleroma.


You may be wondering why Ekklesia or Church used in the emanations described here this is because the church is the also part of the pleroma (Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.)


The ultimate transcendent deity Profundity (Βυθός), which is also called First-Beginning and First-Father (Προαρχή, Προπάτωρ) possesses Thought (Ἔννοια), which is also called Grace and Silence (Χάρις, Σιγή), which depicts the primal Deity as a self-thinking Unity.




In Irenaeus’s account, the Grace is mentioned as the conjugal pair of the Father, and they form together with the Mind and Truth the first Tetrad. In addition to the Logos and the Life, another pair, i.e. the Man and the Church, must be added in order to generate the second Tetrad. Consequently, the whole Ogdoad was completed, and it served as the Mother of all Aeons. The Savior was according to Iren. Haer. 1.8.5 the fruit of the entire Pleroma.