Gnostic Chronology
What does chronology mean? The word chronology means the arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred. It refers to a sequence of historical events, or an explanation of events according to time. The word comes from the Greek words χρόνος (chronos), meaning “time,” and λόγος (logos), meaning “account” or “discourse.” Chronology is therefore an account of time and events arranged in temporal order.
In Gnostic thought, chronology is not merely the counting of years. It is sacred history divided into ages, dispensations, or aeons. An aeon is a world-period, an age, or an order of existence. The Greek word αἰών (aeon) can refer to:
an age
a long duration
a world-order
a dispensation
a cycle of history
An aeon is not necessarily eternal. It can have:
a beginning
divisions within it
a consummation
an end
One Gnostic text explains this clearly:
“Just as the present aeon, though a unity, is divided by units of time and units of time are divided into years and years are divided into seasons and seasons into months, and months into days, and days into hours, and hours into moments,”
This statement shows that an aeon is a measurable historical reality. Though it is a unity, it contains subdivisions of time. Thus an aeon may encompass thousands of years while still being divided into smaller chronological periods.
Some Gnostic texts divide world history into three great dispensations or aeons:
The Aeon of the Flesh
The Psychic Aeon
The Aeon to Come
These represent successive periods in sacred chronology.
The Aeon of the Flesh
The first age is the aeon of the flesh. This is the antediluvian or pre-Flood world extending from Adam to Noah. It is the age of corruption before the judgment by water.
The Concept of Our Great Power describes this age:
“This is the work that came into being. See what it is like, that before it comes into being it does not see, because the aeon of the flesh came to be in the great bodies. And there were apportioned to them long days in the creation. For when they had polluted themselves and had entered into the flesh, the father of the flesh, the water, avenged himself. For when he had found that Noah was pious (and) worthy - and it is the father of the flesh who holds the angels in subjection. And he (Noah) preached piety for one hundred and twenty years. And no one listened to him. And he made a wooden ark, and whom he had found entered it. And the flood took place.”
The text associates this age with:
giant bodies
pollution of flesh
corruption
long ages
the preaching of Noah
judgment by water
The Flood functions as the termination of the aeon of the flesh.
The same text continues:
“And thus Noah was saved with his sons. For if indeed the ark had not been meant for man to enter, then the water of the flood would not have come. In this way he intended (and) planned to save the gods and the angels, and the powers, the greatness of all of these, and the and the way of life. And he moves them from the aeon (and) nourishes them in the permanent places. And the judgment of the flesh was unleashed. Only the work of the Power stood up.”
This first age corresponds to what the Scriptures call:
“the world that then existed”
In Second Epistle of Peter 3:6 we read:
“the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.”
The aeon of the flesh therefore represents the old world before the Flood. The destruction by water marked the consummation of that age.
The Psychic Aeon
The second age is the psychic aeon, also called the soul-endowed aeon. This period extends from the Flood until the consummation.
In Scripture this present order is called:
“this present evil age”
from Epistle to the Galatians 1:4.
The disciples asked Jesus concerning:
“the end of the age”
in Gospel of Matthew 24:3.
This shows that the present aeon was understood as temporary and destined to end.
The psychic aeon is described in The Concept of Our Great Power:
“Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, basenesses and defilements, falsehoods and diseases, evil judgments that they decree according to their desires.”
This aeon is characterized by:
wrath
envy
war
corruption
falsehood
disease
evil judgments
It is a mixed age in which humanity is dominated by passions and corruption.
Unlike the aeon of the flesh, which ended by water, the psychic aeon ends by fire. The text states:
“Then he will come to destroy all of them. And they will be chastised until they become pure. Moreover their period, which was given to them to have power, which was apportioned to them, (is) fourteen hundred and sixty years. When the fire has consumed them all, and when it does not find anything else to burn, then it will perish by its own hand. Then the [...] will be completed [...] the second power [...] the mercy will come [...] through wisdom [...]. Then the firmaments will fall down into the depth. Then the sons of matter will perish; they will not be, henceforth.”
This passage is important because it reveals that:
the powers possess authority only temporarily
time in the lower aeons is limited
the psychic aeon has an allotted duration
the present order ends in fiery judgment
The destruction by fire parallels Second Epistle of Peter 3:7:
“the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire.”
Thus the chronology unfolds in stages:
the first world destroyed by water
the present world destroyed by fire
the future age established afterward
Time in the Lower Aeons is Limited
Many Gnostic texts stress that the lower aeons are temporary and approaching consummation.
Book of Thomas the Contender says:
“While you have time in the world, listen to me...”
Zostrianos states:
“One’s time in this world is short.”
Trimorphic Protennoia says:
“For already the slackening of our bondage has approached, and the times are cut short, and the days have shortened, and our time has been fulfilled...”
Paraphrase of Shem refers to:
“the appointed time.”
Apocryphon of Peter says:
“Indeed, as long as the hour is not yet come...”
These statements all express the same idea: time within the lower aeons is finite.
Signs of the End
Gnostic texts also describe signs marking the consummation of the age.
On the Origin of the World says:
“Before the consummation of the age, the whole place will shake with great thundering.”
The same text continues:
“Then the sun will become dark, and the moon will cause its light to cease. The stars of the sky will cancel their circuits.”
Trimorphic Protennoia adds:
“all together the elements trembled, and the foundations of the underworld and the ceilings of Chaos shook, and a great fire shone within their midst.”
In Gospel of Judas Jesus says:
“for all of them the stars bring matters to completion.”
Finally The Concept of Our Great Power declares:
“And the sign of the aeon that is to come will appear. And the aeons will dissolve.”
These passages portray cosmic dissolution:
trembling heavens
darkened luminaries
collapsing firmaments
fire
dissolution of aeons
Destruction of the Archons and the Lower Aeons
The lower powers and aeons are not eternal.
On the Origin of the World states:
“She will cast them down into the abyss.”
The same text describes the destruction of the rulers:
“They will come to be like volcanoes and consume one another until they perish at the hand of the prime parent.”
Then follows the destruction of the lower heavens:
“And their heavens will fall one upon the next and their forces will be consumed by fire.”
The lower aeons eventually dissolve completely:
“the deficiency will be plucked out by the root.”
Paraphrase of Shem says:
“they will become a dark lump, just as they were from the beginning.”
The Resurrection and Judgment
Most Gnostic texts reject a resurrection of the flesh.
Interpretation of Knowledge states:
“The body is a temporary dwelling.”
Gospel of Judas says:
“their bodies will die but their souls will be alive.”
Testimony of Truth explicitly says:
“Do not expect, therefore, the carnal resurrection.”
Gnostic texts also divide humanity into three groups:
Tripartite Tractate explains:
“The spiritual race will receive complete salvation in every way. The material will receive destruction in every way (...) The psychic race (...) is double according to its determination for both good and evil.”
Completion of the Number of the Elect
Several texts teach that the consummation arrives when the number of the elect is completed.
Pistis Sophia says:
“the completion of the number of perfect souls.”
Irenaeus wrote:
“When the whole seed is perfected (...) they will enter into the Pleroma.”
This idea connects chronology with restoration. History continues until the full number is gathered.
The Aeon to Come
The final stage of Gnostic chronology is the aeon to come.
Trimorphic Protennoia says:
“I shall tell them of the coming end of the Aeon and teach them of the beginning of the Aeon to come, the one without change.”
This future age is:
incorruptible
permanent
without change
filled with light
beyond death
On the Origin of the World states:
“And the glory of the unbegotten will appear. And it will fill all the eternal realm.”
The Concept of Our Great Power says:
“They all have become as reflections in his light. They all have shone, and they have found rest in his rest.”
Finally, Gospel of Judas says:
“Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels.”
Thus Gnostic chronology moves through successive world-ages:
the aeon of the flesh
the psychic aeon
the aeon to come
Each age has:
its own powers
its own conditions
its own judgment
its own consummation
History is therefore understood as a sacred chronology moving toward the dissolution of the lower aeons and the restoration of the eternal order.
Gnostic chronology
what does chronology mean?
the
order in which a
series of events
happened, or a
list or
explanation of these
events in the
order in which they
happened:
Just as the present aeon, though a unity, is divided by units of time and units of time are divided into years and years are divided into seasons and seasons into months, and months into days, and days into hours, and hours into moments,
An aeon is an age it can be divided into many periods of time
Some gnostic texts divide world history into three Dispensations (periods). the first is the aeon of the flesh, the psychic aeon, the 3rd aeon is the "the aeon that is to come"
The Aeon of the Flesh
This is the work that came into being. See what it is like, that before it comes into being it does not see, because the aeon of the flesh came to be in the great bodies. And there were apportioned to them long days in the creation. For when they had polluted themselves and had entered into the flesh, the father of the flesh, the water, avenged himself. For when he had found that Noah was pious (and) worthy - and it is the father of the flesh who holds the angels in subjection. And he (Noah) preached piety for one hundred and twenty years. And no one listened to him. And he made a wooden ark, and whom he had found entered it. And the flood took place. (The Concept of Our Great Power)
And thus Noah was saved with his sons. For if indeed the ark had not been meant for man to enter, then the water of the flood would not have come. In this way he intended (and) planned to save the gods and the angels, and the powers, the greatness of all of these, and the <nourishment> and the way of life. And he moves them from the aeon (and) nourishes them in the permanent places. And the judgment of the flesh was unleashed. Only the work of the Power stood up. (The Concept of Our Great Power)
The first age is the period before the Flood, from the time of Adam to Noah. It is called in the Bible "the world that then existed." We read in 2 Peter 3:6 that "the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water."
The aeon of the flesh is the human race before the flood it is called the antediluvian pre-diluvian or pre-flood) period is the time period chronicled in many anenti texts like the The Concept of Our Great Power:
The Psychic Aeon
The second age includes the time after the Flood until Christ's second coming. It is called in Scripture "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4). Jesus' disciples wanted to know when this period would end. They asked Him: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).
Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, basenesses and defilements, falsehoods and diseases, evil judgments that they decree according to their desires. The Nag Hammadi Library, The Concept of Our Great Power
The psychic aeon or the soul-endowned aeon is the human race after the flood. This aeon will remain in being until the consummation.
Then he will come to destroy all of them. And they will be chastised until they become pure. Moreover their period, which was given to them to have power, which was apportioned to them, (is) fourteen hundred and sixty years. When the fire has consumed them all, and when it does not find anything else to burn, then it will perish by its own hand. Then the [...] will be completed [...] the second power [...] the mercy will come [...] through wisdom [...]. Then the firmaments will fall down into the depth. Then the sons of matter will perish; they will not be, henceforth.
TIME IN THE LOWER AEONS IS LIMITED
- Various expressions are used in the Gnostic texts to show that time in the Lower Aeons is limited, and the end is approaching.
- ‘While you have time: “While you have time in the world, listen to me...” (Book of Thomas the Contender 138:4)
- ‘Time is short’: “One’s time in this world is short.” (Zostrianos 4:19)
- ‘The days have shortened’: “For already the slackening of our bondage has approached, and the times are cut short, and the days have shortened, and our time has been fulfilled, and the weeping of our destruction has approached us, so that we may be taken to the place we recognize.” ( Trimorphic Prontennoia 44:14)
- ‘The appointed time’: “...the power which is in Hades will be completed at the appointed time.” (Paraphrase of Shem 21:10)
- ‘The hour is not yet come’. The Saviour: “Indeed, as long as the hour is not yet come, it (the immortal soul) shall resemble a mortal one.” (Apocryphon of Peter 75:28)
- ‘The coming end of the aeon’. Protennoia: “I shall tell them of the coming end of the Aeon and teach them of the beginning of the Aeon to come, the one without change, the one in which our appearance will be changed. We shall be purified...” (Trimorphic Protennoia 42:18)
- ‘The last day’: “...in the last day they will rest in their root.” (Paraphrase of Shem 39:19)
- ‘The consummation of the age’: “...which has been apparent from creation down to the consummation of the age” (On the Origin of the World)
3. SIGNS OF THE END OF TIME
- The phoenix (a symbol for the saviour?) will appear as a sign: “And the phoenix first appears in a living state, and dies, and rises again, being a sign of what has become apparent at the consummation of the age.” (On the Origin of the World 122:29)
- The consummation of the age will be marked by many signs in the heavens and on earth: “Before the consummation of the age, the whole place will shake with great thundering. Then the rulers will be sad, [...] their death. The angels will mourn for their mankind, and the demons will weep over their seasons, and their mankind will wail and scream at their death. Then the age will begin, and they will be disturbed. Their kings will be intoxicated with the fiery sword, and they will wage war against one another, so that the earth is intoxicated with bloodshed. And the seas will be disturbed by those wars. Then the sun will become dark, and the moon will cause its light to cease. The stars of the sky will cancel their circuits.” (On the Origin of the World 126:1)
- More signs in the underworld and on earth: “Then, when the great Authorities knew that the time of fulfillment had appeared - just as in the pangs of the parturient it (the time) has drawn near, so also had the destruction approached - all together the elements trembled, and the foundations of the underworld and the ceilings of Chaos shook, and a great fire shone within their midst, and the rocks and the earth were shaken like a reed shaken by the wind.” (Trimorphic Prontennoia 43:4)
- The stars will also bear signs: “Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, for all of them the stars bring matters to completion. When Saklas (the blind god) completes the span of time assigned for him...’” (Gospel of Judas 54)
- “And the sign of the aeon that is to come will appear. And the aeons will dissolve.” (Concept of Our Great Power 42:20)
4. DESTRUCTION OF THE ARCHONS AND THE LOWER AEONS
- The text On the Origin of the World clearly lays out the destruction of the Archons and their aeons. It is Sophia - who created Yaltabaoth in the beginning - who will ‘cast him into the abyss’: “And a great clap of thunder will come out of a great force that is above all the forces of chaos, where the firmament of the woman is situated (i.e. the Middle, the aeon of Sophia). Having created the first product (i.e. Yaltabaoth), she (Sophia) will put away the wise fire of intelligence and clothe herself with witless wrath. Then she will pursue the gods of chaos (i.e. the Archons), whom she created along with the prime parent (Yaltabaoth). She will cast them down into the abyss.” (On the Origin of the World)
- Then the Archons will attempt to destroy one another, until Yaltabaoth destroys them and himself: “They (the Archons) will be obliterated because of their wickedness. For they will come to be like volcanoes and consume one another until they perish at the hand of the prime parent (Yaltabaoth). When he has destroyed them, he will turn against himself and destroy himself until he ceases to exist.” (On the Origin of the World)
- Then will come the destruction of the Lower Aeons: “And their heavens will fall one upon the next and their forces will be consumed by fire. Their eternal realms, too, will be overturned. And his heaven will fall and break in two. His [...] will fall down upon the [...] support them; they will fall into the abyss, and the abyss will be overturned. The light will [...] the darkness and obliterate it: it will be like something that has never been. And the product to which the darkness had been posterior will dissolve. And the deficiency will be plucked out by the root (and thrown) down into the darkness.” (On the Origin of the World)
- The Lower Aeons will become ‘a dark lump’: “And in the last day the forms of nature will be destroyed with the winds and all their demons; they will become a dark lump, just as they were from the beginning.” (Paraphrase of Shem 45:15)
- In some texts, it is the saviour who will destroy ‘this house’ (which is the body or the world). Jesus: “I shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it again.” (Gospel of Thomas 45:34 - 71)
- James: “This (house) I shall doom to destruction and derision of those who are in ignorance.” (Second Apocryphon of James 60:20)
5. THE RESURRECTION
- Most Gnostic texts agree that there will be no bodily resurrection.
- The soul dwells temporarily in the body, which belongs to the Archons: “The body is a temporary dwelling which the rulers and authorities have as an abode.” (Interpretation of Knowledge 7:30)
- At the end of this time, the spirits and the souls will depart from the body: Jesus: “When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.” (Gospel of Judas 43)
- Hence, there is no resurrection of the flesh: “Do not expect, therefore, the carnal resurrection.” ( Testimony of Truth 36:29)
6. THE JUDGEMENT OF SOULS
- Gnosticism has developed a schema of three types of humans: the spirit-endowed Pneumatics, the soul-endowed Psychics, and the flesh-endowed Hylics. See THREE TYPES OF HUMANS.
- The spirit-endowed Pneumatics (the Elect) are saved absolutely. The soul-endowed Psychics may be saved or damned. The flesh-endowed Hylics are inevitably ‘damned to destruction’: “The spiritual race will receive complete salvation in every way. The material will receive destruction in every way (...) The psychic race, since it is in the middle when it is brought forth and also when it is created, is double according to its determination for both good and evil.” (Tripartite Tractate 119:16)
- The Apocryphon of John expands on this schema. There are two types of Pneumatics: those who avoid the corruption of the flesh and those who do not. Both as saved. Then there are the Psychics, who have souls but are without spirit. They are repeatedly re-incarnated until they acquire the gnosis. Then they are saved. Last of all those without the gnosis (the Hylics?), who are damned eternally.
- First of all, those with the spirit (pneuma) who avoid corruption of the flesh - are saved: “Those on whom the Spirit of life will descend (...) will be saved and become perfect and be worthy of the greatness and be purified in that place from all wickedness and the involvements in evil. (...) Such then are worthy of the imperishable, eternal life.” (Apocryphon of John)
- Second, those with the spirit (pneuma) who do not avoid corruption of the flesh - are still saved: “Through the intervention of the incorruptible one, it is saved, and it is taken up to the rest of the aeons.” (Apocryphon of John)
- Third, those without the spirit (pneuma) are repeatedly re-incarnated until they acquire the gnosis - and are saved: “After it comes out of (the body), it (the soul) is handed over to the authorities, who came into being through the archon, and they bind it with chains and cast it into prison (i.e. body), and consort with it until it is liberated from the forgetfulness and acquires knowledge. And if thus it becomes perfect, it is saved.” (Apocryphon of John)
- Fourth, those without the gnosis - are damned for eternity: “(They will go) to that place where the angels of poverty go they will be taken, the place where there is no repentance. And they will be kept for the day on which those who have blasphemed the spirit will be tortured, and they will be punished with eternal punishment.” (Apocryphon of John)
7. PUNISHMENT
- The Book of Thomas the Contender describes the punishment reserved for the damned on ‘the day of judgement’.
- First the damned will ‘hide in their tombs’, but their evil deeds will be ‘shown forth’. The saviour: “Listen to what I am going to tell you and believe in the truth. That which sows and that which is sown will dissolve in the fire - within the fire and the water - and they will hide in tombs of darkness. And after a long time they shall show forth the fruit of the evil trees, being punished, being slain in the mouth of beasts and men at the instigation of the rains and winds and air and the light that shines above.” (Book of Thomas the Contender)
- Then the damned will be ‘handed over to the ruler’ (the Archons?) who will cast them down: “He will be handed over to the ruler above who rules over all the powers as their king, and he will turn that one around and cast him from heaven down to the abyss, and he will be imprisoned in a narrow dark place.” (Book of Thomas the Contender 143:1)
- The damned are handed over to the angel Tartarouchos (?): “They will hand [...] over to [...] angel Tartarouchos [...] fire pursuing them” (Book of Thomas the Contender)
- The damned are punished according to their nature: “They will be thrown down to the abyss and be afflicted by the torment of the bitterness of their evil nature.” (Book of Thomas the Contender 141:32)
- The damned are imprisoned and restrained so that ‘they cannot move’: “...he will be imprisoned in a narrow dark place. Moreover, he can neither turn nor move on account of the great depth of Tartaros and the heavy bitterness of Hades...” (Book of Thomas the Contender 142:30)
- The damned are burned by fire: “Their mind is directed to their own selves, for their thought is occupied with their deeds. But it is the fire that will burn them.” (Book of Thomas the Contender 142:1)
- There is no escape from the fire: “[...] fire pursuing them [...] fiery scourges that cast a shower of sparks into the face of the one who is pursued. If he flees westward, he finds the fire. If he turns southward, he finds it there as well. If he turns northward, the threat of seething fire meets him again. Nor does he find the way to the east so as to flee there and be saved, for he did not find it in the day he was in the body, so that he might find it in the day of judgment.” (Book of Thomas the Contender 143:1)
- Hell is eternal punishment, with no hope of repentence: “And I (John) said, ‘Lord, these also who did not know, but have turned away, where will their souls go?’ Then he (the saviour) said to me, ‘To that place (...) where there is no repentance. And (...) they will be punished with eternal punishment.’” (Apocryphon of John 27:21)
- Hell is the place ‘of weeping and gnashing of teeth’. The Saviour: “Then all the powers which are above, as well as those below, will [...] you. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth over the end of all these things.” (Dialogue of the Saviour 127:13)
- The dead become shades: “Only a little while longer, and that which is visible will dissolve; then shapeless shades will emerge, and in the midst of tombs they will forever dwell upon the corpses in pain and corruption of soul.” (Book of Thomas the Contender 141:14)
- Hell is also called the Middle, a place of death and true evil: “And so he dwells either in this world or in the resurrection or in the middle place. God forbid that I be found in there! In this world, there is good and evil. Its good things are not good, and its evil things not evil. But there is evil after this world which is truly evil - what is called ‘the middle’. It is death. While we are in this world, it is fitting for us to acquire the resurrection, so that when we strip off the flesh, we may be found in rest and not walk in the middle. For many go astray on the way. For it is good to come forth from the world before one has sinned.” (Gospel of Philip) See MIDDLE.
- The damned are “those who fall outside” (Tripart Tractate) (presumably outside ‘the limit’)
- Hell is also the Outer Darkness: “this sort (...) will be cast into the outer darkness” (Apocalypse of Peter)
- Hell is the Outer Darkness, Chaos, Hades and Abyss: “Therefore they fell down to the pit of ignorance which is called ‘the Outer Darkness’ and ‘Chaos’ and ‘Hades’ and ‘the Abyss.’” (Tripartite Tractate)
8. THE COMPLETION OF THE NUMBER OF THE ELECT
- Several Gnostic texts say the consummation will come when the number of the Elect is reached.
- This number is vague, and is called variously ‘the number of Sodom’, ‘the cypher of Melchizedek’ or ‘the number of perfect souls’. See ELECT.
- In the Pistis Sophia, the number of the Elect is ‘the cypher of Melchizedek’. When this number is reached, the Gnostic saviour will end the Archons rule: “It happened now when these things in their time were known, and when the number of the cipher of Melchizedek, the Paralemptor (of the Light), occurred, he (the saviour) came forth, and he went into the midst of the archons of all the aeons, and to the midst of all the archons of the Heimarmene and those of the sphere. And he agitated them, and he caused them quickly to abandon their circles, and immediately they were afflicted...” (Pistis Sophia - Ch. 26)
- Again, the consummation (the end of the Archons’ rule) will come when ‘the number of perfect souls’ is reached: “And he took their light to the Treasury of the Light. (...) so that they should not dissolve, but that they should be retarded, and should spend a great time until the completion of the number of perfect souls which would be in the Treasury of the Light.” (Pistis Sophia - Ch. 26)
- Irenaeus mentions this idea when he writes: “When the whole seed is perfected, (...) they will enter into the Pleroma” (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 1.7.1) See below.
9. ASCENT AND RETURN OF THE ELECT TO THE UPPER AEONS
- In the beginning, Sophia mistakenly engendered Yaltabaoth without the consent of her consort, Christ. As a result, she was sent to ‘the Middle’ (between the Upper and Lower Aeons), awaiting the time of the restitution, when her fault would be remedied. After the destruction of Yaltabaoth and the Lower Aeons, she would rise again to the Upper Aeons and re-unite with Christ, her consort. This time is called ‘the marriage of the bride and bridegroom’, which would take place in the Upper Aeons. As such, the Upper Aeons or Pleroma would become the Bridal Chamber in which, not only Christ and Sophia, but all the fallen Elect would be re-united.
- Irenaeus describes the entire schema of the restitution: the union of Christ and Sophia, as well as the spirits (Pneumatics) and their angels, in the Bridal Chamber of the Pleroma (Upper Aeons): “When the whole seed is perfected, then, they say, will the mother, (Sophia) Achamoth leave the place of the Middle, enter into the Pleroma, and receive her bridegroom, the Savior, who came into being from all (the aeons), with result that the Savior and Sophia, who is Achamoth, form a pair (syzygy) These then are said to be bridegroom and bride, but the bridal chamber is the entire Pleroma. The spiritual beings will divest themselves of their souls and become intelligent spirits, and, without being hindered or seen, they will enter into the Pleroma, and will be bestowed as brides on the angels around the Savior.” (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 1.7.1 cf. Excerpta ex Theodoto 63-65)
- The Valentinian Exposition, though a fragmented text, describes this same schema: “That she (Sophia) should suffer, was not the will of the Father, for she dwells in herself alone without her consort (Christ) (...) But the syzygy is the [complete one], and Sophia and Jesus and [the angels] and the seeds are [images of] the Pleroma. (...) Moreover when Sophia [receives] her consort and Jesus receives the Christ and the seeds and the angels, then [the] Pleroma will receive Sophia joyfully, and the All will come to be in unity and reconciliation.” (Valentinian Exposition)
- Hence, the restoration of the Pleroma is described as a time of unity, when the many will re-unite with the One.
- “When the redemption was proclaimed, the perfect man received knowledge immediately, so as to return in haste to his unitary state, to the place from which he came, to return there joyfully, to the place from which he came, to the place from which he flowed forth. (Then...) all the members of the body of the Church are in a single place and receive the restoration at one time, when they have been manifested as the whole body, namely the restoration into the Pleroma.(...) The restoration is at the end, after the Totality (...) return to the pre-existent, and (after) the Totalities reveal themselves in that one.” (Tripartite Tractate 123:3)
- The restoration is a ‘gathering together’: “And the uniting of their members was the gathering together of the dispersed of Israel. (...) And they all became one, as it is written: ‘They all became one in the one and only One’.” (Untitled Text in Bruce Codex )
- The light will fill the Pleroma: “And the light will withdraw up to its root. And the glory of the unbegotten will appear. And it will fill all the eternal realm.” (On the Origin of the World 126:35)
- All will shine as reflections of the One’s light: “Then the souls will appear, who are holy through the light of the Power, who is exalted, above all powers, the immeasurable, the universal one, I and all those who will know me. And they will be in the aeon of beauty of the aeon of judgment, since they are ready in wisdom, having given glory to him who is in the incomprehensible unity; and they see him because of his will, which is in them. And they all have become as reflections in his light. They all have shone, and they have found rest in his rest.” (Concept of our Great Power 47:9)
- For eternity: Jesus: “Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels.” (Gospel of Judas 45)
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