The Gnostics
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Nature and structure of Gnosticism
This entry is began as an abridged and annotated version of the Wikipedia entry on Gnosticism, it has since been developed further from other academic sources.
Gnosis, or 'acqaintance', is an Alexandrian term for enlightenment or experience, a Gnostic is one who has had Gnosis. Gnosticism is a cultish use of the term, Clement of Alexandria hated Gnosticism partly because he thought himself a Gnostic (in Pauline Christian terms). Ireneus of Lyon only knew Gnostics as followers of Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a label for a family of cults.
A typological model: the main features of Gnosticism
Gnosticism is probably beyond classification, but certain family resemblances exist between its many forms. The terms here are adapted from Christoph Markschies' version, as described in 'Gnosis: An Introduction'.
Classical Gnostic paradigms are typically marked by:
1 The notion of a remote, supreme undivided divinity - this figure is known under a variety of names, including 'Pleroma' and 'Bythos' (Greek 'Deep') (referencing an ineffable mystery behind reality). This can only be understood through riddles and paradoxes.
2 The emanation of a knowable deity from the Pleroma, a flawed divinity. Known as Barbelo or Barbelith by the Sethians (a pseudo Hebraic name). Hebraic culture was percieved as the most ancient of all in Alexandria.
3 The introduction by emanation of other divine beings, which are nevertheless identifiable as aspects of the Pleroma from which they proceeded; the progressive emanations are often conceived metaphorically as a gradual and progressive distancing from the ultimate source. This sometimes ends with an instability in the fabric of the divine nature. For the Sethians Sophia was responsible for imbalence when she created without a male partner.
4 The subsequent identification of the Fall of Man as an occurrence with its ultimate foundations within divinity itself, rather than as occurring either entirely or partially through human agency; this stage in the divine emanation is also often enacted through the recurrent Gnostic figure of Sophia (Greek 'Wisdom'), mythologised as Eve, the flawed mother.
5 The introduction through imbalence of a distinct creator god, who is named as in the Platonist tradition Demiurgos. Evidence exists that the conception of the Demiurge derives from figures in Plato's Timaeus and Republic. In the former, the demiurge is the benevolent creator of the universe from pre-existent matter, to whose limitations he is enthralled in creating the cosmos; in the latter, the description of leonine 'desire' in Socrates' model of the psyche bears a strong resemblance to descriptions of the demiurge as being in the shape of the lion. Elsewhere this figure is called 'Ialdabaoth', 'Samael' (Aramaic sæmʕa-ʔel, 'blind god') or 'Saklas' (Syriac sækla, 'the foolish one'), who is usually ignorant of the superior God, though sometimes opposed to it; thus in the latter case he is correspondingly malevolent rather than just mad. The Demiurge typically creates a group of coactors named 'Archons', who preside over the material realm and in some cases present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it.
6. The estimation of the World, owing to the above, as flawed or a production of 'error' but nevertheless as good as its constituent material might allow. This world is typically an inferior simulacrum of a higher-level reality or consciousness. The inferiority may be compared to the technical inferiority of a painting, sculpture, or other handicraft to the thing(s) those crafts are supposed to be a representation of. In certain other cases it is also perceived as evil and constrictive, a deliberate prison for its inhabitants.
7. The explanation of this state through the use of a complex mythological-cosmological drama in which a divine element 'falls' into the material realm and lodges itself within certain human beings; from here, it may be returned to the divine realm through a process of awakening (leading towards salvation). The salvation of the individual thus mirrors a concurrent restoration of the divine nature; a central Gnostic innovation was to elevate individual redemption to the level of a cosmically significant event
8. Knowledge of a specific kind is a central factor in this process of restoration, achieved through the mediation on and acqaintance with a redeemer figure (Christ, or, in other cases, Seth or Sophia).
Ethical Aspects
Charges of Gnostic libertinism find their source in the works of Irenaeus. According to this writer, Simon Magus (whom he has identified as the prototypical source of Gnosticism) founded the school of moral freedom ('amoralism'). Irenaeus reports that Simon's argument, that those who put their trust in him and his consort Helen, need trouble themselves no further with the biblical prophets or their moral exhortations and are free 'to do what they wish', as men are saved by his (Simon's) grace, and not by their 'righteous works' (adapted from Adversus Haereses, I.23.3).
Simon is not known for any libertinistic practice, save for his curious attachment to Helen, typically reputed to be a prostitute. There is, however, clear evidence in the Testimony of Truth that followers of Simon did, in fact, get married and beget children, so a general tendency to asceticism can likewise be ruled out.
Irenaeus reports of the Valentinians, whom he characterizes as eventual inheritors of Simon, that they are lax in their dietary habits (eating food that has been 'offered to idols'), sexually promiscuous ('immoderately given over to the desires of the flesh') and guilty of taking wives under the pretence of living with them as adopted 'sisters'. In the latter case, Michael Allen Williams has argued plausibly that Irenaeus was here broadly correct in the behaviour described, but not in his apprehension of its causes. Williams argues that members of a cult might live together as 'brother' and 'sister': intimate, yet not sexually active. Over time, however, the self-denial required of such an endeavour becomes harder and harder to maintain, leading to the state of affairs Irenaeus criticizes.
Irenaeus also makes reference to the Valentinian practise of Bridal Chamber, a ritualistic sacrament in which sexual union is seen as analogous to the activities of the paired syzygies that constitute the Valentinian Pleroma. Though it is known that Valentinus had a more relaxed approach to sexuality than much of the orthodox church (he allowed women to hold positions of ordination in his community), it is not known whether the Bridal Chamber was a ritual involving actual intercourse, or whether human sexuality is here simply being used in a metaphorical sense.
Of the Carpocratians Irenaeus makes much the same report: they 'are so abandoned in their recklessness that they claim to have in their power and be able to practise anything whatsoever that is ungodly (irreligious) and impious ... they say that conduct is only good or evil in the eyes of man' (Adversus Haereses, I.25.4). Once again a differentiation might be detected between a man's actions and the grace he has received through his adherence to a system of gnosis; whether this is due to a common sharing of such an attitude amongst Gnostic circles, or whether this is simply a blanket-charge used by Irenaeus is open to conjecture.
Scholars are divided as to whether the Gnostics were ascetics slandered with libertinage and amoralism, a strange hybrid of the two, or consisted of sects with opposing approaches.
Dualism and monism
Typically, Gnostic systems are loosely described as being 'dualistic' in nature, meaning that they had the view that the world consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities. Within this definition, they run the gamut from the 'extreme' or 'radical dualist' systems of Manicheanism to the 'weak' or 'mitigated dualism' of classic gnostic movements; Valentinian developments arguably approach a form of monism, expressed in terms previously used in a dualistic manner.
Radical Dualism - or absolute Dualism which posits two co-equal divine forces. Manichaeism conceives of two previously coexistent realms of light and darkness which become embroiled in conflict, owing to the chaotic actions of the latter. Subsequently, certain elements of the light became entrapped within darkness; the purpose of material creation is to enact the slow process of extraction of these individual elements, at the end of which the kingdom of light will prevail over darkness. Manicheanism likely inherits this dualistic mythology from Zoroastrianism, in which the eternal spirit Ahura Mazda is opposed by his antithesis, Angra Mainyu; the two are engaged in a cosmic struggle, the conclusion of which will likewise see Ahura Mazda triumphant. The Mandaean creation myth witnesses the progressive emanations of Supreme Being of Light, with each emanation bringing about a progressive corruption resulting in the eventual emergence of Ptahil, the god of darkness who had a hand in creating and henceforward rules the material realm. Additionally, general Gnostic thought (specifically to be found in Iranian sects; for instance, see 'The Hymn of the Pearl') commonly included the belief that the material world corresponds to some sort of malevolent intoxication brought about by the powers of darkness to keep elements of the light trapped inside it, or literally to keep them 'in the dark', or ignorant; in a state of drunken distraction.
Mitigated Dualism - where one of the two principles is in some way inferior to the other. Such classical Gnostic movements as the Sethians conceived of the material world as being created by a lesser divinity than the true God that was the object of their devotion. The spiritual world is conceived of as being radically different from the material world, co-extensive with the true God, and the true home of certain enlightened members of humanity; thus, these systems were expressive of a feeling of acute alienation within the world, and their resultant aim was to allow the soul to escape the constraints presented by the physical realm.
Qualified Monism - where it is arguable whether or not the second entity is divine or semi-divine. Elements of Valentinian versions of Gnostic myth suggest to some that its understanding of the universe may have been monistic rather than a dualistic one: 'Valentinian gnosticism [...] differs essentially from dualism' (Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospel, 1978); 'a standard element in the interpretation of Valentinianism and similar forms of Gnosticism is the recognition that they are fundamentally monistic' (William Schoedel, 'Gnostic Monism and the Gospel of Truth' in The Rediscovery of Gnosticism, Vol.1: The School of Valentinus, edited by Bentley Layton, E.J.Brill, Leiden, 1980). In these myths, the malevolence of the demiurge is mitigated; his creation of a flawed materiality is not due to any moral failing on his part, but due to his honest ignorance of the superior spiritual world above him. As such, Valentinians already have more cause to treat physical reality with less contempt than might a Sethian Gnostic. Perhaps for this reason Valentinus appears to conceive of materiality, rather than as being a separate substance from the divine, as attributable to an error of perception. Thus it follows that the Valentinian conception of the universe may be of a fundamentally monistic nature, in which all things are aspects of the divine; our ordinary view which is limited to the material realm is owing to our errors of perception, which become symbolized mythopoetically as the demiurge's act of creation.
Schools of Gnosticism
Proto Gnostics (1st Cent AD)
Cerinthians - Believed World created by a benign but imperfect Demiurge, Yahweh, a Power created by but not God. Jesus was possessed by a divine being with a mission of liberation. Hellenised Ebionites (The Ebionim were Jewish Nazarenes who believed Jesus a mortal prophet with miraculous powers who rebelled against traditional Judaism). A radical variant on St Paul's conservative Hellenised Ebionism (i.e. Christianity).
Nicolaitans - Elitist Jewish Christians. Variously seen as first priests or first elect. Prefigure Sethians.
Simon Magus and 'Simonians' - Gnostic tendencies, but the familiar ideas he presented were as-yet unformed; they might thus be described as proto-Gnostic. He developed a sizeable following and considered himself a Christian disciple of St John the Baptist and was not a libertine. His cult was centred on Sophia as an excluded principle found in the 'sacred prostitute' Helen, acqaintance with whom redeemed the initiate and delivered him from a patriarchal Demiurge. He also practiced Sorcery.
Satorninians - Believed God unknowable and remote, with the universe ruled by powers and angels. The most immanent being the 7 planetary angels, ruled by Yahweh, the Demiurge tyrant. Christ was an angelic being who rebelled against him. First Gnostics.
Early Gnostics (2nd Century AD)
Carpocratians - Said to be the most libertine and antinomian of the Gnostic sects famed for 'Love Feasts'. Basic Classical Gnosticism agenda, escape from world of Demiurgos. Probable absorbtion of Orphism.
Ophites - So-named because they worshipped the serpent of Genesis as the bestower of knowledge. Hebraic Egyptian based, probably drawing on Egyptian Serpent cults and the Ogdoad. Jewish variant refered to as Naaseenes.
Basilidians - Named for the founder of their school, Basilides (132–? CE/AD). These works are mainly known to us through the criticisms of one of his opponents, Irenaeus in his work Adversus Haereses. The theology is complicated by the existance of two versions, one close to classical Gnosticism, the other a non-dual monism unique in its time. Famed for its mysterious God Abraxas and its Occultism.
Cainites - As the term implies, worshipped Cain, as well as Esau, Korah, and the Sodomites. There is little evidence concerning the nature of this group; however, it is surmisable that they believed that indulgence in sin was the key to salvation because since the body is evil, one must defile it through immoral activity. The most extreme sect.
Valentinians - Named in reference to the Bishop and teacher Valentinius, also spelled Valentinus. ca. 153 AD/CE, Valentinius developed a complex Cosmology outside of the Gnostic tradition. It fused a libertine Gnosticism with Catholic orthodoxy, and consists of a Church with Bishops. At one point he was close to being appointed the Bishop of Rome of what is now the Roman Catholic Church. Promoted moderation and control.
Middle Gnosticism (Eclectic 3rd Cent AD)
Thomasites - So-named after the School of St. Thomas the Apostle. Syrian in origin, very Manichean, centred on mythos of Pearl Divers, who search for the divine spark in matter. It also demonstrated strong Buddhist and Tantric elements having been imported into India and back.
Late Gnosticism (Schismatic 4th Cent AD)
Sethians - Named after the third son of Adam and Eve, the replacement of Abel, believed to be a possessor and disseminator of gnosis. A spiritual elite are held to be his descendents, while the mass of materialistic humanity are descended from the evil Cain. With the descendents of Abel intermediate between the two. These races correspond to the Pneumatic (spiritual), Psychic (soulful) and Hylic (material) Realms, their natural homes. Final formulaters of Classical Gnosticism. Highly ascetic.
Borborites - Named after Borbor or Berbelo, a form of Sophia, and emphasing this principle. The Gnostic term Barbēlo refers to the first emanation of God in the various Sethian and Ophite gnostic cosmogonies. This figure is also variously referred to as 'Mother-Father' (hinting at hir apparent androgyny), 'First Human Being', 'The Triple Androgynous Name', or 'Eternal Aeon'. The Borborites developed the sexual rites of Gnosticism.
Later Gnostics
The Cathars (Cathari, Albigenses or Albigensians) are typically seen as being imitative of Gnosticism; whether or not the Cathari possessed direct historical influence from ancient Gnosticism is disputed. Though the basic conceptions of Gnostic cosmology are to be found in Cathar beliefs (most distinctly in their notion of a lesser Satanic Demiurge), they did not apparently place any special relevance upon knowledge (gnosis) as an effective salvific force but rather sought divine grace, like most Christians. Catharism was also a diverse religion that existed on a spectrum ranging from a form of mystical Catholicism to near Gnosticism. The nobles who funded the Knights Templar in the South of France were predominantly Cathars.
Brethren of the Free Spirit, an anarchic, antinomian sect of Germany promoting total freedom and self deification within their Brotherhood, not attached to the Catholic Church in any way. There was a definite exchange of ideas between the Brethren and the Cathars as well. They seem to have had connections with a faction of the Teutonic Knights who emulated the fictional Red Cross Knights and their Order of the Holy Grail, and may have inspired the current that lead to the Rosicrucians.
Suspected Gnostics
The Mages , French term for alleged Gnostics in Catholic Church who practise Magick. Often thought to be Cistercians. The Church of England, and probably other Churches, is thought to have its equivalent.
The Cistercians, long suspected of harbouring Gnostic sentiments, the Order's founder Stephen Harding became disillusioned with moderate Benedictine Monasticism (itself known for the magical practices of many of its monks) and it's orthodox Catholicism, after discovering something still unknown in Scotland and travelling to Rome to confirm it. What it was remains mysterious, speculation ranges from some evidence that refuted the Catholic version of Christianity, to just an older, tougher variant of the Benedictine Rule. Harding became a travelling scholar, but later became a monk again in the first Cistercian community, which denounced the popular Benedictine Rule. Cistercian monasteries were swiftly founded, with support of Rome and the help of the Count of Champagne (who sponsored Kabbalism too), often amidst inaccessible swamps insuring isolation. The ruined Abbey of Orval, itself long associated with an earlier, heretical Millenialist tradition was one of their early Monastries. The monks later developed a reputation for heresy, not least for their then radical support for the Marian tradition (developed by St Bernard), and suspicion of ascetic Gnosticism. It is not known how seriously to take these allegations even today. The Cistercians of course also supported and allied with the Knights Templar. Over time they became more liberal and orthodox in their belief, but their more radical and severe elements were preserved by the Trappists, who even today are accused of crypto-Gnosticism and are suspected, along with the Jesuits, of harbouring the Mages, the legendary Gnostic magicians within the Catholic Church.
Important Terms and Concepts
Aeons
In many Gnostic systems, the various emanations of the God, who is also known by such names as the One, the Monad, Aion teleos (The Perfect Aeon), Bythos (Depth or profundity, Greek Βυθος), Proarkhe (Before the Beginning, Greek προαρχη), E Arkhe (The Beginning, Greek ἡ ἀρχή), are called aeons. This first being is also an æon and has an inner being within itself, known as Ennoia (Thought), Charis (Grace), or Sige (Greek Σιγη, Silence). The split perfect being conceives the second aeon, Caen (Power), within itself. Along with the male Caen comes the female æon Akhana (Truth, Love).
The aeons often came in male/female pairs called syzygies, and were numerous (20-30). Two of the most commonly listed æons were Jesus and Sophia. The aeons constitute the pleroma, the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness; that is, the physical world.
When an æon named Sophia emanated without her partner aeon, the result was the Demiurge, or half-creator (Occasionally referred to as Ialdaboth in Gnostic texts), a creature that should never have come into existence. This creature does not belong to the pleroma, and the One emanates two savior æons, Christ and the Holy Spirit to save man from the Demiurge. Christ then took the form of the man, Jesus, in order to be able to teach man how to achieve gnosis; that is, return to the pleroma.
These systems, however, are only a sample of the various interpretations that exist. The roles of familiar beings such as Jesus, Christ, Sophia, and the Demiurge usually share the same general themes between systems but may have somewhat different functions or identities ascribed to them.
Archons
In late antiquity some variants of Gnosticism used the term Archon to refer to several servants of the Demiurge, the "creator god" that stood between spiritual humanity and a transcendent God that could only be reached through gnosis. In this context they may be seen as having the roles of the angels and demons of the Old Testament.
The Ophites accepted the existence of seven archons: Iadabaoth or Ialdabaoth (who created the six others), Iao, Sabaoth, Adonaios, Elaios, Astaphanos and Horaios (Origen, Contra Celsum, VI.31). Ialdabaoth had a head of a lion, just like Mithraic Kronos (Chronos) and Vedic Narasimha, a form of Vishnu.
Abraxas/Abrasax
The Egyptian Gnostic Basilideans referred to a figure called Abraxas who was at the head of 365 spiritual beings (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, I.24); it is unclear what to make of Irenaeus' use of the term 'Archon', which may simply mean 'ruler' in this context. The role and function of Abraxas for Basilideans is not clear.
The word Abrasax was engraved on certain antique stones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which may have been used as amulets or charms by Gnostic sects. In popular culture, Abraxas is sometimes considered the name of a god who incorporated both Good and Evil (God and Demiurge) in one entity, and therefore representing the monotheistic God, singular, but (unlike, for example, the Christian God) not omni-benevolent (See Hesse's Demian, and Jung's Seven Sermons to the Dead). Opinions abound on Abraxas, who in recent centuries has been claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon, sometimes even being associated with the dual nature of Satan/Lucifer. The word abracadabra may be related to Abraxas.
The above information relates to interpretations of ancient amulets and to reports of Christian heresy hunters which are not always clear.
Actual ancient Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi Library, such as the Gospel of the Egyptians, refer to Abrasax as an Aeon dwelling with Sophia and other Aeons of the Spiritual Fullness in the light of the luminary Eleleth. In several texts, the luminary Eleleth is the last of the luminaries (Spiritual Lights) that come forward, and it is the Aeon Sophia, associated with Eleleth, who encounters darkness and becomes involved in the chain of events that leads to the Demiurge and Archon's rule of this world, and the salvage effort that ensues. As such, the role of Aeons of Eleleth, including Abrasax, Sophia, and others, pertains to this outer border of the Divine Fullness that encounters the ignorance of the world of Lack and interacts to rectify the error of ignorance in the world of materiality.
Words like or similar to Abraxas or Abrasax also appear in the Greek Magical Papyrii. There are similarities and differences between such figures in reports about Basiledes' teaching, in the larger magical traditions of the Graeco-Roman world, in the classic ancient Gnostic texts such as the Gospel of the Egyptians, and in later magical and esoteric writings.
An image of Abraxas appears on the seal of the Grandmaster of the Templars in Paris with the phrase Templi Secretum.
Demiurge
The term Demiurge refers to an entity (usually seen as evil) responsible for the creation of the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity.
The term occurs in a number of other religious and philosophical systems, most notably Platonism. While always suggestive of a creator god, the moral judgements regarding the demiurge vary wildly, from a benign grand architect to an evil subvertor of God's will.
Like Plato, Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable "alien God" and the demiurgic "creator" of the material. However, in contrast to Plato, several systems of Gnostic thought present the Demiurge as antagonistic to the will of the Supreme God: his act of creation either in unconscious imitation of the divine model, and thus is fundamentally flawed, or else formed with the malevolent intention of entrapping aspects of the divine in materiality. Thus, in such systems, the Demiurge acts as a solution to the problem of evil. In the Apocryphon of John (several versions of which are found in the Nag Hammadi library), the Demiurge has the name "Yaltabaoth", and proclaims himself as God:
"Now the archon who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas, and the third is Samael. And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him. For he said, 'I am God and there is no other God beside me,' for he is ignorant of his strength, the place from which he had come."
Gnostic myth recounts that Sophia (Greek, literally meaning "wisdom"), the Demiurge's mother and a partial aspect of the divine Pleroma or "Fullness", desired to create something apart from the divine totality, and without the receipt of divine assent. In this abortive act of separate creation, she gave birth to the monstrous Demiurge and, being ashamed of her deed, she wrapped him in a cloud and created a throne for him within it. The Demiurge, isolated, did not behold his mother, nor anyone else, and thus concluded that only he himself existed, being ignorant of the superior levels of reality that were his birth-place.
The Gnostic myths describing these events are full of intricate nuances portraying the declination of aspects of the divine into human form; this process occurs through the agency of the Demiurge who, having stolen a portion of power from his mother, sets about a work of creation in unconscious imitation of the superior Pleromatic realm. Thus Sophia's power becomes enclosed within the material forms of humanity, themselves entrapped within the material universe: the goal of Gnostic movements was typically the awakening of this spark, which permitted a return by the subject to the superior, non-material realities which were its primal source.
"Samael" may equate to the Judaic Angel of Death, and corresponds to the Christian demon of that name, as well as Satan. Literally, it can mean "Blind God" or "God of the Blind" in Aramaic (Syriac sæmʕa-ʔel). Another alternative title for Yaldabaoth, "Saklas", is Aramaic for "fool" (Syriac sækla "the foolish one").
Some Gnostic philosophers identify the Demiurge with Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, in opposition and contrast to the God of the New Testament. Still others equated the being with Satan. Catharism apparently inherited their idea of Satan as the creator of the evil world directly or indirectly from Gnosticism.
Gnosis
The word 'Gnosticism' is a modern construction, though based on an antiquated linguistic expression: it comes from the Greek word meaning 'knowledge', gnosis (γνῶσις). However, gnosis itself refers to a very specialised form of knowledge, deriving both from the exact meaning of the original Greek term and its usage in Platonist philosophy.
Unlike modern English, ancient Greek was capable of discerning between several different forms of knowing. These different forms may be described in English as being propositional knowledge, indicative of knowledge acquired indirectly through the reports of others or otherwise by inference (such as "I know Berlin is in Germany"), and empirical knowledge acquired by direct participation or acquaintance (such as "I know George Bush personally" or "I know Berlin, having visited"). The latter raising problems regarding the impossibility of experience unmediated by prior concept or language.
Gnosis (γνῶσις) refers to knowledge of the second kind. Therefore, in a religious context, to be 'Gnostic' should be understood as being reliant not on knowledge in a general sense, but as being specially receptive to mystical or esoteric experiences of direct participation with the divine. Indeed, in most Gnostic systems the sufficient cause of salvation is this 'knowledge of' ('acquaintance with') the divine. This is commonly identified with a process of inward 'knowing' or self-exploration, comparable to that encouraged by Plotinus (ca. 205–270 AD). However, as may be seen, the term 'gnostic' also had precedent usage in several ancient philosophical traditions, which must also be weighed in considering the very subtle implications of its appellation to a set of ancient religious groups.
Monad (apophatic theology)
In many Gnostic systems (and heresiologies), God is known as the Monad, the One, The Absolute, Aion teleos (The Perfect Æon), Bythos (Depth or Profundity, Βυθος), Proarkhe (Before the Beginning, προαρχη), and E Arkhe (The Beginning, η αρχη). God is the high source of the pleroma, the region of light. The various emanations of God are called æons.
Within certain variations of Gnosticism, especially those inspired by Monoimus, the Monad was the highest God which created lesser gods, or elements (similar to æons).
According to Hippolytus, this view was inspired by the Pythagoreans, who called the first thing that came into existence the Monad, which begat the dyad, which begat the numbers, which begat the point, begetting lines, etc. This was also clarified in the writings of Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus. This teaching being largely Neopythagorean via Numenius as well.
This Monad is the spiritual source of everything which emanates the pleroma, and could be contrasted to the dark Demiurge (Yaldabaoth) that controls matter.
The Sethian cosmogony as most famously contained in the Apocryphon ('Secret book') of John describes an unknown God, very similar to the orthodox apophatic theology, although very different from the orthodox credal teachings that there is one such god who is identified also as creator of heaven and earth. In describing the nature of a creator god associated with Biblical texts, orthodox theologians often attempt to define God through a series of explicit positive statements, themselves universal but in the divine taken to their superlative degrees: he is omniscient, omnipotent and truly benevolent. The Sethian conception of the most hidden transcendent God is, by contrast, defined through negative theology: he is immovable, invisible, intangible, ineffable; commonly, 'he' is seen as being hermaphroditic, a potent symbol for being, as it were, 'all-containing'. In the Apocryphon of John, this god is good in that it bestows goodness. After the apophatic statements, the process of the Divine in action are used to describe the effect of such a god.
An apophatic approach to discussing the Divine is found throughout gnosticism, Vendantic Hinduism, and Platonic and Aristotelian theology as well. It is also found in some Judaic sources.
Pleroma
Pleroma (Greek πληρωμα) generally refers to the totality of God's powers. The term means fullness, and is used in Christian theological contexts: both in Gnosticism generally, and in Colossians 2.9.
Gnosticism holds that the world is controlled by evil archons, one of whom is the demiurge, the deity of the Old Testament who holds the human spirit captive.
The heavenly pleroma is the center of divine life, a region of light "above" (the term is not to be understood spatially) our world, occupied by spiritual beings such as aeons (eternal beings) and sometimes archons. Jesus is interpreted as an intermediary aeon who was sent from the pleroma, with whose aid humanity can recover the lost knowledge of the divine origins of humanity. The term is thus a central element of Gnostic cosmology.
Pleroma is also used in the general Greek language and is used by the Greek Orthodox church in this general form since the word appears under the book of Colossians. Proponents of the view that Paul was actually a gnostic, such as Elaine Pagels of Princeton University, view the reference in Colossians as something that was to be interpreted in the gnostic sense.
Sophia
In Gnostic tradition, the term Sophia (Σoφíα, Greek for "wisdom") refers to the final and lowest emanation of God.
In most if not all versions of the gnostic myth, Sophia births the demiurge, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality. The positive or negative depiction of materiality thus resides a great deal on mythic depictions of Sophia's actions. She is occasionally referred to by the Hebrew equivalent of Achamoth (this is a feature of Ptolemy's version of the Valentinian gnostic myth). Jewish Gnosticism with a focus on Sophia was active by 90 AD
Almost all gnostic systems of the Syrian or Egyptian type taught that the universe began with an original, unknowable God, referred to as the Parent or Bythos, as the Monad by Monoimus, or the first Aeon by still other traditions. From this initial unitary beginning, the One spontaneously emanated further Aeons, pairs of progressively 'lesser' beings in sequence. The lowest of these pairs were Sophia and Christ. The Aeons together made up the Pleroma, or fullness, of God, and thus should not be seen as distinct from the divine, but symbolic abstractions of the divine nature.
