Hi all. As I've been going through a positive deconstruction this past year, I've been reading through the apocryphal texts. I've found something interesting, I'm wondering if anyone might have an answer.
In the Meyer translation of Trimorphic Protennoia (aka Three Forms of the First Thought), Barbelo (who seems to represent the Godhead) quotes the Old Testament multiple times. I took this to believe the this text wasn't necessarily hostile to the Old Testament god, as some other gnostic texts are. (Scholars tend to plop the Trimorphic Protennoia into the 'Barbeloite' camp, while most of the 'god hating' stuff like the Garden of Eden rewrite comes from Sethite or Ophite camps.)
However, later in the Trimorphic Protennoia the demiurge drops the 'There is no god but me' line, which according to the Meyer translation is inspired by Isaiah.
So I'm getting some mixed messages here. The Trimorphic Protennoia seems to attribute several Old Testament lines to the true Godhead... but then it doesn't? It's extra strange because both Barbelo and the demiurge quote Isaiah. So in the context of this myth, was the book of Isaiah inspired by the true God or not?
So what's the deal here? Is the 'god' speaking in Isaiah and other OT texts meant to be the ACTUAL God or not? Was the demiurge's line made by a later edit and not in the original? Is the OT God attributed to Barbelo/Monad in this text, or to the demiurge? Overall, Barbelo quotes the Old Testament many more times than the demiurge here, it's just that one strange line that confuses me.
I'm a little confused, so I'd appreciate the help of anyone more familiar with this text. The TriProt is a beautiful and fascinating work but is definitely confusing.
In the Meyer translation of Trimorphic Protennoia (aka Three Forms of the First Thought), Barbelo (who seems to represent the Godhead) quotes the Old Testament multiple times. I took this to believe the this text wasn't necessarily hostile to the Old Testament god, as some other gnostic texts are. (Scholars tend to plop the Trimorphic Protennoia into the 'Barbeloite' camp, while most of the 'god hating' stuff like the Garden of Eden rewrite comes from Sethite or Ophite camps.)
However, later in the Trimorphic Protennoia the demiurge drops the 'There is no god but me' line, which according to the Meyer translation is inspired by Isaiah.
So I'm getting some mixed messages here. The Trimorphic Protennoia seems to attribute several Old Testament lines to the true Godhead... but then it doesn't? It's extra strange because both Barbelo and the demiurge quote Isaiah. So in the context of this myth, was the book of Isaiah inspired by the true God or not?
So what's the deal here? Is the 'god' speaking in Isaiah and other OT texts meant to be the ACTUAL God or not? Was the demiurge's line made by a later edit and not in the original? Is the OT God attributed to Barbelo/Monad in this text, or to the demiurge? Overall, Barbelo quotes the Old Testament many more times than the demiurge here, it's just that one strange line that confuses me.
I'm a little confused, so I'd appreciate the help of anyone more familiar with this text. The TriProt is a beautiful and fascinating work but is definitely confusing.
Statistics: Posted by JustSomeRandomGuy — Sun Nov 03, 2024 5:22 pm