Hi all,
I've been reading some works by John Turner and Tuomas Rasimus, who theorize that popular gnostic texts, such as the Secret Book of John, were actually amalgamations by three different gnostic groups (ophite, sethite, and barbeloite) that eventually syncretized into what we call the 'sethian gnostics.' These books are fascinating, analyzing which themes of the texts they believe came from which of these three groups.
However, one topic I have not been able to find in these works is where the story of the angel Sophia creating the demiurge may have originated. The authors point out trends (such as Ophite Sophia being a powerful god-like being, and the Barbeloite Sophia being a lower more guilty being), but unless I've skipped over it, I haven't found any discussions on which camp the story of Sophia may have originated from.
I don't know if there IS a consensus, though I'm new to reading such academic material and it's fully possible I just haven't found anything discussing this yet.
TLDR - did the story of Sophia and the creation of the demiurge come from the Sethites, Ophites, or Barbeloites initially?
Thank you!
I've been reading some works by John Turner and Tuomas Rasimus, who theorize that popular gnostic texts, such as the Secret Book of John, were actually amalgamations by three different gnostic groups (ophite, sethite, and barbeloite) that eventually syncretized into what we call the 'sethian gnostics.' These books are fascinating, analyzing which themes of the texts they believe came from which of these three groups.
However, one topic I have not been able to find in these works is where the story of the angel Sophia creating the demiurge may have originated. The authors point out trends (such as Ophite Sophia being a powerful god-like being, and the Barbeloite Sophia being a lower more guilty being), but unless I've skipped over it, I haven't found any discussions on which camp the story of Sophia may have originated from.
I don't know if there IS a consensus, though I'm new to reading such academic material and it's fully possible I just haven't found anything discussing this yet.
TLDR - did the story of Sophia and the creation of the demiurge come from the Sethites, Ophites, or Barbeloites initially?
Thank you!
Statistics: Posted by JustSomeRandomGuy — Tue May 14, 2024 3:54 pm