The Bible Vs Gnostic Sophia and Wisdom Personified
Gnostic Sophia is Back! | Is Wisdom a Person? | Are Women Inferior? | Were the Ancients Matriarchal?
“Wisdom is justified by all her children.” Those who display virtuous character have a greater wisdom than those who know the secrets of the universe. Special knowledge wont save us, only faith will, because faith changes the heart.
Sophia is Lucifer
We should bear in mind that Lucifer’s aim was to be as great as God, (Isaiah 14) to ascend above everything else. The quality wisdom he wanted was cosmic knowledge of how to increase in power and technology, it was not the humble hearted moral wisdom preferred by God, and Solomon. It was this kind of self-centered wisdom that he tempted Eve with in the garden. Gnostics borrowed Sophia from the Greeks, Christ from the Bible and reincarnation and the demiurge from Plato, and plenty of mystery from the Kabbalah. Sophia and Eve both wanted instant gratification and personal greatness. The tree of the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ did not only give them access to self-determined values and attitude, it gave them a liberated mind that could abuse the ego and separate oneself from ones maker and his design for us. When we look at who Sophia was we see that her aims were very similar to those of the serpent in the garden. The implications are that Sophia does not seek knowledge for the right reason. She is not interested in Gods moral wisdom she is interested in cosmic and technological wisdom that will make her personally great. Greatness over goodness. The desire to do great things is much higher than the desire to be great. The book of Proverbs is a display of God’s interest in moral wisdom and how justice and mercy; earth and heaven, must negotiate and work together.
According to Gnostic tradition, Sophia loses her place in heaven (pleroma) and her connection with the oneness, the light, the spirit, because she wants to know the supreme unknowable being. Because of fear of death and her longing to get back she accidentally creates a demiurge. The Demiurge, or craftsman, who is ignorant of the suprime being and of Sophia, he arrogantly thinks his material creation is a copy of the supreme realm (or realm of perfect forms as Plato might have called it) This demiurge bears little resemblance to the Plato’s demiurge who is an supremely intelligent being who created the world to mirror the realm of the perfect and cosmic forms. According to Gnosticism, Christ came to redeem Sophia and invites as all to find the spiritual realm through the divine spark within us. This is a message that trashes the cross, has no interest in taking up ones cross and has no need for atonement.
Lucifer or Sophia, may have been greedy for knowledge but he/she certainly had nothing to do with creation according to the Bible because the Bible states creation was good when it was first conceived. It is conceivable that Lucifer corrupted creation somehow though. At creation God spoke through the Word and God’s Spirit moved on the waters bringing life. Adam and Eve were given a choice: to trust and be loyal or to put their ego first. The only reason that God needed to judge humanity and build the lake of fire was because of Lucifer’s fall, which happened after creation, meaning that God did not plan for humanity to fall, even though he made the possibility for them to fall. God is not interested in saving Sophia, rather he invites us to crucify our own Sophia and to replace it with his own perfect values. Sophia represents our own ways, our own efforts to become like God; she is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; the elite, convoluted whispers of the serpent; the knowledge of how to travel the astral plane and learn half truths; the voice of ayahuasca. She represents the destructive technology and the artificial intelligence of the Watchers and Nephalim.
Rather than the physical world being sinful or inferior, it represents a static form of reality that mirrors the pattern of God’s own home, at least in its original conception. The garden of Eden and the temple were a small reflection of God’s throne room. And it was so wonderful to be on earth that God was pleased to come to visit Adam and Eve every morning and walk in the garden with them.
We relate to the biblical God through the redeemed heart, and not through the mind.
Many powerful evil spirits know everything but they are still evil. The wisdom of the heart contains moral sensitivity, good desire and divine attitude. Biblical monotheism does not deny the existence of other gods, but it tells us that they are all fallen ones who seduce us and reduce our self determinism. “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” (Isaiah 54:5-6). When the Yhwh of hosts delivered the Israelites from Egypt God proved to them that he was more powerful than all the other gods, and if he is our maker, cares about us and will judge us one day, then why should we bother about any other spiritually seductive god?
Are Women Inferior in Gnosticism?
Gnosticism, like Platonism, believes in a hierarchy of being in which women are morally and physically lesser beings than men, and men who fail in this life are reborn as women. Some say this belief is the result of the patriarchal system that emerged at some point in history, but before this women were revered as goddess. (We will address this topic later.)
According to the Gospel of Thomas, ‘Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.’ (Logion 114). Even if this means that women need to give up their femininity in order to become united with masculinity in the next life, there is still an implication that only men are a living soul. And what about men, don’t they need to give up their masculinity?
Is Wisdom Feminine/is God Masculine?
In Gnosticism Sophia, (meaning wisdom or skilled, clever) is a feminine figure. This may be because the makers of the religion were inspired by Proberbs 9 which states, “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars.”
Even though wisdom is painted as a personality that waits for us to discover her, wisdom is neither innate nor natural, nor can it be a person. Wisdom is an invisible creation of meaning and ideas that relies on the stable structures offered by truth, and uses love to flesh out form, in each unique circumstance. Wisdom cannot exist outside of self-aware minds, it is not pure consciousness, rather its the product of much effort and discernment over time. So if she were a person she would be in various states of disrepair in some cultures, and in others, constantly changing into a more beautiful person. The search for wisdom is a part of the reason for creation, it is something angels desire and enjoy. It is not a substance or a single person, its not even a force, it is a unique creative combination of morality, understanding, curiosity and enterprise; it is fluid enough to adapt to each individual situation. Even though we are born with intuitive knowledge and with a sense of what is appropriate, rational and moral wisdom is a construct that must be cultivated in the heart and minds of individuals and within our collective culture.
Things of great worth and elegance are often referred to in the feminine, like a ship or a work of art. Therefore those who use the feminine description of wisdom in Proverbs 8 to justify the belief in a female demigod, and give her the name Sophia, Mother Ayahuasca, or even Gaia have no Biblical basis, or spiritual basis to justify their Gnostic leanings. Wisdom may be vulnerable, creative, beautiful and vital but it is not a person or a single figure, but rather the collection of all good personalities working in unity towards a common goal. God’s Holy Spirit is working constantly in the universe to bring about this reality.
The writers of the Bible know that Yahweh could not be an actual male because God is a spirit being who can manifest in whatever form he pleases. But it seems important to God that we should relate to him primarily as we would to a wise and good father figure, rather than as an accepting and gregarious mother figure. As God is the creator; the judge; wise; and ultimately motivated by grace; the only appropriate response to him is humility and reverence, and then to trust. Once we come to God on the basis of faith in his character, and with humility in our heart, then all of the more fluid and gracious elements of God can also be received. Thus we primarily ought to relate to God as a masculine figure, then once we know him we receive his more feminine blessings.
Reincarnation or Justice?
There is a popular idea among mystics that when we die everything will be fine, no mater what, even for Jack-the-ripper and Stalin. Their god will not judge; they just need their evil melted away and to learn from their mistakes. Then they will be absorbed into the ‘source’ and sort of exist in a state of restful bliss with no ambition, purpose or personality. It is not surprising that this kind of accepting, non-discerning and nurturing conception of God is feminine in character, and many goddess are associated with the earth because of their immanent- non-perfect character. The God of Heaven is transcendent and perfect. Yet if God built cause-and-effect into the physical creation then we ought to conclude that he also build it into the spiritual dimension of meaning, attitude and purpose. The only thing that can nullify the destructive effects of our sin is grace, and grace that is grasped by faith through a humble, repentant and consecrated heart. This exchange was made effective through the atonement of God’s own perfect sacrifice.
The ultimate goal of a Gnostic is to achieve spiritual liberation through knowledge (“gnosis”) and escape the cycle of rebirth. Conversely, God’s ultimate goal for us is for us to relate to him through our heart, and for our heart values to harmonise with his, resting and walking with him in trust and obedience. Overcoming evil spirits using Christ’s authority.
The spirits we listen to in this life own us in the next; if God is not protecting our soul how will we find another body? If we cannot remember the values and character we had in our past lives how can we learn from them? And how can justice exist when there are no consequences for the good or bad we do?
Were the Ancients non Patriarchal, Women-honuoring Nice Guys?
This Venus of Willendorf figure above was supposedly made 25,000 years BC, at a time when there was equality and there were as many female gods as male. But even though there are as many female as there are male gods in this period this says nothing about how much agency women had. Some suggest that the fact that her head is all hair indicates she is looking down in submission. I’m not sure that this statue shows any respect to women in general. Their is not a scrap of evidence that humans have ever been anything other than patriarchal societies, although there are a few exceptional societies today in the world that have been artificially set up. When we look at indigenous tribal behavior we see a mix of natural behavioral characteristics like polygyny and male chiefs. But they might also have been nice guys. Even in the ancient Egyptian culture, where women were honored by making them symbolic rulers, it was the male Pharaoh who actuality made the decisions. A quick google on the subject of matriarchy yealds this:
“While there is evidence of societies with matrilineal descent (tracing lineage through the mother) and matrilocal residence (living near the mother’s family) in ancient cultures, most anthropologists do not consider there to be conclusive evidence of a fully “matriarchal” society where women held absolute power over men; the concept of a pure matriarchy is generally considered a myth.”