P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

There is also a totally different line
of investigation, the outcome of which will support
the above statement.
In our discussion of
Valentinianism we outlined the 'crisis' that occurred
in the Pleroma.
Now it is not without signifiGance
that statements that refer to the same kind of developing
crisis are to be found in the Gospel of Truth,
a document that is generally accepted as being a
Valentini an Meditation on the Gospel.
The sayings
that particularly seem relevant here are 17:4-6 and
22:27. ~e second point of intere~t is that in
this Coptic document the Greek loan-word
~~~p~a
"
occurs e
157
1 even t lmes. Now in view of the significance
of the statements at 17:4-6 and 22:27 it would be
natural to expect that the term was to be given the
same content as in Valentinianism proper.
But this
is not the case.
In all the occurrences, with the
possible exception of 16:35, 41:14 and 43:16, the word
means no more than the heavenly dwelling place of God.
Even if in the three instances mentioned the word is to
be understood in its technical sense -
and this is by
no means certain 158 -
it does not stop us from concluding
that even in developed Gnosticism
~~~p~a
did not always carry the full technical interpretation.
This fact further cautions us against reading Gnosticism
into any and every ~~~p~
reference either within
or without the NT.
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