THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

obviously represents some interim phase upon that trajectory. 38
One thinks of the
period following the decimation of the Jewish community in Egypt and the stripping
of their privileges following the failure of their revolt in C.E. 115-17. A turning to the
Gnostic concern with Evil in the world, a radicalising reassessment of Jahweh as a
result of their own suffering and despair, this might be expected on the part of a
number of Jewish speculative thinkers at this historical juncture in particular. 39
This
acme of Jewish disheartenment in Alexandria occurred only a few years before the
appearance of Valentinus and Basileides there. Then again, the overt dualism of the
piece could point strongly towards an Essene group. 40
However, all these
considerations are to be tied to the later redaction. The earlier pagan cosmology and
attribute of archaic Gnosis link it with the south. In this regard the most important
point to make here is one made by Francis Legge some 70 years ago, that the
worldview expressed in the Pistis Sophia is “so thoroughly Egyptian that it must have
been written for Egyptian readers”. 41
There is also a pronounced Manichaean influence at work throughout the
Pistis Sophia. 42
Apart from further specific instances which will be noted in the next
chapter, there is a Manichaean “feel” about the whole work: the obsessive detailing of
the cosmology and attempt to present salvation as being almost a system of physics;
the whole cosmic dualism in both systems which simply is, without genesis; as well,
both depict a spiritual apogee, a point of fallenness for the soul from which there is no
return. Finally, the doctrinal and syncretistic nature of the work suggests the
Manichaean approach. All of this is not to say however, that these factors must follow
the rise of Manichaeism (Mani lived from C.E. 216-277); Taken by themselves they
could as easily be current or prior to the teachings of Mani. My conclusion, based
largely upon connections with the magical papyri and Egyptian religion, is that they
38
At least one assumes this to be the case; perhaps it would be safer to simply say that the
community became more and more Hellenised as time went on.
39
The term “Jew” is as nuanced as any other in this time and place. There were numerous
nominal Jews in Egypt who were neither Jewish by race, circumcised, or expected to strictly
follow Jewish religious laws. See Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity (Harmondsworth:
Penguin Books, 1976), 12.
40
This is strongly suggested at 124.24 cont.: “It is this which baptised and forgave the race of
mankind and made them to be at peace with the Sons of the Light” (Coptic transcription
from NHS, vol. IX, 248). The final battle between “the Sons of Darkness” and “the Sons of
Light” is of course a central motif in the Essene cosmology.
41
Francis Legge, Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity: From 330 B.C. to 330 A.D., vol. 1
(1922; reprint, New York: University Books, 1964), 175.
42
I would briefly list a number of compelling similarities that occur in the text. Reference is
made to the “tyrants [who] began to wage war against the light.” Their ignorance is
stressed, “because they saw nothing except the greatly surpassing light,” (25). The sun and
moon are depicted as processors of light particles, and the light is “swallowed” by the
archons: both are familiar Manichaean motifs (35-36). The tragedy of the mixture (light and
darkness) is at the heart of Manichaean thought and this key concept is expressed in the
Pistis Sophia: “And when the perfect number is completed so that the mixture is
dissolved...” (77). The Manichaean idea of processing the particles of light in one’s food is
exactly mirrored here (282).