THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

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nowhere, it can be present as a motivational ingredient in any rhetoric, no matter how intensely advantage-seeking such rhetoric may be. 49 I maintain that the entire Thunder: Perfect Mind presents a radical theology of the Word, one that is meta-rhetorical in its purposes in the sense that it attempts to persuade a vision of its own persuasiveness. In this work a female speaker addresses an unknown group of people, possibly Greeks and Egyptians, or barbarians (i.e. non- Greek speaking peoples), as the text suggests. The confessional rhetoric of this address is powerfully amplified through the continuous use of the anaphoric “I am...” which is possibly meant to mirror, or even satirise, the “ego eime” (“I am”) pronouncements in John’s gospel, although this is uncertain. What is of great interest is that these confessional “I am...” formulas usually result in paradoxical rather than definitive statements. The paradoxes are not only intellectual but also take the form of emotional states, quite often focusing their tension upon language itself. The work is clearly philosophical and mystical, using language as a poetic vehicle for these ends. The use of anaphora, parallelism, and metaphor, establishes the work as poetic, while the use of paradox, oxymoron, and specific philosophical terms gives the work a contemplative, philosophical bent. These two modes of discourse are fused throughout; three examples will illustrate this: For I am the first and the last: I am the one who is honoured and the one who is scorned (13.16-17) 50 For I am the Gnosis and the ignorance I am reticence and loquaciousness (14.26-28) 51 For I am the Sophia of the Greeks and the Gnosis of barbarians. I am the judgement of the Greeks and of the barbarians (16.3-6) 52 The following perplexing statement, it seems to me, indicates a philosophical focus upon two critical terms: “Those who exist together in my being are ignorant of me; and those who exist in my substance are the ones who know me”. Being and substance must be seen to represent two antithetical natures within the speaker herself, and this is confirmed in the earlier statement, “I am the Gnosis and the Ignorance” These terms, which are Greek loan-words in the Coptic text, reinforces a strong allusion to philosophical issues. 53 49 Ibid., 269, 270. 50 Coptic transcription from NHS, vol. XI, 234. 51 Ibid., 238. 52 Ibid., 240. 53 Although this is not necessarily true for all Greek loan words in Coptic. However, it is clear in this case that being and substance have to be considered part of a quintessential philosophical vernacular.
We can identify a number of passages that are clearly focused upon rhetorical concerns, upon the issue of a reflexive use of language and meaning. These are as follows: I am the silence that cannot be apprehended and the idea that is often remembered. I am the sound of the manifold voice, and the word of many aspects. I am the story: (I am) my name (14.9-15) 54 Those who deny me, confess me, and those who confess me deny me. Those who speak truth of me, lie about me, and those who lied about me, tell the truth about me. Those who understand me, be ignorant of me. And those who do not know me, let them know me. For I am the Gnosis and the ignorance I am reticence and loquaciousness (14.18-28) 55 I am... the security in insecurity (15.25-27) 56 I am the Gnosis of my quest... the power of the powers in my Gnosis, with the angels,... ...they who have been sent by my word (18.11-16) 57 I am the utterance attainable to everyone and the speech which cannot be grasped. I am a mute who does not speak, and great is my multitude of words. Hear me in weakness, and be instructed by me in strength. I am she who cries out and I am cast forth upon the face of the earth. It is I who prepares the bread and my mind inside. I am the Gnosis of my name. I am the one who cries out, and it is I who listens (19.20-34) 58 Hear me you auditors, and learn from my words those who know me. I am the hearing that is attainable to everything, I am the speech which cannot be grasped. 54 Coptic transcription from NHS, vol. XI, 234. 55 Ibid., 238. 56 Ibid., 240. 57 Ibid., 246. 58 Ibid., 248, 250.
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THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC
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VC Vigiliae Christianae ZÄS Zeitsc
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Part I - Problems of Interpretation
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underworld demonic forces. A fragme
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Gnosis, in its most advanced Hellen
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ackground of those scholars who tur
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ased textual exclusivity for the Na
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lown Christian-Gnostic text make, a
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originations 26 ; finally, the Pist
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esentment against pernicious Fate a
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which supply the earliest examples
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etween a temporal and spatial Sourc
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creator-god Atum can be seen as the
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Let us note the remarkable link bet
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dualism in outlook, one which resul
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this positioning of intelligence, a
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in the Heliopolitan version, is the
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disruptive act which has major theo
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of an event”. 66 This distinction
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projects, who are king’s sons”.
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evolution, a priori or posteriori a
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sparked by the unruly impulse of fr
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The Egyptian netherworld is filled
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Chapter Three: Dualism in pre-Alexa
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1) The physical realm is inferior t
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equates the notion of “evil Demiu
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views were aired amongst the litera
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were intermarrying with Egyptian wo
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imperial unity. This, in part, was
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individual involved the “discover
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the regime was committed to support
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third century B.C.E. Alexandria, 46
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focus upon the library of Alexandri
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Plutarch, writing around 118 C.E.,
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This was accomplished at ground lev
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Alexandria before the Syrian garris
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in the ancient world supplied the
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Chapter Five: The Magical Papyri In
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Janet Johnson, in her accompanying
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We note that the idea of the theogo
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Name”and “The Archangelic (Book
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I list out the skills or qualities
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This is the knowledge of the living
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Hear me, my Father, thou father of
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all, also separating himself from t
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alteration of name-endings. 82 The
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What liberates is the knowledge of
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Chapter Six: The Development of Cop
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Egyptians in the language of Egypt
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“Early Coptic”, and as a workin
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must constantly bear in mind, howev
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I turn now to examine very briefly
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In Coptic we have the spoken langua
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environment of Alexandria, and her
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Christians eventually chose Coptic
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and mysterious texts of Egypt must
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It is an interesting feature of Mid
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Ammonius Saccas (c. 210 C.E.) of Eg
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formlessness and disorder”. 22 Th
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The picture here is in accord with
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House of Glory agreed with her word
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the Didaskalikos (Guide to the Doct
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Father, thereby receiving the Forms
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doctrines in Egypt. The fact that h
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different philosophical positions,
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Atum is depicted as lying inert in
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of countable aspects of time”. 91
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tradition, arises from the percepti
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Other examples follow: Then when sh
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wished to make a world. I say ‘he
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The Books of Jeu, whose mind revels
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disciples is flattened by the ideat
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12 syzygies (pairs of aeons) The la
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descends to earth. Once on earth, H
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pre-date Mani - likely a part of a
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ineffable one, the invisible one, t
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And in what way did the unbegotten
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etween priesthood and laity in cult
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this while professing “perfect in
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of the temples. 72 This socio-econo
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Chapter Nine: Egyptian Manichaeism
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There has also been a strong tenden
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I have not been deaf to the words o
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suppressed other divinities (and co
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(Keph. 65 161.12) 33 ...it shows al
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Ho all living upon the earth, and t
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hath worshipped the sun or any of t
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is a level beneath the Treasury of
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is used twice in association with t
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south, a more “worldly” stance
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Part III - The Egyptian Foundations
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The King was fashioned by Nu at his
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existent. In essence, the whole iss
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The appearance of the female creati
Page 189 and 190: informed those who live in the Abys
Page 191 and 192: But Kalyptos is a single aeon; he h
Page 193 and 194: Ennead: Parent=Deep=NUN Demiurge/Pa
Page 195 and 196: Such stories of the heavens you wou
Page 197 and 198: Chapter Eleven: The Heliopolitan Th
Page 199 and 200: abble - shall I say, of criminals o
Page 201 and 202: It is revealing, to say the least,
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Page 209 and 210: Egypt” and who claims that “I a
Page 211 and 212: Pleroma, not without leaving her da
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Page 215 and 216: The core myth is not substantially
Page 217 and 218: NHC II,1 20.14-28 41 And he sent, b
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Page 221 and 222: Chapter Thirteen: The Seth Principl
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Page 227: The “Seth-principle” also perta
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Page 234 and 235: of course it attains a distinct res
Page 236 and 237: partial Demotic version dating to t
Page 238 and 239: ... I restored the Eye after it had
Page 242 and 243: I am the name of the sound and the
Page 244 and 245: If we defined “theology” as “
Page 246 and 247: aura of power about the philologist
Page 248 and 249: used in different ways, even if it
Page 250 and 251: transforming process and how the pr
Page 252 and 253: The nhh/dt split shows up in Hermet
Page 254 and 255: shall destroy itself [........] The
Page 256 and 257: Plotinus’ philosophical explorati
Page 258 and 259: used in different ways, even if it
Page 260 and 261: transforming process and how the pr
Page 262 and 263: The nhh/dt split shows up in Hermet
Page 264 and 265: shall destroy itself [........] The
Page 266 and 267: Plotinus’ philosophical explorati
Page 268 and 269: Greek syncretistic endeavours in Eg
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Page 272 and 273: of political texts, and it either t
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Page 276 and 277: virtual Bakunins of the time whose
Page 278 and 279: language itself. It is clear that t
Page 280 and 281: alienness in this sense, as well, p
Page 282 and 283: Book of Thom. the Contender [7] 9 0
Page 284 and 285: well-preserved original manuscript,
Page 286 and 287: Appendix B A Genealogy of Egyptian
Page 288 and 289: 6. Speusippus ( ca. 407-339 B.C.E.)
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9. Plutarch ( ca. 85 C.E.) MONAD IN
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12. The Valentinian Theogony Accord
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Ennead: Parent=Deep=NUN Demiurge/Pa
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NHS, vol.XXXI: Nag Hammadi Codices
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Arthur, Rose Horman. The Wisdom God
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Betz, Hans Dieter. “The Formulati
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Brown, Peter. “The Diffusion of M
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de Buck, Adriaan, De Godsdienstige
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Fairman, H.W. The Triumph of Horus.
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Griffith, F. Ll and Herbert Thompso
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Johnson, Janet H. The Demotic Verba
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Lesko, Leonard H. The Ancient Egypt
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Meyer, Marvin W. The Ancient Myster
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__________ Mythological Papyri: Tex
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Robinson, James M., ed. The Nag Ham
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Sethe, Kurt. “Das Verhältnis zwi
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Till, Walter C. and Hans-Martin Sch
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Yamauchi, Edwin M. Pre-Christian Gn
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THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

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