THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

which the great god Helios Mithras ordered to be revealed to me by his
archangel, so that I alone may ascend into heaven as an inquirer and behold the
universe. 65
In the Gnostic Zostrianos, an angel of “eternal light” addresses Zostrianos
Come and pass through, within each (the great eternal aeons above). You will
return to them another [time] in order to preach to a living [race..] and to
preserve those who are worthy, and to give strength to the elect, for the struggle
of the aeon is great but time in this world is short” (NHC VIII,1.4.13-20) 66
Likewise, the Gnostic Paraphrase of Shem depicts the ascent of a solitary adept, aided
by a divine figure in attaining gnosis. The tractate begins with the following
description:
That which Derdekea revealed to me, Shem, according to the will of the
Majesty. My thought which was in my body took me away from my race It
lead me on high to the foundation of the world close to the Light which shone
upon the entire earthly realm in that place. I saw no earthly resemblance, but
there was light. And my thought separated from the body of darkness as though
in sleep. (NHC VII.1.3-16) 67
An emphasis upon a pure life and abstinence for the Gnostic adept in these
two examples is also to be seen in PGM IV.732 which directs the aspirant to remain
pure for seven days “and abstain from meat and the bath”. The Gnostic treatise The
Testimony of Truth is an interesting text on a number of counts The provenance of the
text has been strongly located in Alexandria in the 2nd century 68
, and the text is antiorthodox,
indeed antinomian in general, while at the same time also indicting a
number of other Gnostic sects. One passage in particular very clearly lays out an
ascetic course for the aspirant of gnosis:
And he pondered the Power which flowed upon the entire place, and which
possessed him. And he is a disciple of his Nous which is male. He began to keep
silent within himself until the day when he should become worthy to be
received above. He rejects for himself superfluity of words and wordsome
quarrels and abides the entire place And he bears up under them, and endures
all of the evil things. And he is patient with everyone making himself equal to
65
Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri, 48.
66
Coptic transcription from NHS, vol.XXXI: Nag Hammadi Codices VIII, ed. John H. Sieber
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991), 36, 38.
67
Coptic transcription from FENHC, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1972), 7. This feature also appears in
The Apocryphon of John (NHC II,1, III,1, IV,1 & BG 8502,2), Asclepius ( NHC VI,8), The
Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth (NHC VI,6), Allogenes (NHC XI,3), and the Pistis
Sophia (Askew Codex).
68
Pearson, NHS, vol. XV, 120.