Gnosticism, Patristic Mythological Christianity and the Biblical Jesus

Gnosticism, Patristic Mythological Christianity and the Biblical Jesus

Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (Athens, February 19, 2020, 23:59)

Gnosticism

The term "Gnosticism" is a later term that denotes a part-Christian religious attitude with many branches, which combined occult, pagan, mythological, astrological and philosophical elements with elements from the Old Testament and the New Testament. 

Professor Konstantinos Skouteris states: "The term Gnosticism is considered to be a complex religious movement. It is primarily an expression of the syncretistic spirit of the Hellenistic period. Gnosticism demonstrates the Greek way of thinking, Persian dualism, Eastern mysteries, Babylonian astrology, and certainly elements from Jewish literature. Gnosticism adopts, utilizes, and transforms the above elements into a new proposed system of life, a message of salvation." (Skouteris op. cit. 295-6)

Its followers, the "Gnostics," called themselves "consubstantial with God," a term found in the Orphics, in Hermeticism and in the "Orthodox," ecclesiastical, mystical system. They regarded themselves as genuine Christians ("we alone of all men are Christians") and were opposed to the mysterious, spiritual monopoly of the "Catholic Church," though they had much in common at a theological and ritual level.

What is known about their teaching and practices comes mainly from opposing philosophers and writers, such as Hippolytus of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyon, Origen, Epiphanius and from the texts of the Nag Hammadi library that were discovered in the region of Chenoboskion, in Egypt, in the late 1940s.

The time of the appearance of the different Gnostic schools is unclear. The sure thing is that their pseudonymous knowledge expressed either in complete moderation or in unrestrained promiscuity was widespread among the ranks of the first Judeo-Christians with whom they feasted, a fact that testifies to the existence of the Jewish proto-Gnosticism, with concepts similar to those in the ancient Egyptian Hermetic texts and Greek Mythology.

The view that there are traces of Gnosticism in the ascetic, messianic movement of the Essenes who called themselves "the Sons of the Righteous One" and denounced the authoritarian, religiopolitical Jewish power is controversial.

The Gnostics' acts of worship were accompanied by invocations of spirits, hymns or chants with music, prayers, doxologies, and ecstatic utterances (prophecies, speaking in tongues, exorcisms/spells). Having a clear influence from the Orphic motif, "I am a child of Earth and of the starry Heaven; my race is of Heaven," they sought ways to return to Heaven, which they believed was their origin. The same perception is reflected in his own way by the Pythagorean Greek philosopher Empedocles (495-435 BC) in his phrase: "From such heights, from such glory, I fell to this wretched earth, and mingle with these vulgar bipeds."

The Encratite Gnostics were indifferent to worldly matters and, not wanting to trap others in this flawed world, practiced celibacy, considering that "to marry and beget is of Satan"[14]. They condemned meat-eating and wine-drinking and engaged in asceticism (elements also found in the Orphics), thereby punishing the natural flesh, which they considered the prison of the spirit and associated with evil. Derivatives of the Dualism of the Gnostics were Docetism, asceticism (Encratism), and Anti-Judaism, which was the identification of the God of the Old Testament with the evil creator of the material world.

 According to Plato, the confinement of the immortal soul within a body is the same as imprisonment in a tomb (Greek: 'σήμα' in antiquity, referring to a sign or tomb): "The body is the tomb of the soul". The Orphics, on the other hand, understood 'body' (σώμα) to mean both the dead body (the corpse) and the living one, as "that which is safe/whole (unharmed) along with the blood." 

Extreme Practices and Beliefs of the Gnostics

In contrast to the moderate Gnostics, some tendencies, such as the Libertines (or Antitactics), advocated for Antinomianism (a theory that rejects moral law and emphasizes free will) and participated in sexual cultic orgies. They regarded extreme debauchery as the means to combat the evil material flesh, from which the divine nature had to be freed (Orgiastic Gnosticism), while others proceeded to self-castration, which was an extreme personal choice.

The Docetism of the Gnostics 

Within Gnosticism, the idea of Docetism developed (Jesus seemingly had a body and was seemingly crucified). It was introduced by the Judeo-Christian Cerinthus, who had an Egyptian education and was also the originator of Chiliasm (Millenarianism). Docetism, with variations, was embraced by most Gnostic groups, besides the Cerinthians. It is speculated that the idea of the transformation of Christ's body—sometimes into material and other times into spiritual—originated among the Messalians, while the Ophites claimed that the resurrected body of Jesus was psychic and pneumatic [15].

The Trichotomy of Man

The Valentinians, a faction of the Gnostics, believed that man was created from three substances: matter (somatic/bodily), the soul (psychic), and the spirit (pneumatic/spiritual). Depending on which prevailed, they categorized humans as Hylics (Material), Psychics (Soulish), and Pneumatics (Spiritual) [16].

• Hylics (Material): Condemned.

• Psychics (Soulish): (The non-Gnostic Christians) Possibility of salvation through faith and works.

• Pneumatics (Spiritual): (The Gnostics themselves) Guaranteed salvation through knowledge.

Gnostic Divine Dualism

The Theogony (origin of the gods), Cosmogony (origin of the universe), and Anthropogony (origin of man) among the Gnostics were varied, based on Pluralism and Dualism:

• Pluralism (Philosophical Pluralism): The philosophical theory or concept which maintains that reality is constituted by multiple, self-sufficient, and mutually independent principles, without a common fundamental principle underlying them (e.g., the chain of Aeons).

• Dualism: The philosophical theory that interprets the world based on two competing creative principles/gods, one evil (Matter/Creator) and one good (The Highest God), from which two separate, dissimilar, and opposing worlds arise: the evil sensible (material) world and the spiritual or intelligible world.

These positions are contrary to the Biblical narrative of One Principle/One God (Monotheism), through whom both the visible and the invisible were created.

“And to shine forth what is the economy of the mystery which has been hidden from the ages in God who created all things; (the visible and the invisible)” (Eph. 3:9 Godbey, Col. 1:16)

The Stoics

Beyond the metaphysical antagonistic dualism found in Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Orphism, and Pythagoreanism (e.g., Good/Evil, Light/Darkness, Soul/Body), Stoicism developed the concept of a physical duality of two inseparable principles (the Active and the Passive). This duality is cooperative and monistic, unlike antagonistic dualism, and is the focus of the present study.

The Stoics (Philosophers of the "Painted Stoa," ca. 300 BC – 250 AD), who held as their principle «ὁμολογουμένως τῇ φύσει ζῆν» (to live in agreement with nature), which is equivalent to living virtuously (κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ζῆν), were represented by three periods/schools (or 'trends').

Influenced by Heraclitus, who considered the Logos to be «ουσίᾳ τῆς εἱμαρμένης» (the essence of Fate), which permeates the substance of the whole universe, and by Hermeticism, where "Thoth is the Logos that permeates and pervades all things,"[17] they believed that there are two principles in the universe:

• The Active: God or the Logos («τὸ ποιοῦν» – that which acts/makes).

• The Passive: Matter («τὸ πάσχον» – that which is acted upon/suffers).

Divine Principles and Pantheism

The Logos, inherent in Matter (an immanent or intra-cosmic God), created beings through it, maintaining their unity and the eternal order. For the Stoics, God is simultaneously every individual thing in nature (Pantheism) and all things together are God (Material Monism). The duality in Stoicism is an internal, functional distinction within the single substance (Active element within the Passive) and not a distinction between two separate worlds. It is:

• Physical (Materialistic): Both principles (Active/Passive) are ultimately material.

• Cooperative: The two principles do not clash but coexist and cooperate. The Active Principle (Logos/Pneuma) acts within the Passive Principle (Matter) to create the cosmic order.

Fate, Soul, and Astrology

They believed in Fate (Eimarmene) and Divine Providence and taught that humans are connected to the World-Soul through an inner personal divinity, which was the «Δαίμων ἑαυτοῦ» (one’s own Daemon or guiding spirit). Consequently, there was an interaction between celestial and terrestrial beings ("the Principle of Sympathy"). This view is related to Chaldean Astrology and Theurgy and provided the groundwork for astrological predictions and divination.

The French philosopher Jean-Baptiste Gourinat, in his book "Les Stoïciens sur l’âme" (The Stoics on the Soul), states: "The Stoics in antiquity were considered to oppose Plato because they did not believe in metempsychosis (reincarnation) and the immortality of the soul (SVF, II.814-17), but also to oppose Epicurus, because they did not believe in the complete annihilation of the soul at death. According to them, only the souls of irrational animals die with their bodies: for rational souls, the end of their mixture with the body does not mean the simultaneous disappearance of the elements composing them. The soul separates from the body and survives for a period in a 'diminished' form of existence. According to Chrysippus, the soul then takes a spherical form, and according to some Stoics, the souls that will endure the longest wander among the stars or around the moon. Only the soul of the wise person survives for a long time, before disappearing in the periodic Ekpyrosis (cosmic conflagration) of the universe. It is thus a teaching of the Stoics that the divine fire, which animates the universe, periodically sets it ablaze: then the universe is reborn (Palingenesis), and everything begins to move again to the rhythm of an eternal recurrence."

 The Stoic Chrysippus defines the soul as «πνοή ἔμφυτος ἡμῖν, συνεχὴς, διήκουσα δι' ὅλων τῶν μερῶν τοῦ σώματος»[18] (i.e., "a breath innate in us, continuous/cohesive, permeating through all parts of the body"). This "psychic breath" (or Pneuma), the Stoics classified into eight parts (the eight-part soul): the Hegemonikon (or intellect / mind), which was the center of all, the five Senses, the Spermatikon (reproductive power), and the Phonetikon (speech/reason).

Ekpyrosis and cyclical time

It is noteworthy that the doctrine of "Palingenesis" (Regeneration/Rebirth) as held by Heraclitus and the Stoics—who maintained the "cyclical course of the universe towards eternity" through repeated, identical regenerations of the visible world (eternal recurrence) that occurred after every Ekpyrosis (Conflagration)—had and has an influence on most religious and philosophical systems.

Influence on Gnostic Eschatology

The salvation of Spiritual people and their return to the Fullness of God will mark the end of the power of the Creator of the visible (Ialdabaoth) and his rulers. At the end of the world, the material, flawed world will be destroyed (by burning or dissolution), as it has no value. 

Influence on Patristic Thought (Patristics)

It also influenced Patristic Thought (the writings and ideas of the Early Church Fathers), which preserved and continued the classical Greek spirit (A' Patr. Papadop. p. 69). The key difference is that Patristic Thought advocates for the "straight-line trajectory of the universe" and anticipates events that will inevitably bring about, through fire, the end of the history of sensible (perceptible) things and their continuation in another form.

Influence on Modern Cosmology

Furthermore, this idea also influenced and shaped the modern "Conformal Cyclic Cosmology" (CCC) proposed by certain astrophysicists. These scientists view Fire (or extreme energy/heat) as the culmination of the vital force that will bring about the end of the universe, only to be followed by a new Big Bang that will create a new universe.

The effects of the “Regeneration” of Heraclitus and the Stoics abolish the eternity of the Gospel of Salvation and weaken its power and the “in Christ” perfection of man in this earthly life, as well as the life-giving power of the heavenly man Jesus, who acts the Regeneration (Tit. 3:5) here and now (new spiritual man / new spiritual creation / new spiritual people). They thus alter God’s good eternal plan for the mortal earthly man, which (plan) He had predestined according to His good pleasure (Eph. 1:9) and mock God who “worked all things in wisdom.” (Ps. 104:25)

Anthropological Dualism of the Gnostics

A derivative of the Divine Dualism of the Gnostics and other philosophical systems is Anthropological Dualism, which divides man into two elements: the sensible, mortal body and the intelligible, immortal soul (the pre-existent soul, according to the Chaldeans, Plato, Philo—who attempted to connect Platonism with Jewish thought—and others). Consequently, man is a participant in both principles, the Good and the Evil, and if he escapes from the body, which participates in the Evil principle, he is saved.

This idea is opposed to the biblical narrative, where "soul" signifies the origin of life from the one Life-Giver God, present in every living creature, without the Platonizing distinction adopted and radicalized by the Gnostics. The Gnostics viewed the material body as the creation of a lower god (Demiurge) and the soul as a spark of the true, higher God, which must "escape" through knowledge (Gnosis).

Asking Job, God says to him: "Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?" (Job 38:14 LXXA). According to the Hebrew Bible, therefore, the "soul" does not refer to only one part of human existence, but signifies the entire human being, as a unified living entity: "and the (earthly) man became a living soul," which was subsequently subjugated by the enemy of man, death: "death reigned" (Gen. 2:7, Rom. 5:14-17), and the right to eat from the tree of life was removed from him.

Conversely, in Platonic anthropology, the death of the body is a friend of man because it allows the immortal soul to be freed and ultimately return to its heavenly state.

Characteristic is a funeral epigram by the Hierophant, where he states: "A truly beautiful esoteric teaching (was conveyed to us) by the Gods: That death is not only not detrimental to humans, but on the contrary, it is a beneficial thing."

The assurance that the first mortal earthly man (choikos anthrοpos) is psychosomatic (holistic) and not dualistic is also confirmed by Epiphanius. 

"For indeed, Adam, having been molded from the earth on the sixth day from the beginning, received the breath and was made alive ." (Epiphanius, Panarion, Chapter 4)

In contrast to the Platonic concept of the soul's immortality, the Bible teaches that the soul dies.

"For all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins shall die." (Ezek. 18:4 LXX)

"And he shall not go in to any dead soul (teleteutēkyia psychē); he shall not defile himself for his father or his mother." (Lev. 21:11 LXX)

"Let every soul (psychē) be subject to the governing authorities." (Rom. 13:1)

"[...] so Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five souls (psychais) ." (Acts 7:14, ERV )

"[...] saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life (tēn psychēn tou paidiou) are dead.'" (Matt. 2:20)

"And Samson said, 'Let my soul die (apothanetō psychē mou) with the Philistines." (Judges 16:30, Bishops)

         "but he that slayeth a beest, shall paye for it. Soule for soule." (Lev. 24:18, Coverdale)

We see, therefore, that the Hebrew biblical references and the anti-heretical Epiphanius refute the Platonizing Eastern belief in the immortality of the soul, as it is also formulated in a funeral service (Exodiastikon) for hieromonks from the 16th century:

"O our God, the Creator and Benefactor of all creation, who fashioned man from a sensible and earthly body and an intelligible and immortal soul (noeras kai athanatou psychēs)..."[19].

Aristotle similarly refutes Plato by stating:

"It is clear that the soul is not separate from the body, nor are any parts of it – if it is by nature divisible"." (About the soul. 657: 413a 4-6)

The doctrine of the "immortality of the soul" is directly connected to the belief in metempsychosis (transmigration of the soul), where the soul, after the death of the body, departs and enters another body (of a human, animal, or plant), until its purification is complete and it returns to its pre-fall state.

This view, along with the Platonizing "Christian" perspective that mortal man possesses within him an intelligible, immortal substance that will either enjoy beatitude or be tormented incessantly by the executioner "Triune God" after the death of the body, stands in complete contradiction to the term "mortal" and the apostolic saying that God is "the only one who has immortality" (1 Tim. 6:16), as well as the verse: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:53).

Therefore, according to the religious views (influenced by Platonism), God created man with the purpose of tormenting him eternally if he does not submit to His three hypostases and His will.

The fullness of God according to the Gnostics

According to the version of the Egyptian Valentinus, one of the supposed "Fathers" of Gnosticism, thirty (30) spiritual entities—the Aeons (Aiones)—were emanated from the True, Ineffable, Good, and Transcendent God in the archetypal world, which is characterized by good order within the Pleroma, arranged in a hierarchical order. They bridge the gap between the infinite God and the material world. This process of emanation explains how the Infinite produces the Finite without being diminished or altered.

According to Irenaeus, the primordial state or Aeon is called the Abyss (Bythos) or Forefather (Propator). After ages of silence and inactivity, he projects a seed, which is received by his consort, Silence (Sigē) or Thought (Ennoia) or Grace (Charis), and the production of the remaining Aeons begins.

The Aeons created erotic pairings, the "androgynous unities" (Syzygies), in three triadic groupings: 8 Aeons (Ogdoad), 10 Aeons (Decad), and 12 Aeons (Dodecad), totaling 30 Aeons. The concept of the "androgynous unities" or Syzygies is fundamental, as it emphasizes the harmonious complementarity and balance within the Divine World. From these 30 Aeons, other lower-ranking Aeons proceeded. All the Aeons together constituted the Pleroma (Fullness) of God.

Valentinus' version of the Pleroma of God is related to:

a) The emanations ("Sefirot") mentioned in the esoteric texts of the Kabbalah and the Kabbalistic "Tree of Life." b) The Labdoma or Tetractys of the Pythagoreans and the ancient Greek "Tree of Life." c) The Theogony of Hesiod, according to Epiphanius.

Explanations

• Kabbalah (Sefirot): The Sefirot are the ten emanations through which the infinite God (Ein Sof) reveals Himself and continuously creates both the physical and metaphysical realms, famously arranged on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

• Pythagoreans (Tetractys): The Tetractys is a triangular figure of ten points arranged in four rows (1+2+3+4=10), representing the four elements, the organization of space, and the perfection of the number ten, symbolizing the cosmos and the source of harmony.

• Hesiod's Theogony: While the Theogony is a mythological genealogy of the gods, Epiphanius (an early Church Father writing Against Heresies) likely emphasized this connection to show that Valentinus' system of emanated beings was a derivative of pagan myth, rather than unique Christian revelation.

The "Aeon Jesus" of the Gnostics

The Gnostic Pleroma and the Fall of Sophia

N.B. "Aeons" (Aiones) in the language of the Gnostics are the intermediate spiritual beings that bridge the gap between God and humans.

The last Aeon of the Pleroma, Sophia (Wisdom), dissatisfied with her rank, desired to unite with the Unspeakable (Bythos), the Source of all things. This forbidden desire caused a crisis in the Pleroma and led to the expulsion of her Passion (Pathos), from which the Chthonic Sophia or Achamoth arose. To restore order, Bythos asked the first Aeon, Nous (Mind), to project two new Aeons, Christ and the Holy Spirit, who taught the Aeons their limits and restored stability.

The "Chthonic Sophia Achamoth" was cast out of the Pleroma of God and gave birth to the evil god, the hermaphroditic Ialdabaoth or Saclas (meaning "Son of Chaos"), whom they depicted as a lion-headed Serpent . This being, unaware that a higher God existed above him, created the present material, inferior, and flawed world. For the Gnostics, this figure was the God of the Old Testament, a fundamentally anti-Judaic position that led them to honor the disobedient figures of the biblical narrative. For modern theosophists, Ialdabaoth is the true, perfect Serpent, the seven-headed god.

Note on the "Aeon Jesus" and the Patristic Thought

It is noteworthy that in all variations of Gnostic myths, the pre-cosmic birth of the "Aeon Jesus" is detected, which has a spiritual affinity with the philosophical "Patristic thought" regarding the pre-cosmic and pre-eternal existence of the Son, the second person/God, the Mystery of the "Three-Hypostasis Monad," as defined in the Symbol of Faith: «τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων» ("begotten of the Father before all ages").

Furthermore, according to Patristic thought, although the Son is "begotten" before all ages, he is simultaneously "co-eternal" (synaionios) and "co-unoriginate" (synanarchos) with the Father, and although he is "consubstantial" (homoousios) with the Father, he is also super-substantial (hyperousios)!!!

The term 'Hyperousios' in ancient religions and Hellenic Christianity

The term "Trans-essential" (Hyperousios = lying beyond essence) was used to characterize God by the theologians of the early post-Christian centuries (Patristic Christianity) (Justin, Athanasius the Great, John of Damascus, and others).

However, Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the mythological Trinitarian Godhead, is also hymned as Trans-essential (Hyperousios) by the hymnographers of the state Christian Church: "The Virgin today gives birth to the Trans-essential one... etc."

Among the Neoplatonists, who had accepted the doctrine of Zoroastrian Dualism, is the work of Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, which states that from the One Transcendent God emerged a Second God (Nous), who was "prior to being and the beginning of the being (of things)" and the god of the subordinate intermediate gods (i.e., the first creator of the intelligible/invisible world). 

Pre-essential = the one existing before all essence (matter) 

Professors of Philosophy Vasilis Kalfas and George Zografidis state that:

"The cryptic expression "beyond being" (epekeina tēs ousias) formed the basis for the belief that Plato developed an "unwritten" philosophy, of mathematical inspiration, exclusively for the initiates of the Academy. A constitutive element of this philosophy is the ontological priority of the Good (which is identified with the One), and the production of the Forms (Ideas) and mathematical entities from it. Be that as it may, the placement of the Good "beyond being" (epekeina tēs ousias) still conveys a simpler meaning: that, for Plato, all knowledge has an ethical foundation, and that ethics precedes epistemology." 

Cryptic = someone who is skillful at hiding something or himself / herself, secretive, hypocrite (Dictionary by Skarlatos D. Vyzantios)

The philosophical cryptic term "trans-essential" (hyperousios) or "beyond being" (epekeina tēs ousias), or "pre-essential" (proousios)—which refers to the second creator god in Egyptian Mythology, in Neoplatonism, and to the Second Person/God of the imposed "Three-Hypostatic Monad" of Greek Orthodoxy—is non-existent in "Apostolic Thought," the opposing camp to "Patristic Thought."

"Patristic Thought" crystallized and interpreted not the Apostles, but the developed "Neoplatonic thought," which posits as the creator of beings a second "pre-essential" god that was projected from the First.

The early Christian Apologists and Fathers (such as Justin Martyr and the Cappadocian Fathers) consciously employed Hellenistic philosophical concepts to express the Christian revelation to an educated Hellenistic audience, and the influence of Platonism/Neoplatonism (especially on the concepts of the Logos as a Second God/Principle, Ousia [Essence], and Hypostasis [Subsistence/Person]) is undeniable. 

"The term 'Hyperousios' bridges the ancient philosophical quest for the highest, undefinable principle (the Platonic Good/Neoplatonic One) with the Hellenic-Christian theological need to articulate the absolute transcendence and incomprehensibility of the Divine essence, with the aim of making the new Religion acceptable to the Hellenistic intellectual audience by presenting it (the new religion) as the fulfillment of the Greek philosophical quest." 

The anthropogony of the Gnostics

The assistants of the evil god were his creations, the "Archons" or the 360 "Angels" according to the Sethians. They were the ones who fashioned the biblical earthly Adam (choikos Adam = man) in the image of the archetypal, hermaphrodite, perfect, and great-named Spiritual Man [25], who was the reflection of the also androgynous or asexual supreme god whom they called the Metropator (Mother-Father of all), identified as Pigeradamas or Geradamas.

For the Naassenes, the archetypal man was trifold (body, soul, spirit) and they called him Arch-Man (Archantropos), Man from Above, or Adamant (Adamanta). The Manichaeans called him the "First Man" who fell victim to the darkness. The Kabbalists and modern theosophist Neo-Gnostics call him Adam Kadmon. In Greek Mythology, where the "primordial Greek mysteries" are described, they call him Prôtolaos.

Ialdabaoth, with the permission of his mother, "Sophia Achamoth," empties himself of his power (kenosis) by breathing the breath of life into the earthly Adam, but this breath contained his mother's divine elements. Thus, man acquired a divine spark and consciousness of divine origin from the Pleroma of the Godhead, which, however, Ialdabaoth imprisoned with the chains of forgetfulness (or oblivion). Man's only hope for "self-salvation" was the awakening of this inner divine spark through esoteric, intuitive Gnosis (knowledge) and the recovery of its memory—a position related to modern theosophists and to Plato, who taught that "knowledge is recollection (anamnesis)

The divine spark of the Gnostics is also related to the myth of the Titan Prometheus, the creator of man from clay and fire. This myth described that magical moment when the intellectual spark was spiritually ignited in man, with the help of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, distinguishing him from the rest of the "irrational" (alogon) animal kingdom. 

The incarnation of the "Aeon Jesus" according to the Gnostics

Subsequently, the Gnostic "Father" Valentinus hands down to us the following false knowledge: The Aeon Jesus (or Saviour, created by all the Aeons as an offering) is incarnated, meaning he is clothed in a material body, and acquires a second nature, that of the perfect man Jesus (who is the seed of Gnosis).

Valentinus' "thought" is related to the "thought" of the Apologists who stated: "The first power after the Father of all and Master God is the Son, the Logos, who was made man by being incarnated in a certain manner" [27], as well as the revelatory "Patristic thought" of the incarnation of the pre-existent Son into a perfect man.

The Aeon Jesus then appears to people in the form of the man Jesus (who was the incarnation of the Aeon Jesus), in whom the Aeon Christ (see explanation) had dwelt at the time of his baptism in the Jordan River, with the purpose of restoring them to the spiritual light. He subsequently abandons the man Jesus before his crucifixion. For the Gnostics, the crucifixion of Jesus does not save, but was the liberation of the Aeon Jesus from his material body.

Explanation of the Aeons 'Christ' and 'Holy Spirit' in Valentinianism 

"The relationship between the Aeon Christ and the Holy Spirit in Gnosticism (particularly Valentinianism) is one of complementarity rather than direct identity. While both are Aeons emanating from the Pleroma, they often form a pair (Syzygy) or represent two distinct, yet complementary, saving powers. The Aeon Christ (Soter) is generally the entity responsible for stabilizing the Pleroma and entering the man Jesus to bring Gnosis. The Holy Spirit, or the Aeon Pneuma, is often considered a separate, co-emanated power whose primary role is to assist in the spiritual perfection and salvation process of the elect, often acting as the intellectual principle that guides the individual to Gnosis." 

The purpose of the incarnated Aeon Jesus was:

• The awakening and salvation of the fallen soul, the divine element in man, through the illumination brought by the Aeon Jesus. This was achieved by the "Pneumatics" (Spiritual ones) by recovering the memory of their origins. Thus, the "Pneumatics" self-save through Gnosis (knowledge), thereby becoming Gnostics and entering the Pleroma of God.

• The restoration of androgyny or asexuality according to the eternal archetype of the hermaphrodite or asexual Spiritual Man (or Adamant), who was the reflection of the supreme androgynous or asexual Metropator God (Mother-Father of all). Their entry into the Pleroma of God will allow their reunion with their celestial "other halves" to form Syzygies (pairs), thus restoring the dual balance lost with the fall of the Lower Sophia (Achamoth).

• The dismantling of the authority of the evil God of the Old Testament. The salvation of the spiritual people will signify the end of the authority of the Demiurge (Ialdabaoth) and his archons. At the end of the world (Gnostic Eschatology), the material, flawed world will be destroyed (by conflagration or dissolution), as it holds no value.

• The destruction of the flawed material world and the "fleshly / material" men through conflagration or dissolution.

• The expulsion of the "Psychics" (Soulish ones) from the divine Pleroma.

• The restoration of the divine order within the Pleroma of God.

Therefore, the man Jesus Christ, who was the "incarnation of the Aeon Jesus," provides the Gnosis for the self-salvation of the "spiritual" people, and he also saves/restores the "divine Pleroma."

Incarnation

The Gnostics engaged with ancient Philosophy and Mythology, which they used as a reservoir of thought. Thus, they adopted the anti-biblical view of incarnation and reincarnation (or metempsychosis), which was a standard teaching of the Orphics, the Pythagoreans, the Platonists, the worshippers of Dionysus, and others, which was incompatible with Judeo-Christianity.

The common belief of these currents was that the immortal souls of men were spirits who fell from celestial bliss into matter (the descent of the soul) due to an unspecified prior sin. As a punishment, they were incarnated (clothed) in a material body. Hence, the objective of life is purification through potential multiple reincarnations and their ultimate restoration to their original spiritual origin.

The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria used the biblical narrative to symbolize this fall:

• The fall of the soul from heavenly bliss into the earthly body is symbolized by the "garments of skin" that God gave Adam and Eve to wear before expelling them from the Garden of Eden.

• According to Philo, the imprisonment of the fallen soul in the material body resembles the subjugation of the Hebrews in Egypt, and therefore, the soul must seek its "Exodus" (exit) from matter towards the Divine Logos.

(Note: Philo uses the Logos as the spiritual realm or state, which is opposed to matter (Egypt/the body). The Logos is the realm of knowledge and virtue.)

Also, the "Chaldean Oracles" say:

"Regarding the substance of the soul, the Chaldean Oracles state that: "As for the substance of the soul, it has a mediating and reductive role. With its descent into bodies, it becomes a prisoner of matter, but without ceasing to constitute a fluid reality, retaining a non-fallen part of itself in the intelligible world. Ultimately, it is destined to ascend to its place of origin, the celestial vault, escaping the forgetfulness of the senses." 

The Gnostic idea of the incarnation of the archetypal Aeon Jesus into the earthly man Jesus is attested by anti-heretical sources and in the recently discovered Gnostic apocryphal Gospel of Judas. In this text, the "traitor" Judas appears to possess special knowledge (Gnosis), and his betrayal was a redemptive act intended to free the incarnated Spirit of Jesus from the material element so it could return to the Pleroma of God. According to the apocryphal text, Jesus told Judas, "You will sacrifice the man that clothes me".

The theory of the incarnation of the "Philosophical Jesus" was drawn from the same reservoir of thought—Philosophy and Mythology—by "Patristic thought" and its related doctrines, which profess belief in the "incarnated Son." This concept arose from the theological interpretation of the apostolic saying, "the Logos became flesh (sarx = body)," where the verb egeneto (Aorist II of gignomai), meaning "became," was used to justify the theological doctrine of the Incarnation, thereby differentiating the Christian position from Gnostic Docetism.

Terminology (Stamatakos' Dictionary)

• Become (Gignomai) = to be born || to come into being, to become || to be.

• Incarnate (En-sarkonō) = to materialize || to give material substance to something || to embody || to reincarnate || to transmigrate the soul.

Gnostic Influence and the Subobrdination of Christ's Birth

Deeply influenced by the Gnostic doctrine of the incarnation of the "Aeon Jesus," the "Fathers" of the "Catholic Roman Church" and related denominations not only adopted the philosophical concept of incarnation but also downgraded the unique, supernatural birth of Jesus Christ. In this way, they removed His "foreordained" character (Acts 3:20) as the true Son of God who was born in time, 100% of the holy Spirit, incorporating Him into a scheme of materialization (incarnation) that relates to the corresponding Gnostic idea. Furthermore, the apostolic word makes a clear distinction between the biblical genesis and the dogmatic incarnation.

"Now the birth (hē genesis—not the incarnation) of Jesus Christ was as follows: When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the holy Spirit." (Matt. 1:18)

• "Γένεσις" (Genesis) (as used in Matt. 1:18): means birth, beginning of existence, or origin—implying an event that happens in time.

• "Ενσάρκωση" (Encarnation) (the Patristic term): means materialization or embodiment—implying the taking on of material nature by a pre-existent spiritual entity.

The "Fathers" did not focus on the apostolic word but, copying the myths of ancient religion and Gnosticism, proclaimed that the pre-eternal Second God the Son, who is inseparable from the Father, was eventually separated and came down from heaven and was incarnated (clothed Himself in an earthly body) as defined in the Patristic Creed: "Who came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man."

This statement is mythological and, according to "Patristic thought," involves three parts: a) the pre-existent Son, b) the holy Spirit, and c) the mortal Mary. However, it refers to a conjunction of Heaven and Earth, thus relating to the mythical union of the god Uranus (the first mythical male element) and the goddess Gaia (the material side of the world). The theologian and professor Panagiotis Christou confirms this affinity, noting that the Gnostic duality of the two deities (male and female) essentially constitutes "the heaven and the earth of the old Greek religion".

Furthermore, the emphasis on the Incarnation and the descent contrasts with the apostolic belief that the heavenly man Jesus was the image of the invisible God the Father (Col. 1:15)—a position that, although it supports equality, was used in the Nicene Creed to support the dogma of the pre-existent Son who took flesh from the earth.

"Also, Patristic thought, by utilizing the Nicene Creed, shifted the focus from the 'heavenly man Jesus' (the one born of the Holy Spirit – 1 Cor. 15:47), who was the image of the invisible God the Father (Col. 1:15), to the pre-existent Son-God as the central figure of salvation. In this way, the emphasis on the unique birth in time (Matt. 1:18: 'Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise' (Grk txt: Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ ἡ γένεσις οὕτως ἦν) receded and was replaced by the pre-eternal origin and the mythological descent and incarnation. 

The doctrine of the two natures of Jesus is a borrowing from Mythology.

This combined verdict of the Synodal Fathers—that the pre-existent Second God (the Son) was incarnated "by the holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" [thus Jesus was not the Son of God but the incarnation of the pre-existent Second God-Son]—inevitably led to the not-so-novel idea of the two natures of Jesus. This idea has predecessors in mystical and philosophical systems (such as Hermeticism, Platonism, Gnosticism) that speak of the dual nature (Immortal/Mortal) of man. Consequently, the idea of the two natures is a spiritual legacy of Mythology. It further, this "idea" abolishes the antinomy that Paul set up between the First man from the earth and the Second from heaven, emphasizing that "it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural/animal, and then the spiritual," and separating the "image of the man of dust" and the "image of the heavenly man" (1 Cor. 15:46-49) — formulations that leave no room for insinuation of a hypostatic synthesis of opposites. 

Already in mystical Hermeticism ("a metaphysical system and a body of systematized, magical, astrological, and alchemical practices"), we encounter the idea of the two natures of the archetypal man who fell into the physical world.

"And the (archetypal) man himself, marveling at his image, falls in love with himself and wishes to dwell on earth. Thus we have the fall of man, and Nature surrounds him everywhere. And because of his fall, man has a dual nature: mortal as regards the body and immortal as regards the essence, a slave and simultaneously a sovereign of Fate, which is ultimately determined by all the spheres" (Hermetic texts: preface, page 15)

Greek, Aeschylus, Dionysus, and Heracles

Furthermore, according to the decryption of the Phaistos Disc, the Greek, as the true son of God, is born of an earthly womb and heavenly seed. 

In the work of Aeschylus, "Prometheus Bound" (Prometheus Desmotes), Prometheus foretells that his Redeemer, "the one who will unbind him" (ho lyson), will be born of a God and the mortal virgin Io [34].

Furthermore, Dionysus, whom the ancient Greeks called "Saviour" (Sotir), "suffering god" (paschon theos), and "divine infant" (theio brephos), also possessed a dual nature, since he was the offspring of the union between the god Zeus (celestial primary fire) and the mortal nymph Semele (earthly substance). He was also thrice-born (trigonos): Dionysus-Phanes, Dionysus-Zagreus, and the resurrected Dionysus who was called by Zeus to reign.

The greatest of the Greek mythical heroes, Heracles, whose parents were Zeus, the father of gods and men, and the mortal Alcmene, also had two natures, as did many others.

Hybridity and Philosophy

Also found in Mythology is another form of dual nature, that of the Mixanthropos (mixanthropos, lit. mixed-man) which means half-man and half-beast (katà tò hḗmisu ánthrōpos kaì katà tò hḗmisu ktēnos, Themist. 284A, cf. Liban. 3. 282.) (Liddell-Scott). One such figure was the mythical Typhon, son of Gaia.

The idea of the two natures had precursors not only in mythical models of coupling (Zeus/Semele) and hybridity (Mixanthropos), but also in abstract philosophical schemes (Pythagoras) that placed duality within the principle itself (the One).

Pythagorean Duality

According to the Pythagoreans, nature is interpreted arithmetically, and numbers constitute the essence of beings. The number One (1), due to its dual nature, is both 'even' (tautēzomenos: identified with the 'Infinite') and 'odd' (tautēzomenos: identified with the 'Finite') (Metaphysics, 987a17, 986a19-20).

Incarnation and Reincarnation were dominant beliefs among pagans, Gnostics, and Eastern religions.

Just like the terms Homoousios and Hyperousios, the term Incarnation is also non-existent in the Holy Bible; it is found only in ancient religions and philosophical schools.

In Egyptian Mythology, water and the sun were considered symbols of life due to the geographical location (the Nile River, sunshine). The rulers of Egypt (Pharaohs) were the incarnation of God on earth and the focal point of religious worship.

In Hinduism, the Avatar is the descent and incarnation of higher beings onto earth, such as the unborn and immortal god Vishnu, who has to his credit numerous incarnations in the form of animals, birds, plants, and humans, with the aim of saving humanity from evil and demonic forces. Vishnu's main incarnations are in the forms of Rama and Krishna. Awaited is the Avatar of Kalki, the incarnation of the white horse, who will restore the Golden Age on earth and bring about the final liberation of humanity and the discovery of its divine nature. Hinduism has six (6) orthodox systems. The oldest philosophical system of self-knowledge, the Vedanta, considers the sensible world to be an illusion, while the universe is periodically destroyed and recreated (comparable to the concepts of Heraclitus and the Stoics).

Furthermore, the religious movement of the Alawites, which is a blend of Zoroastrian, Christian, Muslim, and Gnostic doctrines, believes that the incarnation of God was the Jewish Joshua son of Nun (who conquered the land of Israel), as well as the fourth Caliph Ali, who was assassinated by his Sunni enemies.

The followers of the deceased Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba praise him as the incarnation of the Holy Trinity and Truth, as the Lord of creation and the savior of humanity. He himself, however, had stated in his youth that he was the incarnation of the spiritual master Sai Baba of Shirdi.

Most masters and leaders of Gnosticism, such as Simon and his disciple Menander, considered themselves genuine incarnations of supreme powers.

The Gnostic Sethians took their name from the worship of Seth, son of Adam, whom they believed to be the incarnation of God and to hold the position of Christ.

Even the Persian Mani, who founded his own religion, Manichaeism, believed that he was the final incarnation of Christ and Buddha.

Similarly, the emerging new Chinese religion, the Church of Almighty God (or Eastern Lightning), which maintains that the Christ of the last days has appeared in China, adopts incarnation theories and other Gnostic perceptions.

The Melchizedekians of Phrygia and Lycaonia, a blend of Judaism and Christianity, believed that Melchizedek was the incarnation of the Logos (Word). They were forcibly Islamized during the Ottoman period.

The Imamites (Twelvers), who are part of Shiism, consider the twelve great spiritual guides (Imams) to be the incarnation of the divine light. They await the twelfth messianic Imam (Mahdi = the Rightly Guided One) to come in the last days of the world as the savior of Islam, assisted by Christ, who will descend from heaven for this purpose (the Second Coming), and will convert all Christians to Muslims. After this, the end of the world will follow: the annihilation of matter, the Judgment, and eternity.

Furthermore, according to Homer and the Homeric school of thought, the gods were incarnated (or appeared in human form) and actively participated in human affairs and history, as we are taught by the "Homeric Epics," the Iliad and the Odyssey.

In the apocryphal books of the Kabbalists, which are used to prove the historicity of Jesus to the skeptical, it is stated that the spirit of Esau entered Christ, and that Esau himself was evil for this reason.

Furthermore, Josephus states concerning the Hellenizing Pharisees: "All souls, they maintain, are immortal, but the soul of the good alone passes into the body of another, while the souls of the wicked suffer eternal punishment."

The mythological, dualistic ideas regarding the fall of the immortal soul and its incarnation into an earthly body likened to a "sēma" (tomb), from which it had to be freed and return purified to the heavenly homeland through reincarnations (the "doctrine of cyclical transmigration"), had permeated all ancient beliefs. If we accept as valid the testimony of Epiphanius in his "Against the Stoics," where he denounces these ideas as "error and impiety," it appears that even the Stoics had shifted to the ideological camp of Platonism.

"They weave this impiety through their great error, teaching the transfusion of souls and their trans-embodiment from body to body, as souls are purified from bodies and then enter them again and are born anew. They also consider the soul to be a part of God and immortal." (Epiphanius, Panarion, Against the Stoics).

A Brief History of the "Union of the Two Natures of Jesus" in One Person

The Ecumenical Councils were aimed at finding conciliatory and compromising solutions by the bishops of the Imperial religion to their internal church disputes, as a multitude of Gnostics and other "heretics" had been members of the "official Church" for some time. The resolution of dogmatic disputes often occurred in an "atmosphere of terror," involving bribery and fanatic armed monks who plundered rival churches and murdered their bishops (e.g., the "Robber Council" of 449 AD), where political violence and imperial interventions played a significant role.

The Christological Dispute and the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD)

The Christological doctrine of Jesus's single person in two natures (Dyophysitism/Hypostatic Union) was thus formulated in 451 AD by the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon, convened by the Roman Emperor Marcian and Empress Pulcheria. Its purpose was to address the divisive teaching of the archimandrite Eutyches, a form of Monophysitism associated with the Alexandrian school of Cyril, which argued that Christ's human nature was submerged or absorbed into the divine nature, resulting in Jesus possessing only the divine nature. 

Thus, instead of the extreme "absorption" of one nature by the other (Monophysitism), the doctrinal position of the "union" of the two natures in one hypostasis (person) prevailed. This position was founded in the Tome of Leo (Bishop of Rome) and confirmed by the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451 AD).

The new conciliar formula regarding the identity of Jesus Christ's nature (Dyophysitism) led to a major schism. The Churches that rejected Chalcedon were named Anti-Chalcedonian or Non-Chalcedonian and maintained an intermediate Christological position, Miaphysitism.

Key Concepts of the Christological Terms

• Monophysitism: The theological doctrine according to which Jesus Christ has only one nature, the Divine, which completely absorbed the human (earthy) nature. In its extreme form (Eutychianism), Christ's human (earthy) nature was completely swallowed by the Divine, like a drop of water in the ocean. (The extreme form, condemned as heresy) 

• Miaphysitism: Christ has one united nature ("mia physis tou Logou sesarkomene" - one incarnate nature of the Logos), which resulted from the union of Divinity and humanity. (Doctrinal position of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, etc.).

• Dyophysitism (Chalcedonian Theology): Christ is one person ("mia hypostasis") in two natures ("en dyo physesin"), united unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably. (Doctrinal position of the Eastern Greek Orthodox and the Western Catholic Church).

The Definition of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon stated:

"The union of the two natures in Christ was achieved in such a way that they are unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, and inseparably [ενωμένες—united], without the distinction between the two natures being eliminated at all because of this union, which was brought about in such a way that each nature preserves its properties, but that both are united in one person and in one hypostasis."

The Definition of Faith (or Creed) of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon constitutes the cornerstone of Christology for the Orthodox, Catholic, and most Protestant Churches. Its influence on subsequent dogmatic movements was decisive and led to further schisms and various disputes that persist to this day. 

The Βiblical Jesus

The apostles taught that Miriam, the Jewish servant of God, gave birth to Jesus, whom she had miraculously conceived without her biological involvement. What was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.

“But while he was thinking of these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take home Mary your wife; for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (Mat. 1:20, Anderson)

“And the angel answered and said to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for which reason, also, that which is begotten, being holy, shall be called the Son of God.” ( Luk. 1:35, Anderson)

The natures are separate and distinct and are not compounded, except within the context of Mythology. Jesus did not have two parents, father and mother, like the biological human being or the mythical god-men who were offspring of Heaven and Earth, nor did he have two natures (one biological earthly and one heavenly) united according to the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, but he was entirely a «Begetting» (or «Offspring») by the will of the heavenly Father, who resided within His Son and the Son within His Father. 

“But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:38)

Jesus was "the living bread that came down from heaven," "the image of the invisible God," "the Author of life," "the Son (the Offspring) of God's love," "the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of his nature," "the Living, true Temple of God." Jesus was the tangible, visible, living image of the Father, the radiance of the glory of the invisible God who is "the only one who has immortality."

Jesus was not the manifestation of the sensible, visible hypostasis of the mortal, earthy man, whom God made in His image, according to "in the image of God he made the human being" (Gen. 9:6, LXX). This human being was a "type of the one who was to come," (Rom. 5:14) suggesting that the man of dust will receive the image and likeness of the "heavenly Jesus."

Jesus was the manifestation of the invisible and immortal Hypostasis of the Eternal God and functioned (spoke, heard, acted, gave life) exactly like His Father, because he was Himself the True God and Eternal Life and not a second god who became a god-man, in accordance with "my glory I will not give to another" (Is. 42:8).

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. The Father who dwells in me, he does the works.” (John 14:10, Anderson)

The "Word" did not take on flesh, but became flesh ("The Word became flesh"), and thus, the One God of the Old Testament was revealed and made visible ("God was revealed in the flesh," "Life was revealed"). This flesh was not biological but from heaven ("all flesh is not the same flesh"). (1Cor. 15:39)

The one who came down from heaven was not the intermediate god of Plato and the Gnostics, nor the second god of the Apologists, the Hermeticists, and the "Fathers of the Catholic Church," but was the Father God with a body from heaven, which He Himself begat. Whoever saw the body of Jesus saw the Eternal God.

“He that has seen me, has seen the Father» (John 14:9)

“But I said to you, that you have seen me, and yet you do not believe.” (John 6:36)

And to Moses, God said, "I have come down to deliver them" (from Egypt), but then he came down bodiless, without a body, because He had not yet begotten His only Son. (John 2:21, 6:51, Acts 7:34).

Jesus, the Christ, was not clothed in an earthy body.

This is confirmed by Paul's distinction: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor. 15:47), where "from the earth" and "from heaven" clearly define the distinct nature of the beings.

There are "heavenly bodies and earthly bodies." The Author of salvation, Jesus the Christ, the Word of life, had a separate / unique heavenly body that was "not from the blood of men" (cf. John 1:13) and whose identity was "the Resurrection" and "the Life" ("I am the resurrection and the life").

When Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter did not say: "You are the Son of Mary," nor did he say: "You are the incarnate Son of God," but he said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 16:16-17).

Furthermore, the Apostle John did not preach "dualism," but emphatically proclaimed: "Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5).

Jesus was "the Son of the Spirit, the Son of God" because the Eternal God / the Eternal Spirit begat him. He did not have, nor did he wear, the body of an earthly man. Conversely, the man of dust, who is a "type of the one who was to come," by receiving Jesus, "will wear the image of the heavenly man."

"As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:49).

The body of Jesus was not apparent (docetic), as the Docetists believed, but was visible and touchable—just as the manna from heaven was visible and touchable—with its own precious blood.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” (1 John 1:1)

If, in the light of the New Testament, we compare the "from heaven" body of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 15:47)—the second man (Adam = human being)—with the sensible, earthy body of the first man, we observe that the body of Jesus was only a likeness/image of the sensible body of sin (flesh) of the man of dust, in order to manifest 'God the Life', and not the earthy glory or the nature of the earthy hypostasis itself. 

After all, Isaiah shouts, “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty  is like the flower of the field” (40:6).  And Job says, “a mortal born of woman [is] like an ass in the desert.” (11:12, LXXE)

What is the Likeness (Homoioma)

• "any construction that resembles something else externally in form, shape, etc., which was used as a prototype (wooden / plaster model of the Parthenon), a copy." (Lexigram)

• "an object constructed to be externally similar to a person, animal, or thing, but without having the functions of its prototype, e.g., a museum of wax models" (Wiktionary)

What the Apostles said about the Flesh / Body of Jesus

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,  he condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3)

“ …. but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.” (Phi. 2:7)

“Since then the children partake of flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner (Grk txt: παραπλησίως) took part of the same ..,” (Heb. 2:14)

Παραπλησίως (Strong's # 3898) = in a manner near by, (figuratively) similarly

NOTE: The English translation of the Greek word "παραπλησίως" (paraplēsios) in the ancient text as "in like manner" is a dogmatic rendering which aims to present Jesus Christ—who was born under the Mosaic Law and borne by the mortal Hebrew Mary—as a "perfect earthy man", and fails to convey the precise meaning of the apostolic statement. To restore accuracy, the verse is presented with the translation based on the precise Greek interpretation of "παραπλησίως":

“Since then the children partake of flesh and blood, he also himself in a manner near by (Grk txt: παραπλησίως) took part of the same...” (Heb. 2:14)

Jesus willingly suffered and was tempted in every respect (καθ’ ὅμοιον τροˊπον), just as the earthy man suffers and is tempted, in order to become a merciful and faithful High Priest. Furthermore, He willingly tasted the death of His Eternal Life (1 John 5:20) for every person, with the aim of conquering eternal death, and He resurrected to grant Eternal Life to all who receive Him (John 3:13, 6:51, Rom. 8:3, Acts 20:28, Phil. 2:8, Heb. 2:16-17, 2:9, 4:15, 10:5, GR/Orthodox).

If Jesus died biologically, according to the Dogma that He was a "perfect earthy man," then those who believe in Him would receive biological eternity, which is impossible because biological death is a given. The immortality that Christ grants concerns the new spiritual creation, the "regeneration" (paliggenesia), and the New spiritual man born of imperishable seed (1 Peter 1:23), since "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (1 Cor. 15:50).

After all, Jesus himself testifies about His flesh that it is from heaven and not biological, just as the manna that the Jews ate in the desert was not biological. (John 6:51) 

The Ideological"Holy Trinity: of Sethian Gnosticism and its Hellenic Affinities

1. The Birth of Barbelo and the First Hypostasis 

According to the Sethians, one of the principal currents of Gnosticism, Barbelo is born from the Alone, Transcendent, Good God of Light (the Invisible Father). She is the first, supercosmic, feminine, and androgynous entity, who is characterized by numerous titles, such as "the first thought," "the Holy Spirit," "the Triple Male," and "the eternal Aeon of the immaterial world."

Barbelo, contemplating the Invisible Father, gave birth to the Self-Generated Son of Light, who is identified with Christ and the Mind (Nous). The Sethians attributed to this realm three sacred Hypostases (or Sources of Light) – Father, Mother (Barbelo), and Son (Self-Generated) – corresponding to the Hidden (Kryptos), the Pro-Aeonial, and the Self-Generated. From the conjunction of Barbelo and the Self-Generated Son emerged the archetypal Man, the Geradamas or Adamantine Man, thereby forming the archetypal Tetrad of Light.

2. Philosophical Connection to the Hellenic Nous (Mind)

Barbelo, as the First Thought (Ennoia) or Wisdom (Sophia) of the Invisible Father, demonstrates a direct philosophical affinity with Greek thought. Specifically, her birth alludes to the manner in which the goddess Athena emerged from the "Mother-Father Zeus," who was the goddess par excellence of Wisdom (Metis). This similarity in direct provenance from the Supreme Source highlights:

• The embodiment of the Nous (Mind) or Divine Thought in both entities (Athena, Barbelo).

• The function of Greek philosophy as a substrate and interpretive framework for early Hellenic Christian dogmatics.

3. Dogmatic Integration: From Athena to the Virgin Mary

The influence of the Hellenic substrate culminated in worship practices. The veneration of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos) in Orthodoxy attained particular prominence in regions where there was already an intense pre-existing cult of maternal deities. Specifically in Athens, the Parthenon, which was dedicated to Athena (Parthenos), was converted into a church of the Virgin Mary. This shift in worship from the virgin goddess to the ever-virgin Mother of God constitutes a classic example of religious syncretism and the dogmatic integration of popular piety

This triad of sacred Hypostases – "Father - Mother - Son" – exhibits a notional affinity with the cosmology of Pythagorean philosophy, as interpreted later, through the components of the sacred triad: the Interminable Motion (Father), the Perpetual Life (Mother), and the Eternal Energy (Son).

Pythagoreanism, Gnosticism, and the Christian Trinity

 The Pythagoreans believed that the primordial ideas were numbers. Odd numbers were considered masculine divine entities, and even numbers were considered feminine; their product, 2×3=6, was (masculine-feminine) and symbolized marriage. They believed that everything is defined by the most sacred number three (3), as expressed by the maxim "The whole and everything is defined by three" (e.g., Birth – Life – Death, Past – Present – Future, Length – Width – Height). They also taught the esoteric Dissolution of the Monad into a triad or triads, thus introducing the theory of triadic Monads.

As the Pythagoreans assert, the universe and everything in it are defined by the number three, because the end, the middle, and the beginning are all represented by the number of the whole, which is three (3). This is why, having received these concepts as laws from nature, we use this number (3) during theurgic rites .

These Pythagorean tenets served as the strongest arguments for the Church Fathers and those who evangelized the "Christian Holy Trinity" to the "unbelieving" and "impious" Pagans (or Hellenes), who respected nothing other than feminine or masculine "Sacred Triads." However, with the triumph of the "Christian Holy Trinity" and the male-dominated priesthood, the ancient feminine "Sacred Triads" lost their popularity, and the masculine ones lost their pre-eminence.

The Gnostics' triadic idea also shows an affinity with the "Paradise Trinity" which consists of the "Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit," according to The Urantia Book , which disseminates ancient Gnostic ideas that its proponents claim to receive from extraterrestrial, superior beings.

Neoplatonism and the Triadic Foundation of being

The triadic idea also shows an affinity with the theory of three hypostases founded by the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus in the "Enneads." There, he develops the ontological, hierarchical unity of the sacred Triad of Being: "The One (Ouranos) – Intellect/Nous (Cronus) – Soul (Zeus)" [44].

Embracing the philosophical and mythological view of the sacred Triad that dominates the sensible universe, our ancestors also believed in the three brothers: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

The oldest reference to Zeus, which signifies the first manifestation or Logos, is found in the Orphic traditions. Furthermore, the poet Virgil calls him the "Great Serpent." In its evolution, Neoplatonic thought developed the "Triad of Zeus": Father (dynamis/potentiality) – Son (power in action) and Spirit (the Nous) [45].

Furthermore, the Dodecatheon (Twelve Olympians) is equally divided into 6 (3×2) feminine deities and 6 (3×2) masculine deities. Even deities of lesser importance (such as the Hours, the Graces, and the Fates) are consistently referred to in triads.

In Orphic Cosmogony, Erikepaios (or Ericapaeus) was a hermaphroditic entity, characterized as the dominant, primordial, and life-giving power of the world. According to this Cosmogony, Chronos (Time) was created first, and from him emerged the dyad of Aether and Chaos. These, along with the cosmogonic Egg (Ōon), produced the first Divine triad. Subsequently, the fertilization of the Egg gave rise to Eros, Phanes (the God of Light), and Metis (the God of thought and prudence), which thus formed the second Divine triad.

The ancient triadic deities, whether feminine or masculine, bear a strong ideological affinity with the Gnostic Triad and a most powerful one with the "Patristic revelation" of the Three-Hypostasis God (Father - Son - Holy Spirit).

The triple hypostasis of God and creator of all things, invoked by the "Hellenic Orthodox" religious system and its derivatives, suggests three ontological deities—that is, three Gods—and points towards Polytheism, standing in opposition to the Theomonism of the Bible. In the sense of the triple hypostasis, the "Hellenic-Christianity" that the "Patristic thought" shaped and imposed is a new polytheistic religion, a variant of the Ancient one, and not monotheistic, as it wrongly claims. By mixing ancient Polytheism with biblical Monotheism, the Church Fathers perpetuated the ancient religious thought of Plotinus, the successor of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy, that: "he who worships the gods, worships the God."

The historian Michalis Batis, in his article "The Triune Nature of the Divine - The Eternal Struggle of the Female and Male" (Part II), maintains the view that the idea of a Triune Godhead initially appeared in Plato. Specifically, he cites the following identification:

"Plato, in his work Phaedo, was the first to speak of a Triune deity, as Christianity attempts to describe it. The Good represents the Father, the Logos is His Son, and the Soul is the Holy Spirit."

The triadic structure of late Platonic philosophy (which includes the concepts of the One/Good, Nous/Logos, and World Soul) was indeed utilized by early Christian philosophers and Apologists, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen, as a conceptual precursor for the explanation and formulation of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

The historian Michalis Batis, in his article "Hellenistic Era and Christianity," maintains that a theological element adopted by Christianity from the ancient tradition—especially that of the later periods—is the triune conception of the divine.

According to Batis, the formulation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity refers back to:

• The principle of Orphic Triplicity, according to which the law of the triangle governs everything: from Creation (Nyx – Uranus - Gaea) to the triune nature of man (Spirit, Soul, Body) and the trichotomy of the soul (rational, spirited, appetitive).

• The Triple Sun Godhead (Triselius Theotita) established by the Emperor Julian.

• The philosophy of the Neoplatonic Iamblichus, who considered the One (Hen) as the principle of all things, from which the triadic Mind (Nous) emanates.

In his analysis, Batis posits that this triadic Mind is expressed, within the hierarchical order of the Dodecatheon, through the relationship Zeus - Father, Athena - Spirit, and Apollo - Logos. Batis concludes that the corresponding triadic conception of the divine in Christianity derived from these beliefs, in contrast to Judaism, which remains strictly monolatric, focusing on Yahweh.

Note: The name "Yahweh" is the most probable phonetic rendition (reconstruction) of the Tetragrammaton, which consists of the four Hebrew consonants: יהוה (YHWH).

During the compilation period of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), vowels were not actually written down, making the absolutely certain reading of the Tetragrammaton's original pronunciation (יהוה, YHWH) impossible.

The name "Yahweh" is non-existent in the ancient Greek Scripture (the Septuagint, or LXX) because the LXX translators rendered the meaning and the title of God ("Lord" – Kýrios), rather than its "probable" pronunciation.

Therefore, the pronunciation "Yahweh" traditionally arose from the synthesis of ancient historical and linguistic evidence (primarily from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AD), whereas the pronunciation "Jehovah" constitutes a more recent linguistic hybrid of the Middle Ages.

Other Greek renderings of the Tetragrammaton:

• Iaué as "the Existing One and the One who is to come" (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.6.34).

• Ia and Iaō are "epithets of the one and same God" (Origen, Against Celsus 6.32).

Also, the Syrian Christian writer and bishop Theodoret of Cyrus mentions in his work 'Questions and Solutions on Exodus' (Quaestiones in Exodum), in Question 15 (Quaestio XV): "The Samaritans, on the one hand, say that it is pronounced Iabé, and the Jews, on the other hand, say that it is pronounced Iaō."

• Ἰαβέ (Iabé): The pronunciation used by the Samaritans. This is considered by many scholars to be the closest to the probable original pronunciation, Yahweh.

• Ἰαώ (Iaō): The pronunciation used by the Jews. This phonetic rendering explains why the name Iaō became so widespread in Hellenistic mystical texts and in Gnosticism.

Male and Female in Gnosticism: Androgyny and Redemption

The Gnostic interpretation of human creation fundamentally differs from the biblical narrative:

“And God formed the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam.” (Gen. 2:22)

1. The Archetypal Androgyny (Unisexuality)

Gnostics misinterpreted the building of the woman from the rib of the earthy Adam as an irregular and temporary separation of the feminine from the masculine principle, viewing this split as the primordial cause of death and the fall. They envisioned an archetypal spiritual God, the Anthropos (Original Man) or Mother-Father, who was androgynous (two-sexed, male and female). This division was regarded as the loss of the original unisexuality (or asexuality).

2. Reunion as Redemption

The physical coupling, between man and woman, reflects the need for the reunification of the sexes and the restoration of the archetypal spiritual state. This restoration of androgyny was considered a utopian ideal for final redemption.

• The concept of reunification (unisexuality/asexuality) as a condition for entering the Kingdom of Heaven is also traced in texts recognized as Orthodox, such as the 'Second Epistle of Clement' and the 'Martyrdom of Perpetua'.

3. The Contested Rituals

Certain Gnostic groups, such as the Naassenes, Carpocratians, Ophites, and Borborites, were accused by heresiologists of performing religious rituals in honor of the hermaphroditic Original Man. The alleged purpose of these rituals was the experience of the primordial androgyny and, consequently, the abolition of procreation (by avoiding it). Through similar myths, acts considered unnatural acquired a religious/ritualistic character in some circles (cf. Gen. 19:4-5, although the connection is indirect). 

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." (Rom. 1:26-27)

Connection to Modernity and other Archetypes

This Gnostic interpretation of androgyny as an archetypal ideal, and the pursuit of unisexuality through the abolition of the ontological distinction between sexes, constitutes, according to the author, the background for the contemporary acceptance and promotion of:

• By Liberal Christianity and Neo-Gnosticism, of non-procreative sexual acts and the androgynous (unisex) model.

• The introduction of social gender (Gender), aiming to nullify the ontological distinction between the two biological sexes, thus standing in opposition to the biblical commandment to "be fruitful and multiply."

Androgyny Myths Beyond Gnosticism

The myth of the androgynous god or human is not limited to Gnostic systems, but is found widely in ancient religions and philosophy:

• Orphism: In Orphic theogony, an androgyne deity, Phanes (meaning God of Light), is born from the Cosmic Egg. Phanes was described as "Father-Mother," possessing four eyes and four heads (of a bull, a lion, a serpent, and a ram), golden wings, and the voice of a lion and a ram. Other names for Phanes included: Phaethon, Metis, Protogonos, Eros, and Ericapaeus. Communication with Phanes occurred through magical rituals and spells.

• Hermeticism: In the Poimandres of Hermes Trismegistus, the first Mind and Father of all is explicitly referred to as androgyne [50].

• Platonism (Symposium): In the Platonic myth expressed by Aristophanes in the Symposium, two-sexed beings are described. Original humanity was fashioned into three double types:

  • Double Male (offspring of the sun).

  • Double Female (offspring of the earth).

  • Androgyne (offspring of the moon, combining elements of earth and sun). These whole beings challenged the authority of the gods, who punished them by bisecting them. Ever since, humans, through love, search for "their other half" [51].

Contemporary Gnosticism and its Legasy

The ancient Gnostic traditions, although condemned as heresies by the early Christian Church, nevertheless exerted a great influence on subsequent religions, as well as on the formation of Hellenic-Christian dogma, and experienced a spectacular revival in the 20th and 21st centuries. The 1945 discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library significantly enriched the understanding of these teachings, prompting new academic and spiritual interest.

Today, elements of Gnostic thought are found in a variety of contemporary movements. Neo-Gnostic groups pursue the direct revival of ancient practices, while elements such as dualism (light vs. darkness) and the emphasis on inner knowledge have influenced Esotericism, Kabbalah, and various forms of the New Age. Furthermore, motifs reminiscent of Gnostic themes—such as liberation through knowledge from an illusory world—appear in popular culture, in films like "The Matrix".

This revival is part of a broader context where many modern individuals, disillusioned with imposed traditional religions, which they consider responsible for cultural decline, are turning to alternative spiritual paths. Gnostic narratives, with their emphasis on personal, direct knowledge and the questioning of established political and religious authorities, find fertile ground in this spiritual climate. Concurrently, within Protestantism and Liberal Christianity, there is a tendency to re-examine the Gnostic texts not as heresy, but as part of the multifaceted Christian mosaic of the early centuries.

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