Pip 'US: 1;" ! i II ill' ;l II M !i nil II !l: !l 1 ' "^ ; ^ i I Iliill Jill iiil': Hi lit ■I I'liil'lUili'-' LOS ANGbLt'^ PISTIS^SOPHIA «^ A GNOSTIC GOSPEL (WITH EXTEACTS FKOM THE BOOKS OF THE SAVIOUE APPENDED) OEIGINALLY TEAN SLATED FEOM GEEEK INTO COPTIC AND NOW FOE THE FIEST TIME ENGLISHED FEOM SCHWAETZE'S LATIN VEE- SION OF THE ONLY KNOWN COPTIC MS. AND CHECKED BY AMELINEAU'S FEENCH VEESION WITH AN INTEODUCTION BY G. E. S. MEAD B.A. M.E.A.S. London The Theosophical Publishing Society 26 Charing Cross, S.W. New Yoek: The Theosophical Publishing Society, 65 Fifth Avenue Benares : The Theosophical Publishing Society Madras: "The Theosophist" Office, Adyar 1896 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS TABLE OF SUMMAEIES. INTRODUCTION. The documents and general literature of Gnosticism The method of the best Gnostic doctors . Description and criticism of the MS. General analysis of contents .... The date and authorship of the Greek original The Books of the Saviour The probable history of the treatise . The translator's apologia ..... The work that has been previously done . PAGE xvii xxiii XXV xxix XXX xxxi xxxiii XXXV xxxvi THE FIRST BOOK OF PISTIS SOPHIA. Jesus hitherto instructeth his disciples only up to the region of the first mystery What the first mystery surroundeth The regions of the great invisible The treasure of light .... The light-world Jesus and his disciples are seated on the Mount of Olives A great light-stream descendeth on Jesus It surroundeth him entirely Jesus ascendeth into heaven The confusion of the powers and the great earthquake The dismay of the disciples Jesus descendeth again The nature of his glory Jesus addresseth them ...... He draweth his light unto himself .... He promiseth to tell them all things How the vesture of light was sent unto him . Of the souls of the disciples and their incarnation . Of the incarnation of John the Baptist . That John was Elias in a former birth . 9 10 11 12 209402 1 IV CONTENTS. Of his own incarnation through Mary More concerning the light-powers in the disciples Why they should rejoice that the time of his investiture had come The mystery of the five words on the vesture The interpretation thereof The three robes of light .... The first vesture The second vesture ..... The third vesture The day of " Come unto us " . Jesus putteth on his vesture He entereth the firmament The powers of the fu-mament are amazed and fall down and worship him ..... He entereth the first sphere The powers of the first sphere are amazed and fall down and worship him ..... He entereth the second sphere The powers of the second sphere are amazed and fall down and worship him .... He entereth the aeons .... The powers of the aeons are amazed and fall down and wor ship him Adamas and the tyrants fight against the light He taketh from them a third of their power He changeth the motion of their spheres Mary asketh and receiveth permission to speak Mary interpreteth the above from the words of Isaiah Jesus commendeth Mary. She further questioneth him on the changing of the spheres .... Jesus explaineth further the conversion of the spheres Philip questioneth Jesus .... Why the path of the aeons was changed . Mary questioneth him again The coming of Melchisedec Of the fabrication of the souls of men The rulers devour their matter so that souls may not be fabri cated Adamas and the tyrants battle against the light-vesture . Jesus taketh from them a third of their power and changetl their course ........ They no more have the power of devouring their matter The powers adore the light-vesture ..... PAGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 31 32 83 34 36 37 38 39 40 CONTENTS. V PAGE The tyrants become as the dead 41 Jesus entereth the thirteenth seon and findeth Pistis Sophia 42 Sophia and her fellow-powers behold the light Mary desireth to hear the story of Sophia . . . .43 The rulers hate her for ceasing in their mystery ... 44 Arrogant uniteth himself with the rulers of the twelve aeons and emanateth a lion-faced power to plague Sophia . . 45 Sophia taketh the lion-faced power of Arrogant for the true light 46 She descendeth to the twelve teous and thence into chaos The emanations of Arrogant squeeze the light-powers out of Sophia 47 The first repentence of Sophia ....... Mary interpreteth the first repentance from Psalm Ixviii. . 52 The second repentance of Sophia 55 Peter complaineth of Mary 57 Peter interpreteth the second repentance from Psalm Ixx. . 58 Jesus promiseth to perfect the disciples in all things . . 59 The third repentance of Sophia 60 Martha asketh and receiveth permission to speak . Martha interpretetli the third repentance from Psalm Ixix. . 61 The fourth repentance of Sophia 62 John asketh and receiveth permission to speak ... 64 John interpreteth the repentance^from Psalm ci. . . . 65 Jesus commendeth John ........ 66 The emanations of Arrogant again squeeze the light out of Sophia .......... 67 The fifth repentance of Sophia Philip, the scribe, complaineth 69 Jesus explaineth that the appointed scribes are Philip and Thomas and Matthew 70 Mary interpreteth the words of Jesus concerning the three witnesses .......... Philip is now given permission to speak ..... 71 Philip interpreteth the fifth repentance from Psalm xlvii. . 72 Philip is commended and continueth writing .... 73 The sixth repentance of Sophia 74 Andrew interpreteth the sixth repentance from Psalm cxxix. . 75 Jesus commendeth Andrew. He promiseth that the tyrants shall be judged and consumed by the fire of wisdom Mary interpreteth the words of Jesus 76 The repentance of Sophia is not yet accepted. She is mocked by the seons 77 The seventh repentance of Sophia 78 is sent to help VI CONTENTS. Thomas interpreteth the seventh repentance from Psalm xxiv. ....... Jesus commendeth Thomas Jesus leadeth Sophia to a less confined region, but without the command of the first mystery The emanations of Arrogant cease for a time to constrain Sophia ........ The eighth repentance of Sophia .... The emanations of Arrogant constrain her again She continueth her repentance ..... Matthew interpreteth the repentance from Psalm xxx Jesus commendeth Matthew, and promiseth his disciples that they shall sit on thrones with him Mary interpreteth the words of Jesus The ninth repentance of Sophia .... James interpreteth the repentance from Psalm xxxiv, Jesus commendeth James, and promiseth the fijst place unto the disciples ..... Mary interpreteth the words of Jesus The repentance of Sophia is accepted. Jesus her ....... The tenth repentance of Sophia Peter interpreteth the repentance from Psalm Jesus commendeth Peter .... The eleventh repentance of Sophia . Arrogant aideth his emanations, and they again constrain Sophia The twelfth repentance of Sophia Andrew interpreteth the repentance from Psalm c^^ii. The thirteenth repentance of Sophia Martha interpreteth the repentance from Psalm 1. . Jesus sendeth forth a light-power to aid Sophia Sophia uttereth a song of praise .... Salome interpreteth the song of Sophia from the Odes of Solomon The power sent by Jesus formeth a crown of light on Sophia's head Sophia uttereth another song of praise .... Mary, the mother, asketh and receiveth permission to speak Mary, the mother, interpreteth the song of Sophia from the nineteenth Ode of Solomon Jesus commendeth his mother . The statute of the first mystei-y is fulfilled for taking Sophia entirely out of chaos ........ 82 83 84 85 87 93 95 96 98 99 102 103 105 108 109 110 112 113 114 115 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE The first mystery and Jesus send forth two streams of light- powers to help Sophia ... .... 116 Mary interpreteth the mystery Mary, the mother, further interpreteth the scripture . . 118 The story of the phantom spirit ...... Of the spiritual and material bodies of Jesus .... 119 The other Mary further interpreteth the same scripture from the baptism of Jesus 121 Mary, the mother, again further interpreteth the same scripture from the meeting of herself with Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist 122 Of the incarnation of Jesus THE NOTE OF A SCRIBE. A note by a later hand 123 THE SECOND BOOK OF PISTIS SOPHIA. John further explaineth the same scripture .... 125 Of Sabaoth, Barbelo, labraoth and the light-vesture . . 126 Gabriel and Michael are summoned to help Pistis Sophia . 127 The light-stream restoreth the light-powers into Sophia . . 128 The light-stream, having accomplished its purpose, departeth from Sophia 129 Peter interpreteth the narrative from the Odes of Solomon . 130 The emanations of Arrogant cry aloud to him for help . . 134 He sendeth forth another more violent power, like unto a winged arrow 135 The creation of the serpent, basilisk and dragon powers . The dsemonial power of Adamas dasheth Sophia to the ground 136 Sophia again crieth to the light 137 Gabriel and Michael and the light-stream again go to her aid . The transfiguration of Sophia 138 Jesus, the first mystery, looking without, causeth Sophia to triumph 139 James interpreteth the narrative from Psalm xc. . . . 140 Sophia singeth a song of praise 147 Thomas interpreteth the song of Sophia from the Odes of Solomon 149 Sophia singeth another song of praise 153 Matthew interpreteth the song of Sophia from the Odes of Solomon 155 Sophia continueth to sing 160 Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE Mary is afraid of Peter 160 Mary interpreteth the song of Sophia from the Psalms . , 161 Sophia continueth her song ....... 162 Martha interpreteth from the Psalms Sophia continueth her song ....... Mary interpreteth from the Psalms 163 Sophia is led to a region below the thirteenth peon and given a new mystery 164 She continueth her song ........ Andrew interpreteth from the Psalms 166 The conversation of Sophia and the Light .... 166 The Light promiseth to seal the regions of Arrogant . . 167 How Sophia shall know that the time of her final deliverance hath come .......... What shall come to pass at that time 168 The time for the final deliverance of Sophia is fulfilled . . 169 Adamas sendeth forth two emanations of darkness to plague Sophia 170 Sophia again singeth a song to the Light .... 171 James interpreteth the song from Psalm vii. .... 173 Sophia addresseth Adamas and his rulers .... 17i Sophia yet again singeth to the Light ..... 175 Martha interpreteth the words of Sophia from Psalm vii. . 176 Jesus bringeth Sophia again to the thirteenth aeon . Sophia singeth the praises of the Light to her fellow-innsibles 177 Philip interpreteth the song from Psalm cvi 180 Mary questioneth Jesus 182 Of the four and twenty invisibles 184 Of the twelve seons 186 Of the thirteenth seon ........ Of the midst 187 Of the right Of the treasure .......... Of the inheritance 188 Mary again questioneth Jesus 189 Of the twelve saviours and their regions in the inheritance . 190 Of the ascension of them of the treasure into the inheritance . 192 Of their respective ranks in the kingdom 193 Of the powers of the light and their emanation and ascension Of the powers of the midst and their ascension . ' . . 194 But this sliall not take place till the end of the seon . . 195 Of the ascension of the souls of the perfect .... 196 Of the rank of the souls of the perfect 197 Mary interpreteth the narrative from the Scriptures . . 198 CONTENTS. IX iadescribable e., the tirst space of continued Of the last supporter .... That the region beyond the supporters is Mary further questioneth Jesus Of the second supporter Of tlie third, fourth, and fifth supporters Mary again questioneth Jesus . Of tliem that receive the mystery in the last supporter John questioneth Jesus Of the first statute .... Of the first space .... Of the second space .... Of the third space .... Of the tri-spirituals in the third space, i the ineffable .... Of the absolute mystery Of the gnosis of the absolute mystery The gnosis of the mystery of the ineffable Of the hierarchies of powers The disciples lose courage Jesus explaineth that that mystery is really simpler than all mysteries Of the fission and emanation of the powers of the pleroma Of them of the second space of the ineffable . Of them of the first space of the ineffable Jesus promiseth to explain further all in detail Of the mystery succinctly Of the one and only \Vord of the ineffable Of the ascension of the soul of him who shall receive the abso lute mystery . . . , Of the rank of such a soul Such souls are " christs," and shall be kings in the kingdom Of the dignity of the thrones in the kingdom . Of the gnosis of the word of the ineffable Of the distinction between the absolute gnosis and the mys teries of light Of the ascension of the souls of them that receive the twelve mysteries of the first mystery Mary questioneth Jesus .... Of the three mysteries and five mysteries Of the first of the three mysteries Of the second of the three mysteries Of its efficacy with regard to the uninitiated Of the third of the three mysteries . Of its efficacy with regard to the uninitiated PAGE 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 210 212 215 216 218 221 223 224 225 226 228 229 230 231 233 2.35 236 237 238 289 CONTENTS. steries ^vithout PAGE 239 240 241 242 Further concerning the three and five my Of the one and only mystery Of the mysteries of the second space Of the mystery of the third space, the first from without Of the reign of a thousand years of light What is a year of the light Of them of the first space in the kingdom of the thousand years Of them of the second space Of them of the third space, the first from Of the Books of leou .... Andrew questioneth Jesus That all men are potentially all powers As to how men differ from the powers Of the purifying mysteries That all who are purified shall be saved That finally they shall be higher than all powers Jesus pardoneth the ignorance of Andrew EXTRACT FROM THE BOOKS OF THE SAVIOUR. Of the members of the ineSable 252 Jesus the great initiator is all the mysteries .... Of the dignity of them who are initiated into the mysteries . 253 THE SECOND BOOK OF PISTIS SOPHIA (Coxtinced). 254 243 244 245 246 247 248 250 251 Of the preaching of the disciples ..... What men should avoid What men should practise ...... Unto such the mysteries of light are to be given The mysteries are for the remission of sins Mary again questioneth Jesus Of the soul of the righteous man who is not initiated when passeth from the body ...... John questioneth Jesus ....... Of the initiated who sinneth and repeuteth until seven times 265 A former saying explained Of the reward of the savers of souls John continueth his questioning ..... That the mysteries shall be given unto a repentant brother even up to the three of the second space . The limit of the power of the disciples to remit sins A former saying explained 259 260 261 263 266 268 CONTENTS. XI tlie body may the body with of the teaching Of the absolute mystery of the remission of sins John continueth his questioning The teaching witli regard to sinners who receive the mysteries further extended John continueth his questioning Of hypocrites who receive the mysteries A former saying explained Mary again questioneth Jesus . How the souls of them that have passed from be helped by those on earth Mary continueth her questioning How an initiate can escape from the death of out pain Mary continueth her questioning The mystery of the resurrection of the dead The disciples became frenzied at the sublimity How the disciples shall preach What mysteries they shall give The mystery of the resurrection not to be given to any Of the constitution of man Of the counterfeit of the spirit . The state of the sinful soul after death How a sinful soul is brought back to rebirth Of the glorious ascension after death of the that hath received the mysteries Of the state after death of one that hath received the mysteries and yet hath transgressed . The apology of the rulers of the midst The apology of the rulers of the fate Of the ascension of that soul into the inheritance . Mary interpreteth the teaching from former sayings The piece of money that was brought unto Jesus A saying of Paul The foes of one's own house A saying concerning rebirth Mary continueth to question Jesus Of the workmen of wrath . How the soul of the sinner is stamped with its sins How the baptisms purify sins . . . . , The separation of the " principles " by the mystery of baptism Mary interpreteth the same from a former saying Mary further questioneth Jesus Of the remission of sins according to the mysteries Mary interpreteth the same from the Psalms . righteous soul PAGE 269 270 272 273 274 275 276 277 279 2S0 281 282 283 284 285 286 288 290 291 292 293 294 295 297 298 299 300 302 303 Xll CONTENTS. body then those may Of the forgiveness even unto twelve times of them who have received the mystery of the first mystery . Of such initiated who die without repentance . Of the unending forgiveness of tliem that have received the mystery of the ineffable Of such initiated who die without repentance . Mary interpreteth the same from a former saying . Of the absolute compassion of the absolute mystery That the initiated are watched over in passing from the Mary interpreteth the same from a former saying , If even men on earth are compassionate, how much more the highest mystery Jesus trieth Peter ....... Marj' interpreteth the incident from a former saying In the case of repentance only higher mysteries than previously received can remit sins There is no limit to the number of mysteries the faithful receive ....... The fate of the initiated who sinneth is more terrible than that of the ignorant sinner .... Mary interpreteth the same from a former sajing Of them who procrastinate, saying they have many births before them They who procrastinate are excluded from the light Their entreaties at the gates of light Mary interpreteth the same Of the dragon of outer darkness .... Of the rulers of the twelve dungeons and their names Of the doors of the dungeons The angels that watch at the doors .... What souls pass into the dragon, and how The nature of the names of the dragons . Of the severity of the torments of the dragon . Of the various degrees of the fires of the torments . The disciples bewail the fate of sinners Mary further questioneth Jesus .... How to save the souls of the uninitiated after death How the mystery will even save them that have no chance of rebirth ..... Of the light-streams Mary pleadeth for them who have neglected the mysteries Of the efhcacy of the names of the twelve rulers of the dun- geons The souls who know the names escape from the dragons and are taken to leou ........ 304 305 306 307 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 31G 317 318 319 320 322 323 324 325 326 327 329 330 332 333 CONTENTS, Xlll Of their subsequent fate ...... Mary interpreteth the same from a former saying . Of the light of the sun and the darkness of the dragon Of the rulers of the fate and the draught of oblivion The meaning of the term " counterfeit of the spirit " Of the fashioning of a new soul .... Of the inbreathing of the power .... Jesus promiseth to reveal all in detail The teaching as to the light-power and counterfeit of the spirit summarised Who are the " parents " we are to abandon Salome is in doubt as to the matter .... Mary removeth the doubt of Salome Of the charge given unto the counterfeit of the spirit Of the charge given unto the builders Of the embryonic stages of incarnation Of the karmic compulsion of the parents . The occult process of gestation ..... Of the incarnation of the " principles " . Occult physiognomy . Of the nature of the destiny Of how a man cometh by his death There is no escape from destiny Of the nature of the mysteries . The mysteries are for all men . A prophecy of John the Baptist The criterion of orthodoxy The Books of leou Few only will really comprehend the mysteries No soul had entered into the light before the coming of the first mystery ...... None of the prophets had been initiated . The patriarchs have not yet entered into the light Of the souls of the righteous from Adam to Jesus The disciples know of a surety that Jesus is the Great Initiator ......... PAGE 334 385 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 EXTRACT FROM THE BOOKS OF THE SAVIOUR The disciples ask a boon of Jesus The prayer of Jesus ...... The grouping of the disciples .... The interpretation of the word iao . He prayeth for a boon to be given to his disciples 358 359 XIV CONTENTS. £ the their He commandeth the veils of the heavens to be withdrawn The figure of the disk of the sun .... The figure of the disk of the moon .... Jesus and the disciples are transported to the ways midst ......... Of the repentant and unrepentant rulers . Of the hierarchies of the rulers and the names of their fiv regents ........ Of the powers that leou infused into the five regents Of the functions of Zeus, the chief regent The mystery names of the regents .... Mary questioneth Jesus on the ways of the midst . Of the mysteries which Jesus will give unto his disciples Of the constitution of the ways of the midst . Of the regent of the first diemonial hierarchy . Of leou and Melchisedec How the dtemonial rulers carry off souls . The length of their torments Of the time when souls are freed from the torments of rulers The regent of the second dsemonial hierarchy . The length of their torments ..... Of the time when souls are freed from their torments The regent of the third dsemonial hierarchy The length of their torments Of the time when souls are freed from their torments The regent of the fourth dsemonial hierarchy . The length of their torments ..... Of the time when souls are freed from their torments The regent of the fifth dsemonial hierarchy The len;:;th of their torments ..... Of the time when souls are freed from their torments The disciples beseech Jesus to have mercy upon sinners Jesus encourageth his disciples .... Jesus and his disciples ascend higher He breatheth on their eyes ..... Their eyes are opened Jesus explaineth the vision of fire and water, and wine and blood ......... The same further explained from former sayings Jesus and his disciples descend to the earth Jesus promiseth to give them the mystery of remission The mystic sacrament ...... The sacramental invocation ..... PAGE 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 CONTENTS. XV The rite is consummated Directions as to the future use of the rite Of three other great rites ....... Of the highest of all mysteries and of the great name Of the efficacy of that name ...... The punishment of him that curseth .... Of the punishment of the slanderer .... The punishment of the murderer Peter protesteth against tlae women .... The punishment of the contemptuous .... The'.punishment of tlie blasphemer The punishment of him that hath intercourse with males The punishment of a foul act of sorcery .... Of the after-death state of the righteous .... The cup of wisdom A man sufiereth for each separate sin .... Even the greatest of sinners, if he repent, shall inherit the kingdom Of the time favourable for the birth of them who shall find the mysteries The disciples beseech Jesus to have mercy upon them The preaching of the disciples ...... PAGE .379 380 381 382 .383 385 386 387 389 390 391 .392 393 894 INTRODUCTION. It is with somewhat of the feelings of one setting forth on a forlorn hope that the writer ventures to „. ^ phmge into the chaos of syncretism generally ments classified under the vague term Gnosticism. ^ , ^ _ general Indeed no subject connected with the history literature of religion is fraught with greater difficulty, as . ^^°^^'^- o o o ji cism. may be seen from the comparative paucity of general works on Gnosticism from the pens of European scholars. In fact the English reader, outside of a few translations, must content himself with Burton's Bampton Lectures, Mansel's Gnostic Heresies, Norton's History of the Gnostics, King's Gnostics and their Remains, and an article by Salmon. Not only did the persecution of the early Gnostics cause the loss of nearly all their documents, but also some of the most important writings of the Fathers, which might have thi'own more light on the subject, have disappeared ; among these may be mentioned the Syntagma of Justin, and the Syntagma of Hippolytus. Our chief authorities among the Fathers are Justin Martyr, Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, HijDpo- lytus, Philaster, Epiphaniiis, Jerome and Theodoret. But as all, with the solitary exception of Hippolytus, quote the Gnostic documents in the briefest possible manner, and devote almost all their space to the refutation of heretical opinions, it is exceedingly difficult to make out from such controversial writings what the real views of the various Gnostic schools were ; and this in spite of the immense labour and acumen which have been brought to the task h XVlll INTRODUCTION. by such men as Massuet, Beausobre and Mosheim in the last century, and in tlie present by Neander, Matter, Baur, Moller, Lipsius and others who will be mentioned later. (The general literature of the subject consists of the Church Histories of Neander, Baur and SchafF ; Neander : Genet. Entw. d. Gnost., Tiib., 1831 ; Burton : Bampton Lectures on Heresies of the Apost. Age, Oxf., 1830; Mohler: Ursprung d. Gnost., Tub., 1831; Baur: D. christl. Gnosis, Tiib., 1835 ; Norton : Hist, of the Gnostics, Bost., 1845 ; Moller : Gesch. d. Kosmologie, Halle, 1860 ; Lipsius : D. Gnosticismus, Leip., 1860; Harnack : Zur Quellencritik d. Gesch. d. Gnost., Leip., 1873 ; Mansel : Gnostic Heresies, Lond., 1875.) In fact, research into this obscure subject has given rise to one of the most brilliant feats of scholarship on record. This was achieved by R. A. Lipsius, the learned professor of divinity in the university of Jena, in his Quellencritik des Epiphanios (1865). From the accounts of Epiphanius and Philaster he reconstructs to some ex- tent the lost Syntagma of Hippolytus, of which a description is given by Photius. This treatise was founded on certain discourses of Ireuceus. By comparing Philaster, Epiphanius, and the Pseudo-Tertullian, he recovers Hippolytus ; and by comparing his restored Hippolytus with Irenieus he infers a common authority, probably the lost Syntagma of Justin, or, as I ventured to suggest in my essay on Simon Magus (1892 ; p. 41), the work from which Justin obtained his information. This brilliant attempt was owing to the revival of interest in Gnostic studies aroused by a lucky find. In 1842 Minoides Mynas, a learned Greek, sent on a literary mission by the French government, discovered what is said to be a fourteenth century MS. in one of the monasteries on Mount Athos. This purported to be a Refutation of all Heresies in ten books, the first three and a half of which were un- fortunately missing. Emmanuel Miller published the first edition of this literary treasure at Oxford in 1851, INTRODUCTION. XIX erroneously attributing it to Origen. Further research, however, demonstrated beyond a doubt that the autlior was Hippolytus Romauus, Bishop of Ostia, in the first quarter of the third century. (See Bunsen, Hippolytus and His Age, 1852; Dollinger, Hippolytus und Kallistus, 1853, of which there is an English translation by Plummer ; and Words- worth, St. Hippolytus and the Church of Rome, 1880, 2nd ed.) As this treatise, entitled Philosophumena or the Refu- tation of all Heresies, is by far the most important work on Gnosticism from the pen of any Church Father, owing to its lengthy quotations from original Gnostic documents, it may be useful to state here that in 1859 Duncker, after Schneidewin's death, edited and published his colleague's excellent text and moderate Latin translation at Gottingen ; in 1860 Cruice published a less reliable text and Latin translation at Paris ; and that the English reader will find a passable translation by J. H. Macmahou in the Ante- Nicene Christian Library entitled The Writings of Hippo- lytus, vol. i., 1868. Curiously enough it was in the same year in which the text of the Philosophumena was published, 1851, that our present document, Pistis Sophia, was first brought into general notice. Of Gnostic works that have come down to us, undoubtedly the most valuable is the Coptic codex, of which we are treating in the present work. In fact, the only other im- portant relic of the Gnosis w^hich is so far known to have withstood the ravages of time and escaped the destruction of Christian and Mohammedan vandalism, is the Coptic papyrus, known as the Codex Brucianus and preserved in the Bodleian at Oxford, to which reference will be made later on. In the same library there is also another Coptic MS., a small quarto of 236 pages, entitled Treatise on the Mysteries of the Greek Letters, to which an Arabic translation is appended. The author was a priest called Atasius, who, somewhat in the fashion of the Gnostic doctor Marcus, deduces from the form of the letters of the Greek alphabet XX INTRODUCTION. and the meaning of their names, the development of the dogmas of creation, providence and redemption, as Dulaurier tells lis (op. inf. cit, p. 538). Dulaurier in 1847 promised to publish the text and a French translation of this work, but his labours have never seen the light. To this may be added, as connected with the magical side of the subject, some Greek Papyri mostly in fragments. Two of the Ley den Papyri of the third century have recently been edited, translated, and commentated upon by A. Dieterich (Abraxas : Studien zur Religionsgeschichte des Spatern Altertums ; Leipzig, 1891); the London and Parisian Papyri, of the third or fourth century, have been edited by Wessely ; in 1852 C. W. Goodwin also did some good work on the subject (Fragment of a Grteco-Egyptian Work upon Magic from a Papj-rus in the British Museum, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Octavo Series, No. 2 ; Goodwin edited, translated and annotated this fragment). Amelineau (P. S., Intr. iv.) says that Rossi (F.), the Egyptologist of Turin, has published a papja'us containing an invocation similar to those in the Pistis Sophia, but I have not been able to find this work. It is not in I Papyri Copti del Museo Egizio di Torino which Rossi transcribed and translated (Turin, 1887-1892). There is also a short Hebrew treatise. The Sword of Moses (Cod., Oxford, 1531, 6; Cod. Heb., Gaster, 178; see Caster's text and translation. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1896, i. and ii.). The above magical works, however, are more connected with the superstitions of sorcery than with magic proper, and when attached to Gnosticism characterise its degrada- tion in the hands of the superstitious and ignorant. We may also mention the Codex Nazareeus, although it is said at earliest to be post-Mohammedan, of which there are no less than four MS. copies, dated respectively 1560, 1632, 1688 and 1730, in the Bibliotheque Nationale alone. This Codex is the scripture of the so-called Sabeeans, or Christians of St. John, or Mandaites, and is known as INTRODUCTION. XXI Sidra Adma or The Book of Adam. The text, in a strange Chaldteo-Syriac idiom, was first published at Lund (1815, 1816), by Matth. Norberg, the learned Swede, together with a vocabulary and a Latin translation, in four quarto volumes. There is also a French translation by F. Tempes- tini in Migne's Dictionuaire des Apocryphes (1856). Compare also the thesis, Stellse Nasarteorum Ji^ones ex Sacro Gentis Codice, by Olof Svanander, presumably a pupil of Norberg (Lund, 1811). Finally we may mention the ^Ethiopic Enochian litera- ture. In 1773 Bruce brought back from Abyssinia three copies of the yEthiopic version of The Book of Enoch. Archbishop Laurence issued a translation in 1821 (2nd ed., 1833 ; 3rd, 1838), under the title The Book of Enoch. Hoflfman published a German translation, Das Buch Henoch (Jena, 1838), Gfrorer a Latin version of no value (Stuggart, 1840) ; Dillmann a critical text and also a German version (Leipzig, 1851; 2nd ed., 1853); Migne's Dictionuaire des Apocryphes (1856) contains an anonymous French transla- tion ; there is also an anonymous reprint of Laurence's translation, with a controversial introduction (London, 1883); and finally Charles recently (1893) published an English translation from Dillmann's text. This year Charles has also published The Book of the Secrets of Enoch (Oxford), a translation from Slavonic, which presents us with a new tradition entirely, namely, the Slavonic Enoch, from a Greek original which he places from B.C. 30 to a.d. 70, the Greek having in its turn a Hebrew background of a still earlier date. In an Appendix is a translation from the Slavonic of a fragment of Melchisedecian literature. For more than 1200 years this version of Enoch has been unknown save in Russia, and in Western Europe was not known to exist even in Russia till 1892. Outside of apocryphal scriptures and the world-bibles, these are all the documents connected directly or indirectly with the Gnosis, which, to my knowledge, we possess ; and, in spite of the good work that has been done since 1850, XXll INTRODUCTION. the chaos of Gnosticism still remains to a large extent in- tractable, refusing to submit to the ordering of even the most praiseworthy and painstaking industry. Nor is the reason of this ill-success mostly due to the paucity of material, but rather to the intrinsic difficulty of the subject itself, which is not only replete with the most involved mysticism, but also bound up with magic and mystery and occasionally sorcery of every kind. It is, therefore, not a matter of great surprise, when we remember the absolute disbelief of scholarship in magic of any kind, and the distaste of the present age for everything connected with mysticism, to find that no single writer on the subject, except perhaps King in a very feeble fashion, has really grappled with the problem. The point of view of the most liberal-minded scholars with regard to this tabooed subject may be seen from the remarks of Dr. Gaster, who would have magic trecxted after the fashion of folklore. The translator of The Sword of Moses in the second paragraph of his introduction (loc. sup. cit.) writes : " It is remarkable that we do not possess a good work, or exhaustive study, on the history and development of magic. It is true that we find allusions to it, and sometimes special chapters devoted to the charms and incantations and other super- stitious customs prevailing among various nations in books dealing with such nations. But a comprehensive study of magic is still a pious (or impious) wish." And, even were such a task attempted by some venturesome scholar, the result, we may venture to suggest, would at best be merely a guess-work compilation, and of no real value, unless the compiler in addition to his scholarship had not only a belief in but also a knowledge of the art. To treat of Gnosticism, then, in a really comprehensible manner, requires not only a writer who at least believes in the possibilities of magic, but also a mystic or at least one who is in sympathy with mysticism — a person difficult to find nowadays, when the very names of magic and mysticism evoke nothing but a smile of contempt and INTRODUCTION. XXlll a frown of disapproval from the world of science and letters. The present Introduction, however, is only concerned with the purely historical and critical side of the subject, and even this is restricted to the consideration of one document. Though it would be highly presumptuous to endeavour to define Gnosticism without a previous analysis Tj^e and classification of the various schools, sects method of and offshoots which have been grouped under Gnostic this vague heading, we may nevertheless venture doctors, to suggest the probable point of view which led the best of the Gnostic doctors, pre-eminently Valentinus, to compile their various treatises. Let us then consider the movement about the year 150 a.d. By that time the original Logia or the Urevangelium of Christianity had disappeared, and the Synoptic Gospels were all set in the framewoi'k of the traditional life of the great Master of the Faith. The popular tidal-wave of the new religion had come exclusively from the ocean of Jewish tradition, and was engulfing a more universal view of Christianity in the same Hood of intolerance and exclusiveness which had characterised the Hebrew nation throughout the whole of its previous history. This startling phenomenon was now attracting the attention of minds which were not only skilled in the philosophy of the schools, but also imbued with the eclectic spirit of a universal theosophy and a knowledge of the inner doctrines of the ancient religions. Such men thought that they saw in the Christian Gospel a similarity of doctrine and a universalism which was consanguineous with these inner teachings of the ancient faiths, and set to work to endeavour to check the exclusive and narrowing tendencies which they saw so rapidly developing among the less instructed, who made faith superior to knowledge, even to such an extent as to openly condemn every other form of religion and scoff at all philosophy and education. XXIV INTRODUCTION. It is true that about this time such meu arose as Clement of Alexandria and Origen who voiced much more liberal views and laid the foundations of Christian theology, but they were exceptions to the rule. The Gnostic doctors could not believe that the Jews were the only nation in the past to whom God had revealed himself, and that the scriptures of the nations were to be cast on the dustheap of falsehood and error. And yet they saw that the old order of things had received a rude shock, and that the fierce faith which had been aroused among the people in the personality of Jesus, and the social revolution which was rushing along with leaps and bounds under their very eyes, could never be dammed back again. All they could hope to do was to turn the energy generated into a more universal channel. Accordingly they used the tradi- tional story of Jesus w'hich had roused such mighty enthu- siasm, as the fi'amework into which they wove the "wisdom" of the great religions. Believing, as they did, that truth was one, and at no time a respecter of persons or nations ; that all the nations had received of that truth in proportion to their needs and capacities, they wove these ideas into the Christian tradition, and compiled gospels and apocalypses of that veiled and mysterious wisdom which had been guarded so carefully in the temples throughout the ages, and into which they believed Jesus had been initiated and was in his turn an initiator. Nor did they so much invent these things out of their ov,m beads as it would appear, but rather compiled them from existing scriptures, many of which have since disappeared. They drew from the wisdom of Egypt, Chaldfca, Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, Jjlthiopia, the books of Orpheus, Pythagoras and Plato, of the Magi and Zoroaster ; and even perhaps in some indirect way from those of the Brahmans. Their source of information was for the most part the Orient. Believing as they did, that the orthodox life of Jesus was legendary and allegorical, and finding many other legends current which were not included in the Synoptic account ; INTRODUCTION. XXV devoted to the mystic life, and making light of the liistorical side of religion, with faith alone in the watchword " now and within," it is evident that their views met with little favour among the orthodox who clung above all things to what they held to be the greatest fact of all history. The ancient wisdom, however, proved far too difficult for popular comprehension, and being also misunderstood even by the followers of the great doctors themselves in many cases, often degenerated into superstition and the wildest of speculations. But, as we are not attempting to trace the evolution of the movement, but simply presenting one of the better sides of the endeavour, we will proceed to a consideration of the document we are especially interested in, at the same time reminding the reader that in this Introduction only a brief outline of the MS. will be attempted, and all further considerations will be postponed for a further Commentary which the writer has the intention of undertaking. The only MS. of the Pistis Sophia known to exist was bought by the British Museum from the heirs of Dr. Askew at the end of the last century, and is ^jon and now catalogued as MS. Add. 51U. The title on criticism 1 1 1 c 1 1 • T • T^- f- 1 • /-I • of the MS. the back oi the buidmg is riste Sophia Loi^tice, and below is printed Mus. Brit. Jure Emptionis. On the top of the first page of the MS. is the signature A. Askew, M.D. On the first page of the binding is the following note, probably in Woide's hand: " Codex dialecti Superioi'is ^Egypti, quam Sahidicam seu Thebaidicam vocant, cujus titulus exstat pagina 115 : Pmeh snaou ntomos fitpiste Sophia — Tomos secundus fidelis Sapientite^Deest pagina 337-344." The title Piste Sophia is incorrect ; nowhere is this form found in the book, and the suggested emendation of Dulaurier and Renan from Pistis Sophia to Piste Sophia " La fidele Sagesse," has received no support from other scholars. Where Askew found it or bought it, I cannot discover. It is not mentioned in his biography, and the reference XXVI INTRODrCTION. given by Kostlin (v. i.) is unverifiable. When the Museum bought it is not stated. It was evidently befoi'e the great sale of the Askew library which lasted twenty days in 1785, for the Pistis Sophia is not mentioned in the catalogue (Bibliotheca Askeviana Manuscripta, etc., 1785; v. Askew, A., Cat. B.M.). The MS. is written on vellum in Greek uncial letters, and is in the Upper Egyptian dialect, called Thebaidic or Sahidic. It consists of 3-46 quarto pages written in double column, and for the most part is in an excellent state of preservation ; several pages, however, are badly defaced, and a number faint. Perhaps the most competent expert who has yet given a decided opinion as to its date is Woide, Avhose knowledge of such matters was very extensive, and cannot be easily surpassed. It was by Woide that the New Testament, according to the text of the famous Codex Alexandrinus, was edited, in uncial tj'pes cast to imitate those of the MS., in 1786. In an Appendix to this great undertaking, in 1799, he added certain frag- ments of the New Testament in the Thebaico-Coptic dialect, together with a dissertation on the Coptic version of the New Testament. The date of the Codex Alexandrinus is pretty generally assigned to the fifth century, and with the exception of the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, which are sometimes assigned to the fourth century, is the oldest extant MS. of the New Testament. This being the case, it is of interest to read Woide's description and opinion of the MS. of Pistis Sophia, which was lent to this ripe scholar by Dr. Askew and his heirs long enough for him to copy it out from the first word to the last. Woide was, therefore, eminently fitted in every way to form an opinion ; in fact, no one of equal fitness seems to have appeared in the field since his time. In Cramer's Beytrage (op. inf. cit., pp. 82 sq.), Woide wrote as follows in 1778 : "It [P. S.] is a very old MS. in 4to on parchment in Greek uncial characters, which are not so round as those in the Alexandrine MS. in London, and in the Claromontain MS. in Paris [Codex Regius Parisiensis, also an Alexandrine text]. INTRODUCTION. XXVll The characters of the MS. [P. S.] are somewhat longer and more angular, so that I take them to be older than both the latter MSS., in which the letters eta, theta, omicron, rho and sigma are much rounder. There are no capital letters in the whole book ; the letters are all equal, only at the end of the lines there are sometimes smaller letters to bring the word in. There are no other mai-ks of distinction than a full stop or colon. The Avords are not separated from each other ; the paragraphs are not distinguished by breaks, but by full stops. At the beginning of the book, of the second part and of the two appendices, the first letter is not in advance of the line. If the paragi'aph begins with the line, I have sometimes, though seldom, remai'ked that the first letter is in advance of the line. If the paragraph begins in the middle of a line sometimes, but not often, the first letter of the following line is somewhat advanced. Here and there also a section is noted on the edge by a mark that looks almost like a Greek zeta, or by a line from the edge to above the word. If the paragraph begins at the beginning of the line, the marks are on the same line ; if it begins in the middle of the line, they are at the beginning of the following line. The folios are numbered in Greek letters." Thus we see that Woide places the date of the MS. at latest about the latter end of the fourth century. It is also quite evident that the whole MS. from first to last is by the same hand, and that it is a copy of another MS. There are also a few corrections at the top or bottom of the columns by a hand of the same date. An inspection of its contents reveals the further indisputable fact that the Coptic text was not only a translation from a Greek original^ but that it has preserved an enormous quantity of the original Greek terms without any attempt at translation. This may at once be seen from Schwartze's Latin version, in which he has also preserved these innumerable Greek words without translation. The whole style of the work, moreover, is foreign to XXVni INTEODUCTION. the Coptic idiom, as may be seen from Amelineau's Intro- duction to his French version (p. x), where he writes : " Whoever has any knowledge of the Coptic language knows that this idiom is foreign to long sentences ; that it is a tongue eminently analytic and by no means syn- thetic ; that its sentences are composed of small clauses exceedingly precise, and almost independent of each other. Of course all Coptic authors are not equally easy, some of them are even exceedingly difficult to understand ; but this much is certain, that never under any circumstances in Coptic do we come across those j.eriods with complicated incidental sentences, of three or four different clauses, whose elements are synthetically united together so that the sense of the entire sentence cannot be grasped before we arrive at the last clause. Nevertheless, this is just what the reader meets with in this work. The sentences are so entangled with incidental and complicated propo- sitions, that often, indeed very often, the Coptic translator has lost the thread, so to say, and made main propositions out of incidental cla\xses, so that we find the continuation of the fii'st proposition three or four pages further on. This peculiarity is not calculated to facilitate the trans- lation of a work, the ideas in which are in themselves very difficult to comprehend ; the one thing that it conclusively proves is that the book was originally written in a learned language ; that consequently none of the idioms spoken in the Orient could have been the original language in which the work in question was conceived and written ; that we must accordingly choose between Greek and Latin ; that only one of these languages at this peinod, the second century [the date assigned to the original by Amelineau] , is at all likely in Egypt, namely, Greek." Amelineau makes rather too much of the abstruse nature of the subject ; for, though many passages are transcendent- ally mystical, nevertheless the whole is conceived in a narrative or descriptive style. There is no attempt at philosophical argument, no involved logical propositions ; INTRODUCTION. XXIX there may also be another reason, as we shall suggest later on, for the " losing of the thread." Nevertheless the main argument of this learned Coptic scholar is unanswerable. And not only is it evident that we are dealing with a translation into Coptic from Greek, but also that ^ -, ,. . General we are not dealing Avith a single work, but at analysis least with two treatises, fragments of one of which ^^ ^^^' tents. have been in two places inserted in the body of the main treatise, and a larger fragment appended at the end of the MS. The main narrative also is broken by several important lacunre, due in one case to the loss of several leaves of the MS., and generally to the carelessness of the scribe ; the MS. is, moreover, evidently incomplete. A general analysis of the contents reveals the following general outline of contents, the refei'ences being to the pagination of the MS. adopted in Schwartze's text, which is retained between brackets in the present translation. Pistis Sophia, Book 1 1-124 Pistis Sophia, Book 11. ... 126-357 From the Books of the Saviour . . 357-390 There is, however, no title to Book I., nor does there seem to be any reason why the title " The Second Book of Pistis Sophia " should be inserted where it is, right in the middle of the narrative. Book II. ends halfway down page 357, and the whole subject abruptly changes with the heading, " Extnxct from the Books of the Saviour." In addition to these three main divisions of the MS., two pages (253-254), with the same heading, " Extract from the Books of the Saviour," are inserted at haphazard in the middle of Book II. They have no reference to what goes before or what follows; nor are they quite of the same nature as the lengthier Extract at the end of the MS. There is, moreover, a note which occupies the last column of Book I., and which has not the slightest reference to the rest of the nai'rative ; why it is inserted in this place is a XXX INTRODUCTION. mystery. It was probably copied iu by mistake, or the Coptic translator for some reason or other added a note from some other book, most })robably one of the Books of the Saviour. At the end of the MS., and after the conclusion of the narrative, there is an extra leaf which has only the left-hand column partialh' filled with writing. The subject is here again completely changed, and leads us to suppose that some leaves are missing before it. Finally, at page 379 eight pages or four leaves of the MS. have disappeared. A general view of the nature of the subjects treated of may be seen from the contents table, which consists of the indented summaries I have added to the text. The question that next arises is what was the original The date ^'''^^^ work from which the Coptic translation of and the Pistis Sophia was made. I am convinced that shir) of ^^^ original was no other than the famous Apoca- the Greek lypse of Sophia, composed by Valentinus, the most origma . |g.^j,j;jg(j doctor of the Gnosis, who lived for thirty years in Egypt in the latter half of the second century, and was also a master of the Greek language, in which he wrote his treatises. But the farther consideration of this point must be postponed for the Commentary I propose to write, and in which a compai'ison between the Pistis Sophia and the rest of the fragments of the writings of Valentinus which have come down to us, will be attempted. It is sufficient to state here that this view is supported by AVoide, Jablonski, La Croze, Scholtze, Dulaurier, Schwartze, Renan, Bevaillant, Usener, and Amelineau, the last of whom, in his Essay on Egyptian Gnosticism and in the introduction to his translation of the Pistis Sophia, has dealt at length with the matter. The guarded opinion of Harnack also allows for the date of Valentinus. In his essay on the subject in 1891 (op. inf. cit,, pp. 9.5 sq.), the famous Biblical critic gives the terminus a quo as 140, and the terminus ad quern as 302. He bases the earliest limit on the fact INTRODUCTIOX. XXXI that the Gospels and Pauline Epistles are regarded in the text as Holy Scripture, and even a passage from the Ejnstle to the Uomans is quoted ])y the author as a saying of Jesus by the mouth of Paul. Now, the Pauline writings were never spoken of as Holy Scripture before the time of Antoninus Pius (138), The latest limit is amved at by the passage about persecution on page 277, which leads Harnack to conjecture that the author was writing at a time when the Christians were still lawfully persecuted ; but on the other band the author does not seem to have written in a persecution he had gone through. Thus Harnack eliminates the persecution of Maximin and arrives at the 302 limit. But all this is very unsatisfactory ; and deductions made from internal evidence, though an essential part of the higher criticism, are in this case based on too slender premises. The method of Amelineau, who compares the known fragments of Valentinus with the text of Pistis Sophia, is the only really satisfactory test. But what of the fragments from the Books of the Saviour which have been inserted in and added to ^, The the text of the Pistis Sophia proper 1 On pages Books 246 and 354 mention is made of certain Books °^ .^ 1 • T • 1 Saviour, of leou, which Jesus promises to give to his disciples when he has finished the teaching on which he is engaged. In the first case, a few pages later on (2.53) the first short extract is inserted in the text, and in the second, almost immediately after, the Pistis Sophia treatise is concluded (page 357), and we find the rest of the MS. devoted to a far longer extract from the Books of the Saviour. These extracts bear a remarkable similarity to the contents of the Coptic Papyrus, which the famous Scottish traveller Bruce brought to England in 1769 from Upper Egypt, and bequeathed to the care of the Bodleian Library. This Papyrus consists of 78 leaves, each containing from 27 to 34 lines, 29 centimetres high by 17 wide, not in roll but in book form. It is written in Greek characters and is in the Thebaico-Coptic dialect like the Pistis Sophia. XXXn INTEODUCTION. Some twenty leaves at least are missing, and even when Bruce fonnd it it was in a very dilapidated condition. It was further injured by neglect and damp in the Bodleian, when Woide found it and carefully copied it. Woide considered that it was the Egyptian form of the Pistis Sophia written by Valentinus in Coptic. It is, how- ever, evidently a translation like the Pistis Sophia from the Greek, and like the Pistis Sophia is crammed full of the Greek original technical terms. Schwartze also copied it. In 1891 Amelineau published a text and a French translation at Paris, and in 1892 Schmidt published a text and a German translation at Leipzig. Schmidt has sorted out this puzzling chaos of leaves with the following results : The Codex consists of tw^o treatises quite distinct in matter and character. The first is divided into two parts, the two Books of leou, under the general title, The Book of the Great Logos according to the Mystery [? of leou]. The second treatise has no title, and is followed by a long Hymn to the Gnosis, also without title. The First Book of leou opens with the title, " This is the Book of the Know- ledge of the Invisible God." One thing is abundantly clear on every page, namely, that we are dealing with a MS. which contains the ideas of the same school as that to which the Pistis Sophia and the Books of the Saviour belong. In fact, the longer Extract from the Books of the Saviour practically gives the same account of the three baptisms as that found in far greater fulness in the Codex Brucianus. Whether or not the Extracts from the Books of the Saviour appended to the MS. of the Pistis Sophia belong to the missing portions of the Codex Brucianus, or whether the translator from the Greek abridged some portion of the Books of leou to give his readers an idea of these books to w^hich the text of the Pistis Sophia had just made reference, it is impossible to say ; this much is certain, that the Books of the Saviour and the treatises of INTRODUCTION. XXXlll the Codex Brucianiis are united by the closest ties of con- sanguinity, and that a commentator on the one must be intimately acquainted with the contents of the other. The frequent mention of the name Melchisedec through- out the text of the Pistis Sophia reminds us of the frag- ment of Melchisedecian literature translated by Charles (v. s.), and its close connection with the Enochian literature, and points perhaps to one of the sources of the Greek original of the Books of the Saviour, and also of Pistis Sophia. The disconnected column at the end of Book I. un- doubtedly belongs to the same collection of writings as the Books of the Saviour, and also the two pages (253, 254) inserted in the middle of Book II. Finally the odd column at the end of the MS. may either come from the same source or be an unaided effort of the translator or scribe. Let us now run over the probable history of our treatise, and suggest the accidents which may have The pro- befallen it before it reached the hands of Antony torvof the' Askew. treatise. The original Greek treatise of the Pistis Sophia was compiled by Valentinus in the latter half of the second century, perhaps in Alexandria. By "compiled" I mean that the Apocalypse of Sophia, or whatever its title may have been, was not invented from first to last by Valentinus. The traditional framework of the narrative, the selection of texts and passages from other scriptures, Hebrew, Christian, Egyptian, Chaldaean, iEthiopic, etc., or whatever they may have been, and the adaptation of nomenclature, were his share of the task ; but it is evident that in many places he was translating or paraphrasing himself, and that he had great difficulty in turning some of the Oriental terms into Greek, the original of the name Pistis Sophia being not the least difficult of such ' > i ;■ left in its present barbaric and un-Greek form. Of this original of Valentinus doubtless several copies XXXIV INTRODUCTION. were made, and mistakes may have crept in. One of these copies was carried up the Nile and translated into the vernacular, Greek being but little understood so high up the river. The translator was evidently not a very accurate person, as may be seen from his casual insertion of scraps from other books ; moreover, his knowledge of the subject was so superficial that he had to leave many terms in the original, and doubtless made guesses at others. It is also probable that he added some things and subtracted others on the score of orthodoxy, as may be seen by an inspection of the rest of the fragments of Valentinus. The wearisome length of the Psalms, for instance, which Pistis Sophia recites in her repentances, followed by the shorter excerpts from the Salomonic Odes, leads one to suppose that Valen- tinus quoted only a few striking verses from each Psalm ; and that the more orthodox translator, with that love of wearisome repetition so characteristic of monkish piety, added the other less apposite verses, with which he was very familiar, while he was compelled to leave the Salomonic Odes as they stood owing to his lack of acquaintance with the originals. Moreover, the translator must have either translated, or possessed a translation of. The Books of the Saviour and The Books of leou. These were also most probably a com- pilation of Valentinus, or perhaps The Books of the Saviour were a compilation of Valentinus from the older Books of leou, which may have belonged to the .Ethiopic Euochian literature, for they are stated in the Pistis Sophia (pages 246 and 354) to have been written down in Paradise by Enoch, and preserved from the Flood. The MS. of the Coptic translator was copied towards the end of the foui'th century by some ignorant copyist, who made many mistakes of orthography. It was copied by one man, as a task, and hun'iedly executed ; and I should suggest that two copies were then made and occasionally a page of one copy substituted for a page of the other ; and, as the pages were not quite exact to a word or phrase, INTRODUCTION. XXXV we thus may account for some puzzling repetitions and for equally puzzling lacunfe. What was the histoi-y of the MS. after that date is almost impossible even to conjecture. Its history must, however, have been exciting enough for it to have escaped the hands of fanatics both Christian and Mohammedan. It was during this period also that some of the pages, as we have seen, w^ere lost. May we not also hope that Abyssinia and Upper Egypt may still preserve some MSS. that may throw further light on this obscure but most interesting subject? In fact, I was told in 1891 by Achinoff, chief of the Free Cossacks, a resident in the country, that the monasteries of Abyssinia do actually contain a mass of very ancient MSS. which would be of exceeding great value to the scholarship of Europe. In presenting the following translation to the English- reading public, I may say that I should not have The ventured on such an undertaking if any Coptic t^ansla- scholar had undertaken the task, or I had heard apolo- that such a task was contemplated. In a matter 8^^' of such difficulty every possible liability to error should be eliminated, and it stands to reason that the translation of a translation must needs be but an apology for a first-hand version. Nevertheless I am not without predecessors. The Coptic MS. itself is in the first place a translation, so that even Coptic scholars must give us the translation of a translation. I am persuaded also that the anonymous and imperfect French translation in the Appendix to Migne's Dictionnaire des Apocryphes (vol. i.) is made from Schwartze's Latin version and not from the Coptic text. C. W. King in his Gnostics and their Kemains has also translated a number of pages of the Pistis Sophia from Schwartze. Some three or four years ago Mr. Xutt, King's publisher, sent out a notice for the publication of the whole of King's translation, but the project fell through. Last year I oflFered to edit this translation of King's, but was informed that the literary legatee of the deceased scholar was of XXXVl INTRODUCTION. the opinion that it would be unfair to his memory to publish a MS. that was in so incomplete a condition. In 1890 I had already translated Schwartze's Latin version into English and published pages 1 to 252, with a commentary, notes, etc., in magazine form from April, 1890, to April, 1891. But I hesitated to put it forward in book form, and should not have done so, but for the appearance of Amelineau's French version in 1895. I then retranslated the whole book again and checked it by Amelineau's version. I was further induced to venture on this undertaking, because the narrative, though dealing with mystical and therefore obscure subjects, is in itself exceedingly simple, and therefore mistakes cannot so readily creep in as into a difhcult philosophical work. I, therefore, present my trans- lation with all hesitation, but at the same time think that the English public, which is steadily increasing its interest in mysticism and allied subjects, will be better satisfied with half a loaf than with no bread. In conclusion it only remains for me to append a brief fjij^g siimmary of the work that has already been done work on the subject. This may best be seen by treating been pre- ^^ f I'om a chronological point of view. In addition viously to a few scattered articles in magazines which are not of the first importance, the chief contributions to the subject are : a. 1770. Article in Britti#clie Theol.Magaziii; see Kostlin infra. b. 1773. Woide (C. A.). Article in Journal de Savants. c. 1778. Woide. Article in J. A. Cramer's BeyLrage zur Befo- clerung theologischer and andrer wichtigen Kennt- nisse (Kiel u. Hamburg), pp. 82 sq. d. 1799. Woide. Appendix ad Editionem Novi Testamenti Gneci e Cudice MS. Alexandrine a Carolo God- fredo Wuide Descripti,in qua continentur Fragmenta Novi Testament] juxta interpretationera Dialecti Superioris ^Egypti quae Thebaidica vel Sahidica appellatur e Codicibus Oxoniensibus maxima ex parte Desumpta, cum Dissertatione de Versione INTRODUCTION. XXXVll Bibliorum ^Ef^yptiaca quibus subjictur Codicis Vaticani Collatio (Oxonii) — p. 137. Woide not only carefully copied the whole of the MS. but also the Codex Brucianus at Oxford. He gives the date of the MS. as about the fourth century, and considers the writer to have been Valentinus. He, however, published no work on the subject. e. 1812. Miinter (F.). Odas GnosticEe Salomoni Tiibutee, The- baice et Latine, Prefatione et Adnotationibiis Philo- logicis Illustratfe (Hafnise). Bishop Miinter, a learned Dane, probably got his text from Woide's copy ; his brief pamphlet is of no particular importance, nevertheless it was solely upon these few brief selections, the seven Odes of Solomon, that, with the ex- ception of Dulaurier, scholars formed their opinion of the Pistis Sophia up to the time of the publication of Schwartze's work in 1851. Miinter believes that the original treatise belongs to the second century. /. 1843. Matter (J.). Histoire Critique du Gnosticisme et de son Influence zur les Sectes religieuses et philosophiques des six premiers Siecles de I'Ere chretienne (Paris) — 2nd ed. 11. 41 sq., 350 sq. The first edition appeared iu 1828 and contains no reference to P. S. In Dor- ner's German translation the references are, 11. 69 sq. and 163 sq. Matter rejects the idea of Valentinus, but he had no acquaintance whatever with the text and bases himself entirely on Woide. He states that the MS. can scarcely be prior to the fourth century, and (p. 352) places the date of the original treatise between the end of the second and the end of the fifth. He gives no opinion as to the school to which it belongs. g. 1838. Dulaurier (E). Article in the Moniteur (27th Sept.). h. 1847. Dulaurier. Article in the Journal Asiatlque, Quatrleme Serle, Tome Ix., juln, pp. 534-548 ; entitled " Notice XXXVlll INTRODUCTION. sur le Manuscript copte-thebain, intitule La Fidele Sagesse ; et sur la Publication projetee Ju Texte et (le la Traduction fran^'aise de ce Manuscript." On page 542 Dulaiirier tells us that he had made a French translation from the Coptic in the following words : "The translation of the Pistis Sophia and the glossary which forms a complement to it are finished, and will be sent to the printers, when I have convinced myself that I have fulfilled the requirements that this task imposes, taking into consideration the present state of science and my own capabilities. The MS. from which I have made my transla- tion is a copy which I have taken from the original, during my stay in England in 1838-1840, w^hen I was charged by MM. de Salvandy and Villemain, successive ministers of public instruction, with the commission of proceeding to London to study this curious monument." Dulaurier, however, did not publish his labom-s, nor have I as yet come across any record of the fate of his MSS. He ascribes the treatise to Valentinus. i. 1851. Schwartze (M. G.). Pistis Sophia, Opus Gnosticum Valentino adjudicatum, e Codice Manuscripto Coptico Londiuensi descriptum, Latine vertit M. G. Schwartze, edidit J. H. Petermann (Bero- lini). Schwartze died at an early age before the completion of his labours on the Pistis Sophia, and the MS. translation he left behind contained a number of blanks and passages which he intended to fill up and correct. Petermann has confined himself in his notes strictly to verbal corrections and suggestions as to variaj lectiones. The consequence is that we have a translation without the notes of the trans- lator, and without a word of introduction. Petermann says the task of editing was so severe that he frequently suffered from fits of giddiness. Schwartze copied out the whole of the Coptic MS. of Pistis Sophia and also the Oxford Codex Brucianus. He considers the original treatise, INTRODUCTION. XXXIX as we see from the title of his work, to be written by the hand of Valentinus ; but Petermann is of the opinion that it is the work of an Ophite, and promises to set forth his reasons at length in a treatise, which has unfortunately never seen the light. Kcistlin and Schmidt also hold this view, and as far as the Extracts from the Books of the Saviour are concerned, I see no reason why there should not be some truth in the idea. For we may connect these Books closely with the Books of leou, and the latter connect us at once with the Enochian literature. The Ophites were pre-Valentinian and mostly Syrian. They were the first to take the distinct name of Gnostics. Some of their books were translated into Greek. This fits in with the hypothesis put forth above that Valentinus compiled the Books of the Saviour from a prior set of Gnostic writings. The Melchisedecian ideas would also come through the Syrian Gnosis, and be cognate to the Enochian tradition. A review of Schwartze's work appeared in the Journal des Savants of 1852 (p. 333). j. 1852. Bunsen (C. C. J.). Hippolytus und seine Zeit, Anfange und Aussichten des Christenthums uud der Mensch- heit (Leipzig), i. 47, 48. Hipijolytus and his Age (London, 1852), i. 61, 62. "Great, therefore, were my hopes in 1842, that the ancient Coptic manuscript of the British Museum, inscribed Sophia, might be a translation, or at least an extract, from that lost text-book of Gnosticism [the work quoted by Hippolytus, sub Valent.] : but unfortunately the accurate and trustworthy labours of that patient and conscientious Coptic scholar, Dr. Schwartze, so early taken away from us, have proved to me (for 1 have seen and perused his manuscript, which I hope will soon appear), that this Coptic treatise is a most worthless (I trust, purely Coptic) oftshoot of the Marcosian heresy, of the latest and stupidest mysticism about letters, sounds, and words." Bunsen stands absolutely alone in this opinion, and we doubt whether he could have read Schwartze's MS, with any care. xl INTRODUCTION. k. 1853. Baur (F. C). Das Christenthuiii und die clirisLliche Kirche der drei ersten JahiLuuderte (Tubingen) — notes on pp. 185, 186, and 205, 206. Baur evidently added these notes at the last moment before publication. On page 206 n., he leans to the idea of an Ophite origin. /. 1854. Kostlin (K. R.). Two articles in Baur and Zeller's Theologische Jabrbucher (Tubingen), xiii. 1-104 and 137-196; entitled "Das gnostisclie System des Bucbes Pistis Sophia." Kostlin was the first to make an exhaustive analysis of the contents of the treatise, and his labours are used by Lipsius in his article in Smith and Wace's Dictionarj' of Christian Biography. He assigns its date to the first half of the third century, and assumes that it is of Ophite origin. In a note to page 1, Kostlin writes : " The MS. from which the work is published belongs to the collection of MSS. collected by Di*. Askew of London during his travels in Italy and Greece, of which the British Theological Magazine (das Brittische theol. Magazin) for the year 1770 (vol. i. part 4, p. 22.3) gives more particu- lars." There is no such magazine in the catalogue of the British Museum. The Theological Repository for 1770 contains no information on the subject; and no permutation of names solves the mystery. There were very few magazines published at that early date, so that the choice is limited. m. 1856. An anonymous translation in Migne's Dictionnaire des Apocrj'pbes, torn. i. app. part ii. coll. 1181- 1286 ; this tome forms vol. xxiii. of bis third Encyclopedie Tbeologique. The translation is a soiTy piece of work, more frequently a mere paraphrase from Schwartze's version thau a trans- lation ; there are also frequent omissions, sometimes as INTEODUCTION. xli many as 40 pagesof the Coptic Codex; e.g., pp. 18, 19, 36 sq., 50, 51, 72, 73, 86-90, 108-135, 139, 157-160, 162, 171, 179, 180, 184-186, 221-243, 245-255, 281-320, 324- 342. These are some of the omissions ; but there are many more. It is, therefore, entirely useless to the student. The anonymous writer vaguely suggests a late date for the treatise because of the complicated nature of the system. n. 1860. Lipsius (R. A.). Article " Gnosticismus " in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopaedie, separately published at Leipziff, 1860, pp. 95 sq. and 157 sq. ; also Article " Pistis Sophia" in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography (London), vol. iv., 1887. Lipsius considers Pistis Sophia an Egypto-Ophite treatise, and with Kostlin assigns its date to the first half of the third century. 0. 1877. Jacobi. Article " Gnosis " in Herzog's Theolog. Real Encyclopiidie (Leipzig) ; 2ud ed., 1888 ; Translation, New York ; 1882, 1883. Jacobi believes in an Ophite origin. p. 1875-1883. The Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles of MSS. and Inscriptions, Oriental Series, ed. by William Wright (London). Plate xlii. The editor, or whoever is responsible for the letter-press, says that the original is later than Valentinus, and places the MS. in the seventh century. Tliere is a care- ful analysis of the text from the technical standpoint, and the facsimile is of f. II a. q. 1887. King(C. W.). The Gnostics and their Remains, Ancient and Medi&val (London), 2nd ed. The first ed. appeared in 1864, but contains no reference to P. S. King regards the Pistis Sophia as the most precious relic of Gnosticism. Besides many references scattered throughout the volume, there are translations from C* xlii INTRODUCTION. Schwartze of pages 227-239, 242-244, 247-248, 255-259, 261-263, 282-292, 298-308, 341, 342, 358, 375 of the Codex. King, who was more of a numismatologist and antiquarian than a critic, does not venture an opinion either on the date or author. r. 1887. Am^lineau (E.). Essai sur le Giiosticisine ^gyptien, ses D(!'veloppeinents et son Origine ^gyptieune, in the Annals du Musee Guimet (Paris), torn. xiv. Cf. especially the third part for system of Valentinus and Pistis Sophia, pp. 166-322. s. 1880. Ameliueau. Article " Les Traitfe gnostiques d'Oxford ; Etude critique," in the Revue de I'Histoire des Religions (Paris, edited bj' R^ville), an essay of 72 pp., 8vo. t. 1891. Amelineau. Notice sur les Papyrus gnostique Bruce, Texte et Traduction (Paris), 305 pp., 4to. u. 1895. Amelineau. Pistis Sophia, Ouvrage gnostique de Valentin, traduit du copte en fran^ais, avec une Introduction (Paris), pp. xxxii. and 204, 8vo. Amelineau goes thoroughly into the Valentinian origin of the treatise, but leans almost exclusively to an Egyptian origin of the ideas. The MS. itself, however, he places very late, writing on page xi. of his Introduction as follows : " After an examination of the enormous faults which the scribe has committed, I cannot attribute to the MS. which has preserved the Pistis Sophia to us, a date later than the ninth or tenth century, and that too the minimum. For this I have several reasons. Firstly, the MS. is written on parchment, and parchment was hardly ever commonly used in Egypt before the sixth or seventh century. Secondly, the writing, which is uncial, though passable in the first pages of the MS., becomes bastard in a large number of leaves, when the scribe's hand is fatigued ; no longer is it the beautiful writing of the Egyptian scribes of the great periods, but slack, inconsistent, almost round and hurried. Thirdly, the faults of orthography in the use of Greek words INTRODUCTION. xliii evidently show that the scribe belonged to a" period when Greek was almost no longer known." In a footnote Am^lineau says that he is perfectly aware that this opinion of his will "raise a tempest," and begs for a suspension of judgment till he has published his reasons as to the late use of parchment, at greater length. Now it was Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), King of Egypt from 283-247 b.c, who fox'bade the exportation of papy- rus from Egypt, and forced the rival bibliophiles at Pergamus to copy their books on parchment. The library of Pergamus was bequeathed to the Senate of Rome, and Antony handed it over to Cleopatra somewhere about 35 B.C. ; this library, consisting for the most part of parchment rolls and books, was placed in the new Brucheion at Alexandria, to replace the old Library which was totally destroyed by the fire of Caesar's fleet in 47. Parchment, then, was common enough as a book-fabric in Alexandria, at least 600 years before Am^lineau's limit. An examination of the MS. does not entirely substantiate the strictures of Amelineau on the careless writing of the scribe ; the writing though hurried is fairly consistent, while the first dozen pages are most admirably written. The faults of spelling only prove that this particular scribe did not know Geeek, a likely enough thing if the copy was made in Upper Egypt and not at Alexandria. I am, there- fore, far from convinced by any one of the reasons Ame- lineau brings forward. V. 1891. Haruack (A.). Uber das gnostische Buch Pistis Sophia (Leipzig). I have already given Harnack's views on the date ; he attributes the authorship to a modified Ophite origin. He suggests that Book I. only is properly Pistis Sophia ; Book II. should be called the Questions of Mary (p. 94). w. 1892. Schmidt (C). Gnostische Schriften in koptischer Spraclie aus dem Codex Brucianus, herausgegebeu, ilbersetzt und bearbeitet, pp. 680, 8vo ; in von xliv INTBODUCTION. Gebhardt and Harnack'sTexte und Untersuchungen zur Geschiclite der alt christlichen Literatur (Leip- zig), viii. Band. Schmidt agrees with Harnack as to date, and thinks that tlie Pistis Sophia niay be attributed to an Ophite school. In the works of the three writers referred to above there is a mass of infonnation with regard to the Pistis Sophia, but as only the date and to some extent the authorship are being dealt with in this Introduction, the further consideration of their views must be postponed until a Commentary to form a complement to the present translation is attempted. [THE FIRST BOOK OF PISTIS SOPHIA.] (i) It came to pass, when Jesus had risen from the dead, that he passed eleven years speaking with his disciples, and in- hitherto . instructeth structmg them up to the regions of his dis- 1 r" IT ciples only the nrst statutes only, and up to up to the the regions of the first mystery, the the first mystery within the veil, within the ^^^ ^^' first statute, which is the four and twentieth mystery, and below those which are in the second space of the first mystery, which is before all mysteries — the father in the likeness of a dove. And Jesus said to his disciples : " I am come from that first mystery, which is also what the the last mystery, the four and twen- Jry^^' tieth mystery." For his disciples knew ^ouJi the time of tiou to his disciplcs, and said : " Re- his investi- . . . turehad joicc, and be glad, and add joy to joy, for the times are fulfilled for me to put on my vesture, which hath been prepared for me from the beginning ; the same which I laid up in the last mystery, until the time of its completion. The time of its completion is the time when I shall receive commandment from the first mystery to speak to you from the beginning of the truth to the end thereof, and from the interiors of the interiors, for the FIRST BOOK. 15 world is to be saved by you. Kejoice, therefore, and be glad, for ye are more blessed than all men who are on the earth, for it is ye who shall save the whole world." It came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these things to his disciples, that he again continued in his conversation, and said unto them : " Lo, I have put on my vesture, and all power hath been given me by the first mystery. Yet a little while and I will tell you the mystery of the pleroma and the pleroma of the pleroma ; I will conceal nothing from you from this hour, but in perfectness will I perfect you in the whole pleroma, and all perfection, and every mystery, (16) which things, indeed, are the perfection of all perfections, the pleroma of all pleromas, and the gnosis of all gnoses, which are in my vesture. I will tell you all mysteries from the exterior of the exteriors, to the interior of the interiors. Hearken, 1 will tell you all things which have befallen me. "It came to pass, when the sun had risen in the regions of the east, that a great ° _ . . Themys- stream of light descended in which tery of the five words was my vesture, the same which I had on the laid up in the four and twentieth mystery, as I have said unto you. And I found a mystery in my vesture, written in these five words which pertain to the height, 16 PISTIS SOPHIA. zama zama ozza rachama ozai. And this is the interpretation thereof: " The mystery which is beyond the world, The inter- that whereby all things exist : It is thereof. all evolution and all involution ; it projected all emanations and all things therein. Because of it all mysteries exist and all their regions. " ' Come unto us, for we are thy fellow -mem- bers. We are all one with thee. We are one and the same, and thou art one and the same. This is the first mystery, (17) which hath existed from the beginning in the in- effable, before it came forth ; and the name thereof is all of us. Now, therefore, we all live together for thee at the last limit, 'which also is the last mystery from the interior. That also is a part of us. Now, therefore, we have sent thee thy vesture, which, indeed, is thine from the be- ginning, which thou didst leave in the last limit, which also is the last mystery from the interiors, until its time should be fulfilled, according to the commandment of the first mystery. Lo, its time being fulfilled, I will give it thee. " 'Come unto us for we all stand near to clothe The three thee with the first mystery and all his light. glory, by commandment of the same, in that the first mystery gave us two vestures to clothe thee, besides the one we have sent FIRST BOOK. 17 thee, since thou art worthy of them, and art prior to us, and came into being before us. For this cause, therefore, the first mystery hath sent for thee through us the mystery of all his glory, two vestures. "' The first hath in it the whole glory of all the names of all the mysteries, and of j^-^^ ^gj. all the emanations of the orders of the '^®^*^'^®- spaces of the ineffable. (18) "'And the second vesture hath in it the whole glory of the name of all the rpj^g second mysteries, and of all the emanations '^^^*^®- which are in the orders of the two spaces of the first mystery. " 'And in this [third] vesture, which we have now sent thee, is the glory of the rpj^g ^i^j^^ name of the mystery, the revealer, '*'^s*^s- which also is the first statute, and the mystery of the five impressions, and the mystery of the great legate of the ineffable, which is this great light, and also the mystery of the five leaders, which are the five supporters. There is also in the vesture the glory of the name of all the orders of the emanations of the treasure of light, with their saviours and the orders of their orders, to wit, the seven amens, which are the seven voices, and the five trees and the three amens, and the saviour of the twins, which is the child of the child ; and 18 PISTIS SOPHIA. also the mystery of the nine guardians of the three gates of the treasure of light. There is also therein all the glory of every name which is on the right, and of all those which are in the midst. Moreover, there is also therein all the glory of the great invisible, (19) that is to say, of the great forefather, and all the mystery of the three triple powers, and the mystery of their whole region, and also the mystery of all their invisibles and of all those who are in the thirteenth aeon, and the name of the twelve seons, with all their rulers, all their archangels, all their angels, and all who are in the twelve seons, and every mystery of the name of all those who are in the [sphere of] fate, and in all the heavens, and the whole mystery of the name of those in the spheres and their firmaments, and all that they contain, and their regions. " ' Lo, therefore, we have sent thee this ves- The day of ture, without any knowing it from " Come unto us." the first statute downwards, because the glory of its light was hidden in it [the first statute], and the spheres with all their regions from the first statute downwards [knew it not]. Make haste, therefore, clothe thyself with this vesture. Come unto us ; for ever, until the time appointed by the ineftable was fulfilled, have we been in need of thee, to clothe thee with two of the vestures, by order of the FIBST BOOK. 19 first mystery. (20) Lo, then, the time is ful- filled. Come, therefore, to us quickly, that we may put them on thee, until thou hast accom- plished the full ministry of the perfections of the first mystery, the ministry appointed for thee by the ineffable. Come, therefore, to us quickly, in order that we may clothe thee, ac- cording to the commandment of the first mys- tery ; for yet a little while, a very little while, and thou shalt come to us, and shalt leave the world. Come, therefore, quickly, that thou mayest receive the whole glory, the glory of the first mystery.' " It came to pass, therefore, when I saw the whole mystery of those words in the Jesus putteth on vesture which had been sent me, that Ms vesture. I at once clothed myself therewith. I became exceedingly radiant, and soared into the height. "I drew nigh to the gate of the firmament, shining exceedingly : there was no He enter- . . . , T eth the measure to the light in which I was. firmament. The gates of the firmament were shaken one above the other in turn, and all were thrown open together. "And all the rulers, all the powers, and all the angels therein, were at once thrown into confusion because of the great light which was in me. They gazed at the vesture of light with which I was clothed, and which was brilliantly PISTIS SOPHIA. shining ; they saw the mystery which contained The powers their names ; they feared exceedingly ; ment'a^e'^^" (^l) and all the bonds with which they anTfaU ^®^^ bound wcrc loosed ; each left his down and rank, and they bowed down before me, worship ' -' ^ ^™- and worshipped me, saying, ' How hath the lord of the pleroma changed us without our knowing ? ' And they sang together to the interior of the interiors, but me they saw not ; but they saw only the light, and they were in great fear, and were exceedingly troubled, and sent forth their song to the interior of the interiors. "And having left that region behind me, I He enter- came unto the first sphere, shining first sphere, exceedingly, far more brightly than 1 shone in the firmament, forty and nine times. It came to pass, therefore, when I had come to the gate of the first sphere, that its gates were shaken, and opened of themselves all together. " I entered into the mansions of that sphere, The powers shiuing exceedingly ; • there was no sphe?e^a?e ^easurc to the light that was in me. a^^fau "^^^ ^^^ ^^® rulers, with all those who down and ^^qyq in that sphere, were in confusion worship -T ' ^^^- one with another ; they saw the great light that was in me, and they gazed upon my vesture ; they saw in it the mystery of their name, and were more and more distressed. And they were in great fear, saying, ' How hath the FIEST BOOK. 21 lord of the pleroma changed us without our knowing ? ' (22) And all their bonds were un- loosed, as well as their regions and their orders ; and each abandoned his order, they bowed them- selves all together, they worshipped before me or before my vesture, and they all sang together to the interior of the interiors, being in great fear and great confusion. " And having left that region behind me, I came unto the second sphere, which jjg g^^g^, is the fate. All its gates were thrown gecon^d into confusion, and opened one after ^p^^^^- another in turn ; and I entered into the man- sions of the fate, shining exceedingly ; there was no measure to the light that was in me, for I shone in the fate more than in the sphere forty and nine times. "And all the rulers and all those who were in the fate were thrown into confusion ; ,j,j^g powers they fell on one another, they were ond^phere in exceeding great fear on seeing the and^fJiT^^' great light that was in me. They gazed "^own and o o JO worship on my shining vesture, they saw the ^i^- myster}^ of their names on my vesture, and were more and more confused, and were in great fear, saying, ' How hath the lord of the pleroma changed us without our knowing?' And all the bonds of their regions, of their orders, and of their mansions were unloosed ; they drew 22 PISTIS SOPHIA. nigh all together, they bowed themselves, they worshipped before me, and sang all together to the interior of the interiors, (23) being in great fear and great confusion. "And having left that region behind me, I Heentereth ascended to the great aeons of the the aeons, rulers, I drew nigh to their veils and their gates, shining exceedingly ; there was no measure to the light which was in me. It came to pass when I came unto the twelve aeons, that their veils and their gates were shaken one on another ; their veils were drawn aside of their own accord, and their gates opened of them- selves. And I entered into the aeons, shining exceedingly ; there was no measure to the light that was in me, which was brighter than the light with which I shone in the regions of the fate, forty and nine times. " And all the angels of the aeons, their arch- angels, their rulers, their gods, their The powers ° _ _ _ _ of the aeons lords, their authorities, their tyrants, are amazed, . i • t i and faU their powers, their sparks, their light- down and . .,,....,,. worship givers, their unpaired, their invisibles, their forefathers, and their triple powers, saw me, shining exceedingly ; there was no measure to the light which was in me. They were thrown into confusion the one on the other ; great fear fell upon them when they saw the great light that was in me. And their great FIEST BOOK. 23 confusion (24) and great fear reached to the region of the great invisible forefather, and of the three great triple powers. Because of the great fear of their confusion, the great forefather himself, and the three triple powers, began to run hither and thither in their region, and they could not close all their regions because of the great fear in which they were. They threw into confusion all their seons together, with all their spheres and orderings, fearing and being greatly troubled because of the great light that was in me — far different from what it was when I was on the earth of human kind, when my shining vesture came upon me, for the earth could not have borne the light such as it was in reality, else would the world be resolved and all upon it at the same time. But the light which was in me in the twelve seons was . . . myriad, and seven thousand and eight hundred times greater than when I was in the world among you. " It came to pass, therefore, when all those who are in the twelve seons had seen Adamas the great light which was in me, that t^^nt? they were all thrown into confusion ^s^.* . ,, J against the one on another, and ran from one side ^^§^*- to the other in the seons ; and all the seons, with all their regions and all their ordering, were shaken on account of the great fear 24 PISTIS SOPHIA. which came upon them, (25) because they knew not the mystery which had taken place. And Adamas, the great tyrant, and all the tyrants which are in all the aeons, began to fight in vain against the light, and they knew not with what they fought, for they saw nothing be- yond the exceeding great light. It came to pass, when they fought against the light, that they expended their strength one against the other, they fell down in the seons, they became as the inhabitants of the earth who are dead, and who have no breath in them. " And I took from all of them a third of their power, in order that they should no Hetaketh ^ ' . . . . -^ . from them more prevail in their evil doings ; and a third of i i • r i their in ordcr that, if the men who are m the world should invoke them in their mysteries which the transgressing angels brought down from above — that is to say, their magic rites — in order that, therefore, if they should be invoked in evil practices, they should not accomplish them. " And the fate and sphere of which they are the lords 1 changed, and I brought He , ^ . ° changeth it to pass that for six months they the motion of their should tum to the left and accom- plish their influences, and for six months turn to the right and accomplish their influences. For by order of the first statute, and FIBST BOOK. 25 by order of the first mystery, (26) leou, the over- seer of the light, had placed them facing the left for all time, accomplishing their influences and actions. It came to pass, therefore, that when I had entered into their regions, they rebelled and fought against the light. I took from them the third part of their power, in order that they should not accomplish • their evil actions. And the fate and sphere over which they rule I changed, and set them facing the left for six months, accomplishing their influences, and set them to turn six months to the right, accom- plishing their influences." And when he had spoken these things unto his disciples, he said unto them : " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." It came to pass, when Mary had heard the words which the saviour said, that she gazed, as one inspired, into the air for the space of an hour. She said unto him : " Master, give com- mandment unto me to speak freely." And Jesus, the compassionate, answered and said unto Mary : " Speak freely, Mary, Mary thou blessed one, whom I will perfect asketh and receiveth m all the mysteries of the dwellers on permission high, thou, whose heart is right for the kingdom of the heavens more than all thy brethren." Then said Mary to the saviour : " Master, 26 PISTIS SOPHIA. the word that thou hast spoken, to wit, (27) 'he that hath ears to hear, let him hear,' thou hast said it unto us, in order that we may understand the word which thou hast spoken. Give ear, therefore, Master, that I may- speak freely. "The word which thou hast spoken, to wit, ' I changed their fate and their Mary inter- ^ preteth the spheres over which they rule, in order same from • n ^ n "' i i i • the words that, if the race of men should mvoke of Isaiah. . . i • i i them, m the mysteries which the transgressing angels taught them for the accom- plishing of their evil deeds, and all that is un- lawful in the mystery of their magic ' — in order [then], that they might no more from this hour accomplish their impious works, (for thou hast taken from them their power, and their or- dainers of the hour, and diviners, and those who teach the men of the world all that shall come to pass,) in order that they should no more from this hour have a mind for teaching them what will come to pass, (for thou hast changed their revolution, and thou hast made them turn to the left for six months, accomplishing their influences, and thou hast made them face to the right for the six remaining months, accom- plishing their influences) — concerning this word, Master, the power which was in Isaiah, the prophet, spake as follows, and delivered it in a FIRST BOOK. 27 spiritual parable, at the time when he spake of the vision of Egypt, saying, ' Where, then, Egypt, where are thy diviners and ordainers of the hour, (28) and those whom they evoke from the earth, and those whom they evoke from themselves ? Let them show thee from this hour the deeds which the lord Sabaoth shall do!' "Thus then the power which was in Isaiah, the prophet, prophesied before thy coming ; it prophesied concerning thee that thou shouldst take away the power of the rulers of the aeons ; that thou shouldst change their sphere and their fate, in order that they might know no- thing from henceforth. This is why it said, ' Ye shall know nothing of that which the lord Sabaoth shall do ' ; that is to say, none of the rulers shall know what thou wilt do unto them henceforth from this hour ; that is to say, with ' Egypt,' for they are the inefficacious matter. The power, therefore, which was in the prophet Isaiah, prophesied concerning thee aforetime, saying, ' Henceforth, from this hour, ye shall not know what the lord Sabaoth shall do unto them,' because of the light-power which thou didst receive from the hand of Sabaoth, the good, who is in the region of the right, the power which is in thy material body to-day. For this cause, therefore, Jesus, my master, thou 28 PISTIS SOPHIA. hast said unto us, 'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,' since thou wouldst know whose heart is earnestly set on the kingdom of the heavens." It came to pass, when Mary had finished saying these things, that Jesus said unto her : " Well said, Mary, since thou art blessed before all women who are on the earth, (29) for thou shalt be the pleroma of all pleromas, and the perfection of all perfections." When Mary heard the saviour speak these Jesus com- words, shc rejoiccd greatly, and came Mar?*she *^ Jesus, and bowed herself before him, queSSneth ^^^ Worshipped his feet, and said unto him on the jjjj^^ . a Master, o;ive ear unto me, that changing of ' o ' the spheres. J jjj^y question thee on this matter, before that thou tellest us the regions whither thou hast gone." •And Jesus answered and said unto Mary : " Speak freely, and fear not. All things thou seekest, I will reveal unto thee," Mary said : " Will all men who kuow the mystery of the magic of all the rulers of all the aeons of the fate, and of those of the sphere, in the way in which the transgressing angels have taught them ; if they invoke them in their mysteries, that is to say, in their evil magic rites, to the hindering of good deeds — will they accomplish them, henceforth from this hour, or not ? " FIRST BOOK. 29 And Jesus answered and said unto Mary : " They will not accomplish them as j^g^g ^^ they accomplished them from the be- fj^her'the ginning, for I have taken from them 1^^^^^^°^ the third of their power ; but they spheres. will make use of those who know the mysteries of the magic of the thirteenth aeon ; (30) they will accomplish them perfectly and at their ease, for I have not taken away the power in that region, according to the command of the first mystery." It came to pass, when Jesus had finished saying these words, that Mary insisted further, and said : " Master, surely the ordainers of the hour, and diviners, will no more tell men what will come to pass, henceforth from this hour ? " But Jesus . answered and said unto Mary : " If the ordainers of the hour chance upon the fate, and the sphere, turning towards the left, according to their first emanation, their words shall come to pass, and they will say what is to take place ; but if they chance on the fate, or the sphere, turning to the right, they cannot obtain any truth, since I have changed their influences, their four angles, their three angles, and their eight configurations ; for originally their influences were constant, then when they turned to the left, as well as their four angles, their three angles, and their eight configura- 30 PISTIS SOPHIA. tions ; but now that I have made them turn to the left for six months and turn to the right for six months, he who, verily, shall find their numbering from the time when I changed them, and when I set them for six months to face their left hand, and for six months to face their right hand course, (31) he who, verily, shall thus observe them, will discover their influences with certainty ; he will fore- tell all that a man shall do. In the same way, also, the diviners, if they invoke the name of the rulers, if they meet with them facing the left, all things which they shall ask of their decans, the latter will tell them with accuracy. But if the diviners invoke their names at the time when their revolution is to the right, they will not give ear unto them, because they are facing in another way from the first figure in which leou had placed them ; for other are their names when they turn to the left, and other are their names when they turn to the right ; and if they are invoked when they turn to the right, the truth will not be obtained, but confusion will seize upon them, and with threatening they will threaten them. Those, therefore, who do not know their revolution, when they turn to the right, their three angles, and their four angles, and all their configurations, will find no truth, but will be greatly confused, and will be in FIEST BOOK. 31 great error, because the operations which they were accustomed formerly to eflPect in their four angles, at the time when they turned to the left, and in their three angles, and in their eight configurations, the operations in which they were constant, at the time when they turned to the left — these I have now changed, and I have caused them to make all their con- figurations turning to the right for six months, in order that they may be confused in all their extent ; (32) on the other hand, I have made them turn to the left for six months, accom- plishing the actions of their influences and of all their configurations, in order that they may be thrown into confusion, and wander in error — the rulers who are in the seons, in their spheres, in their heavens, and in all their regions, so that they may not, even them- selves, understand their path." It came to pass, that when Jesus had said these words — Philip was sitting writ- Philip ing all the words that Jesus spake — it Jesus. came to pass, therefore, after this, that Philip drew nigh, bowed himself, and worshipped the feet of Jesus, saying : " Master and saviour, grant me permission to speak before thee and to question thee on this word, before that thou tellest us of the regions whither thou didst go for thy ministry." 32 PISTIS SOPHIA. The saviour, the compassionate, answered and said unto Philip : " Permission is given thee to speak what thou wilt." And Philip answered and said unto Jesus : " Master, on account of what mystery hast thou changed the manner in which were bound the rulers, their aeons, and their fate, their sphere, and all their regions ; and why hast thou plunged them into dire confusion in their path ; and why do they wander in their course ? Hast thou done this unto them for the salvation of the world, or hast thou not ? " And Jesus answered and said unto Philip, Why the and to all the disciples together: (33) Ent!'^!?' "I liave changed their path for the changed. salvation of all souls. Amen, amen, I say unto you, if I had not changed their path, they would have destroyed a host of souls, and a long period would have elapsed before the rulers of the aeons would have been dissolved, together with the rulers of the fate and of the sphere, of all their regions, and of all their heavens, with those of all their aeons ; and the souls would have continued without this region a long period of time, and the number of perfected souls would have been kept back from its accomplishment, of those souls which shall be counted in the heritage of the height, by means of the mysteries, and FIRST BOOK. 38 shall dwell in the treasure of light. For this cause, therefore, I changed their path that they might be disturbed and thrown into confusion, so that they might lose their power, which is in the matter of their world, which they make into souls, in order that they might be quickly purified ; that those who are to be saved, they and all their power, might be carried on high, while those who are not to be saved, might be quickly resolved." It came to pass, when Jesus had said these things unto his disciples, that T f, . . I T , Mary ques- Mary, the fair m speech and the tionethhim blessed one, drew nigh, she bowed herself at the feet of Jesus, saying : (34) " Master, suffer me to speak in thy presence, and be not wroth with me, if I distress thee with frequent questioning." The saviour answered with compassion, and said unto Mary : " Speak the word thou desirest, and I will explain it to thee in all freedom." Mary answered and said unto Jesus : " Master, how would the souls have delayed outside this region; and how will they be speedily purified?" And Jesus answered and said unto Mary : "Well said, Mary; thou questionest fairly with a fair question, and thou approachest every- thing with diligence and precision. Now, therefore, henceforth from this hour, I will 34 PISTIS SOPHIA. conceal nothing from you, but I will reveal everything unto you with certainty and all freedom. Hearken, then, Mary, and ye all, my disciples, give ear. Before I had published [the tidings] to all the rulers of the aeons, to all the rulers of the fate and of the sphere, they were all bound in their bonds, in their spheres, and in their seals, as leou. the overseer of the lio;ht, had bound them from the beginning ; each of them remained in his order, and each of them went in his course, as leou, the overseer of the light, had placed them. And when The coming ofMeichise- the time of the number of Melchise- dec, the great receiver of the light, had come, he came into the midst of the aeons and of all the rulers, (35) bound in the sphere and in the fate ; he took away the bright light of all the rulers of the aeons, and of all the rulers of the fate, and also of those of the sphere — for he took away that which troubled them — and he roused up the caretaker who was over them, to make their circles turn swiftly, and he took away the power which was in them, the breath of their mouth, the tears of their eyes, and the sweat of their bodies. " And Melchisedec, the receiver of light, puri- Of the fi®^ ^1^ these powers, in order to carry of'thrso°u?s their light into the treasure of light, of men. while the workmen of all the rulers FIRST BOOK. 36 gathered together all their matter, and the workmen of all the rulers of the fate, with the rulers of the sphere, they who are be- neath the aeons, took it to make therefrom the souls of men, of cattle, of reptiles, of beasts, or of birds, and send them into the world of men. The receivers of the sun and the receivers of the moon also, having observed the heaven, and having seen the configurations of the paths of the seons, and the configurations of the fate, and those of the sphere, then took from them the power of the light, and the receivers pre- pared to set it apart, (36) until they should hand it over to the receivers of Melchisedec, the puri- fier of light ; and their material purgation they carried into the sphere, which is below the aeons, that they might make thence the souls of men, and make also the souls of reptiles, or of cattle, or of beasts, or of birds, according to the cycle of the rulers of this sphere, and according to all the configurations of its revolution, in order to cast them into this world of men, so that they might be souls in this region, as I have just told you. " These things they accomplished persever- ingly, before their power diminished in them and they became feeble, without energy, and powerless. It came to pass, therefore, that when they were without power, when their 36 PISTIS SOPHIA. power began to diminish in them, and they became feeble in their power, that the light which was in their region, ceased, their kingdom was dissolved, and all quickly passed through it ; it came to pass, therefore, when they began to understand these things in the course of time, and when the number of the reckoning of Melchisedec, the receiver, was accomplished, that he came again, he entered into the midst of the rulers of all the aeons, and into the midst of all the rulers of the fate, as well as of those of the sphere, and he threw them into confusion, and caused their circles to be quickly abandoned. (37) And forthwith they were constrained, and cast forth their power from themselves by the breath of their mouth, by the tears of their eyes and the sweat of their bodies. " And Melchisedec, the receiver of light, puri- The rulers ficd them, as he had constantly done; matter, so he Carried their light into the treasure that souls r T 1 j_ i j. j_i j_j_ i* may not be 01 light ; and as to the matter oi pur- fabricated. gg^^^Q^^ ^n ^jjg rulcrs of the seons, the rulers of the fate, and those of the sphere, sur- rounded it and devoured it. They did not let it go, to become souls in the world, for they had devoured their matter, so that they might not become without power, without energy, and that their power might not cease to be in them, and their kingdom might not be dissolved ; but FIRST BOOK. 37 they devoured it, in order that they might not be destroyed, but that they might linger, and cause a long delay to the completion of the number of perfected souls, who shall dwell in the treasure of light. " It came to pass, therefore, as the rulers of the aeons, and those of the fate, with those of the sphere, persevered in so doing, in turning on themselves, in devouring the purgation of their matter, and in preventing the birth of souls into the world of men, in order that they might be kings for a longer period, and that the powers, which are the powers in them, might be for a long time excluded from this world — they con- tinued to do this persistently for two cycles — it came to pass, therefore, when I set forth to ac- complish the ministry, (38) to which I had been called by commandment of the first mystery, that I passed through the midst of the tyrants of the rulers of the twelve aeons, my vesture of light being on me, and shining exceedingly, there being no measure to the light which was in me. " It came to pass, therefore, when these tyrants had seen the great light which Adamasand was in me, that great Adamas, the battie^^^ tyrant, and all the tyrants of the nght^ves- ^ twelve aeons, all began to battle against the light of my vesture, desiring 38 PISTIS SOPHIA. to keep it with them, in order to remain the longer in their kingdom. And this they did, not knowing then against whom they fought. " Then, when they had rebelled, fighting against the light, then, by command- takethfrom ment of the first mystery, I changed them a .7 J ' & third of the path and course of their seons, their ^ . .' power, and the path of their fate and of their their Sphere ; I caused them to face for six months their three angles to the left, their four angles, and those in front of them, and their eight configurations, as they had formerly been; but their manner of turning, and their manner of facing, I changed to another order, and caused them for the other six months to face the actions of their influences by the four angles of the right, and their three angles, and by them which are before them, and by their eiQ-ht confio-urations. And I caused them to be in great confusion, (39) and to wander in great error, the rulers ot the aeons, and all the rulers of the fate, with those of the sphere, and I greatly distressed them. And from that hour, they have not had the power to turn towards the purgation of their matter to devour it, in order that their regions should endure permanently, and they should still reign for a long period. FIRST BOOK. 39 " But when I had taken away the third part of their power, I changed their re- They no volution, so that for a period they Se'^powJr faced the left, and for another period °ng^^their" they faced the right; I changed the ™a"e''- whole of their path and the whole of their course, and I caused the path of their course to be hastened, so that they might be quickly purified, and they might speedily rise. And I shortened their circles, and I caused their path to be lightened, and they were greatly hurried, and were thrown into confusion in their path ; and from that hour, they have no more had the power of devouring the matter of the purgation of the brilliancy of their light. Moreover, their times and their periods were shortened, in order that the perfect number of souls who shall re- ceive the mysteries, and dwell in the treasure of light, should be speedily completed. For had I not changed their course, had I not shortened their times, they would not have permitted any soul to come into the world, because of the matter of their purgation, which they devoured, (40) and they would have destroyed a host of souls. For this cause I said unto you before, ' I have shortened the times because of my elect,' for there would not have been a soul that could have been saved, if I had not shortened the times and the periods, because of the perfect 40 PISTIS SOPHIA. number of souls who shall receive the mysteries, that is to say, the ' elect ' ; and had I not shortened their times, there would not have been a single material soul saved, but they would have perished in the fire which is in the flesh of the rulers. Such, then, is the matter on which thou hast questioned me straitly." It came to pass, when Jesus had finished speak- ing these things unto his disciples, that they bowed themselves together, and worshipped him, saying : " Blessed are we among all men, for unto us thou hast revealed these sublime immensities." And Jesus continued in his conversation, and The powers ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ disciplcs I " Give ear and UghtVe^- hearken concerning the things which be- ture. £gj| jjjg amid the rulers of the twelve seons, amid all their rulers, their lords, their authorities, their angels, and their archangels. When, then, they had seen the vesture of light which was on me, they and their unpaired, each of them, saw the mystery of their name, which was in my vesture of light, with which I was clothed ; (41) they bowed themselves together, they adored the vesture of light, which was on me, and cried out all together saying, ' How hath the lord of the pleroma changed us without our know- ing?' And they all sang together to the interior of the interiors. And all their triple powers, their FIBST BOOK. 41 great forefathers, their imgenerated, their self- generated, their generated, their gods, their sparks, their light-bearers, in a word, all their great ones, saw the tyrants of their region with their power diminished in them, and become feeble ; and they also were in great and bound- less fear, and they saw the mystery of their name in my vesture, and they strove to draw nigh to adore the mystery of their name, which was in my vesture, but they could not because of the great light that was with me ; but they adored a little removed from me, they wor- shipped the light of my vesture, and they all cried out together, singing to the interior of the interiors. " It came to pass, when this was done to the tyrants, who are amid the aeons, that they lost courage, they becomras-^ fell down in their seons, and became *^^ ^^^^' as the men of the world who are dead, who have not in them any breath, (42) just as when I took from them their power. It came to pass, therefore, after this, when I had left these aeons, that every one of those who were in the twelve seons was bound to his order, and they accomplished their works as it had been appointed them ; so that they spent six months turning to the left, accomplishing their actions in their four angles, their three angles. 42 PISTIS SOPHIA. and those in front of them, and that they spent also six months facing the right, [facing] their three angles, their four angles, and those in front of them. This, therefore, will be the path of those who are in the fate and in the sphere. " It came to pass, after these things, that I Jesus en- Came into the height, to the veils tSrt^eSh of ^^^ thirteenth aeon. It came to findeth'pis- P^^s, when I had arrived at its tis Sophia. Yeiis^ tJiat they were withdrawn of their own accord ; they opened before me ; I entered into the thirteenth seon, I found Pistis Sophia below the thirteenth aeon, quite alone, no one being near her ; she was sitting in that region, grieving and mourning, because she had not been brought into the thirteenth seon, her proper region in the height. And she was grieving because of the vexations which she had been made to sufifer by Arrogant, who is one of the three triple powers. When I come to tell you of their emanation, I will tell you the mystery, how that that had come about. (43) "It came to pass, therefore, when Pistis Sophia had seen me shining Sophia and _ "• _ ^ her feUow exceedingly, there being no measure powers be- ^ •' . hold the to the liffht which was in me, that she light. . . ^ ^. ' , . was in great distress, and gazed into the light of my vesture ; she saw the mystery of her name in my vesture, and all the glory of FIRST BOOK. 43 her mystery, for formerly she had been in the region of the height, in the thirteenth seon ; so she began to sing a song to the light which is in the height, which she had seen in the veil of the treasure of light. It came to pass, therefore, when she had finished singing her song to the light which is in the height, that all the rulers, who were near the two great triple powers, and her invisible paired with her, gazed [upon my vesture], as well as the two and twenty re- maining invisible emanations ; for Pistis Sophia and her consort, together with the two and twenty remaining emanations, make up the four and twenty emanations, which were emanated by the great invisible forefather and the two great triple powers." It came to pass, when Jesus had spoken these things unto his disciples, that Marydesir- Mary came forward and said : " Master, t^ehisto^ I have heard thee say formerly that of Sophia. Pistis Sophia was also one of the four and twenty emanations. How, then, was she not in their region ? For thou hast said, (44) 'I found her below the thirteenth seon.' " And Jesus answered and said unto his dis- ciples : "It came to pass, when sopMa de- Pistis Sophia was in the thirteenth ter^the°^"' seon, in the region of all her brother ^^s^^-^^'^ • invisibles, who are the four and twenty 44 PISTIS SOPHIA. emanations of the great invisible ; it came to pass, therefore, by order of the first mystery, that Pistis Sophia gazed into the height, she saw the light of the veil of the treasure of light, and she desired to go into that region, but she could not. She ceased to do the mystery of the thirteenth aeon, and began to sing a song to the light of the height, which she had seen in the light of the veil of the treasure of light. " It came to pass, therefore, when she began to sing her song to the region of the TI16 nilGrs hate her height, that all the rulers who are in in their^^ the twclvc 8eons, those who are below, m>s ery. j^ated her, because she had ceased in their mysteries, and because she had desired to go into the height and be above them all. For this cause, therefore, they were enraged against her and hated her. And the great triple power Arrogant, that is to say, the third triple power, who is in the thirteenth 8eon, the dis- obedient one, who had not emanated the purity of the power which was in him, and had not given the purity of his light at the time when the rulers gave their purity, for he wished to rule over all the thirteenth aeon, and those who are below it — (45) " It came to pass, therefore, when the rulers of the twelve aeons were enraged against Pistis Sophia, who is above them, and hated FIRST BOOK. 45 her exceedingly, that the great triple power Arrogant, of whom I have just been telling you, joined himself to the uniteth number of the twelve aeons ; he also wUh the became enraged against Pistis Sophia, [he*^tweive and hated her exceedingly, because she JmanatSh had thought to go towards the light poJ^e^r^tT^ which was above him, so he emanated g^^^/^.^ ' Sophia. from himself a great lion-faced power ; and from the matter which was in him, he eman- ated a host of other material emanations, very violent ; he sent them into the lower regions, into the parts of the chaos, in order that they flight lie in wait for Pistis Sophia, and take away the power that was in her, because she had thought to go to the height which is above them all ; because she had ceased to do their mystery, and continued to lament, seeking the light which she had seen. And the rulers who stand, or remain, in the mystery which they do, hated her, and so also a]l the guardians who are at the gates of the seons. " It came to pass, therefore, after these things, by commandment of the first statute, that this great arrogant triple power, who is one of the three triple powers, (46) pursued Sophia in the thirteenth SBon, to cause her to gaze into the lower parts, in order that she might there see his light-power which hath the face of a lion. 46 PISTIS SOPHIA. and that she might long after it, that she might betake herself to that region [of chaos], and that it might take from her the light which was in her. " It came to pass, therefore, after these things, Sophia that she gazed below ; she saw the taketh the • i i lion-faced light-power 01 Arrogant in the lower power of ^ ^ , . Arrogant parts, and she knew not that it true light, belonged to this triple power Arro- gant, but thought that it came from the light which she had seen from the besjinnina: in the height, which came from the veil of the treasure of light ; and she thought to herself, •' I will go into that region, without my consort, to tak^ the light, which the aeons of light have produced for me, so that I may go to the light of lights, which is in the height of heights.' " Thus pondering, she went forth from her She de- *^^'^ region, the thirteenth aeon, and thrtwe?ve° came into the twelve seons. The thence^nto I'^l^^^s of the aeous pursucd after her ; chaos. they were enraged against her, in that she had thought to come into the great- ness. Thence she went forth from the twelve aeons, and came into the regions of the chaos ; she drew nigh to that lion-faced light-power to devour it. (47) But all the material emanations of Arrogant surrounded her, and the great lion- faced light-power devoured all the light-powers FIRST BOOK. 47 which were in Sophia ; it expelled her light and swallowed it, and as to her matter, The eman- . . , , a • ations of they cast it into the chaos. oo it Arrogant , T r- 1 1 • 1 squeeze the became a lion-iaced ruler in chaos, light- of which the one half is fire and the o?Sophi^ other darkness — that laldabaoth of which I have spoken to you many times. Now, when this was done, Sophia was most exceedingly weakened, and that lion-faced light-power began to take away from Sophia all her light-powers ; and all the material powers of Arrogant surrounded Sophia at the same time, and constrained her ; and Pistis Sophia cried out exceedingly, she cried on high to that light of lights, which she had seen from the beginning, in which she had trusted, and recited this repentance, saying : " ' light of lights, in whom I have trusted from the beginning, hearken now, The first repentance therefore, light, unto my repent- of Sophia. ance. Save me, light, for evil thoughts have come upon me. I gazed, light, into the lower parts ; I saw a light there, and I thought, (48) I will go into that region, to take that light. And I went forth, and [fell] into the midst of the lower chaos, and I can no more leave it to go to my region, for I am oppressed by all the emanations of this Arrogant, and this lion-faced power hath taken away the light which was in me. And I have 48 PISTIS SOPHIA. cried for help, but my voice ascended not in the darkness. And I have gazed into the height, that the Hght, in which I had trusted, might help me ; and when I looked into the height, I saw all the rulers of the aeons in great number, angered against me, rejoicing over me, although I had done them no ill ; but they hated me without a cause. And when the emanations of Arrogant had seen the rulers of the aeons rejoic- ing over me, they knew that the rulers of the seons would not aid me ; they took courage, those emanations which constrained me with violence, and the light which I had not taken from them, they took from me. Now, therefore, light of truth, thou knowest that I have done these things in my foolishness, believing that this lion-faced light-power belonged unto thee ; and the sin which I have done is clear in thy sight. Suffer me no more to be weakened, lord, for I have trusted in thy light from the beginning. lord, light of powers, suffer me no more to lack my light, for it is because of thy induce- ment and light that I am in this agony, and shame hath covered my face. (49) And because of thy light, I am a stranger to my brethren, the invisibles, and also to the great emanations of Barbelo. These things have befallen me, light, because I have ardently longed for thy dwelling ; and the wrath of Arrogant is fallen FIRST BOOK. 49 upon me, of him who would not give ear to thy command to send forth the emanation of his power, for I dwelt in his seon, without doing its mystery, and all the rulers of the seons have held me in derision. And I am in this region, grieving, seeking after the light, which I saw in the height. And the guardians of the gates of the 8eons have questioned me, and all those who keep to their mystery have mocked me. But as for me, I gazed into the height, towards thee. light of lights, I am oppressed in the darkness of this chaos, until it be thy good pleasure to come and save me. Great is thy mercy ; hear me in truth, and preserve me, save me from the matter of this darkness, that I may no longer be plunged therein, that I may be saved from the emanations of god Arrogant which constrain me, and from their evil doings. Let not this darkness cover me, and this lion- faced power, suffer it not to devour the whole of my power entirely, and let not this chaos hide my power. (50) " ' Hear me, light, for thy mercy is good, and look upon me according to the great mercy of thy light ; turn not thy face from me, for I am exceedingly tormented. Haste thee hearken unto me, and preserve my power. Save me from the rulers which hate me, for thou knowest my afflictions, and my danger, and the 4 50 PISTIS SOPHIA, peril of my power which they have taken from me. They who have set me in all these evils are in thy sight. Do unto them according to thy good pleasure. My power looketh forth from the midst of the chaos, and from the midst of the darkness I have gazed after my consort, to see if he would come and battle for me, and he came not, and I looked that he should come and give me power, and I found him not, and when I asked for light, they gave me darkness ; and when I asked for my power, they gave me matter. Now, therefore, light of lights, let the darkness and the matter, which the emanations of Arrogant have brought upon me, be snares for them, and let them be ensnared therein ; recom- pense them, and let them meet with stumbling- blocks, in order that they may not come into the region of their own Arrogant. Let them remain in darkness, and let them not see the light ; let them ever behold the chaos and look not into the height. Bring upon them their [own] ven- geance, and let thy judgment seize upon them, (51) let them not henceforth enter into their region near their god Arrogant ; let his emana- tions no longer enter into their region, for their god is impious and arrogant, and thought that he had brought these evils upon me of himself, not knowing that, hadst thou not humbled me by thy commandment, he would not have pre- FIRST BOOK. 51 vailed against me. But when thou hadst hum- bled me, they pursued the more after me, and their emanations added pains to my humiliation ; they took from me of my light-power, and began again to be hostile to me ; they have constrained me mightily to take away all the light which was in me. Because, therefore, of the evils in which they have planted me, suffer them not to enter into the thirteenth aeon, the region of righteousness. Let them not be reckoned in the number of those whose light is purified, let them not be reckoned in the number of those who will quickly repent, that they may speedily receive the mystery in the light ; for they have taken my light from me. My power hath begun to cease in me, and I am destitute of my light. " ' Now, therefore, light — [light] which is with thee and is [also] with me — I sing thy name in glory. May my song please thee, light, as an excellent mystery, which leadeth to the interior of the gates of light, and of which they will tell who shall repent, and whose light shall be purified. Now, therefore, let all matter rejoice. (52) Seek ye all the light, that the power of the stars which is in us may be revealed, for the light hath heard the matters, nor will it leave any without purging them. Let all souls and matters praise the lord of all the seons, and all 62 PISTIS SOPHIA. that is therein, for God shall save their soul from all matter, and they shall prepare a city in the light, and all the souls that shall be saved shall dwell in that city, and shall inherit it. And the soul of them that shall receive the mystery shall dwell in that region, and they that shall have received the mystery in its name shall dwell therein.' " It came to pass, when Jesus had spoken these things unto his disciples, that he said unto them : " This is the song which Pistis Sophia uttered in her first repentance, when she repented of her sin, reciting all things which had befallen her. Now, therefore, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." And Mary came forward and said : " Master, my indweller of light hath ears, and I hear in my light-power, and thy spirit which is with me is sober. Hearken, therefore, I will speak concerning the repentance, (53) which Pistis Sophia made, speaking of her sin and all that befell her. Thy light-power hath prophesied of old on this matter through the prophet David, in the sixty-eighth Psalm, saying : " ' Save me, God, for the waters are come Mary inter- ^^ evcu uuto my soul. I stick fast, or firftrepent" ^^'^^^ ^^ the mire of the abyss, and I Psahn^°™ have no power. I am come into the ^^^"- depths of the sea, a tempest hath over- FIRST BOOK. 63 whelmed me, I am a-wearied with crying, my throat is hoarse. My eyes failed me, when I set my heart on God. They that hate me with- out a cause are more than the hairs of my head. My foes have prevailed against me, they who pursued after me with violence. They asked me for that which I never took from them. God, thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, lord, be ashamed for my sake. lord of powers, let not those who seek thee be confounded through me, lord, God of Israel, lord of powers ; for it is for thy sake that I have suffered reproach, that shame hath covered my face, that I am become a stranger unto my brethren, even an alien unto my mother's children ; for the heat of thy mansion hath devoured me, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen upon me. I bowed my soul with fasting, and that was turned to my reproach. I put on sackcloth ; I became a bye-word among them. They who sat at the gates mocked at me, and the drunkards made a song about me. " ' But as for me, I prayed in my soul to thee, lord. (54) The time is thine, God. In the greatness of thy mercy, give ear unto my salvation, in truth. Take me out of this mire, that I sink not ; let me be delivered from them 64 PISTIS SOPHIA. that hate me, and from the pit of the waters. Let not the water-flood drown me, neither let the deep devour me, let not the pit seize me with its mouth. Hear me, lord, for thy mercy is sweet. According to the multitude of thy mercies look upon me. Turn not thy face from thy servant, for I am oppressed. Hear me speedily. Give heed to my soul and save it. Save me from my enemies, for thou hast known my rebuke, my shame, and my affliction. All they who afflict me are in thy sight. My heart gazeth on rebuke and misfortune. I looked for him who should sorrow with me, but I found him not ; for him who should comfort me, and I found him not. They have given me gall for meat ; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table be unto them a snare, a net, a retribution and a stumbling-block. Bend their back for all time. Trample them under foot in thy anger, let the wrath of thy displeasure seize hold upon them. Let their habitation be deso- late, let no one dwell in their realm ; for they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten. They have added bitterness to their pain. Thev have added iniquity to their iniquities. Let them not come into thy righteousness ; (55) let them be wiped out of the book of the living. Let them not be inscribed among the righteous. I am poor, an endurer of grief. The salvation FIRST BOOK. 55 of thy countenance hath received me unto itself. I will bless the name of God in a son^, and I will magnify it with a benediction. This shall please the lord better than a calf new-born that putteth forth its horns, or than a young kid. Let the poor see and be glad. Seek ye God, that your souls may live ; for the lord hath heard the poor, and despiseth not them who are in the bands of brass. Let heaven and earth bless the lord, the sea and all that is therein. For God will save and preserve in Sion, and they will build the cities of Judaea, that they may dwell in them, and find in them their inheritance. The seed of his servants shall possess it, and they who love his name shall dwell therein.' " It came to pass, when Mary had spoken these words unto Jesus, in the midst of the disciples, that she said unto him : " Master, this is the interpretation of the mystery of the re- pentance of Pistis Sophia." (56) It came to pass, when Jesus had heard Mary speak these w^ords, that he said unto her : " AVell said, Mary, thou blessed one, the perfection of women, the most blessed of perfec- tions, thou whom they shall beatify in every generation." And Jesus continued in his conversation, and said : " Pistis Sophia then sang her The second repentance second repentance, saying : 'Light of ofSopMa. 56 PISTIS SOPHIA. lights, in whom I have trusted, leave me not in the darkness until the end of my time. Aid me, and save me, in thy mysteries. Incline thine ear unto me, and save me. May the power of thy light protect me, and carry me to the seons of the height ; for it is thou who shalt save me, and take me into the height of thy seons. Preserve me, light, from the hand of this lion-faced power, and from the hands of the emanations of god Arrogant ; for thine is the light in which I have trusted ; I have trusted in thy light from the beginning, I have trusted in it from the hour when it sent me forth ; thou it is, who causedst me to emanate. As for me, I have trusted in thy light from the beginning. And when I trusted in thee, the rulers of the aeons mocked at me, saying, " She hath ceased in her mystery." 'Tis thou who shalt save me, (57) thou my savioar, thou my mystery, light. My mouth hath been filled with praise, that I may tell of the mystery of thy greatness for all time. Now, therefore, light, leave me not in chaos, until the end of all my time. Leave me not behind thee, light, for they have taken from me my light-power en- tirely, and all the emanations of Arrogant have surrounded me. They sought to take away the whole of my light to the very exterior ; they have set a watch on my power, saying one FIRST BOOK. 57 to another, together — for my light had aban- doned me — " Seize her, take from her all the light which is in her." Therefore, light, go not far from me ; save me, light, save me from the hands of these pitiless ones. Let them that would take away my power fall, and be without strength. Let them that would take away my light-power be clothed with darkness, and let them be impotent.' " This is the second repentance which Pistis Sophia spake, singing a song to the light." It came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these words unto his disciples, that he said unto them : " Do ye understand how I speak unto you ? " And Peter starting forward, said unto Jesus : " Master, we cannot endure this woman _ Peter com- to thus take our place from us, and not piaiueth of ^ ' Mary. suffer us to speak, but she speaks many times." And Jesus answered and said unto his dis- ciples : " Let him in whom the power of his spirit seethes, to make him understand what I say, let him come forward and speak. (58) But as for thee, Peter, I see that thy power in thee understandeth the interpretation of the mystery of the repentance which Pistis Sophia spake. Now, therefore, Peter, expound the meaning of her repentance in the midst of thy brethren." 58 PISTIS SOPHIA. And Peter answered and said unto Jesus : Peter inter- " Master, give ear that I may expound preteth the , , • n i . c second re- the meaning oi her repentance, oi from^Psaim which of old thy power prophesied ^' through David the prophet, who spake her repentance in the seventieth Psalm : " ' In thee, God, my God, I have put my trust, let me not be put to confusion for ever. Preserve me in thy righteousness, and save me. Incline thine ear unto me to preserve me. Be thou unto me a strong God, and a stronghold to preserve me. For thou art my foundation and my refuge. my God, save me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the trans- gressor of the law, and from the impious, for thou art my support, lord, thou art my hope from my childhood ; by thee have I been holden up from the beginning, when thou causedst me to come forth from my mother's womb. I will call thee to mind for ever. (59) I was as one of the foolish for the crowd. Thou art my help and my support ; thou art my saviour, lord. My mouth is filled with blessing, that I may bless the glory of thy greatness all the day long. Cast me not aw^ay in the time of age, and cause not my soul to be without strength. Cast me not behind thee, for mine enemies speak evil against me ; and they who keep watch on my soul have taken counsel together, saying, " God FIRST BOOK. 59 hath forsaken him. Run and take him, for there is no one to help him." God, haste thee to my help. Let them be ashamed, let them cease to accuse my soul, let them be covered with shame and affliction who seek to do me evil.' "This, then, is the interpretation of the second repentance which Pistis Sophia made." The saviour answered and said unto Peter : " It is well, Peter ; that is the inter- Jesus pro- pretation of her repentance. Blessed miseth to perfect the are ye beyond all men who are on the disciples in earth, in that I have revealed unto you these mysteries. Amen, amen, I say unto you, (60) I will perfect you in every perfection, from the mysteries of the interior to the mysteries of the exterior ; I will fill you with the spirit, so that ye shall be called spiritual, perfect in all perfections. And, amen, amen, I say unto you I will give unto you all the mysteries of all the regions of my father, and of all the regions of the first mystery, so that he whom ye shall receive on earth, shall be received in the light of the height ; and he whom ye shall reject on earth, shall be rejected in the kingdom of my father who is in the heavens. Hearken, therefore, and give ear to all the repentances which Pistis Sophia spake. She continued and spake her third repentance, saying : 60 PISTIS SOPHIA. " ' light of powers, give heed and save me. „, , , Let them that seek to take away The third -^ repentance my light be destitute, and let them of Sophia. J ^ dwell in the darkness. Let them that seek to take my power be turned into chaos, and let them be ashamed. Let them descend speedily into the darkness, who constrain me, saying, "We have mastered her." But let all those who seek for the light, rejoice and be glad ; let them that desire thy mystery, say ever, "May the mystery be exalted." (61) Now, therefore, light, preserve me, for I lack my light which they have taken away ; and I am destitute of my power which they have taken from me. Thou, therefore, light, thou art my saviour. 'Tis thou who preservest me, light. Haste thee, save me from this chaos.' " It came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these words unto his disciples, saying, " This is the third repentance of Pis tis Sophia," that he said unto them : " Let him in whom a perceptive mind is awakened, come forward, and let him expound the meaning of the repentance which Pistis Sophia spake." It came to pass, when Jesus had finished Martha Speaking, that Martha came forward ; asketh and i r receiveth she bowcd hcrself at the feet of Jesus to speak. and kissed them ; she cried aloud, and wept with groaning and humbleness, saying : FIRST BOOK. 61 " Master, have mercy upon me, and be com- passionate unto me, and suffer me to expound the interpretation of the repentance which Pistis Sophia spake." And Jesus, taking Martha by the hand, said unto her : " Blessed is every one who humbleth himself, for on him they shall have mercy. Now, therefore, Martha, thou art blessed. Expound, therefore, the interpretation of the meaning of the repentance of Pistis Sophia." And Martha answered and said unto Jesus, in the midst of the disciples : (62) Martha in- " Concerning the repentance uttered the^third by Pistis Sophia, O Jesus, my master, from^Sim thy light-power of old prophesied ^^^^" through David, in the sixty-ninth Psalm, say- ing : " ' lord, my God, haste thee to my help. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul ; let them be turned backward and be put to shame, whosay unto me, "There, there." But let all those that seek thee be joyful ; let them rejoice for thy sake ; let all them that love thy salvation, say ever, " The lord be exalted." But as for me, I am poor, I am destitute ; lord, be thou my help. Thou art my help and protection, lord, make no long tarrying.' " This, then, is the interpretation of the third 62 PISTIS SOPHIA. repentance spoken by Pistis Sophia, when she sang a song to the height." It came to pass, when Jesus had heard Martha speak these w^ords, that he said unto her : " Well said, Martha ; it is well." And Jesus continued in his conversation, and said unto his disciples : " Pistis Sophia con- tinued with a fourth repentance, reciting it be- fore they had constrained her a second time, so that they might once more take away all the light that was in her — that lion-faced power, and all the material emanations which were with it, those which Arrogant had sent into the chaos — (63) she recited then her repentance as follows : " ' light, in whom I have trusted, hear my The fourth repentance, and let mv voice come repentance -■■ •' of Sophia, into thy dwelling-place. Turn not thy image of light from me, but regard me. If they constrain me, haste thee, and save me, when I shall cry unto thee, for my time passeth away as vapour, and I am become as matter. They have taken away my light, and my power is dried up. I have forgotten my mystery which I performed in the beginning ; because of the din of the fear and power of Arrogant, my power hath failed in me. I am become as a mere daemon dwelling in matter ; I am become like the counterfeit of the spirit, which is in a . FIEST BOOK. 63 material body, in which there is no light-power ; I am become like as a mere decau of the air. The emanations of Arrogant have constrained me mightily, and my consort hath said to him- self, " Instead of the light which was in her, they have filled her with chaos." I have myself de- voured the sweat of my matter, and the anguish of the tears of the matter of my eyes, that they who were constraining me might not take what remains, (64) All these things have been done unto me, light, by thy order and command- ment, and it is thy commandment that I am therein. Thy commandment hath brought me below, and I am descended like a power of chaos, my power hath grown cold in me. " ' But thou, lord, thou art the light eternal, and thou dost visit them whom they constrain, at all times. Now, therefore, light, arise, seek my power and the soul which is in me. Thy commandment is accomplished, which thou didst decree for me in my afflictions. My time is come for thee to visit my power and my soul. This is the time which thou didst decree that thou wouldst visit me, so that the saviours should seek for the power which is in my soul (for its number is accomplished), and that they should also save the matter thereof. At that time, then, all the rulers of the material aeons shall fear thy light, and all the emanations of the thir- 64 PISTIS SOPHIA.' teenth material aeon shall fear the mystery of thy light, and thus cause the others to put on the glory of their light, for the sa^dour shall visit the power of their soul. He hath revealed his mystery, for he will regard the repentance of them who inhabit the lower regions, nor will he disregard their repentance. This, then, is that mystery which hath become the type for the race which shall be engendered ; and the race which shall be engendered will sing a song to the height, for the light hath regarded from the height of its light. (65) It will regard every matter, to hear the sighs of them that are bound, to unloose the power of the souls whose power is bound, and to place his name in the soul, and his mystery in the power.' " It came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, saying John ask- mi • • i r* eth and re- uuto them, " This IS the fourth repent- ceivethper- • i i r>- • ci i • mission to ancc rccited by r istis feopnia ; now. therefore, let him who understandeth, understand " — it came to pass when Jesus had spoken these words, that John came forward ; he adored the breast of Jesus, and said unto him : " Master, give commandment to me also, and suffer me to utter the explanation of the fourth repentance recited by Pistis Sophia." And Jesus said unto John : "I give thee commandment, and I bid thee expound the in- FIRST BOOK. 65 terpretation of the repentance recited by Pistis Sophia." And John answered and said : " My master, and saviour, concerning this repentance recited by Pistis Sophia, thy power of old which was in David hath prophesied, in the one hundred and first Psalm, saying : " ' Hear my prayer, lord, and let my crying come unto thee. Turn not thy face . John inter- from me ; inclme thine ear unto me preteth the 17 1 T 1 n 1 -1 repentance m the Clay when 1 shall be constramed. fromPsaim Haste thee, and hear me, in the day when I shall cry unto thee, for my days are consumed like smoke, (66) and my bones are parched like stone. I am mowed down like the grass, and my heart is withered, for I have for- gotten to eat my bread. Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones have cleaved to my flesh. I am become like the pelican in the wilderness ; like the owl in a house. I have passed the night long in watching ; I am become as the sparrow alone upon the house-top. My enemies revile me all the day long, and they who honoured me, cursed me ; for I have eaten ashes as though it were bread, and mingled my drink with tears, before thy indignation and thy wrath ; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me to the earth. My days have declined like a shadow, and I am dried up like the grass. 66 PISTIS SOPHIA. " ' But thou, lord, thou art for ever, and thy remembrance is from generation to generation. Arise, therefore, and have mercy upon Sion, for the time hath come to have mercy upon her, yea, thy time hath come. Thy servants have sought her stones, and will take pity on her soil, that the nation may fear the name of the lord, and the kings of the earth thy glory ; for the lord shall build Sion to reveal himself in his glory. He hath regarded the prayer of them that are humble, and hath not despised their supplication. Let them write this in another book, and the people that will be engendered shall bless the lord, for he hath looked down from his holy height. The lord hath gazed upon the heaven and the earth, to hear the sighs of them that are bound ; (67) to unloose the children of them whom they have killed, that they may utter the name of the lord in Sion and his praise in Jerusalem.' " This, Master, is the interpretation of the mystery of the repentance, recited by Pistis Sophia." It came to pass, when John had finished Jesus com- spcakiug thesc words to Jesus, in the John. midst of the disciples, that Jesus said unto him : " Well said, John, the virgin, who shall rule in the kingdom of light." And Jesus continued his conversation, and FIKST BOOK. 67 said uuto his disciples : " It came to pass again that the emanations of Arrosrant once ^, o Theemana- more constrained Pistis Sophia in the tio^s of ■^ Arrogant chaos, and the commandment had not again squeeze the yet come from the first mystery, to Hgbt out of •^ ^ ^ ' Sophia. set her free from chaos. It came to pass, therefore, when the material emanations of Arrogant constrained her, that she cried out reciting this fifth repentance, saying : " ' Light of my salvation, I send forth a song unto thee in the region of the height, and The fifth repentance also in chaos. I will hymn thee in my of Sophia. song which I sang in the height ; which I have sung too in chaos. Let it come into thy presence. Give heed, light, to my repent- ance, (68) for my power is filled with darkness, and my light hath come into chaos. I am become, also, like as the rulers of chaos, they who go into the lower darkness. I have become as a material body, which hath no one to save it in the height. I am become also like matter from which the power hath been taken ; [matter] cast into chaos, which thou hast not preserved, which hath perished by thy commandment. Now, therefore, I have been set in the lower darkness ; in darkness, and in dead matter, in which there is no power. Thou hast brought thy commandment upon me, and upon every- thing as thou hast decreed. Thy spirit hath 68 PISTIS SOPHIA. departed, and left me. Moreover, by thy com mandment, the emanations of my aeon have not come to my aid. They have held me in detesta- tion, and kept themselves from me. Yet am I not utterly ruined, though my light is diminished in me. I have cried to the light with all the light that was in me, and I have stretched forth my hands unto thee. " ' Now, therefore, light, surely thou wilt fulfil thy commandment in chaos. Surely the saviours, who should come by thy command, surely they will arise in the darkness and come to learn of thee ? Surely they will utter the mystery of thy name in chaos ? Surely, at least, they will utter thy name in the matter of chaos, [the name] whereby thou wilt illuminate it? " ' But, as for me, I send forth a song unto thee, light, and my repentance shall reach unto thee in the height. (69) Let thy light come upon me, for they have taken away my light, and I am in affliction because of the light from the time I was made to emanate ; when I gazed into the height towards the light, and I gazed below towards this light-power which is in chaos ; when I rose up and fell down. Thy commandment hath come upon me, and the terrors, which thou didst decree, have thrown me into confusion ; they have surrounded me in FIRST BOOK. 69 numbers like water, they have seized upou me by thy commandment, and thou hast not suffered my fellow-emanations to help me, nor hast thou permitted my companion to save me in my tribulations.' " This is the fifth repentance which Pistis Sophia recited in the chaos, when all the material emanations of Arrogant began [again] to con- strain her." Jesus, therefore, having spoken these words unto his disciples, said unto them : " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear ; and let him in whom his mind seethes, come forward, and expound the interpretation of the meaning of the fifth repentance of Pistis Sophia." And when Jesus had finished speaking, Philip started forward, and rose up, and left pMiip the on the ground the book which had piameth. been in his hands ; for it was he who recorded all the discourse which Jesus uttered, and all that he did. Philip, therefore, came forward and said unto him : (70) " Master, surely it is not on me alone that thou hast imposed the task of taking care of this world, to write all that we shall say and do, and hast not sufi'ered me to come forward and interpret the mysteries of the repentance of Pistis Sophia. My spirit hath seethed in me many a time and oft ; it hath revealed the interpretation, it hath constrained 70 PISTIS SOPHIA. me mightily to come forward to expound the in- terpretation of the repentance of Pistis Sophia ; but I have not been able to do so, for it is I who write down all the words." It came to pass, when Jesus had heard Philip, Jesus ex- that he said unto him : " Hearken, plaineth t-»i i i i ^ i -i t that the Philip, thou blesscd one, while 1 speak scribes are unto thee, for 'tis thou, and Thomas, Thomas and Matthew, who have been charged, thew. by the first mystery, to write down every word which I shall speak, and everything which I shall do, and everything which ye shall see. But as for thee, the tale of the words which thou hast to write, is not completed. But when it shall be completed, thou shalt come forward, thou shalt utter that which thou shalt desire. Now, therefore, it is ye three who shall write every word which I shall speak, and everything which I shall do and see, and I will bear witness to you of all things which are in the kingdom of the heavens." And when Jesus had spoken these words, he said unto his disciples : " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (71) And Mary started forward again, she . , came into the midst, she stood by Mary inter- '' preteth the Philip, and said unto Jesus : " Master, words of ■■■ Jesus con- mv in-dweller of light hath ears, and I cerning the '' " three wit- am rcadv to hear in my power, and I nesses. have understood the discourse which FIRST BOOK. 71 thou hast uttered. Now, therefore, my Master, hearken that I may speak in freedom. Thou hast said unto us, 'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' Concerning the discourse which thou hast uttered unto PhiHp, ' It is to thee, and Thomas, and Matthew, to whom it hath been entrusted — to you three by the first mystery, to write down every word of the kingdom of light, in order that ye may bear witness thereof ; hearken, therefore, while I expound the inter- pretation of this word, which thy light-power prophesied of old through Moses, saying, ' By two or three witnesses everything shall abound.' The three witnesses are Philip, Thomas, and Matthew." It came to pass, therefore, when Jesus had heard these words, that he said : pj^i^p jg "Well said, Mary, this is the inter- "^^^lllion pretation of the word. Now, therefore, *° ^p^^'^- do thou, Philip, come forward, expound the in terpretation of the mystery of the fifth repent- ance of Pistis Sophia, and afterward, take thy seat, and write down every word which I shall utter until thou hast accomplished the number which hath fallen to thy lot, and which thou hast to write in the words of the kingdom of light. Afterwards, thou shalt come forward, and expound what thy spirit shall have under- stood. (72) Now, therefore, expound the in- 72 PISTIS SOPHIA. terpretation of the mystery of the fifth repent- ance of Pistis Sophia." And Philip answered and said unto Jesus : " Master, give ear, while I expound the inter- pretation of her repentance, for thy power hath prophesied of old concerning this through David, in the forty-seventh Psalm, saying : V " ' lord, God of my salvation, I have cried Philip in- uuto thcc day and night. Let my tS^thre- prayer enter into thy presence. In- from^Psaim ^^^^^ thill c ear, lord, unto my ^^^' supplication, for my soul is full of evil, and my life draweth nigh unto hell. I am counted among them that go down into the pit. I have become as a man who hath no help. Free among the dead, like unto the wounded, stretched out and sleeping in the tombs, of whom thou, in truth, thinkest not, and who have been laid low by thy hands. They have left me in a pit below, in darkness and in the shadow of death. Thy wrath is hard upon me, and all thy disquietude hath come upon me. (Dia- psalma.) Thou hast put away mine acquaint- ance far from me ; they have looked on me as an abomination. They have abandoned me, and I cannot get forth. My eye hath become feeble in my poverty, and I have cried unto thee, lord, the whole day long ; I have stretched forth my hands unto thee. Wilt thou not show FIRST BOOK. 73 thy wonders among the dead ? Shall not the physicians arise to confess thee ? Shall they not utter thy name in the tombs ; (73) and thy righteousness in a land which thou hast for- gotten ? "'But as for me. I have cried unto thee, lord, and my prayer shall reach thee early in the morning ; turn not thy face far from me. For, as for me, I am poor, I am in misery from my childhood. When I exalted myself, I was abased ; but I have risen up again. Thy wrath is come upon me, and thy fears have troubled me. They have surrounded me like water, they have seized upon me the whole day long. My comrades hast thou put away from me, and also my acquaintances, in my misery.' " This is the interpretation of the mystery of the fifth repentance, recited by Pistis Sophia, when she was constrained in chaos." It came to pass, therefore, when Jesus had heard the words which Philip had ^ _ Philip is spoken, that he said : " Well said, commended and con- Philip, thou well -beloved. Now, tinueth writing. therefore, go and take thy seat, and write thy portion of all the words which I shall speak, and of all things which I shall do, and of all that thou shalt see." And immediately Philip sat down and wrote. It came to pass again, after that, that Jesus 74 PISTIS SOPHIA. continued to speak. He said unto his disciples : "Then did Pistis Sophia cry to the light, in order that her sin might be forgiven her, in leaving her region and going into the darkness. She recited her sixth repentance, saying : (74) " ' I sing a song unto thee, light, in the darkness of the lower regions ; The sixth ° repentance orive ear to my repentance, and may thy of Sophia. '^ 1 1 • p light give heed to the voice oi my prayer. light, if thou bearest in mind my sin, I shall not be able to come nigh thee, and thou wilt abandon me ; for thou, light, thou art my saviour, because of the light of thy name. I have trusted in thee, light, and my power hath trusted in thy mystery, and also my power hath trusted in the light which is in the height ; it hath trusted also in the chaos below. Let all the powers which are in me, trust in the light, while I am in the lower darkness ; may they also trust in the light, if they go into the region of the height, for it is [the light] which shall see and save us, and there is a great mystery of salvation in it. It is the light that shall save all the powers of chaos because of my trans- gression, for I have left my region. I am come into chaos.' " Now, therefore, he whose mind is exalted, let him understand." It came to pass, therefore, when Jesus had FIRST BOOK. 75 finished speaking these words unto his dis- ciples, that he said : " Understand ye how I speak ? " And Andrew came forward and said : " Master, concerning the sixth repentance of Pistis Sophia, thy power hath prophesied of old through David, in the one hundred and twenty-ninth Psalm, saying : (75) " ' I have cried unto thee, lord, from the depth of the abyss. Hear my Andrew in- voice. Let thine ears give heed to the^sfx^h the voice of my prayer. lord, if J^'oTpsaim thou remarkest my sins, who will be ^^^^' able to stand ? For pardon is in thy hands. Because of thy name, I have waited, lord. My soul hath waited for thy words ; my soul hath trusted in the lord, from morning until evening. Let Israel trust in the lord from the morniuo^ until the evening, for mercy is in the hand of the lord, and there is great salvation in him ; and he shall redeem Israel from all his sins.'" Jesus said unto him : " Well said, Andrew, thou blessed one. That is the inter- ^ Jesus coni- pretation of her repentance. Amen, mendeth Andrew. amen, I say unto you, I will perfect He promis- ■^ "^ . ^ eth that the you m all the mysteries of light, and tyrants 111 f 1 • • n shall be all the gnoses, irom the interior of judged and ,1 . , . 1 . n ^ consumed tne interiors to the exterior of the by the fire exteriors, from the ineffable to the 76 PISTIS SOPHIA. darkness of darknesses, and from the light of lights to the depths of matter, from all the gods to all the daemons, from all the lords to all the decans, from all the powers to all the workmen, from the creation of men to beasts, cattle and reptiles, in order that you may be called perfect, perfected in every perfection. (76) Amen, amen, I say unto you, in the region where I shall be in the kingdom of my father, there shall ye be also with me. And when the number of the perfect shall be completed, so that the mixture may be resolved, I shall give order for them to bring all the tyrant gods, who refused to give the glory of their light, and shall give command- ment to the fire of wisdom, through which the perfect pass, to consume to the interior those tyrants until they shall have yielded up the last glory of their light." It came to pass, when Jesus had spoken these Mary inter- words unto his disciples, that he said wo?ds^/^^ unto them : " Understand ye how I Jesus. speak unto you ? " And Mary said unto him : " Yea, Master, I have understood the word which thou hast spoken. Concerning, then, that which thou hast said, namely, that in the dissolution of the whole mixture, thou shouldst take thy seat on a light-power, and thy disciples, that is to say, ourselves, should sit at thy right, that thou FIRST BOOK. 77 shoulclst judge the tyrant gods, those who have not given the glory of their light, and that the fire of wisdom should devour them, until they should have yielded the last light which is in them — concerning this word, thy light-power prophesied of old through David, in the eighty -first Psalm, saying, ' God shall sit in the congregation of the gods, to judge the gods.' " (77) Jesus said unto her : " Well said, Mary." And Jesus continued to speak unto his The repent- disciples, saying : " It came to pass, gop^i'f ig when Pistis Sophia had finished recit- p°\J^* ^°" iner the sixth repentance for the remis- ^^®/^-,, o r mocked by sion of her sin, that she turned [again] ^^^ *°^s- toward the height, to see if they had par- doned her sin, and to see whether they would lead her upwards from chaos. But, by com- mandment of the first mystery, not yet had they heard her, so that her sin should be pardoned, and she should be raised from chaos. And when she turned to see whether her repentance were accepted, she saw all the rulers of the twelve seons, mocking at her, and rejoicing that her repentance had not been accepted. When, therefore, she saw them mocking at her, she was in great tribulation, and raised her face to the height, saying, in her seventh repent- ance : 78 PISTIS SOPHIA. " ' light, I have lifted up my face unto The thee. light, I have trusted in thee. repentance Suffer me uot to be put to confusion ; of Sophia. Yet not the rulers of the twelve seons, who hate me, rejoice over me ; for whosoever trusteth in thee shall not be ashamed. Let them that have taken away my power, dwell in darkness. They shall get from it no profit, but it shall be taken from their hands. (78) light, teach me thy paths, and I shall be preserved in them. Teach me thy ways, that I may be pre- served from the chaos, and guide me in thy light. Let me know, light, that it is thou who wilt be my saviour. I will trust in thee for all my time. Apply thyself to my salvation, light, for thy mercy is eternal. As to the transgres- sion which I have committed, from the begin- ning, through my ignorance, impute it not to me, light, but save me in thy great mystery that remitteth sins, because of thy goodness, light, for thou art good and righteous, light. For this cause, will [the light] show me my path, that I may be saved from my trans- gression ; and my powers which were weakened through fear of the material emanations of Arro- gant, shall be collected from them, by its com- mandment. My powers, which were weakened because of these merciless ones, shall be instructed in its gnosis ; for all the gnoses of the light are FIRST BOOK. 79 means of salvation and mysteries for those who seek the region of its inheritance and its mys- teries, because of the mystery of thy name, light. Remit my transgression, for it is great. Whoever trusteth in the light, to him will it give the mystery that it will ; and his soul shall be in the region of the light, and his power shall have its portion in the treasure of light. (79) It is the light which giveth power to them that believe in it ; and the name of its mystery is with them that trust in it. It shall instruct them concerning the region of the inheritance which is in the treasure of light. " ' As for me, I have for ever trusted in thy light, for it is [the light] which shall preserve my feet from the bonds of the darkness. Give heed unto me, light, and save me, for they have taken my name from me in chaos. Be- cause of all the emanations, my tribulations and my affliction are multiplied exceedingly. Save me from my transgression and from this dark- ness, and look upon the grief of my affliction. Eemit my transgression. Give heed to the rulers of the twelve aeons who have hated me through jealousy ; watch over my power and save me. Leave me not to dwell in this darkness, for I have trusted in thee, (J light. Now, there- fore, light, save my powers from the emana- tions of Arrogant, whereby I am constrained.' 80 PISTIS SOPHIA. " Now, therefore, he that is sober, let him be sober." And when Jesus had spoken these things to his disciples, Thomas came forward and said : " Master, I am sober, 1 am more than sober, and my mind is quick in nie, and I rejoice greatly that thou hast revealed these things unto us. Now, therefore, I have endured my brethren unto this moment, for I have felt no wrath against them, but I have endured that each of them should come to thee and expound the in- terpretation of the repentance of Pistis Sophia. . . . (80) Now, therefore, my Master, concerning the interpretation of the seventh repentance of Pistis Sophia, thy light-power hath prophesied through David, the prophet, in the twenty- fourth Psalm, saying : " ' Unto thee, lord, have I lifted up my Thomas in- soul. My God, I have placed my the^selenth li^art in thee. let me not be asham- fronTp^saim ^^' ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ mine eucmies mock ^^'^^ at me ; for whosoever hopeth in thee shall not be ashamed. Let them who do iniquity without a cause, be ashamed. Show me thy path, lord, and teach me thy ways. Lead me in the way of truth, and teach me, for thou art my God, and my saviour. I will hope in thee all the day long. Call to remembrance, lord, thy mercies, and thy loving-kindnesses FIRST BOOK. 81 which have been ever of old. remember not the sins of my childhood and my ignorance. But think upon me according to the abundance of thy mercy, because of thy goodness, lord. The lord is gracious and righteous ; therefore shall he teach sinners in the way. (81) He will guide the gentle with judgment, he will teach the gentle his ways. All the ways of the lord are good, in sooth, for them that seek his righteousness and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, lord, pardon my sin, for it is very great. What man is he who feareth the lord, with him shall he establish a law in the way he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease, and his seed shall inherit the land. The lord is the support of them that fear him ; and the name of the lord is with them that fear him, to teach them his covenant. Mine eyes gaze upon the lord for ever, for it is he who shall pluck my feet out of the snare. Look upon me, have mercy upon me, for I am an only son, I am a beggar, I. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged ; bring me out of my constraints. Look upon my abasement, my misery, and for- give me all my sin. Consider mine enemies, how many they are, and they hate me with cruel hatred. guard my soul, and save me ; let me not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee. (82) The simple and the righteous clung to me, 82 PISTIS SOPHIA. for I hoped in thee. lord God, preserve Israel from all her troubles.' " And when Jesus had heard the words of Jesus com- Thomas, he said unto him : " Well mendeth i rm • • ^^ n^^ • • ^ Thomas. said, Thomas ; it is well, i his is the interpretation of the seventh repentance of Pistis Sophia, Amen, amen, I say unto you, all the families of the world shall proclaim you blessed on the earth, because I have revealed unto you these things, and that ye have received of my spirit, and have become understanding and spiritual, comprehending that which I have said unto you. Beyond this, I will fill you with all the li,