Gnostic use of Myth

Few religions have left as provocative and complex mythology as Gnosticism. Discovered by accident in the desert sands of Egypt, the Nag Hammadi Library has given religious scholars the world over a glimpse into the mind of a religion that has long been mysterious and misunderstood. Prior to the discovery of the NHL in 1945, the only things we knew about this religion came from those who opposed them. The work of men like Ireneaus gave distorted pictures at best, lies at worst. But now that has changed. We can attempt to understand the Gnostic mind without the haze of prejudice obscuring the truths the Gnostics held sacred. In the effort to understand really any religion, mythology is the golden key that can unlock the truths held its followers, and Gnosticism is no exception. When studied objectively, Gnostic myth actually tells us a great deal about social views of its time, as well as the evolution of the early Christian Church.

Scholars and thinkers through the years have offered their views on how myth can be used to understand both the sacred and mundane world. Prior to 1725 CE, myths of non-Christian religions were seen simply as distorted Biblical narratives. No doubt individuals with strong prejudices used this line of reasoning as a way to explain the vast similarities that appear in mythologies of radically different cultures, like the abundance of flood narratives. Giambattista Vico was one of the first scholars to argue against this view. He saw myths as imaginative attempts to solve the many mysteries of life and the universe. From there, scholars have developed an abundance of ways to interpret myth. While all these views have their place, only a few of them fit into a discussion of Gnostic myth.

According to Hans Jonas, Gnostic myth is artificial, or consciously constructed. He draws three conclusions regarding Gnostic myth: (1) it is philosophical, and therefore open to interpretation; (2) it distinguishes between nature and culture; and (3) it is not original and borrows from other sources. Malinowski also introduces a view of myth that is very useful when dealing with Gnosticism. His understanding of myth is that it relates to the present social order, and is influenced by the social structure of the culture producing it. This is ever so true in regards to Gnostic myth. The Gnostics did not appear to have any sort of formal structure in their movement. Willis writes that a "fertile ground for myth-making is the type of small-scale society where people are more or less equal and where there is little occupational specialization or class structure." Such a society accurately describes several known Gnostic communities. Ireneaus reports that the Gnostics met in small groups and appeared to have no organized clergy. As a matter of fact, they determined roles at the beginning of each worship session by casting lots. It was possible someone who served no active role one time could be leading the service the next time. No one had superiority over another. Thus, in the Gnostic movement we can expect to find these imaginative myths, and ones reflective of society’s current situation as well.

Two scholars who hold views useful in interpreting Gnostic myth include Durkheim and Malinowski. Both these men pointed to the social aspect of myths. Durkheim views myths as expressions concerning the underlying reality of society, but veiling the truth about nature, humanity, and society itself. In other words, a myth can be used to explain the current situation of reality as members of a given culture know it. Applying this view to the myth of Adam and Eve, for example, explains the attitudes about gender roles, the nature of humanity, and the natural world in the three world monotheisms, but hides the true meaning of why these roles exist. Malinowski holds a similar view, but he believed myth relates strictly to the present social order. Again, taking the myth of Adam and Eve into account, Malinowski would argue that it may not have been an early view, but one later made up to justify gender roles and man’s place in accordance to God and the world. Such a myth would have been formulated in a time when the previously mentioned ideas were attacked or challenged. However, myths don’t necessarily apply to only one time period. Karen King writes that "the meanings of myths are not fixed once and for all, even when they are written." Basically, a myth can be re-interpreted in both times of social stability and social chaos. The myth of Adam and Eve has certainly seen its share of such re-interpretations, from early on in church history to the present day. It has been used by some sects of Christianity to argue that women are inferior, and should be submissive to men. This situation is unlikely to end any time soon.

However, problems are bound to arise when applying any sort of approach to Gnostic myth. First, there are several sects of Gnosticism. Some are clearly Christian. Some are apparently Jewish. Some sects are Hermetic, holding high the Greek god Hermes as a savior figure. When studying Gnostic literature, these divisions emerge. To further add to any confusion, some forms of Gnosticism seem to have no apparent influences of any kind! But in any case, creation and cosmology are similar enough in most sources that parallels can be drawn.

So why study creation myths? In his article "The Genesis Factor," Stephan A. Hoeller tells about an experience of noted religious scholar Elaine Pagels. While visiting the Dinka in Africa, a member of the tribe explained "...how the creation myth of his people relates to the whole social, political, and religious culture in that part of the Sudan." He then writes that Pagels recognized, after reading several letters in Time magazine, that people "... still return to the archaic story of creation as a frame of reference when faced with challenges to their traditional values." Gnosticism is no exception. As a matter of fact, the Gnostic creation myth goes a long way in explaining how the Gnostic mind perceived both the physical and spiritual world. One of the most complete and interesting of these variations is found within the Apocryhon of John.

According to this text, before the material world came into existence, there was the Light. From this Light came a series of Emanations, various cosmic beings in male-female pairs. Within the Light were three especially important beings: The Father, the Mother, and the Son. According to Ireneaus, a "sluggish mass," consisting of Water, Darkness, the Abyss, and Chaos (common elements of many pre-creation stories) exists beneath the Trinity, who dwell in the Unutterable Depth. One of these Emanations, Sophia, decides to create life without her male counterpart. The result is a twisted god named Yaldabaoth, the demiurge. Believing himself to be the most powerful being in the universe, he declares himself God and states that there is none besides him. Ireneaus adds that Yaldabaoth has seven children, whom he calls "fighters." The demiurge then goes on to create the world, a variety of archons, heavens, and powers, some corresponding to the 365 days of the year and others to the seven days of the week. Other archons seem to have a connection with various emotional and mystic forces, like kingship, envy, pleasure, and desire. The Archons attempt to create a man, and the process requires several archons, each making a small area of the body. Their efforts are for naught, though, for they are unable to make him move. Sophia tricks Yaldaboath into breathing his essence of the Light into man, allowing him to become a living being. Finally comes the familiar episode in the garden. Adam and Eve eat of the "Tree of Knowledge" and are cast out. The main focus of the Apocryphon of John is pre-creation, for it takes great care to name many of the beings created by Yaldabaoth and explain the nature of the universe before the creation of the physical world, though it also discusses Adam and Eve’s trials as well.

On the Origin of the World also offers a glimpse at Gnostic creation myth. This text appears to have been based on a lecture trying to explain the origin and nature of the cosmos. However, it assumes the reader is already familiar with scriptures like the Apocryhon of John and other such texts. Its account of pre-creation is short, like an abridged version of the Apoc. John. It simply mentions that immortal beings developed out of the infinite and Sophia’s creation of Yaldabaoth. Here, the demiurge is first pictured as an aborted fetus moving around in the waters of the abyss. Sophia allowed the demiurge rulership over matter, then retreated to the Light.

However, On the Origin of the World is rich in cosmological discourses and provides a great deal of information concerning the nature and activities of various cosmological beings. Yaldabaoth creates the heavens and earth and has offspring of his own. These offspring also radiate in male-female pairs. Then, Yaldabaoth creates the seven heavens by using verbal expression, presumably a cosmic power equal to the authoritative command of God in Genesis (for example, "God said ‘Let there be light, and there was light’"). These seven heavens appear to have some sort of organization, like a celestial society. As in the Apoc. John, Yaldabaoth declares himself the only God. Angered, Sophia speaks to her child and reveals herself in all her glory. What happens next is not recorded in Apoc. John. One of the Archons, Sabaoth, repents his allegiance to Yaldabaoth and praises Sophia. As a result, he is rewarded with great power and becomes known as "Lord of the Forces." This angers the Archons, and they declare war against him, but he is aided by Sophia and taken up above the seven heavens. Here, Sabaoth makes a great mansion and surrounds himself with Cherubim and Saraphim. Yaldaboath is naturally jealous of Sabaoth’s glory, so in a rage he creates Death, and the androgynous demons begin to multiply. Yaldabaoth then begins an elaborate plot to enslave light by creating a physical body, leading into the fall of Adam and Eve.

The Gnostics pictured the material world to be surround on all sides by chaotic or evil forces. Any discourse on Gnostic cosmology will run into the same implications as a study of Gnostic creation: there will be various accounts, sometimes with contradicting information. It is hard to say where the Gnostics borrowed from when constructing their view of the universe, but there appears to be a great deal of Jewish cosmology. The Gnostics pictured a material world sandwiched between a higher divine realm and a mysterious lower realm and surrounded by the waters of chaos. Most Gnostic cosmologies agree that above the material world are at least seven heavens. Some sources indicate more: eight or nine and possibly as many as twelve. The first seven heavens were created by Yaldaboath to serve as homes for himself and his offspring. The function of the other heavens remains unknown, but they appear to serve as homes or gathering areas for enlightened souls or benevolent cosmic beings. Far beyond the topmost heaven is the fullness of the pleroma. This is the home of the Aeons and the state to which the Gnostic strives to return. The Apocryphon of John provides an address book of the heavens, telling the reader who rules each celestial realm. The first heaven is ruled by Athoth. Eloaio is placed in the second one. Astraphaio takes control of the third realm. Yao is given the forth heaven. Sabaoth is said to rule the fifth plane, and Adonein reigns in the sixth. Finally, Sabbateon is given the seventh heaven. However, this contradicts some sources, which place Yaldaboath in the highest of the lower heavens. Most texts with a cosmology tend to vague in their descriptions, but two texts that fill in the details are On the Origin of the World and the Hypostasis of the Archons.

On the Origin of the World begins its cosmological description after Yaldaboath begets his seven children. It is said that "since he possessed great authorities, created heavens for each of his offspring through verbal expression-created them beautiful as dwelling places." These heavens are said to be filled with a host of spiritual beings, including angels, archangels, gods, and lords. After Sabaoth repents and breaks free from Yaldaboath’s power, he is taken up to the eighth heaven. Here, he establishes a mansion seven times greater than any building in the lower heavens. This realm is also home to various cosmic and angelic beings and virginal spirits playing instruments. The eighth heaven is also home to a congregation called Israel, Jesus Christ, and Sophia. To take his place, Yaldaboath beget Death to take Sabaoth’s place as ruler of the sixth heaven.

Hypostasis of the Archons further fills in the details on Gnostic cosmology. This narrative tells of a veil between the world above and the realms that are below. Presumably, this veil lies between the seventh and eighth heaven and may have been created by Sophia. However, this text doesn’t go into as much detail concerning the seven lower heavens. It simply states that Yaldaboath "made for himself a vast realm, an extent without limit." However, Hypostasis of the Archons contradicts other sources. The author writes that Yaldaboath angers Sophia with his claim to be the highest god in the universe. She then breathes on him, and her breath becomes a "fiery angel" that binds him in a realm called Tartaros, which is below the abyss. Where these realms are is not entirely clear; most likely they were thought to be below the earth. Hyp. Arch. further contradicts previous conceptions of Gnostic mythology by placing the newly redeemed Saboath in the seventh heaven.

Karen King writes that "Gnostic myth can be seen as a response within Mediterranean society to changing social circumstances…Gnostic myth makers are shaping their stories out of their own cultures’ traditions (italics hers)." Keeping in mind Durkheim and Malinowski’s views of myth, we can expect to see influences from a wide variety of cultures in Gnostic scriptures. More importantly, these influences should say something about the current social situation. When studying Gnostic myth, parallels from Jewish and Egyptian mythology emerge.

The first six chapters of Genesis form a foundation for the Jewish sources of Gnostic mythology. The Gnostics were not kind in their re-interpretations of Jewish myth. Yaldaboath was understood to be Yahweh, the tribal god of the Hebrews. Rather than picture him as the just, protective god of Abraham, most Gnostic myths pictured him as a twisted, evil god who took the form of a lion or a serpent. More sympathetic Gnostics believed Yahweh was a weak, blind god, but one that could at least keep justice. Two Old Testament quotes that seem to have been favored targets of Gnostic writers are "I am the LORD thy god and there is no other" and "I, the LORD am a jealous god." Gnostics saw this as Yahweh/Yaldaboath’s way of trying to install fear into his followers, when he indirectly admits he knows of beings greater than he is. The Gnostics reason that if a god is a jealous god, then certainly there must be some other being of at least equal, if not greater, power. Otherwise, how could the god possibly be jealous?

The exact sources used for Gnostic creation are hard to trace, but they rely heavily upon Jewish sources. Their use of Jewish myth seeks to contradict everything the Genesis creation stands for. Gnostics view the creation of the material world as entirely evil, but Genesis "works out a wider theology built around the goodness of God’s creation (italics his)." This theology is reflected in Genesis. After God creates something, he proclaims it to be good. Therefore, to the Jewish mind, anything created by God is, by nature, good. The Gnostics reverse this, believing the material world to be evil, often comparing it to a corpse or garment that needs to be discarded.

The earliest occurrence in the Gnostic creation myth is the Emanations coming forth from the pleroma. Karen King traces the series of Emanations, which start with Depth (male) and his created counterpart Silence (female). From these two Aeons come Mind (m.) and Truth (f.), Word (m.) and Life (f.), and Man (m.) and Church (f.). These Emanations produce various other pairs of Aeons as well, including the important Wisdom and her male counterpart Desired. King calls this process degeneration, comparing it to pouring fruit juice: "You can think of it as a glass of fruit juice being diluted each time it is poured into a new glass: it retains its basic essence, but it is diminished in power and quality." Thus, the first Emanation, Mind, is the greatest and the final Emanation, Wisdom, is the weakest. King also points out a second theme here: male superiority. These events seem to indicate Egyptian influences, reflecting "the Ennead of Heliopolis, where the same four pairs are derived from the creator Atum." Further Egyptian influences can be seen in the Gnostic view of the afterlife.

The Gnostics believed that the soul on its way back to the pleroma would have to pass Archons waiting at each of the seven heavens. In order to pass these beings, the soul needed to give a password. The Egyptians held a similar view. A.J. Spencer writes: "The Egyptian concept of the underworld included a whole series of traps and pitfalls for the unprepared, which could only be evaded if the spirit of the deceased knew the correct procedure to follow and the appropriate speeches to recite at certain points on his journey." Even if the soul did make it to the underworld he would still have to face a series of questions "before the inquisitors of the underworld and to be saved must know the proper spell for each god as well as their secret names. Gnosticism equated these inquisitors of the soul with the cosmic powers, the rulers of the spheres of heaven." To deal with the inquisition, the Egyptian Book of the Dead contains various spells, sacred names, and the "Negative Confession." Another parallel between Egyptian and Gnostic mythology relates to dealing with various cosmic beings while on route to the underworld. "Many chapters of the Book of the Dead refer to gates, halls, or districts through which the soul had to pass, each guarded by a fierce divinity who had to be addressed by name." Paintings of these beings depict animal headed men carrying weapons, an image mirroring descriptions of the Archons:

When the deceased came into the presence of the inquisition, he was to face them and boldly recite several lines of text to affirm his righteousness. The soul emphasizes his virtuous behavior by reciting such lines as "I have not acted evilly towards anyone; … I have not robbed the orphan, … I have not killed ..." The Gnostic parallel also requires the soul to posses knowledge, but of a different nature. Rather than know about the beings he will be facing or how to express the righteous deeds he accomplished in life, the Gnostic soul need to know where he came from and why he need to go back. So if the Gnostic desperately wanted to escape the material world, then that must imply something is wrong with society in general.

Gnostic relationship to the social world is two-fold. First, it deals with problems pertaining to the Mediterranean world of the early years of the Common Era. Second, it deals with problems within the early Christian Church.

The time period in Gnosticism may have developed was a trying time for Jews living in Israel. They were a people who, in antiquity, had taken over another nation’s land, but now found themselves exiled or subject to foreign powers. Previously, such events were signs of God’s anger, but this theory faced rejection by some Jews during the inter-Testamental period. To cope with this problem, and preserve their love for Yahweh, many Jews adopted a dualist philosophy, preferring to believe God had an enemy rather than that he was the root of all problems. Possibly, this change in thought may have given rise to both the development of satan into Satan and Jewish Gnosticism. Later times weren’t much better, and the "catastrophic events of 66-70 permanently changed the world in which the Jews lived, not only in Jerusalem where charred ruins replaced the splendid Temple, but also for Jews throughout the known world. Even those who had never seen Jerusalem knew that the center of their world had been shattered." Anywhere between this time (about 100 BCE through 70 CE), Jewish Gnosticism may have be conceived as a form of spiritual protest against Yahweh. Some Jews retained their monotheistic ways, while others responded by taking a dualistic approach to the nature of reality. Therefore, "Jewish Gnosticism…is referring to a Jewish gnosis which has not been characterized by radical dualism." This form of Gnosticism probably came out of a need to make sense of the changing social world. These Jewish Gnostics reinterpreted the Old Testament by placing this God, who once promised to protect them, in an unfavorable light. Jewish Gnosticism reduced Yahweh from the majestic creator/warrior god of antiquity into the bestial monstrosity known as Yaldaboath. This was their way of coping with the pressures of their torn world.

Further evidence for the state of the Jewish world before, during, and after this time period can be seen in the various ways the Jewish nation dealt with their problems. Before the birth of Christ, Jews generally split into four groups: the Pharisees, Sadduces, Essenes, and Zealots. Some of these groups, like the mystical Essenes and the militant Zealots split themselves off from society, preferring to exist in the desert rather than the city. A lesser-known group of Jewish separatists are the Magharians, a cave dwelling mystical sect. Their theology may have influenced Gnosticism. "They referred to all anthropomorphic passages in the Bible to an angel rather than to God himself, and claimed that it was this angel who created the world…the Gnostics may have derived their concept of an angelic demiurge from this Jewish sect."

Gnosticism also tells us about the evolution of the early Christian church. Prior to the discovery of the NHL, all that was known about Gnosticism came from their enemies. Such writings tend to be colored with prejudice. Early Christians often debated over scripture, and "sometimes in one city there were several groups, each interpreting ‘the gospel’ somewhat differently and often contending with one another." There seemed to be a lack of cohesion in the early church, so the second century bishop Ireneaus proposed a solution. He chose gospels that "helped institutionalize the Christian movement. Those he denounced as heresy did not serve the purposes of institutionalization." Supported by this view, Ireneaus could wage war upon the Gnostics because they "urged people to seek direct access to God, unmediated by church or clergy." No wonder Ireneaus attacked the Gnostics: if people participated in such a religion, they would question his authority and have no need for his church! This would have been a total outrage to the early church and men like Ireneaus, who wanted to organize their religion. Another one of the dangers the heresiologists saw with Gnosticism was that "it encourages insubordination to clerical authority." Gnostics were known to hold meetings without the permission of the clergy, clearly denying the church’s authority. To the Gnostic Christian, the bishop was an earthly servant of the demiurge, and since the Gnostic had found freedom through gnosis, the earthly clerical hierarchy held no power over him. Elaine Pagels imagines a possible response the Gnostic could use aginst church hierarchy: "You claim to represent God, but, in reality you represent only the demiurge, whom you blindly serve and obey. I, however, have passed beyond the sphere of his authority-and so, for that matter, beyond yours!" Perhaps, then, it was the Christian Gnostics who produced the known Gnostic cosmology, with the series of heavens and their rulers representing the church hierarchy that got in the way of their efforts to experience God by themselves.

Trends and themes emerge when studying the Gnostic use of myth. Unfortunately, we may never know exactly what the Gnostics meant with their hierarchical model of heaven, malevolent celestial beings, evil demiurge, and distant God in the Unutterable Depth. Their myths can appear confusing and paradoxical while at the same time being clear and making perfect sense with the reader. Their myths seem to have evolved in an uncertain time, when God lost his credibility as the all-powerful protector and the death of the savior needed to be clarified. There are many ways to view them and their myths, but all in all, interpreting Gnostic myth is "our making sense of their making sense."

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