Savior said, "I want you to know that all people born on earth from the foundation of the world until now, being dust, while they have inquired about God, who he is and what he is like, have not found him. Now the wisest among them have speculated from the order and movement of the world. But their speculation has not reached the truth...But I, who came from the Infinite Light, I am here, that I might speak to you about the precise nature of the truth, since I know it...He-Who-Is is ineffable. No principle knew him, no authority, no subjection, nor any creature from the foundation of the world until now, except he alone and anyone to whom he wants to reveal through him who is from First Light. From now on, I am the great Savior. But he is immortal and eternal, having no birth; for everyone who has birth will perish. He is unbegotten, having no beginning; for everyone who has a beginning has an end...He is called 'Father of the Universe.'"
Sophia of Jesus Christ 92.6-19, 94.5-21 (possibly our earliest Sethian text; late first century).
Comment: The Gnostics are already speculating about the relationship between the Father and the Son in the late first century. The Father is unbegotten, eternal, without birth. The Son is the only one who can reveal the Father to others.
2 comments:
I wonder here about the word "ineffable." Did the Sethians, like other Jews, proscribe the speaking of the name of God? And were there those who violated that proscription in the belief that the name held magical powers? The words "and anyone to whom he wants to reveal" would suggest that--even beyond the Savior--there are those by whom the name might be spoken.
Late first century? Seems later than that to me, perhaps developed out of the Apocryphon of John? Am I misguided here?
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