The Fall of Sophia: A Gnostic Text on the Redemption of Universal Consciousness (Paperback) by Violet MacDermot (Author, Translator)
Product details
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Lindisfarne Press (1 Sep 2001)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1584200006
ISBN-13: 978-1584200000
Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 15.1 x 1.5 cm
Product Description
Synopsis: A fresh translation of the Pistis Sophia from the Coptic and a discussion of its historical setting. Sophia is one of the great symbols of the divine feminine in world civilization and the personification of divine Wisdom. In Gnosticism, the secret teaching of ancient Christianity, she represents the consciousness that all of us share, but which became trapped in the material world as a result of the Fall. One of the most sublime Gnostic texts is the Pistis Sophia or "Faith Wisdom", a great allegory in which the resurrected Christ tells how he freed the divine Sophia from her imprisonment to powers of spiritual wickedness. In this profound yet accessible work, Violet MacDermot provides a fresh translation of the Pistis Sophia from the Coptic and discusses it in its historical setting. She also shows how the story of Sophia is one in which we too can share in spiritual liberation. Her engaging discussion relates this work not only to ancient teachings, but to the thought of C G Jung, Emanuel Swedenborg and the Kabbala.
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Participating in the "Gnostic Renaissance", 15 Oct 2007
By calmly - See all my reviews
Violet MacDermot translated the Pistis Sophia from the original Coptic text found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt into English as part of the Coptic Gnostic Library effort. Her translation of Books One and Two that focus on the fall of Sophia are reprinted here. MacDermot here supplements her translation with essays on Sophia's story and the significance of the Pistis Sophia and the Gnostic spirit in general in Western history. The foreword by Stephen Hoeller, "Sophia and the Gnostic Renaissance" adds further to understanding the place of the Pistis Sophia and the ancient Gnostic enterprise in human history.
MacDermot observes that the Gnostic Christians have views that conflict both with that of orthodox Christianity and materialism. Orthodox Christianity seemed to Gnostic Christians demanding of faith and obedience and fearful of self-knowledge. Science today seems too mechanical. From a Gnostic Christian viewpoint, if orthodox Christians complain about science's materialism, it often seems out of a desire to replace it with literalism. Gnosticism offers a third way, one that remembered favorably the ancient Western mythological wisdom of the Persians, Egyptians and Greeks and is today compatible with Eastern wisdom traditions such as Buddhism.
MacDermot follows the spirit of Gnosticism into modern times, presenting a summary of Emmanuel Swedenborg, Otto Weininger, Vladimir Solovyov, Auguste Comte, Rudolf Steiner, Lewis Mumford, Patrick Geddes, Dimitrije Mictrinovic, and Carl Jung, a wealth of leads who presented an organic vision of life. A bibliography of their works and others is included. One can see how the work of the early Gnostics is compatible with and has contributed to similar thought of more recent times
The Fall of Sophia itself is presented as a mythic way to explain the transition from collective consciousness to individual self-consciousness that occurred in the first few centuries of the Common Era. After Jesus finds Sophia fallen, Jesus and his disciples interpret the repentences of Sophia as she finds herself beset upon by evil powers within a chaotic realm. Jesus helps restore Sophia and then shares the mystery of the Ineffable, which can make one a ruler with Jesus, of this world and yet not of this world. By the middle of this story, you may feel like Sophia, overwhelmed by the evil powers. By the end of this story, you may share with the disciples, in an appreciation of the richness of your spirit, something materialism and literalism do not convey.
Macdermot has provided an exquisite context in which to understand the Fall of Sophia and its relationship to some recent thought. If you choose then to read more of the Gnostic texts and/or more of the more recent thinkers Macdermot presents, you may become a participant in a "Gnostic Renaissance" that might transform our challenged society.
Since I first read this book a month ago, it has weighed on my mind. What I had found to be some repetitiveness upon first reading, I'm realizing was a careful reiteration to convey the teaching forcefully.
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