The Reception of Pistis Sophia and Gnosticism

Paul Linjamaa

doi:10.1163/15700593-20211003

Abstract

Abstract This article surveys the reception of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia in esoteric milieus in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. The first part of the article contains an overview of the text and scholarship on it. Then follows a study of the reception of Pistis Sophia in a broader array of esoteric circles. It becomes clear that the text was hailed as an example of ancient and great spiritual wisdom, although seldom discussed in detail theologically. Next, this is compared to the academic reception at the same time where it was, as previous scholars have made clear, discarded due to what was understood as a discrepancy with “Gnostic” characteristics. This article shows that Pistis Sophia was not discarded in esoteric circles but rather read in light of already established esoteric trajectories, for example Blavatsky’s, Krumm-Heller’s, or Papus’ particular spiritual evolutionary perspectives. Lastly, it is argued that the understanding of Gnosticisms that both these receptions reflect is still very much active today: academics and esoteric groups are guided by similar trajectories vis-à-vis Gnosticism, seeing it as a representative of a “universal religious essence” associated with progressive attitudes (for example regarding sex and gender), which allows/forces them to renegotiate the ancient sources themselves.

Highlights

This article surveys the reception of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia in esoteric milieus in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe
It becomes clear that the text was hailed as an example of ancient and great spiritual wisdom, seldom discussed in detail theologically. This is compared to the academic reception at the same time where it was, as previous scholars have made clear, discarded due to what was understood as a discrepancy with “Gnostic” characteristics
The period would generate a new surge in the academic study of Gnosticism, partly due to the discovery in 1789 of the Gnostic text which is the focus of this study, a text that soon came to be viewed as the first and ultimate source for ancient Gnosticism

Summary

A Brief Exposé of the Configuration and Contents of Pistis Sophia12

In 1773 an English physician and bibliophile, Anthony Askew, came into possession of a manuscript, known today as the Askew Codex. This codex contained a Coptic Gnostic text that became known as Pistis Sophia. Among theologians Gnosticism became very useful as a counter-example against which Christianity could be defined This is the way Adolf von Harnack, in his work Dogmengeschichte (1885), characterized Gnosticism: as ‘the acute Hellenization of Christianity.’ As the mentor of Carl Schmidt (who edited and translated Coptic texts), Harnack was well acquainted with Pistis Sophia and wrote a book in 1891 on the text.. This has been observed by Karen King, who states that ‘The materials of the Bruce and Askew codices were known, but they seemed to scholars to represent a late and degenerated form of Gnosticism, and to reveal little of real interest.’ As has been mentioned already, Petter Spjut has broadened this discussion He showed that when Pistis Sophia was first discovered, the initial response among theologians was one of excitement, an excitement that soon turned into disappointment.. Before elaborating on this point further, we must first turn to the reception of Pistis Sophia in the esoteric milieus of Europe

Approaching the Common Ground in Academia and Esotericism

The Reception of Pistis Sophia in Early-Twentieth-Century Esoteric Milieus

95 Original

Ancient Wisdom Narrative Revived

Conclusion