Goddess Sophia

Im triyng to find an apocrypha on the Goddess Sophia, it is said she was part of the Bible Genesis in the creation, she was the original "Eve" that Adam desired and Sophia replicated her imagine because she may have not of been human or such sayings. I cant seem to find the Apocrypha book on the Goddess Sophia? Anyone heard of her?

Yeah man I will get you some reading material

I think perhaps the road block you are experiencing in finding her in the Bible is the word itself.

Sophia is the Greek goddess of wisdom, and also Wisdom itself. But 'Sophia' itself is a Greek word. In Hebrew she is called Chokmah! Also, in light of the fact that Sophia/Chokmah is Wisdom itself, it's possible she is being referenced when you read 'wisdom' in the Bible

In the OT, and Catholic scripture, I believe she, as a deity, is referred to as the wife of the Father God. I believe she is talked about in the Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, and the apocryphal of Sirach, amongst others.

For the most part Sophia is more central to Eastern Christianity, Christian Mysticism, Jewish Kabbalists, the Gnostic Christian traditions... In other words, she isn't the flavor of the week in mainstream Western Christianity. Although, she is in 'The Bible'.

Much about Sophia as it pertains to Christianity comes from gospels and texts that were excluded from being included in the Bible at the Council of Nicaea. Subsequently they fall under the broad category of we Westerners like to call 'Gnosticism'.

Key word 'Gnosticism', 'Pistis Sophia', 'Nag Hammadi' in Google. She is probably mentioned in the 'Gospel of Philip' 'Gospel of Thomas' 'Gospel of Mary' and "Gospel of Truth' as well...

reply to post by Gillespie


I'm brushing up on this stuff right now. Hopefully I will have some info to give you on her role in Genesis and Creation specifically.

Of the top of my head I believe it's understood by some that, for instance, when God says "let us make Man in our image", God is talking to Sophia.

Also in the meantime you might want to message the members Neo Christian Mystic and TheColdDragon, as I believe they are probably privy to this topic.

[edit on 10-10-2008 by Lucid Lunacy]

Deity?
"Wife" of God?

By definition, monotheistic religions know no deities, only a God.
And there is no mention in the Bible of God having a "wife", of course.

Wisdom (Greek sophia, cf. the word 'philosophy', philo-sophia, which means, literally, 'love of wisdom'), or more precisely, the Holy Wisdom is a notion, a very important aspect of God as the primordial creative source.
(You can find a very good depiction of "her" in Michelangelo's painting of the Creation of Adam, in the Sistine Chapel; and there is, of course, the church of the Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople, which was the largest - and greatest - Christian church until the edification of the new St. Peter' basilica, in the 16th century.)

Surprisingly, the article in Wikipedia is not all that bad, considering Wikipedia's generally sloppy servings of, well, wisdom.

Sophia

It's a good place to start, especially because it leads to further bibliography.












[edit on 10-10-2008 by Vanitas]

Originally posted by Vanitas
By definition, monotheistic religions know no deities, only a God.

By definition 'Deity' means a God or Goddess, or even 'The' God, the condition of God and of Divinity. The Christian religion does indeed know of Deity. Jehovah is the Hebrew Deity.

There are many mentions of other gods in the Bible. It's monotheistic not because it doesn't mention other gods, it's monotheistic because is exalts One above all others.

Hi, I would also like to add to the 'Sophia' godess conspiracy!
Well, not really a conspiracy, but for those that want some answers as to what SOPHIA means in the Bible....

This history knows nothing of the Deuteronomists’ story of the Exodus and their hero Moses, but it does emphasise Enoch, and says that Jerusalem was destroyed after the people in the temple had forsaken Wisdom. There is even a poem about the rejected Wisdom:
Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men,
and found no dwelling place
Wisdom returned to her place,
and took her seat among the angels (1 Enoch 42)

where shall Wisdom be found

My research is not up to date on the Subject you require, but I do remember reading about it a few years back...


Also
www.stnicholas-billings.org...
Hope that helps!
If you would like more info, let me know!

helen

EDIT...wrong links for the info given.,..


[edit on 10/10/2008 by helen670]

[edit on 10/10/2008 by helen670]

[edit on 10/10/2008 by helen670]

[edit on 10/10/2008 by helen670]

Its great to see others searching these mysteries. I love the stories of Sophia and in my mind, Sophias offspring explains why this world is the way it is.

First I think youll find this, its Wisdom of Solomon
quod.lib.umich.edu...

Some snips about wisdom from the above link-

[12] Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
[13] She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
[14] He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for he will find her sitting at his gates.
[15] To fix one's thought on her is perfect understanding,
and he who is vigilant on her account will
soon be free from care,
[16] because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought.

[17] The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere
desire for instruction,
and concern for instruction is love of her,
[18] and love of her is the keeping of her laws,
and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality,
[19] and immortality brings one near to God;
[20] so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.

Here is a link to Pistis Sophia to the Nag Hammad Library
www.gnosis.org...


Here is a link to 'Origin of the world (its actually an untitled text)
www.gnosis.org...

a snip-
Seeing that everybody, gods of the world and mankind, says that nothing existed prior to chaos, I, in distinction to them, shall demonstrate that they are all mistaken, because they are not acquainted with the origin of chaos, nor with its root. Here is the demonstration.

How well it suits all men, on the subject of chaos, to say that it is a kind of darkness! But in fact it comes from a shadow, which has been called by the name 'darkness'. And the shadow comes from a product that has existed since the beginning. It is, moreover, clear that it existed before chaos came into being, and that the latter is posterior to the first product. Let us therefore concern ourselves with the facts of the matter; and furthermore, with the first product, from which chaos was projected. And in this way the truth will be clearly demonstrated.

After the natural structure of the immortal beings had completely developed out of the infinite, a likeness then emanated from Pistis (Faith); it is called Sophia (Wisdom). It exercised volition and became a product resembling the primeval light. And immediately her will manifested itself as a likeness of heaven, having an unimaginable magnitude; it was between the immortal beings and those things that came into being after them, like [...]: she (Sophia) functioned as a veil dividing mankind from the things above.

Now the eternal realm (aeon) of truth has no shadow outside it, for the limitless light is everywhere within it. But its exterior is shadow, which has been called by the name 'darkness'. From it, there appeared a force, presiding over the darkness. And the forces that came into being subsequent to them called the shadow 'the limitless chaos'. From it, every kind of divinity sprouted up [...] together with the entire place, so that also, shadow is posterior to the first product. It was the abyss that it (shadow) appeared, deriving from the aforementioned Pistis.

Then shadow perceived there was something mightier than it, and felt envy; and when it had become pregnant of its own accord, suddenly it engendered jealousy. Since that day, the principle of jealousy amongst all the eternal realms and their worlds has been apparent. Now as for that jealousy, it was found to be an abortion without any spirit in it. Like a shadow, it came into existence in a vast watery substance. Then the bile that had come into being out of the shadow was thrown into a part of chaos. Since that day, a watery substance has been apparent. And what sank within it flowed away, being visible in chaos: as with a woman giving birth to a child - all her superfluities flow out; just so, matter came into being out of shadow, and was projected apart. And it did not depart from chaos; rather, matter was in chaos, being in a part of it.

Here is a link to the Sophia of Jesus Christ-
www.gnosis.org...

a snip from the aboce link-
Again, his disciples said: "Tell us clearly how they came down from the invisibilities, from the immortal to the world that dies?"
The perfect Savior said: "Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. His male name is designated 'Savior, Begetter of All Things'. His female name is designated 'All-Begettress Sophia'. Some call her 'Pistis'.

"All who come into the world, like a drop from the Light, are sent by him to the world of Almighty, that they might be guarded by him. And the bond of his forgetfulness bound him by the will of Sophia, that the matter might be through it to the whole world in poverty, concerning his (Almighty's) arrogance and blindness and the ignorance that he was named. But I came from the places above by the will of the great Light, (I) who escaped from that bond; I have cut off the work of the robbers; I have awakened that drop that was sent from Sophia, that it might bear much fruit through me, and be perfected and not again be defective, but be through me, the Great Savior, that his glory might be revealed, so that Sophia might also be justified in regard to that defect, that her sons might not again become defective but might attain honor and glory and go up to their Father, and know the words of the masculine Light. And you were sent by the Son, who was sent that you might receive Light, and remove yourselves from the forgetfulness of the authorities, and that it might not again come to appearance because of you, namely, the unclean rubbing that is from the fearful fire that came from their fleshly part. Tread upon their malicious intent."

There are several text within the Nag Hammadi library that you will find the story of Sophia within them. So to grasp the full idea, it would be best to read through them all or search the word Sophia within them.

The Nag Hammadi library is very interesting. Many of these kinds of text were actually accepted by early Christians. Till the uproar and then they were burnt.

Peace,
LV

Sophia (Wisdom) is the result after decoding the word Baphomet.
The Atbash cipher is the key for decoding.

www.templarhistory.com...



[edit on 10-10-2008 by hawk123]

more on the sacred feminine

www.northernway.org...

reply to post by Gillespie


This is an interesting discussion. I have bookmarked many of the threads here, as I have had an interest in the Goddess link to early Christianity. The cult of Isis was wide spread, and the older Christian Church decided to replace her with the Virgin Mary. Also, it has been debated that Solomon's Temple was to Ishtar/Isis. Star and Flag to this post.

According to Manly P. Hall, and other Gnostics, Sophia is the exact same Goddess as Prajnaparamita the Perfection of Wisdom taught in Buddhism.

"Sophia", however, is not actually from the Greek language. "Sophia" is from the Phoenician(a cultural branch of the Kush-ite and Khemetian culture). I'm sure the priest Sanchoniatho (Sanchoniathon) would tell you this.

And of course the Jewish religion, is nothing more than a highly veiled version of a combination of the 'Babylonian', Brahmin, Khemetian, and Phoenician religions.



[edit on 12-10-2008 by Tamahu]

S & F from this corner too! And I have starred everyone who has posted in this thread as well, as you are all thoughtfully sharing with your informed responses, (in turn giving me an opportunity to LEARN SOMETHING) that's what I call the Ancient Civ. forum working at it its best.

Thanks to you all and I will be back to post on topic if I have anything to add after reading all of the links here.

Cheers!
TWISI

Under my profile on scribd.com you will see in the Gnostic Documents folder all information you may need .

Hope this helps as it is free and it is a great source of books and documents :

Follow the link :

www.scribd.com...

I am not so sure if you have to join but I am sure it worth signing up for it .

Originally posted by Gillespie
Im triyng to find an apocrypha on the Goddess Sophia, it is said she was part of the Bible Genesis in the creation, she was the original "Eve" that Adam desired and Sophia replicated her imagine because ...

Sophia which equates to wisdom, which is a feminine counterpoint to masculine force/strength

the Sophia was not an actual 'person'...just like Adam was not an individual person...
both were/are whats called Archtypes of the collective conscious-knowledge...

Sophia, imho, became the hebrew 'Lilith', or First-Wife-of-Adam... which was 'driven' from Adams' world-view because of a jealous tribal god.
in as much, the shamanic & pagan spiritual worlds of the early mankind populations became further divided into subsets, like tribal Israelites/Hebrews who were (over time) forceably restructured into a Patriarchaical Heirarchy,
in contrast to the more passive, serene & universal Goddess-Nature cultures which were 'The' universal religion of the times.

The Isrealite 'god' became the conqueror & smashed to pieces the more peaceful culture/spiritual practices in the world around the

because the hebrew oral tradition 'endured' ..... right-or-wrong is not the issue...sustainability/longevity is... & that's why the Genesis account permeates most global cultures today, even if it does not stand the test of being factual.
Sophia is demoted to a value of superstition in the contemporary world...
whereas a masculine, patriarchial man god of many names is elevated to new heights


thanks,


[edit on 5-11-2008 by St Udio]

Originally posted by lisa2012
Under my profile on scribd.com you will see in the Gnostic Documents folder all information you may need .


Follow the link :

www.scribd.com...

I am not so sure if you have to join but I am sure it worth signing up for it .

What folder and document do you refer to ?
There are aliens, UFO 's, OOBs etc but not all are Sophia

Originally posted by hawk123
What folder and document do you refer to ?
There are aliens, UFO 's, OOBs etc but not all are Sophia

Look in her "Gnostic Documents" file.

You'll find it in there.

Harte

reply to post by Gillespie



Sophia is a name representitive of the spirit of God. Kinda like the energy grid that holds mass together. There are major refrences in the document below out of the Nag Hammi Lib among other places in the scroll set and I think there are others in the dead sea scrolls.

www.gnosis.org...

Originally posted by Incarnated
reply to post by Gillespie

 

Sophia is a name representitive of the spirit of God. Kinda like the energy grid that holds mass together. There are major refrences in the document below out of the Nag Hammi Lib among other places in the scroll set and I think there are others in the dead sea scrolls.

www.gnosis.org...

Astaphaios: his feminine name is Sophia (Wisdom).
Who is Astaphaios and what is the meaning of Pistis Sophia ?

I think it is interesting all the symbolism's throughout history and the commonalities between them.

There is a real synchronicity going on behind the scenes! Isn't it fascinating?

Thank you all for your research and insight!