pistissophia

Pistis Sophia

by Bob on April 17, 2008

The Gnostic text, the Pistis Sophia, from about 200 AD, is an interesting read especially in the context of Comparative Religion and Christianity.

The female deity of Gnosticism is Sophia. She is the ultimate Feminine Principle. And the left hand of the right-handed Logos, the Male Principle.

Now, we realise that Gnosticism is considered in the Canon as a heresy. But there is some interest in such heresy as an intellectual pursuit or in contrast to other thought patterns.

The Greek word "sophia" (from "sophos" meaning wise) is Wisdom.

I've known a lot of ladies named Sophie in my life and I even had a great aunt named Sophie. It's actually a beautiful name, but not seemingly used much these days.

Wisdom is very hard to put a finger on. Socrates tried with Justice and somewhat succeeded but Wisdom is somewhat intuitively obvious but hard to really pin down by a succinct definition. The basic idea from such a source is that it is a quality which manifest as someone who knows and has the power to distinguish what is right and true and possesses judgment and discretion. There is an additional aspect in that a wise person is learned and well-studied.

We think of an owl as wise. Many university buildings of olden times have an owl above the doorway to remind us of the usefulness of wisdom. And of course to study hard inside the classroom and in the university.

The great King Solomon of the bible was said to be very wise. Frequently we hear expressions such as "he's as wise as Solomon". It was said he was a wise ruler of his kingdom, too. That's a good thing.

The opposite of wise is foolish. There's a lot of foolishness in the world, as true wisdom is discounted as a useful trait these days. Now, don't get me wrong, being a fool has its own blessings ! In fact, I remember a characterisation of a person as being a "wise fool" which was a very interesting oxymoron. It meant he really wasn't foolish but wise but chose to be as a fool. Court jesters in the Middle Ages weren't so foolish either. In fact, they were the smartest and wisest people in the king's court. And they got all the damsels, too. Just watch the Woody Allen comedy movie from 1972 entitled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex * (* But Were Afraid to Ask)" and see the vignette with the fool or court jester played by Woody Allen. He's not such a fool at all. There are some great lines in the movie like:

The Queen

Ah, 'tis the chastity belt that the jealous King hath fastened upon me that no one but he shalst have the goods of the body.

The Fool

Yeah, it's a pretty bad break for all of us at the Palace.

Good old New York City humour !

But, in seriousness, Wisdom is a very admirable trait to have but it takes almost a lifetime of learning, both scholarly and hard knocks, to get. Some people are just born with it. They are lucky.

The rest of us, like Sisyphus have to keep on pushing that rock up the hill, just to have it fall back down again, over and over.