Pistis Sophia;A Gnostic Miscellany: Being For The Most Part Extracts From The Books Of The Saviour,

By G.R.S. Mead

Pistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The remaining manuscript, which scholars place in the late 4th century, relates the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha), when the risen Christ had accomplished eleven years speaking with his disciples. In it, the complex structures and hierarchies of heaven familiar in Gnostic teachings are revealed. The text proclaims that Jesus remained on earth after the resurrection for 11 years, and was able in this time to teach his disciples up to the first (i. e. beginner) level of the mystery. It starts with an allegory paralleling the death and resurrection of Jesus, and describing the descent and ascent of the soul. It then proceeds to describe important figures within the Gnostic cosmology, and then finally lists 32 carnal desires to overcome before salvation is possible. George Robert Stowe Mead, who translated these documents into English, was an English historian, writer, editor, translator, and influential member of the Theosophical Society (personal secretary of Madame Blavatsky), whose scholarly works dealt mainly with the Hermetic and Gnostic religions of Late Antiquity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1519521510
• ISBN13: 9781519521514
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.5" x 8.5"