Demiurge: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Lion-faced_deity.jpg|thumb|A lion-faced deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures | [[File:Lion-faced_deity.jpg|thumb|A lion-faced deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures is a depiction of the Demiurge or Yaldabaoth.]] | ||
In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the [[Demiurge]] is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term "demiurge". Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily the same as the creator figure in the monotheistic sense, because the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are both considered to be consequences of something else. Depending on the system, they may be considered to be either uncreated and eternal or the product of some other entity. | In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the [[Demiurge]] is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term "demiurge". Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily the same as the creator figure in the monotheistic sense, because the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are both considered to be consequences of something else. Depending on the system, they may be considered to be either uncreated and eternal or the product of some other entity. | ||
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==Yaldabaoth== | ==Yaldabaoth== | ||
Yaldabaoth, otherwise known as Jaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth is a malevolent god and demiurge (creator of the material world) according to various Gnostic sects, represented sometimes as a theriomorphic, lion-headed serpent. He is identified as a false god who keeps souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the material universe. | [[Yaldabaoth]], otherwise known as Jaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth is a malevolent god and demiurge (creator of the material world) according to various Gnostic sects, represented sometimes as a theriomorphic, lion-headed serpent. He is identified as a false god who keeps souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the material universe. | ||
The etymology of the name Yaldabaoth has been subject to many speculative theories. The first etymology was advanced in 1575 by François Feuardent, supposedly translating it from Hebrew to mean Latin: a patribus genitus, lit. 'the child of fathers' A theory proposed by Jacques Matter in 1828 identified the name as descending from Hebrew: ילדא, romanized: yāldā, lit. 'child' and from Hebrew: בהות, romanized: bahot, a supposed plural form of Hebrew: בוהו, romanized: bōhu, lit. 'emptiness, darkness'. Matter however interpreted it to mean 'chaos', thus translating Yaldaboath as "child of darkness [...] an element of chaos". <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaldabaoth wiki]</ref> | The etymology of the name Yaldabaoth has been subject to many speculative theories. The first etymology was advanced in 1575 by François Feuardent, supposedly translating it from Hebrew to mean Latin: a patribus genitus, lit. 'the child of fathers' A theory proposed by Jacques Matter in 1828 identified the name as descending from Hebrew: ילדא, romanized: yāldā, lit. 'child' and from Hebrew: בהות, romanized: bahot, a supposed plural form of Hebrew: בוהו, romanized: bōhu, lit. 'emptiness, darkness'. Matter however interpreted it to mean 'chaos', thus translating Yaldaboath as "child of darkness [...] an element of chaos". <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaldabaoth wiki]</ref> | ||
==Gnosticism== | ==Gnosticism== | ||