The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-26

Gnosticism. And it is, we think, espe- 1 ciaIly to remove the errors of the last that John writes of the Word so ex- l plicitly mere. An understanding of the doctrles of which is essential t. the comprehension of the various stages in the argument of John. They believed: l. That the primary source of all spir- 1tual existence was an eternal abyss (Buthos) so far beyond human repre-
 sentation that no one should venture to
 name him or even to conceive of him.
 He was the absolute one and virtually
 and logically non existing. In his na-
 ture, however, there was some incon-
 celYable ground of self evolution, Hence
 he begets a series of aeons or hpostat
 lzed divine attributes. The first of
 which were Nous, Logos, Sophia, Dun-
 ahfls' Aletheia, Zoe and Soter. g5nerat-
 ed either by the original throughout
 or by one another in an ever,increas-
 ing imperfection as they recede from
 the center Together they constitute
 the Pleroma, the world of light and di-
 Vine fullness, but far removed from
 the infinite abyss with which none can
 directly communicate, To remove this
 John says, "fn the beginning" not in
 beginning as in Genesis l.. 1, but 'in
 the beginning" from all eternity, twas
 the Word and the Word was with God not so far removed from him
 as not directly to communicate with him, and the Word was God" not an aeon, and hypostatized divine attmb- | ute, not abyss evolved, but God him. | self And he,'' not the aeonic world, 1
 is the true light that hghteth every 1
 man that cometh into the world,'
 z That over against this Pleroma. or 1 world of light, was the Kenoma or l world Of matter, empy and dark. This IS variously represented by some as active, by others as inactive, some times near, sometimes remote from the world of light. Into this, however, Sophia, one of the aeons, fell, an act of some claim, and by the com- mingling of the light nature in the Sophia with matter Demiurge was born. He was neither pneumatic nor material but psychicaI, occupying an ground between God and the material world. He is not, of course, an evil, but only limited and 1 imperfect being, though evil springs from the defect of his works. He acts in general according to his ability and
 light. He is the creator of the earth and of the sidereal heavens and their and is unconsciously inf1u- enced by the higher powers in the world of light. This is the God of the Jews In reply to this John says, "All things were made by him." the Word, not Demiurge, "and without him was not anything made that was made"
 5. That Demiurge being the creature If asfallen aeon the whole race that he created fell. 'The whole (rationaD creation" as represented by Paul (Rom. 1iii., 22) sighed for redemption" They therefore represent Christ or Soter, one )f the aeons as coming and bringing Sophia, the fallen aeon, after innum- erable sufferings back to the Pleroma, md undertaking the deliverance of all allen natures. To do this he assumes lot @ material form, since he can have 10 contact with matter, but only the of it. To this John replies, tsing the Word as synonymous with soter; or, the two And the Word was made flesh, real, not seeming, and did lot withdraw immediately, but "dwelt Lmong us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" Hence 'ou see, attacking every part of this gross heresy, So far as 1t relates to Christ, 1t must have been intended as ] refutation and overthrow of the fnosisic theory.
 But there was also @ beauty in the lame itself which John would have re- lived. A word is the image of our mental state, between which and the tate itself there ought to be as much esemblance as between the photograph nd the face. It is also the expression thought. As a speaker proceed rom thought to word, and as a nearer ou proceed from word to thought. It Of use to me only as it deposits my ther wise secret thinking, and you niy as it reveals the otherwise un- nown. Just as the sun and moon and tars reveal themselves by the light mich they emit, so reveal myself. my lgher self, my lower self, by the words
 use. No better index to ones denth shalloWnes, to ones beauty or homre-