Pistis sophia. A gnostic gospel (with extracts from the books of the saviour appended)

Around this time, men like Clement of Alexandria and Origen appeared. They expressed much more liberal views and built the foundations of Christian theology, but they were exceptions to the rule.

The Gnostic teachers could not believe that the Jews were the only nation to whom God had revealed himself. They did not believe that the scriptures of other nations should be thrown away as lies and errors. However, they saw that the old order had been shaken. The intense faith of the people in the person of Jesus and the rapid social revolution could not be stopped. They could only hope to guide this energy into a more universal direction. Therefore, they used the traditional story of Jesus, which had created such enthusiasm, as a frame. Into this frame, they wove the "wisdom" of the great world religions. They believed that truth was one and did not favor any specific person or nation. They believed all nations received this truth according to their needs. They combined these ideas with Christian tradition and wrote gospels and revelations of that hidden wisdom which had been guarded in temples for ages. They believed Jesus had been initiated into this wisdom and was, in turn, an initiator himself. They did not simply invent these things. Instead, they gathered them from existing scriptures, many of which have since been lost. They drew from the wisdom of Egypt, Chaldea, Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Ethiopia. They used the books of Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, the Magi, and Zoroaster. They may have even used sources from India. Most of their information came from the East.

They believed that the standard life of Jesus was legendary and symbolic. They also found many other legends that were not included in the Synoptic Gospels.

They were devoted to the mystical life and did not care much for the historical side of religion. Their motto was "now and within." Because of this, their views were not liked by the orthodox Christians who believed the historical facts were the most important part. The ancient wisdom proved too difficult for most people to understand. Even the followers of the Gnostic teachers often misunderstood it. In many cases, it turned into superstition and wild theories.

We are not trying to track the entire history of this movement. We are simply presenting one of the better sides of the effort. We will now look at the document we are specifically interested in. This Introduction provides only a brief outline. A more detailed commentary will be provided in a future work by this writer.

Description and criticism of the MS.

The only known manuscript of the Pistis Sophia was bought by the British Museum from the heirs of Dr. Askew at the end of the last century. It is now listed as MS. Add. 5114. The title on the binding is "Piste Sophia in Coptic," and below that is "British Museum by Right of Purchase." On the first page is the signature of A. Askew, M.D. On the binding is a note, likely written by the scholar Woide: original: "Codex dialecti Superioris Ægypti, quam Sahidicam seu Thebaidicam vocant, cujus titulus exstat pagina 115: Pmeh snaou ntomos ntpiste Sophia—Tomos secundus fidelis Sapientiæ—Deest pagina 337-344." Translation of Latin note: "A manuscript in the dialect of Upper Egypt, called Sahidic or Thebaic. The title appears on page 115: The second book of the Faithful Wisdom. Pages 337 to 344 are missing."

The title Piste Sophia is incorrect. That form is never found in the book. The suggestion by Dulaurier and Renan to change the name from Pistis Sophia to Piste Sophia The Faithful Wisdom has not been supported by other scholars.

I cannot discover where Askew found or bought the manuscript. It is not mentioned in his biography.