Trimorphic Protennoia or Three Forms of First Thought is a Sethian

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

text from the

New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cit ...

. The only surviving copy comes from the

Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus c ...

( Codex XIII). The text describes three descents using the voice of

Barbelo Barbēlō (Greek: Βαρβηλώ) refers to the first emanation of God in several forms of Gnostic cosmogony. Barbēlō is often depicted as a supreme female principle, the single passive antecedent of creation in its manifold. This figure is al ...

in first person. The voice is the source of life, knowledge, and the first thought. The voice is said to have three names, three masculinities, and three powers, and it is described as

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...

. It explains that Sophia descended to help counter the plan of the demon

Yaldabaoth Yaldabaoth, otherwise known as Jaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth (; ; ; ''Ialtabaôth''), is a malevolent God and demiurge (creator of the material world) according to various Gnostic sects, represented sometimes as a theriomorphic, lion-headed ser ...

and the

archons ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

. The speaker invites the reader to enter the high perfect light and receive glory, enthronement, and

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

Summary

The First Descent

Speaking in first person, the text starts by describing the speaker as the first thought, a movement in all things, and the source of life and knowledge. The speaker is called by three names, and is invisible yet able to reveal itself. The voice that comes from the speaker's thought is said to exist as three permanences: the father, the mother, and the son. The voice is a rich and glorious speech with three masculinities, powers, and names. The speaker descended into the underworld and shone down on the darkness and through the voice, knowledge comes. The Son, who is the Word, revealed the everlasting and preached to those in darkness and in the abyss, teaching ineffable mysteries to those who became children of the light. The voice is described as having three shapes in the manner of a triad, secretly in silence of the ineffable one. The text continues by describing the creation and establishment of the eternal realms by the perfect son, the

anointed Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or oth ...

, and his glory. The great light Eleleth (a luminary) says that he is king, and a great demon named

, who took power from Sophia, appears. Sophia then reveals her voice secretly and comes down to the world of mortals to counter the plan of the demon. The demon creates a human being in Sophia's likeness, but it is a decree of his annulment. Sophia comes down to chaos and empowers her own, and reveals herself to the children of light, who are her portion. She breaks the bonds of the underworld demons and informs the children of light how to return to where they first were. Sophia is the first to descend for her portion, which is the spirit in the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

The Second Descent

The speaker is a voice that appeared through thought and is one joined to another. The speaker is called the unchanging speech, the mother of the voice, and the thought of the invisible one. The speaker has come twice, once in the likeness of masculinity and the second time in the likeness of a female. The speaker reveals the coming end of this realm and the beginning of the eternal realm without change. The powers are disturbed by the voice of the speaker, but do not recognize it. The speaker is androgynous, both mother and father, and gives shape to all through bearing light. The speaker invites the listener into the high perfect light and offers to glorify, enthrone, and baptize them. The speaker also reveals that they have hidden in everyone and revealed themselves in them, and that they created breath and cast the eternally

holy spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

into their people.

The Third Descent

The speaker is the word in the ineffable voice and light that came from the great speech of the mother. The speaker reveals its mysteries to the reader, who is considered a brother or sister. The speaker then came three times: once as the voice's speech, then as the word, and finally as light. The speaker delivered the reader to various entities, and the reader was given the five seals from the light of the mother. The speaker wore

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and took him from

the cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

to his father's house. The text ends with the speaker proclaiming the ineffable five seals (a Sethian baptismal rite) to live in the reader and for the reader to live in it.

Similarities with other texts

The content of the text is Sethian and, thus, shares beliefs with other Sethian Gnostic works, such as the ''

Apocryphon of John The ''Apocryphon of John'', also called the ''Secret Book of John'' or the ''Secret Revelation of John'', is a 2nd-century Sethianism, Sethian gnosticism, Gnostic Christian pseudepigrapha, pseudepigraphical text attributed to John the Apost ...

'', ''

Zostrianos ''Zostrianos'' is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the first tractate of two in Codex VIII of the Nag Hammadi library. It takes up 132 of the 140 pages in the codex, making ''Zostrianos'' the longest tractate of the entire library. However the text ...

'', ''

Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit The ''Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit'', also known as the ''Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians'', is a Sethian Gnostic text found in Codices III and IV of the Nag Hammadi library. The text describes the origin of three powers: the Father, t ...

'', and ''

Three Steles of Seth The ''Three Steles of Seth'' is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the fifth tractate in Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi library. The writing is in Coptic and takes up the last nine pages of the codex. Background A common theme in Sethian works is a d ...

''. The first-person pronouncements are similar to those in ''

The Thunder, Perfect Mind "The Thunder, Perfect Mind" ( ) is a Coptic text originally discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. It follows a poetic structure, and has received scholarly attention for its gnomic style and unclear subject. It speaks about the divine i ...

''. Buckley (2010) notes similarities with Mandaean baptism (''

masbuta Maṣbuta (; pronounced ''maṣwottā'' in Neo-Mandaic) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as ritual purification, not of initia ...

'') as described in

Mandaean texts This article contains a list of Mandaic manuscripts, which are almost entirely Mandaeism, Mandaean religious texts written in Classical Mandaic language, Mandaic. Well-known Mandaean texts include the ''Ginza Rabba'' (also known as the ''Sidra ...

References

{{The Nag Hammadi Codices , state=collapsed Gnostic apocrypha Sethian texts Coptic literature Nag Hammadi library