What is the supreme being in Gnostic cosmogony?

In Gnostic worldviews, the supreme being is a hidden, uncorrupted divine entity completely distinct from the creator of the physical universe. Gnostics typically distinguished this ultimate spiritual source from a flawed demiurge responsible for material reality. Salvation is achieved through personal spiritual knowledge, or gnosis, rather than traditional faith or obedience.

What we know

• The Gnostic worldview typically distinguished between a hidden, uncorrupted supreme being and a flawed demiurge. [5]
• The demiurge, responsible for creating material reality and the observable universe, is identified and equivalent with Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible according to the Apocryphon of John. [5]
• Gnostics held that material existence is corrupted and believed the principal element of salvation was direct knowledge of one's own divine origin, a concept shared across diverse religious and philosophical systems. [2, 5]

Where to go next

• what caused itWhat is the role of the demiurge in Gnosticism?
• what followedHow did early Church Fathers view Gnostic teachings?
• how it workedHow is gnosis attained in Gnostic traditions?
• how we knowWhat did the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library reveal about Gnosticism?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the core characteristics of Gnosticism as an umbrella term?
• an unexpected connectionHow did ancient Egyptian creation myths involve primordial chaos?Both ancient Egyptian traditions and Gnostic systems deal heavily with primordial states and transitions into existence, yet Gnosticism introduces a stark moral corruption in the creator of the material world.

Sources

• [1]God (Wikidata Q190) · CC0 1.0
• [2]God · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Chaos (cosmogony) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Ancient Egyptian creation myths · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Gnosticism · CC BY-SA 4.0

Your path

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8. /What is the supreme being in Gnostic cosmogony?