CHAPTER X

THE SYSTEM OF THE PISTIS SOPHIA AND ITS RELATED TEXTS

Description of the _Pistis Sophia_ MS.—Story of two first parts—Pre-terrestrial acts of Jesus—Incarnation and Second Ascension with address of the Powers—Arrangement of Heavenly Worlds and their occupants: the Powers above and below the Veil: those of the Right, Middle, and Left—The starry world—Adventures of Jesus’ passage to the upper worlds—He changes the course of the stars—Meeting of Jesus with _Pistis Sophia_ and her history—Is the _Pistis Sophia_ the _Interrogations of Mary_?—Ophite features in _Pistis Sophia_—Valentinian ones more marked—Joys of elect in next world and places according to mysteries—Mysteries are sacraments—Eucharistic grace revealed in book—-Complete union of worshippers with deity confined to few—Egyptian features in book—Existing MS., Coptic version of Greek text—Original work probably by Valentinus—_The Texts of the Saviour_: a thaumaturgic work—Its continuation—_Texts of the Saviour_ later than _Pistis Sophia_ and quotations from them—Are the _Texts_ by Marcus the Magician?—The Bodleian Papyrus Bruce and its divisions—One fragment must be later than _Pistis Sophia_—Another connected with the _Texts of the Saviour_—Dr Karl Schmidt’s views as to date, etc. discussed—Increase of post-mortem terrors in later books, a peculiarly Egyptian feature—Degeneration of Gnosticism in Egypt and its magical tendencies—Ill effects of this upon Egyptian Christianity—Services rendered to Church by Gnosticism generally 134-202

##