Sophia: Lost Goddess of Wisdom
Once patriarchy infected the Christian church, the Sophia tradition was lost'but not entirely, if you know what to look for.
In Search of the Lost Christian Goddess
Sophia means wisdom.
Philosophy, first used by Pythagoras, means "lover of Sophia."
The Sophia tradition is found in the Wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible.
For the earliest Christians:
Divine masculine = Jesus
Divine feminine = Sophia
The Sophia Tradition
Once patriarchy infected the Christian church, the Sophia tradition was lost'but not entirely, if you know what to look for.
When passages in the Hebrew Bible (OT) or New Testament use "wisdom," they are referring to the lost Sophia tradition.
Logos, the "word" of God, is the Greek masculine form of Sophia = WISDOM; God's creative energy; mediator between God & creation.
Searching for the Sophia Tradition
John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."
Is "the Word" actually SHE, not HE, the feminine principle of Being?
Is the "Word" a Goddess?
Greek philosophy saw Sophia, goddess of Wisdom, as the creative power that formed the cosmos out of original chaos.
Hebrew biblical tradition, in the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, see Wisdom as Sophia and Sophia as Yahweh's companion in creation.
Proverbs 8: 22-31
Proverbs is part of the Wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible, including Job and Ecclesiastes.
Wisdom (Sophia) is Yahweh's (God) intimate companion in creating the world.
Sophia serves as God's channel of communication with humanity.
The "Holy Spirit" of Christianity? Apocryphal Literature
Apocryphal books are later Hebrew writings not included in most Protestant Bibles.
Ecclesiasticus 24; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12—9:18.
Sophia becomes both the agent or means of creation and the revealer of the Divine Mind.
Genesis 1:3
God first creates by uttering "the word"; "Then God said 'Let there be light'; and there was light."
"The Word" = "Sophia" = Wisdom = the creative force of God.
Philo Judaeus (a 1st century Jewish scholar) uses the masculine "logos" for "the word" instead of the feminine "Sophia"—PATRIARCHAL THINKING!
Clues in the New Testament: 1 Corinth: 2:6-16
Paul speaks of the Wisdom of God that is revealed to humanity through the Spirit.
The Wisdom of God is only revealed through the Spirit of God.
Here is the "lost goddess" of Christianity: the Holy Spirit!
The Gospel of Q
Scholars posit the existence of the lost Gospel of Q to explain similar passages found in Matthew and Luke not found in Mark.
Q portrays Jesus and John the Baptist as messengers sent by Sophia. (See Luke 11:49).
Q may have been destroyed by the "Patriarchal Establishment" that took over the Church.
The Advocate in John
The Advocate = the Holy Spirit that Jesus bestows on his followers after his death (John 14: 12-26).
The Sophia tradition, the Lost Goddess of Christianity, lives on as the Holy Spirit described in John.
Patriarchal authors use the masculine pronoun, but the Holy Spirit is Sophia described in earlier Hebrew literature (see Proverbs 8).
Holy Spirit in John
Only by being "born in the Spirit" can Christians "enter the kingdom of Heaven" (John: 3:4-9)
The Holy Spirit continues to reveal Jesus' cosmic splendour after his departure (16: 12-15)
The Holy Spirit answers prayers for knowledge and power (14: 12-26)
Sophia Lost
The patriarchal Roman Church eradicated the Christian Goddess.
Original Christians valued men and women equally as expressions of God and the Goddess.
The mystical marriage of Jesus and Sophia brought believers into the bliss of Christ Consciousness.
Patriarchal Christianity
Longs for the divine feminine; Mary worship, the "Da Vinci Code," the work of reconstructionists and reformers in the church.
Historic Christianity is linked to violence and hatred even as it professes love for all.
Without the recovery of Sophia, Christ consciousness evades Christian believers.
www.wiu.edu/users/mfjks/303sfa.html
Wisdom Speaks For Herself:
Does not Wisdom call, and understanding lift up Her voice? On top of the heights
beside the way where the paths meet, She takes Her stand. Beside the gates, at
the opening to the city, at the entrance of the doors, She cries out:
"To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O naive ones;
discern prudence and O fools; discern wisdom. Listen, for I shall speak noble
things and the opening of my lips will produce right things. For my mouth will
utter truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or
perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands and right
to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge
rather than choicest gold. For wisdom is better than jewels and all desirable
things cannot compare with her.
I, Wisdom, dwell with providence and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear
of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the
perverted mouth; i hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding.
Power is mine. By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule,
and nobles; All who judge rightly.
I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek Me will find Me. Riches
and honour are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better
than gold, even pure gold and my yield than choicest silver. I walk in the way
of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love
Me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.
The Lord possessed Me at the beginning of His way before His works of old. From
everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of
the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no
springs abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the
hills, I was brought forth. While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
nor the first dust of the world when He established the heavens, I was there.
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies
above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its
boundary so that the water should not trangress His command, when He marked out
the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him, as a Master Workman, and I
was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the world, His
earth and having my delight in the sons of men.
Now therefore O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep My ways. Heed
instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens
to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds Me
finds Life, and obtains favour from the Lord. But he who sins against Me injures
himself. All those who hate Me love death. (Proverbs 8)
Wisdom's Invitation To All:
Wisdom has built Her house. She has hewn out Her seven pillars. She has mixed
Her wine. She has also set Her table. She has sent out Her maidens. She calls
from the tops of the heights of the city: "Whoever is naive, let him turn in
here!" To him who lacks understanding, She says: "Come, eat of my food, and
drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the
way of understanding."
Proverbs 9:1-6
NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:
www.adishakti.org/www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/ ' Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)
