Gnostic Demiurge
In Gnosticism, the Demiurge is the creator of the physical universe and is not the same as God, the creator of the spiritual universe. The Demiurge is also known as Yahweh Yaldabaoth, Yao or Iao, Ialdabaoth and several other variants.
Another variation is Nous — a philosophical term for mind or intellect (in Gnosticism, human intellect is inferior to Consciousness, or Divine Wisdom). To the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, nous was a mechanical ordering force that formed the world out of an original chaos. It began the development of the cosmos.
In popular Christianity, the Demiurge is simply the fallen angels led by Lucifer, but they are not given credit for creating the physical realms. Plato used Demiurge to mean the creator of the physical. The Demiurge was not evil, just inferior to the true God that Jesus called "Father". Because his knowledge of creation was inferior, that which he created is inferior. So in Gnosticism, the physical universe is inferior to the spiritual and the goal of the Gnostics is to return it to it's original form: Spirit.
The Gnostic differed with the orthodox Christians on two other major issues: the salvation of man and the person of Jesus. They disagreed with the theory that man was sinful by nature, but believed man erred through ignorance; by knowledge man could correct his ways and gain salvation. The special knowledge which the Gnostics subscribed to was known as "gnois." Gnois was not a logical type of knowledge as one might gain in the study of mathematics or chemistry, but it was an intuitive or reflexive type of knowledge which comes from the study of man's soul. Any other knowledge did not concern the Gnostics. They called this gnois illuminated Logos because they believed it led to man's salvation. The principle teacher of gnois was Jesus; a special person who did not come from the Demiurge but had come directly from God and the Holy Spirit. The primary source of gnois is The Sun of Righteousness.
Another variation is Nous — a philosophical term for mind or intellect (in Gnosticism, human intellect is inferior to Consciousness, or Divine Wisdom). To the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, nous was a mechanical ordering force that formed the world out of an original chaos. It began the development of the cosmos.
In popular Christianity, the Demiurge is simply the fallen angels led by Lucifer, but they are not given credit for creating the physical realms. Plato used Demiurge to mean the creator of the physical. The Demiurge was not evil, just inferior to the true God that Jesus called "Father". Because his knowledge of creation was inferior, that which he created is inferior. So in Gnosticism, the physical universe is inferior to the spiritual and the goal of the Gnostics is to return it to it's original form: Spirit.
The Gnostic differed with the orthodox Christians on two other major issues: the salvation of man and the person of Jesus. They disagreed with the theory that man was sinful by nature, but believed man erred through ignorance; by knowledge man could correct his ways and gain salvation. The special knowledge which the Gnostics subscribed to was known as "gnois." Gnois was not a logical type of knowledge as one might gain in the study of mathematics or chemistry, but it was an intuitive or reflexive type of knowledge which comes from the study of man's soul. Any other knowledge did not concern the Gnostics. They called this gnois illuminated Logos because they believed it led to man's salvation. The principle teacher of gnois was Jesus; a special person who did not come from the Demiurge but had come directly from God and the Holy Spirit. The primary source of gnois is The Sun of Righteousness.
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