Sophia (wisdom), Mother of Yaldabaoth, is portrayed within the OT....
Sophia is found throughout the wisdom books of the Bible. There are many references to Her in the book of Proverbs, and in the apocryphal books of
Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon (accepted by Catholics and Orthodox, found in the Greek Septuagint of the early Church). She is Wisdom Incarnate, the
Goddess of all those who are wise.
"Is it any wonder that She is constantly associated with wise King Solomon? 1 Kings 4:29-31 tells us that God gave wisdom to Solomon, and that he
became wiser than all the kings of the East and all the wise people of Egypt. Wisdom 8:2, 16, 18 tells us that Solomon was seen as married to Sophia.
One of the many layers of symbolism attributed to the Song of Songs (also known as Song of Solomon or Canticle of Canticles) is that it speaks of
Solomon's marriage to Holy Sophia. Wisdom 9:8-11 even tells us that Sophia instructed Solomon in building the Temple!
The Jews revered Sophia. King Solomon even put Her right in the Temple, in the form of the Goddess Asherah. However, after the "reforms" of King
Josiah, there was a threat that the veneration of Sophia would come to a halt - there was even more of a threat when patriarchal Christianity took
over the world. Even still, thanks to Her continuing presence in the world and Her presence in the Bible, veneration of Sophia continued in the
Eastern tradition with the construction of the Hagia Sophia and the Russian Catholic liturgical service to Sophia combined with the assumption of Mary
on May 15. The Russian Orthodox Church has also begun a school of "Sophiology" to explore the thealogy of Sophia without contradicting the Russian
Orthodox theology.
Yet the Eastern Christians are not the only Christians to venerate Sophia. Sophia was very likely venerated by early Followers of the Way, and her
veneration has survived in the West today in the form of Gnosticism. Gnostics see her as one of the aeons, one of the quasi-deities who live in the
ethereal realm known as the pleroma. Gnostics believe that she gave birth to or brought about the creation of a negative aeon, who later came to be
called an archon, called the Demiurge, creator and ruler of this world. Gnostics see the Demiurge as the God of the Old Testament, with his strict
rules and chains that bind the people of the Earth. Gnostics believe that Sophia and the Father God (not the Demiurge) sent Yeshua to right this
wrong. In Gnostic tradition, Sophia plays a very active role in our world."
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LV



