Trimorphic Protennoia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (March 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

hide  Part of a series on Gnosticism
show Gnostic concepts Aeon Anima mundi Archon Demiurge Gnosis Monad Pleroma
show Gnostic sects and founders List of Gnostic sects Christian Gnosticism Apelles Cerinthus Justin Marcion Marcionism Nicolaism Perates Saturninus Syrian-Egyptian Ophites Sethianism Samaritan Baptist Dositheos Simon Magus (Simonians) Menander Alexandrian Basilides Basilideans Roman Valentinus Valentinianism Marcus Marcosians Persian Gnosticism John the Baptist Mandaeism Sabians Mani Manichaeism Chinese Gnosticism Chinese Manichaeism Islamic Gnosticism Druze Nusayrism Modern Modern schools
show Scriptures List of Gnostic texts Texts Nag Hammadi library Pseudo-Abdias Clementine literature Gnosticism and the New Testament Codices Codex Tchacos Cologne Mani-Codex Askew Codex Bruce Codex Berlin Codex
show Influenced by Apocalyptic literature Early Christianity Christology Docetism Paul and Gnosticism Merkabah mysticism Middle Platonism Philo Wisdom (personification)
show Influence on Carl Jung Esoteric Christianity Christian theosophy Gnosticism in modern times Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Perennial philosophy Thelema Theosophy (Blavatskian) Western esotericism
v t

The Trimorphic Protennoia is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha. The only surviving copy comes from the Nag Hammadi library (Codex XIII).

I [am] the Thought of the Father, Protennoia, that is, Barbelo, the perfect Glory, and the immeasurable Invisible One who is hidden. I am the Image of the Invisible Spirit, and it is through me that the All took shape, and (I am) the Mother (as well as) the Light which she appointed as Virgin, she who is called 'Meirothea', the incomprehensible Womb, the unrestrainable and immeasurable Voice.^[1]

Similarities with other texts[]

Like the more familiar Apocryphon of John, to which it is similar, it is thought to be from the mid-second century, and similar in style to the Gospel of John. In particular, there is great similarity with the prologue.

Mysticism[]

The name of the text means The First Thought which is in Three Forms (or The Three Forms of the First Thought), and appears to have been rewritten at some point to incorporate Sethian beliefs, when originally it was a treatise from another Gnostic sect. Unusually, the text is in the form of an explanation of the nature of cosmology, creation, and a docetic view of Jesus, in the first person. That is, the text is written as if the writer is God, the three-fold first thought. Like most Gnostic writing, the text is extremely mystical, more so for being in the first person.

Secret teachings[]

In common with mystery religions, there were secret teachings, and not all texts were intended to be read by uninitiated people. The text appears to have been written for a higher level of initiate who was part of the way through since it states, "Now behold! I will reveal to you my mysteries, since you are my fellow brethren, and you shall know them all",^[2] but tantalizingly, the next five lines are missing and followed by "I told all of them about my mysteries".^[3] Some speculation has considered the possibility that the missing five lines were always missing and had never originally existed, their absence itself being a teaching of the text.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

• Turner, John D. "Trimorphic Protennoia - The Nag Hammadi Library". Gnostic Society. Retrieved 16 September 2017.

This article about New Testament apocrypha is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t