Page "Naassene Fragment" Paragraph 27
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Like Gnosis at large, the Ophites teach the existence of a Supreme Being, standing infinitely high above the visible world ; qualified as purely spiritual, the primal basis of all things, the starting-point of the cosmic process.
His names are, Father of the Universe, First Man, the " Uncreated ," the " Unspeakable ," the " Unapproachable God.
The Ophitic theology tends to separate this supreme God into an ever-increasing number of separate entities.
In the aforesaid Hymn, only the Son is mentioned beside the Father ; but a tetrad occurs among the Ophites of Irenaeus and the Naassenes ; an entire decad among the Gnostici Barbelo ; while the Nag Hammadi writings disclose a countless host of higher beings.
The Supreme Being's mode of evolution is set forth, now as a generative, again as a psychologic process ; and frequently the two ideas are combined.
Some pagan mythology lies obviously at the root of the matter ; which accounts also for their syzygial views ; for, in part at least, the Ophites aimed to interpret the ancient myths as psychologic processes.
In the Hymn, the phrase " the firstborn's emitted chaos " implies that it is derived from a higher being.
It is not the existence of chaos which contradicts perfection ; but rather the mixture of luminous parts with material elements.
The Hymn designates the soul, the principle of this compound, as the common product of mind and chaos.
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