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What is Gnosticism?

It is difficult to answer this question because there exists so little scripture from the Gnostic traditions. The question "What did the Gnostics know?" has been addressed by historians, but there's very little actual commentary on the scripture from practicing gnostics today. I am Funk Mclovin, a Valentinian, and I want to go through some of the seminal works of the Gnostics and interpret them for you to make this Gnosis more accessible to modern times.

Today we will be discussing Thunder, Perfect Mind, also known simply as Thunder.

The title "Thunder, Perfect Mind" comes from the coptic "Tebronte: Nous Nteleios" which translates directly to "Thunder: Mind Perfect." "Tebronte" comes from the greek "Bronte" which is associated with Zeus and literal thunder. Nous from Nous which is of course "mind" and is a word common in Gnostic writing. Finally, Nteleios from "Teleios" which is a word used in the Bible to mean "perfect like God."

Thunder is a discourse between a female speaker who makes a broad range of oxymoronic statements to describe herself. It is written in lyrical form and is short. The speaker could be associated with the gnostic Sophia, and in the text the speaker calls herself "the wisdom of the Greeks" or the "Sophia of the Greeks," referring to Greek philosophy.

Thunder has associations with the Gospel of Thomas, which I have previously discussed. The speaker in Thunder claims at the end that the reader can "live and not die again" which is comparable to Thomas's beginning passage to "not taste death." Thunder is best understood on its own as not a polemic or tractate, but as a straightforward piece of art, like poetry.

1. Summary

Thunder is another piece of work I suggest you read on your own. It is relatively short and freely available online. It is mostly complete and what is incomplete is easy to infer reconstructions for.

The first line reads,

"I was sent forth from the power,

and I have come to those who reflect upon me,

and I have been found among those who seek after me."

The "power" could refer to "archon" who are called powers, but most likely, the speaker refers to THE power, the Monad.

The speaker then goes on to describe herself in contradictory, oxymoronic terms.

"For I am the first and the last.

I am the honored one and the scorned one.

I am the whore and the holy one.

I am the wife and the virgin.

I am <the mother> and the daughter.

I am the members of my mother.

I am the barren one

and many are her sons.

I am she whose wedding is great,

and I have not taken a husband."

These oxymorons are more typical in other texts describing the Monad. Compare the previous lines to the following, from the Tripartite Tractate:

"Not only is he without end - He is immortal for this reason, that he is unbegotten - but he is also invariable in his eternal existence, in his identity, in that by which he is established, and in that by which he is great. Neither will he remove himself from that by which he is, nor will anyone else force him to produce an end which he has not ever desired."

The paradoxical statements continue, some significant ones include the speaker as "barbarian of barbarians" and "Sophia of the Greeks."

"Why, you who hate me, do you love me,

and hate those who love me?

You who deny me, confess me,

and you who confess me, deny me."

The speaker also asks challenging questions of the audience in a rhetorical fashion.

"If you are condemned by this one, who will acquit you?

Or, if you are acquitted by him, who will be able to detain you?"

This theme of being "detained" is also a common trope in gnostic writings. The most important stanza contains the title of the text about halfway through it:

"I am perfect mind

and rest [of thunder]

I am the gnosis of my search

the discovery of those who seek me

the command of those who ask of me

the power of powers, through my gnosis"

The "rest of thunder" is reconstructed and tentative. The speaker associates herself with both the Monad and with Christ, of whom speaks in these terms in the gospels. The ideas of "seeking" and "finding" are of great importance.

The passage ends with a potent prayer.

"Look then at his words

and all the writings which have been completed.

Give heed then, you hearers

and you also, the angels and those who have been sent,

and you spirits who have arisen from the dead.

For I am the one who alone exists,

and I have no one who will judge me.

For many are the pleasant forms which exist in numerous sins,

and incontinencies,

and disgraceful passions,

and fleeting pleasures,

which (men) embrace until they become sober

and go up to their resting place.

And they will find me there,

and they will live,

and they will not die again."

Salvation from impermanence and death is a very important trope in gnosticism.

2. Analysis

Thunder, Perfect Mind is an attempt by the author to grasp an ineffable nature. Whether this ineffable form is Monas, Sophia, or Christ, is ambiguous and the reader is implored to take the words as they come instead of answering these questions concretely.

Thunder asks us to take the plunge into ambiguity, to embrace the chaos inherent to salvation, to understand something important using confusion and oxymoron. The most telling passage simply reads, "you who deny me confess me, and you who confess me deny me." This is of course a classic contradiction, but in a symbolic sense it is clear: You who deny me cannot deny me, and you who claim to know me don't know me. Or in simpler words: No one truly knows me, but I am inevitable.

The speaker in Thunder is imploring the reader to take the plunge, to go deeper, to explore a new reality where the rules are not as they seem. This kind of speaking is classic- Follow the white rabbit, go through the looking glass, take the red pill, we're not in Kansas any more. All of these stories underline that reality is maddening, confusing, and strange, but there is something that rises above it. A perfect mind.

What does the "perfect mind" look like? What is the Nous Teleios? It is Thunder, a sudden and jarring strike, a sudden moment that changes everything, a massive bolt of lightning, the tool of Zeus himself. It comes from on high and attacks us.

Thunder comes with rain, which is associated with life and death. Rain is life-giving water but is also the life-taking storm. Thunder is the harbinger of both. Thunder is the perfect mind.

Again, this is all more artistic and less straightforward than my other analyses, as Thunder is first and foremost an artistic work. Read it with an open mind and draw something from it. This is how gnosis comes in many cases, not by tractates and diagrams, but by art, sudden inspiration, and epiphany. By Thunder.

The Ending of the Words is Gnothi Ton Logon.