the unseen world and other essays-第24节

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e　was　reached　the　Demiurgus　or　Jehovah　of　the　Old　Testament；　who　created　the　world　and　appeared；　clothed　in　material　form；　to　the　patriarchs。　According　to　some　of　the　Gnostics　this　lowest　aeon　or　emanation　was　identical　with　the　Jewish　Satan；　or　the　Ahriman　of　the　Persians；　who　is　called　〃the　prince　of　this　world；〃　and　the　creation　of　the　world　was　an　essentially　evil　act。　But　all　did　not　share　in　these　extreme　opinions。　In　the　prevailing；　theory；　this　last　of　the　divine　emanations　was　identified　with　the　〃Sophia；〃　or　personified　〃Wisdom；〃　of　the　Book　of　Proverbs　（viii。　22…30）；　who　is　described　as　present　with　God　before　the　foundation　of　the　world。　The　totality　of　these　aeons　constituted　the　pleroma；　or　〃fulness　of　God〃　（Coloss。　i。　20；　Eph。　i。　23）；　and　in　a　corollary　which　bears　unmistakable　marks　of　Buddhist　influence；　it　was　argued　that；　in　the　final　consummation　of　things；　matter　should　be　eliminated　and　all　spirit　reunited　with　God；　from　whom　it　had　primarily　flowed。

It　was　impossible　that　such　views　as　these　should　not　soon　be　taken　up　and　applied　to　the　fluctuating　Christology　of　the　time。　According　to　the　〃Shepherd　of　Hermas；〃　an　apocalyptic　writing　nearly　contemporary　with　the　gospel　of　〃Mark；〃　the　aeon　or　son　of　God　who　existed　previous　to　the　creation　was　not　the　Christ；　or　the　Sophia；　but　the　Pneuma　or　Holy　Spirit；　represented　in　the　Old　Testament　as　the　〃angel　of　Jehovah。〃　Jesus；　in　reward　for　his　perfect　goodness；　was　admitted　to　a　share　in　the　privileges　of　this　Pneuma　（Reville；　p。　39）。　Here；　as　M。　Reville　observes；　though　a　Gnostic　idea　is　adopted；　Jesus　is　nevertheless　viewed　as　ascending　humanity；　and　not　as　descending　divinity。　The　author　of　the　〃Clementine　Homilies〃　advances　a　step　farther；　and　clearly　assumes　the　pre…existence　of　Jesus；　who；　in　his　opinion；　was　the　pure；　primitive　man；　successively　incarnate　in　Adam；　Enoch；　Noah；　Abraham；　Isaac；　Jacob；　Moses；　and　finally　in　the　Messiah　or　Christ。　The　author　protests；　in　vehement　language；　against　those　Hellenists　who；　misled　by　their　polytheistic　associations；　would　elevate　Jesus　into　a　god。　Nevertheless；　his　own　hypothesis　of　pre…existence　supplied　at　once　the　requisite　fulcrum　for　those　Gnostics　who　wished　to　reconcile　a　strict　monotheism　with　the　ascription　of　divine　attributes　to　Jesus。　Combining　with　this　notion　of　pre…existence　the　pneumatic　or　spiritual　quality　attributed　to　Jesus　in　the　writings　of　Paul；　the　Gnosticizing　Christians　maintained　that　Christ　was　an　aeon　or　emanation　from　God；　redeeming　men　from　the　consequences　entailed　by　their　imprisonment　in　matter。　At　this　stage　of　Christologic　speculation　appeared　the　anonymous　epistle　to　the　〃Hebrews；〃　and　the　pseudo…Pauline　epistles　to　the　〃Colossians；〃　〃Ephesians；〃　and　〃Philippians〃　（A。　D。　130）。　In　these　epistles；　which　originated　among　the　Pauline　Christians；　the　Gnostic　theosophy　is　skilfully　applied　to　the　Pauline　conception　of　the　scope　and　purposes　of　Christianity。　Jesus　is　described　as　the　creator　of　the　world　（Coloss。　i。　16）；　the　visible　image　of　the　invisible　God；　the　chief　and　ruler　of　the　〃throues；　dominions；　principalities；　and　powers；〃　into　which；　in　Gnostic　phraseology；　the　emanations　of　God　were　classified。　Or；　according　to　〃Colossians〃　and　〃Philippians；〃　all　the　aeons　are　summed　up　in　him；　in　whom　dwells　the　pleroma；　or　〃fulness　of　God。〃　Thus　Jesus　is　elevated　quite　above　ordinary　humanity；　and　a　close　approach　is　made　to　ditheism；　although　he　is　still　emphatically　subordinated　to　God　by　being　made　the　creator　of　the　world；an　office　then　regarded　as　incompatible　with　absolute　divine　perfection。　In　the　celebrated　passage；　〃Philippians〃　ii。　6…11；　the　aeon　Jesus　is　described　as　being　the　form　or　visible　manifestation　of　God；　yet　as　humbling　himself　by　taking　on　the　form　or　semblance　of　humanity；　and　suffering　death；　in　return　for　which　he　is　to　be　exalted　even　above　the　archangels。　A　similar　view　is　taken　in　〃Hebrews〃；　and　it　is　probable　that　to　the　growing　favour　with　which　these　doctrines　were　received；　we　owe　the　omission　of　the　miraculous　conception　from　the　gospel　of　〃Mark；〃a　circumstance　which　has　misled　some　critics　into　assigning　to　that　gospel　an　earlier　date　than　to　〃Matthew〃　and　〃Luke。〃　Yet　the　fact　that　in　this　gospel　Jesus　is　implicitly　ranked　above　the　angels　（Mark　xiii。　32）；　reveals　a　later　stage　of　Christologic　doctrine　than　that　reached　by　the　first　and　third　synoptists；　and　it　is　altogether　probable　that；　in　accordance　with　the　noticeable　conciliatory　disposition　of　this　evangelist；　the　supernatural　conception　is　omitted　out　of　deference　to　the　Gnosticizing　theories　of　〃Colossians〃　and　〃Philippians；〃　in　which　this　materialistic　doctrine　seems　to　have　had　no　assignable　place。　In　〃Philippians〃　especially；　many　expressions　seem　to　verge　upon　Docetism；　the　extreme　form　of　Gnosticism；　according　to　which　the　human　body　of　Jesus　was　only　a　phantom。　Valentinus；　who　was　contemporary　with　the　Pauline　writers　of　the　second　century；　maintained　that　Jesus　was　not　born　of　Mary　by　any　process　of　conception；　but　merely　passed　through　her；　as　light　traverses　a　translucent　substance。　And　finally　Marcion　（A。　D。　140）　carried　the　theory　to　its　extreme　limits　by　declaring　that　Jesus　was　the　pure　Pneuma　or　Spirit；　who　contained　nothing　in　common　with　carnal　humanity。

The　pseudo…Pauline　writers　steered　clear　of　this　extravagant　doctrine；　which　erred　by　breaking　entirely　with　historic　tradition；　and　was　consequently　soon　condemned　as　heretical。　Their　language；　though　unmistakably　Gnostic；　was　sufficiently　neutral　and　indefinite　to　allow　of　their　combination　with　earlier　and　later　expositions　of　dogma；　and　they　were　therefore　eventually　received　into　the　canon；　where　they　exhibit　a　stage　of　opinion　midway　between　that　of　Paul　and　that　of　the　fourth　gospel。

For　the　construction　of　a　durable　system　of　Christology；　still　further　elaboration　was　necessary。　The　pre…existence　of　Jesus；　as　an　emanation　from　God；　in　whom　were　summed　up　the　attributes　of　the　pleroma　or　full　scale　of　Gnostic　aeons；　was　now　generally　conceded。　But　the　relation　of　this　pleroqma　to　the　Godhead　of　which　it　was　the　visible　manifestation；　needed　to　be　more　accurately　defined。　And　here　recourse　was　had　to　the　conception　of　the　〃Logos；〃a　notion　which　Philo　had　borrowed　from　Plato；　lending　to　it　a　theosophic　significance。　In　the　Platonic　metaphysics　objective　existence　was　attributed　to　general　terms；　the　signs　of　general　notions。　Besides　each　particular　man；　horse；　or　tree；　and　besides　all　men；　horses；　and　trees；　in　the　aggregate；　there　was　supposed　to　exist　an　ideal　Man；　Horse；　and　Tree。　Each　particular　man；　horse；　or　tree　consisted　of　abstract　existence　plus　a　portion　of　the　ideal　man；　horse；　or　tree。　Sokrates；　for　instance；　consisted　of　Existence；　plus　Animality；　plus　Humanity；　plus　Sokraticity。　The　visible　world　of　particulars　thus　existed　only　by　virtue　of　its　participation　in　the　attributes　of　the　ideal　world　of　universals。　God　created　the　world　by　encumbering　each　idea　with　an　envelopment　or　clothing　of　visible　matter；　and　since　matter　is　vile　or　imperfect；　all　things　are　more　or　less　perfect　as　they　partake　more　or　less　fully　of　the　idea。　The　pure　unencumbered　idea；　the　〃Idea　of　ideas；〃　is　the　Logos；　or　divine　Reason；　which　represents　the　sum…total　of　the　activities　which　sustain　the　world；　and　serves　as　a　mediator　between　the　absolutely　ideal　God　and　the　absolutely　non…ideal　matter。　Here　we　arrive　at　a　Gnostic　conception；　which　the　Philonists　of　Alexandria　were　not　slow　to　appropriate。　The　Logos；　or　divine　Reason；　was　identified　with　the　Sophia；　or　divine　Wisdom　of　the　Jewish　Gnostics；　which　had　dwelt　with　God　before　the　creation　of　the　world。　By　a　subtle　play　upon　the　double　meaning　of　the　Greek　term　（logos　=　〃reason〃　or　〃word〃）；　a　distinction　was　drawn　between　the　divine　Reason　and　the　divine　Word。　The　former　was　the　archctypal　idea　or　thought　of　God；　existing　from　all　eternity；　the　latter　was　the　external　manifestation　or　realization　of　that　idea　which　occurred　at　the　moment　of　creation；　when；　according　to　Genesis；　God　SPOKE；　and　the　world　was。

In　the　middle　of　the　second　century；　this　Philonian　theory　was　the　one　thing　needful　to　add　metaphysical　precision　to　the　Gnostic　and　Pauline　speculations　concerning　the　nature　of　Jesus。　In　the　writings　of　Justin　Martyr　（A。　D。　150…166）；　Jesus　is　for　the　first　time　identified　with　the　Philonian　Logos　or　〃Word　of　God。〃　According　to　Justin；　an　impassable　abyss　exists　between　the　Infinite　Deity　and　the　Finite　World；　the　one　cannot　act　upon　the　other；　pure　spirit　cannot　contaminate　itself　by　contact　with　impure　matter。　To　meet　this　difficulty；　God　evolves　from　himself　a　secondary　God；　the　Logos；yet　without　diminishing　himself　any　more　than　a　flame　is　diminished　when　it　gives　birth　to　a　second　flame。　Thus　generated；　like　light　begotten　of　light　（lumen　de　lumine）；　the　Logos　creates　the　world；　inspires　the　ancient　prophets　with　their　divine　revelations；　and　finally　reveals　himself　to　mankind　in　the　person　of　Christ。　Yet　Justin　sedulously　guards　himself　against　ditheism；　insisting　frequently　and　emphatically　upon　the　immeasurable　inferiority　of　the　Logos　as　compared　with　the　actual　God　（gr　o　ontws　qeos）。

We　have　here　reached　very　nearly　the　ultimate　phase　of　New　Testament　specul