Greco-Christian stream·Pistis Sophia·Second Book — The Repentances of Pistis Sophia·Chapter 89
Mary further questioneth Jesus
Of the second Helper · I have already said unto you at another time
Source context
- Theme
- Pistis Sophia's continued repentance and invocation of the Light for rescue from the chaos of the thirteenth aeon
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Jewish liturgical tradition (Psalms of Ascent / Tehillim)The iterative structure of Pistis Sophia's repentance hymns exhibits cross-tradition congruence with the Psalms' pattern of lament, petition, and anticipated deliverance addressed to a transcendent light-source.
- Neoplatonic henology (Plotinus, Enneads)The soul's cry upward from material entrapment toward the originating light mirrors the Neoplatonic account of the soul's epistrophē — its turning-back toward the One from which it has fallen.
Chapter 89
CHAPTER 89
Mary further questioneth Jesus.It came to pass then, when Mary had heard the Saviour say these words, that she rejoiced with great joy and exulted exceedingly and said unto Jesus: "My Lord, by how much
greatness then is the second Helper greater than the first Helper? By how much distance is he distant from him, or rather how many times more does he shine than the latter?"
Of the second Helper.Jesus answered and said unto Mary in the midst of the disciples: "Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: The second Helper is distant from the first Helper in great immeasurable distance in regard to the height above and the depth below and the length and the breadth. For he is exceedingly distant from him in great immeasurable distance through the angels and all the archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles. And he is very considerably greater than the latter in an incalculable measure |201. through the angels and archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles. And he shineth more than the latter in an utterly immeasurable measure, there being no measure for the light in which he is, and no measure for him through angels and archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles, as I have already said unto you at another time.
Of the third, fourth, and fifth Helpers."In like manner also the third Helper and fourth and fifth Helper,--one is greater than the other . . . and shineth more than the latter and is distant from him in a great immeasurable distance through the angels and archangels and the gods and all the invisibles, as I have already said unto you at another time. And I will tell unto you also the type of every one [of them] at their expansion."