Gnostic cosmology

In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the Demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. Various schools of Gnostics adopted the term demiurge.

in Christianity, the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience

thumb|right|upright=1.2|This diagram shows the medieval understanding of celestial spheres|spheres of the [[cosmos, derived from Aristotle, and as per the standard explanation by Ptolemy. It came to be understood that at least the outermost sphere (marked "Primũ Mobile") has its own intellect, intelligence or nous – a cosmic equivalent to the human mind.]]

second-century Sethian Gnostic text

literary work

seven levels or divisions of the Heavens in religious or mythological cosmology

gnostic text

Pleroma (, literally "fullness") generally refers to the totality of divine powers. It is used in Christian theological contexts, as well as in Gnosticism. The term also appears in the Epistle to the Colossians, which is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. The word is used 17 times in the New Testament. In Valentinianism it represents as virtualities of the Son

demonic entities subordinate to the embodiment of evil in the corresponding belief-system

emanation of God; class of beings in Gnosticism

thumb|A lion-faced, Snakes in mythology|serpentine [[deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'', a depiction of Yaldabaoth.]]

literary work

feminine figure in Gnosticism

religious concept

gnosticism

In Gnosticism, kenoma (kenoma, κένωμα) is the concept of emptiness that corresponds to the lower world of phenomena, as opposed to the concept of pleroma, or fullness, which corresponds to the Platonic world of ideal forms. Kenoma was used by the mid-2nd century Gnostic thinker and preacher Valentinius, who was among the early Christians who attempted to align Christianity with Middle Platonism. Employing a third concept of cosmos, what is manifest, Valentinian initiates could explain scripture in light of these three aspects of correlated existence.

Gnostic cosmology of eight heavens