Gnostic Dualism: The Myth of Light and Darkness
Gnostic Dualism: The Myth of Light and Darkness

Summary/Abstract: Hans Jonas has distinguished the “Syrian-Egyptian” Gnostic systems (the Nag Hammadi Library) from the “Iranian” Gnostic systems (Manichaeism, Mandaeism). Concerning the first type, the origin of Evil and the Powers of Darkness appertains to the climax of an ontological involution or descending process, from the Primordial or Supreme Divinity to a material level, initially inside the sphere of divinity (Pleroma, “Plenitude”), and later beyond its limit (horos), inside the new open space of the geocentric cosmos, composed of the eight celestial spheres. The Primordial Divinity, which manifests itself through the ontological-emanationist process, is pictured either as a Masculin Divinity (Propator), or as a Feminine Divinity (Barbelo). Concerning the second type, the Principles of Good and Evil have coexisted since the beginning of the Universe, they configure two spaces, characterized by the dynamics of a mythological antagonism, separated by a system of limits and reciprocal exclusions, dictated by the divine will: the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. The problem of the origin of evil and the strategy of redemption, in a micro-cosmic and macro-cosmic context, are two of the religious grounds of the complex mythological and theological constructions that constitute the Gnostic religious space. The confrontation between Good and Evil, the War between Light and Darkness, configure vast celestial or cosmic landscapes that circumscribe the inextricable labyrinth of the divine-human ontology, the tragic-blissful destiny of the human beings along the way of life, death and salvation, as well as the infinite potentialities of the knowledge to make whole again the theocracy of the Light, after its fall into the inferior regions.

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