Gnostic Version of the Creation Story

The Gnostic creation story begins with the One, or Monad, the unknowable and eternal source of all existence, dwelling in perfect fullness known as the Pleroma, where divine beings called Aeons emanated from it. Among these Aeons was Sophia (“Wisdom”), who, moved by a desire to create without her divine consort or the consent of the Monad, brought forth an imperfect being called the Demiurge.​

Ignorant of his divine origin, the Demiurge believed himself to be the only god and fashioned the material world as a flawed imitation of the divine Pleroma, infused unknowingly with fragments of divine light from Sophia. These divine sparks became trapped within human beings, making humanity a mix of spiritual essence imprisoned in corrupt flesh.​

The Gnostic narrative views the material cosmos as a mistaken creation—an act of ignorance rather than divine will—while salvation comes through gnosis, or inner knowledge, which awakens humans to their true origin and enables their return to the Pleroma of light.