The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity

«It may be said that in this century Gnosticism, which is bound up with the development of Early Christianity, matured or graduated from a field for church historians, and mainly as an object of stern criticism on the part of the Church Fathers, to a topic that has drawn into its orbit more scholars of different fields.» — según Jonas, el gnosticismo dejó de ser en el siglo XX un asunto de historiadores de la Iglesia y objeto de crítica patrística para volverse tema de estudiosos de campos diversos

«It is now difficult to define which field, which particular section of scholarship, is the true home of research in Gnosticism.» — Jonas señala que ya no puede decirse a qué disciplina pertenece propiamente la investigación del gnosticismo

«It touches in its own essence on so many issues and predicaments of modern man, i.e., on questions of which the nineteenth century was completely unaware, happily so, and of which we of necessity must be aware in the dislocated century in which we live.» — Jonas deriva esa dispersión disciplinar del contenido mismo: el gnosticismo toca cuestiones del hombre moderno que el siglo XIX ignoraba y que el suyo, dislocado, no puede ignorar

«There is an empathy with Gnosticism, an element of topicality to it, which it has not had since the time when the Church Fathers fought it as a danger to the Christian creed.» — Jonas nombra esa cercanía como empatía y actualidad, y la data: no la había desde que los Padres lo combatían como peligro para el credo

«To reminisce is a dangerous matter, as everyone knows. When one looks back, things have somehow been edited in one's mind, unintentionally but inevitably.» — la reserva con que Jonas abre el relato autobiográfico: la memoria edita sin querer y sin remedio

«Since I am not a philologist or a theologian (and certainly not a Christian theologian) or a historian, but entered university with the intent of studying philosophy in the hope of becoming a philosopher,» — Jonas declara su lugar: ni filólogo ni teólogo ni historiador, sino alguien que entró a la universidad para ser filósofo

«In my later school years, when one begins to choose one's own intellectual food somewhat independently of what the teachers in "Secunda" and "Prima" tell one, I had three decisive reading experiences of an intellectual, moral and emotional nature.» — Jonas fecha en sus últimos años de escuela las tres lecturas que llama decisivas, intelectual, moral y emocionalmente

«First, the Prophets of Israel, whom I read at that time not in Hebrew, but in a translation provided by the Protestant text-critical school. The translators were H. Gressmann, H. Gunkel and others.1 It was through their historical rendering and their text-critical notes, connected with a commentary, that I discovered the Prophets of Israel; not through the Jewish Religionsunterricht of my childhood, but through the Protestant rendering of that school.» — la primera de las tres: los Profetas de Israel leídos no en hebreo ni en la enseñanza religiosa judía de su infancia, sino en la traducción y las notas texto-críticas de la escuela protestante de H. Gressmann y H. Gunkel

«Second, Imanuel Kant, of whom I first read Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, which begins with this immortal sentence that thunders through my life similarly to the words of the Prophets: "Es ist uberall nichts in der Welt, ja auch ausserhalb derselben zu denken moglich, was ohne Einschrankung konnte fur gut gehalten werden, als einzig ein guter Willie."2» — la segunda: la Grundlegung de Kant, cuya primera frase Jonas cita en alemán y dice que le retumba en la vida como las palabras de los Profetas; el escaneo imprime Imanuel por Immanuel y Willie por Wille, y pierde los diacríticos de uberall, konnte, fur y Einschrankung

«And third, there was Martin Buber. At that time I read Buber's famous Drei Reden uber das Judentunv1 and Die Legende des Baalschem, the beginnings of his great work on Chassidism,» — la tercera: Buber, con los Drei Reden über das Judentum —que el escaneo rinde Judentunv— y Die Legende des Baalschem, comienzo de su obra sobre el jasidismo

«It was a blending which could probably not stand a rigorous critique of compatibility, but somehow it fused in my own mind.» — Jonas consigna la incompatibilidad de la mezcla sin resolverla: Profetas, Kant y Buber no aguantarían una crítica rigurosa de compatibilidad y aun así se fundieron en él

«Thus, when I entered university, two things were clear for me. One was that I wanted to study philosophy. The other was that religion is an essential aspect of humanity, and that no study of philosophy is possible without somehow being joined with a study of the religious phenomena.» — de esas lecturas Jonas deriva su programa: estudiar filosofía, y sostener que la religión es un aspecto esencial de lo humano, de modo que no hay estudio de la filosofía sin estudio de los fenómenos religiosos

«that also somewhat explains why I thought and still think that Gnosticism, apart from the challenge it poses to philologians, historians, theologians and so on, also poses a challenge to philosophers.» — según Jonas, el gnosticismo no solo interpela a filólogos, historiadores y teólogos: interpela también a los filósofos

«Among philosophers I am still, it seems, the only one who has acted on that belief; in spite of everything I have always been something of an outsider, because my interest was not quite the same as that of the real workers with the texts, i.e., those who read Iranian, Coptic, Turkish, and so on, and who know the whole field at first hand.» — y acota esa posición declarándose el único filósofo que obró en consecuencia, y a la vez un outsider frente a quienes leen iranio, copto o turco y conocen el campo de primera mano

«I wanted to take up the question: Why did the Church reject Gnosticism? Apart from the obvious reason that many of its teachings were fantastic and not in agreement with the Gospels, why was Gnosis as such from Paul on rejected as a possible option? Why was Pistis chosen instead? This I wanted to explain to my own satisfaction and probe into the meaning of that momentous decision, for Pistis and against Gnosis.» — la pregunta con que Jonas dice haber empezado: por qué la Iglesia rechazó el gnosticismo y por qué eligió Pistis en lugar de Gnosis, más allá de que muchas doctrinas gnósticas fueran fantásticas

«It turned out to be very different from that of theoretical knowledge in philosophy and science, and the religious thinkers themselves were aware of the difference. As an example I refer to the Genesis sentence "and Adam knew Eve his wife." There, "to know" stands for the sexual union, and already the Church Fathers used the sentence exegeticaily for denoting a knowledge that terminates in a reciprocal union with its object—namely God—as opposed to the "distancing" theoretical knowledge of the Greeks.» — según Jonas, el conocer religioso difiere del teórico y los propios pensadores religiosos lo sabían: la frase del Génesis sobre Adán que conoció a Eva sirvió ya a los Padres para nombrar un conocimiento que termina en unión recíproca con su objeto, frente al conocer distanciado de los griegos; el escaneo imprime exegeticaily por exegetically

«Clearly, to "know God" in the Hebrew sense is different from the knowledge of the Divine in the Aristotelian sense. Yet neither of the two is "gnostic." But there is a third sense: Gnosis as mystical knowledge, and the Genesis passage is particularly apt to represent this when given that turn (from which patristic exegesis on the whole refrained).» — Jonas distingue tres sentidos y niega que los dos primeros sean gnósticos: el conocer hebreo, el conocer aristotélico y un tercero, la gnosis como conocimiento místico, sentido del que la exégesis patrística en general se abstuvo

«I suddenly glimpsed, as in a blinding light, the possible, nay, persuasive hypothesis that what the Gnostics understood by "Gnosis" is by no means confined to them in the environment of declining antiquity: rather, that what the later Platonists— Plotinus, Porphyry and others—had to say about the highest form of knowledge, about the union with the One, is another, more refined version of this same type of knowledge that goes beyond the knowledge of "logos" and of "theory" in the Greek tradition.» — la hipótesis que Jonas llama persuasiva y no probada: lo que los gnósticos entendían por gnosis no se limita a ellos, y lo que los platónicos tardíos —Plotino, Porfirio y otros— dicen de la unión con el Uno es otra versión más refinada de ese mismo conocimiento, más allá del logos y de la theoria griegos

«difficult to say whether it is philosophy in the sense of Plato and Aristotle, or whether it is mysticism. It is, of course, both.» — Jonas se niega a elegir entre filosofía y misticismo para ese pensamiento fronterizo: dice que es las dos cosas

«Something in Gnosticism knocks at the door of our Being and of our twentieth-century Being in particular. Here is humanity in a crisis and in some of the radical possibilities of choices that man can make concerning his view of his position in the world, of his relation to himself, to the absolute and to his mortal Being.» — según Jonas, lo que hace interesante al gnosticismo no es la masa de documentos hallados: es que llama a la puerta de nuestro ser, y en particular del ser del siglo XX, con una humanidad en crisis y con opciones radicales sobre la posición del hombre en el mundo, su relación consigo mismo, con lo absoluto y con su ser mortal

«And there is certainly something in Gnosticism that helps one to understand humanity better than one would understand it if one had never known of Gnosticism.» — Jonas sostiene que el gnosticismo ayuda a entender a la humanidad mejor de lo que se la entendería sin él

«But to see it in this strange and even shocking form of an extreme option about the meaning of Being, the situation of man, the absolute importance of selfhood and the wrestling with the saving of this selfhood from all the powers of alienation that impinge on man—to live in the company of this kind of thinking and imagery (in this case the most congenial vehicle of thought) is, I think, of interest not merely to the historian of religion.» — Jonas acota esa tesis: la forma extraña y aun chocante de una opción extrema sobre el sentido del ser, la situación del hombre y el rescate de la mismidad frente a los poderes de alienación no interesa solo al historiador de las religiones

«I still confess to a primary philosophical interest in the subject of Gnosticism and that is, in my own eyes, the true apologia for my life as a scholar, for my having spent so many years (with so many others forcibly diverted to non-contemplative pursuits) on the exploration of a field of which my fellow philosophers do not know a thing and of which most of them could not care less.» — Jonas declara su interés primariamente filosófico y lo llama la apología verdadera de su vida de estudioso, en un campo del que sus colegas filósofos no saben nada

«Thus, I like to think that even in my present philosophical project, which is technology and ethics, I can still profit from what Gnosticism has taught me.» — Jonas enlaza su proyecto filosófico de entonces, tecnología y ética, con lo aprendido del gnosticismo

«One may say that one link between the study of Gnosticism and that of the modern situation of man is provided by dualism as such, which figures very prominently in the story of what leads to a philosophy of organism.» — Jonas propone el dualismo como el vínculo entre el estudio del gnosticismo y la situación moderna del hombre, y lo liga a lo que conduce a una filosofía del organismo

«Gnosticism has been the most radical embodiment of dualism ever to have appeared on the stage of history, and its exploration provides a case study of all that is implicated in it. It is a split between self and world, man's alienation from nature, the metaphysical devaluation of nature, the cosmic solitude of the spirit and the nihilism of mundane norms; and in its general extremist style it shows what radicalism really is.» — la tesis mayor del epílogo, anticipada aquí: el gnosticismo es la encarnación más radical del dualismo que haya aparecido en la historia —escisión entre yo y mundo, alienación del hombre respecto de la naturaleza, devaluación metafísica de la naturaleza, soledad cósmica del espíritu y nihilismo de las normas mundanas— y su exploración es un caso de estudio de todo lo que ese dualismo implica

«The analogical modernity of ancient Gnosticism, or the hidden Gnosticism in the modern mind, has struck me early and was expounded in my essay "Gnosticism and Modern Nihilism." So in the gnostic paradigm we have all these things with the sharpness of unblushing naivete, and that proves an enlightening help.» — Jonas nombra modernidad analógica del gnosticismo antiguo, o gnosticismo oculto en la mente moderna, lo que dice haberle llamado la atención temprano y haber expuesto en Gnosticism and Modern Nihilism

«I could go on arguing an analogy between things gnostic and things modern, or a relevance of things gnostic to things modern and of Gnosticism to philosophy. But it would be possible that what I would really be doing is trying to persuade myself of some continuity in my life's intellectual journey—and of that, one's own biased self is the last judge to be trusted.» — y ahí pone su propia reserva: podría seguir argumentando la analogía, pero acaso solo estaría persuadiéndose de una continuidad en su trayectoria, y de eso el yo sesgado es el último juez fiable

«Great changes have taken place in the field of Gnosticism since this book was first published. Only the barest beginnings of information on the famous Nag Hammadi documents were then in the public domain. Of the about fifty-three or more tractates, only the Gospel of Truth had been published and could just be inserted with a few quotations into my text. It was evident from the first, and has become ever more so, that the stunning chance discovery of 1946 marks a turning point in our knowledge of things Gnostic. Never before has a single archaeological find so radically altered the state of documentation for a whole field.» — según Jonas, el hallazgo casual de 1946 marca un punto de inflexión: ningún otro hallazgo arqueológico había alterado tan radicalmente el estado de la documentación de un campo entero

«From great scarcity we were overnight catapulted into great wealth with regard to original sources uncontaminated by secondary tradition. Yet circumstances conspired to make the opening up of this treasure to international scholarship frustratingly slow.» — Jonas consigna a la vez la abundancia repentina de fuentes originales no contaminadas por tradición secundaria y la lentitud exasperante con que se abrieron a la investigación internacional

«A summing up of the new knowledge and its import for the gnostic image as a whole will be a prime necessity some day, but must wait.» — Jonas declara que la síntesis de lo nuevo es necesaria y que hay que esperarla; entretanto llama a la época el día de los coptólogos

«Out of the mist of the beginning of our era there looms a pageant of mythical figures whose vast, superhuman contours might people the walls and ceiling of another Sistine Chapel. Their countenances and gestures, the roles in which they are cast, the drama which they enact, would yield images different from the biblical ones on which the imagination of the beholder was reared, yet strangely familiar to him and disturbingly moving. The stage would be the same, the theme as transcending: the creation of the world, the destiny of man, fall and redemption, the first and the last things.» — la imagen con que Jonas abre el prefacio de la primera edición: un cortejo de figuras míticas que podrían poblar otra Capilla Sixtina, con el mismo escenario y los mismos temas que la Biblia —creación, destino del hombre, caída y redención, las primeras y las últimas cosas— y con imágenes distintas

«Almost all the action would be in the heights, in the divine or angelic or daimonic realm, a drama of pre-cosmic persons in the supranatural world, of which the drama of man in the natural world is but a distant echo. And yet that transcendental drama before all time, depicted in the actions and passions of manlike figures, would be of intense human appeal: divinity tempted, unrest stirring among the blessed Aeons, God's erring Wisdom, the Sophia, falling prey to her folly, wandering in the void and darkness of her own making, endlessly searching, lamenting, suffering, repenting, laboring her passion into matter, her yearning into soul; a blind and arrogant Creator believing himself the Most High and lording it over the creation, the product, like himself, of fault and ignorance; the Soul, trapped and lost in the labyrinth of the world, seeking to escape and frightened back by the gatekeepers of the cosmic prison, the terrible archons; a Savior from the Light beyond venturing into the nether world, illumining the darkness, opening a path, healing the divine breach: a tale of light and darkness, of knowledge and ignorance, of serenity and passion, of conceit and pity, on the scale not of man but of eternal beings that are not exempt from suffering and error.» — la sinopsis del drama gnóstico que Jonas resume ahí: la divinidad tentada, la inquietud entre los Eones, la Sabiduría errante —la Sophia— presa de su locura, un Creador ciego y arrogante que se cree el Altísimo, el Alma perdida en el laberinto del mundo y espantada por los arcontes carceleros, y un Salvador que viene de la Luz de más allá a abrir camino

«The tale has found no Michelangelo to retell it, no Dante and no Milton. The sterner discipline of biblical creed weathered the storm of those days, and both Old and New Testament were left to inform the mind and imagination of Western man. Those teachings which, in the feverish hour of transition, challenged, tempted, tried to twist the new faith are forgotten, their written record buried in the tomes of their refuters or in the sands of ancient lands. Our art and literature and much else would be different, had the gnostic message prevailed.» — Jonas fecha ahí la derrota: el credo bíblico aguantó el temporal, las enseñanzas rivales quedaron sepultadas en los tomos de sus refutadores o en la arena, y el arte y la literatura de Occidente serían otros si el mensaje gnóstico hubiera prevalecido

«This resuscitation is of more than antiquarian interest: with all its strangeness, its violence to reason, its immoderateness of judgment, that world of feeling, vision, and thought had its profundity, and without its voice, its insights, and even its errors, the evidence of humanity is incomplete.» — Jonas justifica la reconstrucción: sin esa voz, sus intuiciones y aun sus errores, la evidencia de lo humano queda incompleta, con toda su extrañeza, su violencia contra la razón y su desmesura de juicio

«Rejected as it was, it represents one of the possibilities then offered at the crossroads of creeds. Its glow throws light upon the beginnings of Christianity, the birth pangs of our world; and the heirs of a decision made long ago will better understand their heritage by knowing what once competed with it for the soul of man.» — y la sitúa como una de las posibilidades ofrecidas en la encrucijada de credos, cuya luz alumbra los comienzos del cristianismo

«The investigation of Gnosticism is almost as old as Gnosticism itself. Chiefly by its own choosing—being the aggressor—it was an embattled cause from the beginning and thus came under the scrutiny of those whose cause it threatened to subvert. The investigation, carried on in the heat of conflict, was that of a prosecutor.» — según Jonas, la investigación del gnosticismo nació con él y en calor de conflicto: fue la de un fiscal, porque quien lo estudió primero fue aquel a quien amenazaba

«Attorneys for the prosecution were the Fathers of the early Church, stating its case against the heresies in lengthy works (we have no record of the defense, if there was any); and they inquired into the spiritual ancestry of Gnosticism as part of their undertaking to expose its error. Their writings, therefore, provide not only our main—until recently, our sole—source of knowledge of gnostic teaching itself, but also the earliest theory about its nature and origin. To them, their finding that Gnosticism, or what in it distorted the Christian truth, hailed from Hellenic philosophy, amounted to an indictment: to us, it must still count as a hypothesis, among alternative ones, relevant for the historical diagnosis of the phenomenon, and must be considered on its merits.» — Jonas consigna el doble carácter de los Padres como fuente: son la vía principal —hasta hace poco la única— de conocimiento de la doctrina gnóstica y a la vez la teoría más antigua sobre su naturaleza, y su hallazgo de un origen en la filosofía helénica, que para ellos era acusación, para nosotros es una hipótesis entre otras, que se pesa por sus méritos; añade que no hay registro de la defensa, si la hubo

«The last of the major heresiologists to deal extensively with the gnostic sects, Epiphanius of Salamis, wrote in the fourth century A.D. From then on, with the danger past and the polemical interest no longer alive, oblivion settled down on the whole subject, until the historical interest of the nineteenth century returned to it in the spirit of dispassionate inquiry.» — Jonas data el silencio: Epifanio de Salamina escribe en el siglo IV y desde entonces, sin peligro y sin interés polémico, el asunto queda en olvido hasta que el interés histórico del siglo XIX vuelve a él

«But the Protestant theologians (mostly German) who engaged in the new investigation approached their task as historians who are no longer party to the conflict, though intellectual trends of their own time might way their sympathies and judgments.» — y acota a quienes retomaron la investigación: teólogos protestantes, en su mayoría alemanes, que se acercaron como historiadores ya no partes del conflicto, aunque las corrientes intelectuales de su tiempo pudieran inclinar sus simpatías

«Diagnosis became largely a matter of genealogy, and for this the field was thrown wide open: one by one, or in varying combinations, the different oriental filiations suggested by the rainbow colors of the material—Babylonian, Egyptian, Iranian—were elaborated to determine the principal "whence" and "what" of Gnosis, with the overall result that its picture became more and more syncretistic.» — Jonas describe el giro genealógico: filiaciones babilónicas, egipcias e iranias elaboradas una por una para fijar el de dónde y el qué de la gnosis, con el resultado de una imagen cada vez más sincrética

«The latest turn in the quest for one dominant line of descent is to derive Gnosticism from Judaism: a needful correction of a previous neglect, but in the end probably no more adequate to the total and integral phenomenon than other partial and partially true explanations.» — y sitúa la derivación del gnosticismo a partir del judaísmo como la última de esas líneas: corrección necesaria de un descuido previo, y probablemente tan parcial como las otras

«Indeed, so far as traceable pedigrees of elements go, all investigations of detail over the last half century have proved divergent rather than convergent, and leave us with a portrait of Gnosticism in which the salient feature seems to be the absence of a unifying character.» — Jonas consigna el resultado sin armonizarlo: medio siglo de investigaciones de detalle resultó divergente y no convergente, y deja un retrato del gnosticismo cuyo rasgo saliente parece ser la falta de carácter unificador

«But these same investigations have also gradually enlarged the range of the phenomenon beyond the group of Christian heresies originally comprised by the name, and in this greater breadth, as well as in the greater complexity, Gnosticism became increasingly revealing of the whole civilization in which it arose, and whose all-pervading feature was syncretism.» — y el efecto contrario de esas mismas investigaciones: ensancharon el fenómeno más allá del grupo de herejías cristianas que el nombre abarcaba, y lo volvieron revelador de una civilización entera cuyo rasgo omnipresente era el sincretismo

«That there was such a gnostic spirit, and therefore an essence of Gnosticism as a whole, was the impression which struck me at my initial encounter with the evidence, and it deepened with increasing intimacy.» — frente a esa falta de unidad, Jonas sostiene la impresión contraria como impresión y no como prueba: que hubo un espíritu gnóstico y por tanto una esencia del gnosticismo como un todo, impresión que dice haberse ahondado con el trato

«To explore and interpret that essence became a matter, not only of historical interest, as it substantially adds to our understanding of a crucial period of Western mankind, but also of intrinsic philosophical interest, as it brings us face to face with one of the more radical answers of man to his predicament and with the» — y el doble interés que Jonas atribuye a esa esencia: histórico, porque añade a la comprensión de un periodo crucial de Occidente, e intrínsecamente filosófico, porque pone frente a una de las respuestas más radicales del hombre a su condición; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido que el escaneo mete a media plana

«insights which only that radical position could bring forth, and thereby adds to our human understanding in general.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: solo esa posición radical podía dar esas intuiciones, y con ellas añade a nuestra comprensión de lo humano en general

«Any portrayal of the Hellenistic era must begin with Alexander the Great. His conquest of the East (334-323 B.C.) marks a turning point in the history of the ancient world. Out of the conditions it created grew a cultural unity larger than any that had existed before, a unity which was to last for almost a thousand years until destroyed in its turn by the conquests of Islam.» — según Jonas, la conquista de Alejandro entre 334 y 323 a. C. marca el punto de giro y de sus condiciones nace una unidad cultural mayor que ninguna anterior, que dura casi mil años hasta las conquistas del islam

«The new historical fact made possible, and indeed intended, by Alexander was the union of West and East. "West" means here the Greek world centered around the Aegaean; "East," the area of the old oriental civilizations, stretching from Egypt to the borders of India.» — Jonas fija el hecho histórico nuevo, la unión de Occidente y Oriente, y define los términos: Occidente es el mundo griego del Egeo y Oriente el de las viejas civilizaciones, de Egipto a los confines de la India

«Although Alexander's political creation fell apart with his death, the merging of cultures proceeded undisturbed through the succeeding centuries, both as regional processes of fusion within the several kingdoms of the Diadochi and as the rise of an essentially supra-national, Hellenistic, culture common to them all.» — y consigna que la creación política de Alejandro se deshizo con su muerte mientras la fusión de culturas siguió sin estorbo, en los reinos de los Diádocos y como cultura helenística supranacional

«In the larger geographical framework of the Roman Empire, the terms "East" and "West" assume new meanings, "East" being the Greek and "West" the Latin half of the Roman world.» — Jonas advierte que en el marco romano los términos Oriente y Occidente cambian de sentido: pasan a nombrar la mitad griega y la mitad latina del mundo romano

«Thus in the enlarged perspective of the Empire the East is constituted by a synthesis of what we first distinguished as the Hellenic West and the Asiatic East.» — de ahí deriva que el Oriente del Imperio esté constituido por la síntesis de lo que primero se distinguió como Occidente helénico y Oriente asiático

«The parallel division of Christendom into a Latin and a Greek Church reflects and perpetuates the same cultural situation in the realm of religious dogma.» — y lee la división de la cristiandad en Iglesia latina y griega como perpetuación de esa misma situación cultural en el dogma

«It is this spatio-cultural unity, created by Alexander and existing in turn as the kingdoms of the Diadochi, as the eastern provinces of Rome, as the Byzantine Empire, and concurrently as the Greek Church, a unity bound together in the Hellenistic-oriental synthesis, which provides the setting for those spiritual movements with which this book is concerned.» — Jonas declara qué provee el escenario de los movimientos espirituales del libro: esa unidad espacio-cultural creada por Alejandro y ligada por la síntesis helenístico-oriental

«The union which Alexander's conquest initiated was prepared for on both sides. East and West had each progressed previously to the maximum degree of unification in its own realm, most obviously so in political terms: the East had been unified under Persian rule, the Greek world under the Macedonian hegemony. Thus the conquest of the Persian monarchy by the Macedonian was an event involving the whole "West" and the whole "East."» — según Jonas, la unión estaba preparada de los dos lados: el Oriente unificado bajo Persia y el mundo griego bajo la hegemonía macedonia, de modo que la conquista involucró a los dos enteros

«As to Gnosticism in particular, the acquaintance with such massively mythological material as the Coptic and Mandaean texts dealt a blow to the» — según Jonas, el material masivamente mitológico de los textos coptos y mandeos asestó un golpe a la posición greco-filosófica; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la siguiente

«philosophical" position from which it never fully recovered, though in the nature of the case it can never be entirely abandoned either.» — la continuación en la plana siguiente: Jonas acota que la posición greco-filosófica no se repuso nunca del todo y que, por la naturaleza del caso, tampoco puede abandonarse por entero

«Cultures can best mix when the thought of each has become sufficiently emancipated from particular local, social, and national conditions to assume some degree of general validity and thereby become transmissible and exchangeable. It is then no longer bound to such specific historical facts as the Athenian polis or the oriental caste society but has passed into the freer form of abstract principles that can claim to apply to all mankind, that can be learned, be supported by argument, and compete with others in the sphere of rational discussion.» — según Jonas, las culturas se mezclan mejor cuando su pensamiento se ha emancipado de lo local, social y nacional y ha pasado a la forma libre de principios abstractos que pueden enseñarse, argumentarse y competir con otros

«When Alexander appeared, Hellas had, both in point of fact and in its own consciousness, reached this stage of cosmopolitan maturity, and this was the positive precondition of his success, which was matched by a negative one on the oriental side.» — Jonas fija la condición positiva del éxito de Alejandro en que Hélade había alcanzado esa madurez cosmopolita, y le opone una condición negativa del lado oriental

«Since Herodotus, "the father of history" (fifth century B.C.), Greek curiosity had interested itself in the customs and opinions of the "barbarians"; but the Hellenic way was conceived for and suited to Hellenes alone, and of them only those who were freeborn and full citizens. Moral and political ideals, and even the idea of knowledge, were bound up with very definite social conditions and did not claim to apply to men in general—indeed, the concept of "man in general" had for practical purposes not yet come into its own.» — Jonas acota el alcance de esa curiosidad: desde Heródoto los griegos se interesaron por las costumbres de los bárbaros, pero el modo helénico estaba pensado solo para helenos libres y ciudadanos, y el concepto de hombre en general aún no existía en la práctica

«The sophistic enlightenment of the fifth century had set the individual over against the state and its norms and in conceiving the opposition of nature and law had divested the latter, as resting on convention alone, of its ancient sanctity: moral and political norms are relative.» — según Jonas, la ilustración sofística del siglo V opuso el individuo al Estado y, al concebir la oposición de naturaleza y ley, despojó a la ley de su santidad antigua: las normas morales y políticas son relativas

«Against their skeptical challenge, the Socratic-Platonic answer appealed, not indeed to tradition, but to conceptual knowledge of the intelligible, i.e., to rational theory; and rationalism carries in itself the germ of universalism.» — y la respuesta socrático-platónica, que no apela a la tradición sino al conocimiento conceptual de lo inteligible; de ahí deriva Jonas que el racionalismo lleva en sí el germen del universalismo

«The Cynics preached a revaluation of existing norms of conduct, self-sufficiency of the private individual, indifference to the traditional values of society, such as patriotism, and freedom from all prejudice.» — el aporte que Jonas asigna a los cínicos: revaluación de las normas de conducta, autosuficiencia del individuo privado, indiferencia a valores como el patriotismo y libertad de todo prejuicio

«The last step on this road was taken when the Stoics later advanced the proposition that freedom, that highest good of Hellenic ethics, is a purely inner quality not dependent on external conditions, so that true freedom may well be found in a slave if only he is wise.» — el último paso, que Jonas atribuye a los estoicos: la libertad, bien supremo de la ética helénica, es cualidad puramente interior y puede hallarse en un esclavo si es sabio

«Prevailing theory placed man no longer primarily in the context of the polis, as did Plato and still Aristotle, but in that of the cosmos, which we sometimes find called "the true and great polis for all." To be a good citizen of the cosmos, a cosmopolites, is the moral end of man; and his title to this citizenship is his possession of logos, or reason, and nothing else— that is, the principle that distinguishes him as man and puts him into immediate relationship to the same principle governing the universe.» — según Jonas, la teoría dominante deja de situar al hombre en la polis, como Platón y aún Aristóteles, y lo sitúa en el cosmos; el título de esa ciudadanía cósmica es el logos y nada más

«This marks an important difference from the older Greek colonization of the Mediterranean coastline, which established purely Greek colonies on the fringes of the great "barbarian" hinterland and envisaged no amalgamation of colonists and natives.» — Jonas distingue la colonización posterior a Alejandro de la vieja colonización mediterránea, que fundaba colonias puramente griegas y no preveía amalgama con los nativos

«The colonization following in the footsteps of Alexander intended from the outset, and indeed as part of his own political program, a symbiosis of an entirely new kind, one which though most obviously a Hellenization of the East required for its success a certain reciprocity.» — y define la nueva: una simbiosis de tipo enteramente nuevo, helenización de Oriente que para lograrse exigía cierta reciprocidad

«Above all, these cities were no longer sovereign states but parts of centrally administered kingdoms. This changed the relation of the inhabitants to the political whole. The classical city-state engaged the citizen in its concerns, and these he could identify with his own, as through the laws of his city he governed himself. The large Hellenistic monarchies neither called for nor permitted such close personal identification;» — según Jonas, la ciudad helenística ya no es Estado soberano sino parte de reinos administrados centralmente, y las monarquías grandes ni pedían ni permitían la identificación personal que sí exigía la ciudad-Estado clásica

«and just as they made no moral demands on their subjects, so the individual detached himself in regard to them and as a private person (a status hardly admitted in the Hellenic world before) found satisfaction of his social needs in voluntarily organized associations based on community of ideas, religion, and occupation.» — de esa distancia Jonas deriva la aparición del individuo como persona privada, condición apenas admitida antes, que satisface sus necesidades sociales en asociaciones voluntarias por ideas, religión y oficio

«How thoroughly Alexander himself understood his policy of fusion in racial terms as well is shown by the famous marriage celebration at Susa when in compliance with his wishes ten thousand of his Macedonian officers and men took Persian wives.» — el ejemplo con que Jonas mide la política de fusión en términos raciales: la boda de Susa, con diez mil oficiales y soldados macedonios casados con persas

«Zeno, son of Mnaseas (i.e., Manasseh), founder of the Stoic school, was of Phoenician-Cypriote origin: he learned Greek as an adopted language, and throughout his long teaching career at Athens his accent always remained noticeable.» — el caso con que Jonas ilustra la invitación aceptada: Zenón, hijo de Mnaseas —es decir, Manasés—, fundador del Pórtico, de origen fenicio-chipriota, que aprendió el griego como lengua adoptiva y conservó siempre el acento

«With names generally Hellenized, we can mostly no longer determine whether an author from Apameia or Byblos in Syria, or from Gadara in Trans-Jordan, is of Greek or Semitic race; but in these melting-pots of Hellenism the question finally becomes irrelevant—a third entity had come into being.» — Jonas declara indecidible e irrelevante la raza de un autor de Apamea, Biblos o Gádara: en esos crisoles había surgido una tercera entidad

«Even as late as the third century A.D., after five hundred years of Hellenistic civilization, we observe a native of the ancient city of Tyre, Malchus son of Malchus, becoming a prominent Greek philosophic writer and at the instance of his Hellenic friends changing (or suffering them to change) his Semitic name first to the Greek Basileus,1 then to Porphyrius,2 thereby symbolically declaring his adherence to the Hellenic cause together with his Phoenician extraction.» — el segundo caso: Malco hijo de Malco, de Tiro, que cambia su nombre semita por Basileus y luego por Porfirio, declarando así su adhesión helénica junto con su extracción fenicia

«The interesting point in this case is that at the same time the counter-movement was gathering momentum in his native country—the creation of a Syrian vernacular literature associated with the names of Bardesanes, Mani, and Ephraem.» — y el contramovimiento simultáneo que Jonas señala en el mismo país: la creación de una literatura vernácula siria ligada a los nombres de Bardesanes, Mani y Efrén

«In late antiquity the unchallenged universalism of the first Hellenistic centuries was succeeded by an age of new differentiation, based primarily on spiritual issues and only secondarily also of a national, regional, and linguistic character. The common secular culture was increasingly affected by a mental polarization in religious terms, leading finally to a breaking up of the former unity into exclusive camps.» — según Jonas, al universalismo indiscutido de los primeros siglos helenísticos le sucede una era de diferenciación por asuntos espirituales, y la cultura secular común se polariza en términos religiosos hasta romperse en campos excluyentes

«In short, at the time of Alexander the Hellenic idea of culture had evolved to a point where it was possible to say that one was a Hellene not by birth but by education, so that one born a barbarian» — la fórmula en que Jonas cifra el cambio: se es heleno no por nacimiento sino por educación; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la frase remata en la siguiente

«could become a true Hellene. The enthroning of reason as the highest part in man had led to the discovery of man as such, and at the same time to the conception of the Hellenic way as a general humanistic culture.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: el bárbaro de nacimiento puede volverse heleno verdadero, y entronizar la razón como parte más alta del hombre lleva al descubrimiento del hombre como tal y a concebir lo helénico como cultura humanística general

«Participating in its institutions and ways of life, the non-Hellenic citizens underwent rapid Hellenization, shown most plainly in their adoption of the Greek language:» — según Jonas, los ciudadanos no helenos se helenizaron rápido dentro de la ciudad, y el signo más claro fue la adopción del griego; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«stances, "Hellenic," used as a watchword within a world already thoroughly Hellenized, distinguishes an embattled cause from its Christian or gnostic opponents, who yet, in language and literary form, are themselves no less part of the Greek milieu.» — según Jonas, en la antigüedad tardía lo helénico se vuelve consigna de una causa acorralada frente a cristianos y gnósticos que, en lengua y forma literaria, no son menos parte del medio griego

«But the rising tide of religion had engulfed "Greek" thought itself and transformed its own character: Hellenistic secular culture changed into a pronouncedly religious pagan culture, both in self-defense against Christianity and from an inner necessity. This means that in the age of the rising world-religion, Hellenism itself became a denominational creed.» — Jonas data ahí el vuelco: la marea religiosa se traga el propio pensamiento griego, la cultura secular helenística se vuelve cultura pagana religiosa por defensa y por necesidad interna, y el helenismo mismo pasa a ser un credo confesional

«This is how Plotinus and still more Julian the Apostate conceived their Hellenic, i.e., pagan, cause, which in Neoplatonism founded a kind of church with its own dogma and apologetic.» — según Jonas, así concibieron Plotino y más aún Juliano el Apóstata su causa helénica, es decir pagana, que en el neoplatonismo fundó una especie de iglesia con dogma y apologética propios

«In this hour of its twilight the concept of Hellenism was at the same time broadened and narrowed. It was broadened in so far as, in the final entrenchment, even purely oriental creations like the religions of Mithras or of Attis were counted in with the Hellenistic tradition that was to be defended; it was narrowed in that the whole cause became a party cause, and more and more that of a minority party.» — el doble movimiento que Jonas describe en el crepúsculo del helenismo: se ensancha, porque en el atrincheramiento final se cuentan como tradición a defender creaciones puramente orientales como las religiones de Mitra o de Atis, y se estrecha, porque la causa entera se vuelve de partido y de minoría

«Yet, as we have said, the whole struggle was enacted within a Greek framework, that is, within the frame of the one universal Hellenic culture and language. So much is this the case that the victor and heir in this struggle, the Christian Church of the East, was to be predominantly a Greek church: the work of Alexander the Great triumphed even in this defeat of the classical spirit.» — y la paradoja con que Jonas cierra: el vencedor y heredero, la Iglesia cristiana de Oriente, sería una iglesia griega, de modo que la obra de Alejandro triunfó aun en esa derrota del espíritu clásico

«We can accordingly distinguish four historical phases of Greek culture: (1) before Alexander, the classical phase as a national culture; (2) after Alexander, Hellenism as a cosmopolitan secular culture; (3) later Hellenism as a pagan religious culture; and (4) Byzantinism as a Greek Christian culture.» — las cuatro fases de la cultura griega que Jonas distingue: clásica y nacional antes de Alejandro, helenismo como cultura secular cosmopolita, helenismo tardío como cultura religiosa pagana, y bizantinismo como cultura cristiana griega

«The transition from this to the third phase, the turning to religion of ancient civilization as a whole and of the Greek mind with it, was the work of profoundly un-Greek forces which, originating in the East, entered history as new factors. Between the rule of Hellenistic secular culture and the final defensive position of a late Hellenism turned religious lie three centuries of revolutionary spiritual movements which effected this transformation, among which the gnostic movement occupies a prominent place. With these we have to deal later.» — según Jonas, el paso a la tercera fase fue obra de fuerzas profundamente no griegas venidas de Oriente, y entre los tres siglos de movimientos espirituales revolucionarios que lo produjeron el movimiento gnóstico ocupa un lugar prominente

«Military and political subjection alone is not sufficient to explain the course of events, as the comparison with other conquests of areas of high culture shows throughout history, where often enough the victor culturally succumbs to the vanquished.» — Jonas descarta la sola sujeción militar y política como explicación, y recuerda que la historia muestra a menudo al vencedor sucumbiendo culturalmente al vencido

«We may even raise the question whether in a deeper sense, or at least partially, something of the kind did not also happen in the case of Hellenism; but what is certainly manifest at first is the unequivocal ascendancy of the Greek side, and this determined at least the form of all future cultural expression.» — y deja la pregunta abierta sobre si algo así pasó también con el helenismo, mientras registra como manifiesto el ascendiente griego, que fijó al menos la forma de toda expresión cultural futura

«In the first place, for the time before Alexander, in contrast with the wealth of Greek sources we are faced with an utter paucity of oriental ones, except for the Jewish literature. Yet this negative fact, if we may take it as a sign of literary sterility, is itself a historical testimony which confirms what we can infer from Greek sources about the contemporary state of the Eastern nations.» — Jonas convierte una ausencia en dato: la escasez de fuentes orientales anteriores a Alejandro, frente a la riqueza griega, es ella misma testimonio histórico de esterilidad literaria, salvo la literatura judía

«Moreover, this vast East, unified in the Persian Empire by sheer force, was far from being a cultural unity like the Greek world. Hellas was the same everywhere; the East, different from region to region.» — según Jonas, ese Oriente unificado por la fuerza en el Imperio persa no era una unidad cultural como el mundo griego: Hélade era la misma en todas partes y Oriente distinto de región en región

«Indeed, Gustav Droysen, the originator of the term "Hellenism" for the post-Alexandrian Greek-oriental synthesis, has himself qualified the term by stating that in effect as many different kinds of Hellenism evolved as there were different national individualities concerned.» — la reserva que Jonas recoge del propio Gustav Droysen, creador del término helenismo: evolucionaron tantos helenismos distintos como individualidades nacionales había

«In fact, if we except Egypt, we can discern in the pre-Hellenistic Orient certain universalistic tendencies, beginnings of a spiritual syncretism, which may be taken as a counterpart to the cosmopolitan turn of the Greek mind.» — aun así Jonas discierne en el Oriente prehelenístico, con la excepción de Egipto, ciertas tendencias universalistas y comienzos de sincretismo espiritual, que propone como contrapartida del giro cosmopolita griego

«Finally, in the period after Alexander the supremacy of pan-Hellenic civilization meant precisely that the East itself, if it aspired to literary expression at all, had to express itself in the Greek language and manner. Consequently the recognition of such instances of self-expression as voices of the East within the totality of Hellenistic literature is for us frequently a matter of subtle and not unequivocally demonstrable distinction: that is to say, the situation created by Hellenism is itself an ambiguous one.» — el problema de método que Jonas declara: después de Alejandro el Oriente tuvo que expresarse en lengua y manera griegas, de modo que reconocer esas voces dentro de la literatura helenística es distinción sutil y no demostrable sin equívoco

«Politically, this state was determined by the sequence of despotic empires that had swept over the East in the preceding centuries. Their methods of conquest and rule had broken the political backbone of the local populations and accustomed them passively to accept each new master in the change of empires. The destinies of the central power were undisputed fate for the subject peoples, who were simply thrown in with the spoils.» — según Jonas, la apatía política oriental viene de la sucesión de imperios despóticos que rompieron el espinazo político de las poblaciones locales y las habituaron a aceptar pasivamente cada nuevo amo

«At a much later time, Daniel's vision of the four kingdoms still reflects this passive relation of the oriental peoples to the succession of political powers. So it came about that three battles which broke the military might of the Persian monarchy delivered to the victor an enormous empire of innumerable peoples which had become estranged from the idea of self-determination and did not even feel the urge to take a hand in the decision.» — Jonas lee la visión de Daniel sobre los cuatro reinos como reflejo tardío de esa relación pasiva, y explica así que tres batallas entregaran a Alejandro un imperio de pueblos innumerables ajenos ya a la idea de autodeterminación

«The only serious local resistance of a popular nature was encountered by Alexander in Tyre and Gaza, which had to be reduced in long-drawn-out sieges. This exception was no accident: the Phoenician city—and Gaza's case was probably similar—was in spite of its vassal relation to the Great King a sovereign polity, and its citizens fought for their own cause in the long-standing Phoenician-Greek rivalry for sea power.» — la excepción que Jonas registra y explica: Tiro y Gaza resistieron porque la ciudad fenicia, pese a su vasallaje, era una entidad soberana y sus ciudadanos peleaban su propia causa en la vieja rivalidad marítima con los griegos

«In addition, the Assyrian and Babylonian practice of expatriating and transplanting whole conquered peoples, or more accurately their socially and culturally leading strata, had destroyed the forces of cultural growth in many of the regions outside the old centers. This fate had in many cases overtaken peoples of a more youthful cultural age who were still to unfold their potentialities. For the imperial manageability thus gained, the central power paid with the drying up of the potential sources of its own regeneration.» — según Jonas, la deportación asiria y babilonia de pueblos enteros —o de sus estratos dirigentes— destruyó las fuerzas de crecimiento cultural fuera de los viejos centros, y el poder central pagó esa manejabilidad con el secamiento de sus propias fuentes de regeneración

«The very weakening of the strictly local aspects of indigenous cultures meant the removal of so many obstacles to a merging in a wider synthesis and thus made possible the entry of these elements into the common stock.» — y el reverso positivo: debilitar lo estrictamente local quitó obstáculos a la fusión en una síntesis más amplia

«On the one hand, it favored the disengagement of cultural contents from their native soil, their abstraction into the transmissible form of teachings, and their consequently becoming available as elements in a cosmopolitan interchange of ideas—just as Hellenism could use them. On the other hand, it favored already a pre-Hellenistic syncretism, a merging of gods and cults of different and sometimes widely distant origins, which again anticipates an important feature of the ensuing Hellenistic development.» — Jonas asigna dos efectos al desarraigo de poblaciones enteras: desprendió los contenidos culturales de su suelo y los abstrajo en doctrinas transmisibles, y favoreció ya un sincretismo prehelenístico de dioses y cultos de orígenes distantes

«The earliest description of the genesis of an intentional religious syncretism is found in the narrative in II Kings 17:24-41 concerning the new inhabitants settled by the Assyrian king in evacuated Samaria, that well-known story of the origin of the Samaritan sect which closes with the words: So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.» — el texto en que Jonas sitúa la descripción más antigua de un sincretismo religioso intencional: la historia de los nuevos pobladores de Samaria en II Reyes 17:24-41, que él cita entera

«Even more important is the other development we mentioned, the transformation of the substance of local cultures into ideologies. To take another classic example from the Bible, the Babylonian exile forced the Jews to develop that aspect of their religion whose validity transcended the particular Palestinian conditions and to oppose the creed thus extracted in its purity to the other religious principles of the world into which they had been cast. This meant a confrontation of ideas with ideas. We find the position fully realized in Second Isaiah, who enunciated the pure principle of monotheism as a world cause, freed from the specifically Palestinian limitations of the cult of Jahweh. Thus the very uprooting brought to fulfillment a process which had started, it is true, with the older prophets.» — según Jonas, el exilio babilónico obligó a los judíos a desarrollar el aspecto de su religión válido más allá de Palestina y a oponer ese credo depurado a los principios religiosos del mundo donde habían caído; halla la posición realizada del todo en el Segundo Isaías, que enuncia el monoteísmo puro como causa del mundo, libre de las limitaciones del culto palestino de Jahvé

«Thus, after the overthrow of Babylon by the Persians the Old-Babylonian religion ceased to be a state cult attached to the political center and bound up with its functions of rule. As one of the institutions of the monarchy it had enjoyed a defined official status, and this connection with a local system of secular power had supported and at the same time limited its role. Both support and restriction fell away with the loss of statehood. The release of the religion from a political function was an uprooting comparable to the territorial uprooting of Israel.» — el paralelo babilónico que Jonas propone: caída Babilonia ante los persas, la vieja religión dejó de ser culto de Estado, y perder el estatuto oficial fue a la vez perder el sostén y el límite, un desarraigo comparable al territorial de Israel

«subjection and political impotence in the Persian Empire forced the Babylonian religion to stand henceforth on its spiritual content alone. No longer connected with the institutions of a local power-system and enjoying the prestige of its authority, it was thrown back upon its inherent theological qualities, which had to be formulated as such if they were to hold their own against other religious systems which had similarly been set afloat and were now competing for the minds of men. Political uprooting thus led to a liberation of spiritual substance.» — según Jonas, la impotencia política obligó a la religión babilonia a sostenerse en su solo contenido espiritual y a formular sus cualidades teológicas para competir con otros sistemas: el desarraigo político condujo a una liberación de sustancia espiritual

«We may discern here the working of a historical law which helps us to understand many mental developments of later antiquity.» — Jonas propone ese tránsito como ley histórica que ayuda a entender muchos desarrollos mentales de la antigüedad tardía

«In a onesided development of its original astral features, the older cult was transformed into an abstract doctrine, the reasoned system of astrology, which simply by the appeal of its thought-content, presented in Greek form, became a powerful force in the Hellenistic world of ideas.» — el resultado que Jonas atribuye a la religión babilonia: un desarrollo unilateral de sus rasgos astrales la transformó en doctrina abstracta, el sistema razonado de la astrología, que en forma griega se volvió fuerza poderosa del mundo helenístico de ideas; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de one-sided y devuelve onesided, forma que el impreso no lleva

«In a comparable manner, to take a final example, the Old Persian religion of Mazdaism detached itself from its native Iranian soil. Carried over all the countries from Syria to India by the numerically small ruling nation, it had in the midst of the religious plurality of the Persian Empire already found itself in something like a cosmopolitan situation. Through the fall of the Empire it lost with the support also the odium of a foreign rule and henceforth shared in the countries outside Persia proper with other creeds the burdens and advantages of diaspora.» — el caso paralelo del mazdeísmo persa, que según Jonas se desprendió de su suelo iranio, ya estaba en situación cosmopolita dentro del Imperio y, caído este, perdió a la vez el sostén y el odio de un dominio extranjero

«Here again, out of the less-defined national tradition there was extracted an unequivocal metaphysical principle which evolved into a system of general intellectual significance: the system of theological dualism. This dualistic doctrine in its generalized content was to be one of the great forces in the Hellenistic syncretism of ideas.» — y el principio que Jonas dice extraído de esa tradición: el dualismo teológico, una de las grandes fuerzas del sincretismo helenístico de ideas

«In Persia itself the national reaction which led in succession to the founding of the Parthian and neo-Persian kingdoms was prepared for and accompanied by a religious restoration which in its turn was forced to systematize and dogmatize the content of the old folk-religion, a process in some ways analogous to the contemporary creation of the Talmud.» — Jonas registra en la propia Persia una restauración religiosa que sistematizó y dogmatizó la vieja religión popular, y la propone como análoga a la creación contemporánea del Talmud

«The general direction of these processes was toward dogmatization, in the sense that a principle was abstracted from the body of tradition and unfolded into a coherent doctrine. Greek influence, furnishing both incentive and logical tools, everywhere brought this process to maturity; but as we have just tried to show, the East itself had on the eve of Hellenism already initiated it in significant instances.» — según Jonas, la dirección general de esos procesos fue la dogmatización —abstraer un principio del cuerpo de la tradición y desplegarlo en doctrina coherente—, con la influencia griega dando incentivo y herramientas lógicas, aunque el propio Oriente ya la había iniciado

«The three we have mentioned were chosen with particular intent: Jewish monotheism, Babylonian astrology, and Iranian dualism were probably the three main spiritual forces that the East contributed to the configuration of Hellenism, and they increasingly influenced its later course.» — las tres fuerzas espirituales que Jonas atribuye a Oriente en la configuración del helenismo: monoteísmo judío, astrología babilonia y dualismo iranio

«We may just pause to note the fact that the first cosmopolitan civilization known to history, for so we may regard the Hellenistic, was made possible by catastrophes overtaking the original units of regional culture. Without the fall of states and nations, this process of abstraction and interchange might never have occurred on such a scale.» — la observación con que Jonas cierra las precondiciones: la primera civilización cosmopolita conocida fue posible gracias a las catástrofes que cayeron sobre las unidades regionales de cultura

«This is true, though less obviously, even for the Greek side, where the political decline of the polis, this most intensive of particularistic formations, provided a comparable negative precondition.» — y la extiende al lado griego: la decadencia política de la polis, la más intensiva de las formaciones particularistas, fue precondición negativa comparable

«With regard to what followed from the first century A.D. onward, we may call this opening stage the period of latency of the oriental mind and derive from this observation a division of the Hellenistic age into two distinct periods: the period of manifest Greek dominance and oriental submersion, and the period of reaction of a renascent East, which in its turn advanced victoriously in a kind of spiritual counterattack into the West and reshaped the universal culture.» — de ahí Jonas divide la era helenística en dos periodos: el de dominio griego manifiesto con inmersión oriental, que llama de latencia de la mente oriental, y el de reacción de un Oriente renaciente que contraataca espiritualmente hacia Occidente y rehace la cultura universal

«In this sense, Hellenization of the East prevails in the first period, orientalization of the West in the second, the latter process coming to an end by about 300 A.D. The result of both is a synthesis which carried over into the Middle Ages.» — y fecha el segundo: la orientalización de Occidente termina hacia el 300 d. C., y el resultado de ambos es una síntesis que pasa a la Edad Media

«Only the Greek voice was heard: all public literary utterance was in its idiom. In view of what we said about the entering of orientals into the stream of Greek intellectual life, the muteness of the East cannot be construed as a lack of intellectual vitality on the part of its individuals: it consists rather in its not speaking for itself, in its own name.» — Jonas acota qué significa ese mutismo: no falta de vitalidad intelectual de los orientales, sino que no hablaban por sí mismos ni en su propio nombre

«To be sure, the Hellenistic civilization, wide open and hospitable, had room for creations of the oriental mind once they had assumed the Greek form. Thus the formal unity of this culture covered in fact a plurality, yet always as it were under the official Greek stamp. For the East, this situation engendered a kind of mimicry which had far-reaching consequences for its whole future.» — según Jonas, la unidad formal de esa cultura cubría de hecho una pluralidad bajo cuño griego oficial, y para Oriente eso engendró una mimetización de consecuencias largas

«it was the recognition of the difference in what was called "Greek" before and after Alexander that prompted Droysen to introduce the term "Hellenistic" in distinction to the classical "Hellenic." "Hellenistic" was intended to denote not just the enlargement of the polis culture to a cosmopolitan culture and the transformations inherent in this process alone but also the change of character following from the reception of oriental influences into this enlarged whole.» — Jonas explica por qué Droysen introdujo helenístico frente al clásico helénico: no solo el ensanchamiento de la cultura de la polis, sino el cambio de carácter que trajo la recepción de influencias orientales

«The continuing controversy about Poseidonius of Apameia (about 135-50 B.C.) well illustrates the difficulty of any confident attribution of influences and in general the uncertainty as to what in this period is genuinely Greek and what tinged with orientalism. Is the fervent astral piety that pervades his philosophy an expression of the Eastern mind or not? Both sides can be argued, and probably will continue to be, though there can be no doubt that, whether or not he was Greek by birth, to his own mind his thought was truly Greek.» — el caso con que Jonas mide la dificultad de atribuir influencias: Posidonio de Apamea, de quien se discute si su ferviente piedad astral expresa la mente oriental; Jonas deja los dos lados en pie y solo da por seguro que él tenía su pensamiento por griego

«Faced with the peculiar anonymity, we might even say pseudonymity, that cloaks the oriental element, we must be content with the general impression that oriental influences in the broadest sense were at work throughout this period in the domain of Greek thought.» — la abstención que Jonas declara ahí: frente a la anonimia, o más bien pseudonimia, que encubre el elemento oriental, hay que contentarse con la impresión general de que esas influencias operaron en el pensamiento griego

«A clearer case is presented by the growing literature on "the wisdom of the barbarians" that made its appearance in Greek letters: in the long run it did not remain a matter of merely antiquarian interest but gradually assumed a propagandist character.» — el caso que Jonas llama más claro: la literatura sobre la sabiduría de los bárbaros, que con el tiempo dejó de ser interés anticuario y tomó carácter propagandístico

«The most important form, however, in which the East contributed at this time to the Hellenistic culture was in the field not of literature but of cult: the religious syncretism which was to become the most decisive fact in the later phase begins to take shape in this first period of the Hellenistic era.» — según Jonas, la aportación oriental más importante de ese primer periodo no fue literaria sino de culto: ahí toma forma el sincretismo religioso

«Strictly speaking, however, syncretism denotes a religious phenomenon which the ancient term "theocrasy," i.e., mixing of gods, expresses more adequately.» — Jonas precisa el término: en sentido estricto el sincretismo es un fenómeno religioso que el antiguo teocrasia, mezcla de dioses, nombra mejor

«This is a central phenomenon of the period and one to which we, otherwise familiar with the intermingling of ideas and cultural values, have no exact parallel in our contemporary experience.» — y declara que no tenemos paralelo exacto de ese fenómeno en la experiencia contemporánea, pese a estar familiarizados con la mezcla de ideas y valores

«The theocrasy expressed itself in myth as well as in cult, and one of its most important logical tools was allegory, of which philosophy had already been making use in its relation to religion and myth.» — según Jonas, la teocrasia se expresó en mito y en culto, y una de sus herramientas lógicas principales fue la alegoría, que la filosofía ya usaba con la religión y el mito

«The growing prestige of Eastern gods and cults within the Western world heralded the role which the East was to play in the second period, when the leadership passed into its hands. It was a religious role, whereas the Greek contribution to the Hellenistic whole was that of a secular culture.» — el reparto que Jonas asigna a las dos mitades: el papel de Oriente en el segundo periodo sería religioso, mientras que el aporte griego al conjunto helenístico fue el de una cultura secular

«With the one great exception of the Maccabaean revolt, there is hardly any sign of oriental self-assertion within the Hellenistic orbit in the whole period from Alexander to Caesar.» — Jonas registra la revuelta macabea como la única gran excepción a la ausencia de afirmación oriental dentro de la órbita helenística entre Alejandro y César

«The first thing we note is that the East became silent for several» — según Jonas, el Oriente calló durante siglos bajo la luz del día helénico; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«centuries and was all but invisible in the overpowering light of the Hellenic day.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: el Oriente quedó casi invisible en la luz abrumadora del día helénico

«The initiative of Greek authors in this field was taken up in the old centers of the East, Babylon and Egypt, by native priests, who turned to composing accounts of their national histories and cultures in the Greek language.» — según Jonas, la iniciativa griega sobre la sabiduría de los bárbaros la recogieron en Babilonia y Egipto sacerdotes nativos, que se pusieron a componer en griego las historias y culturas de sus naciones

«tents themselves, the antiquarians were encouraged imperceptibly to turn into teachers and preachers.» — y su desenlace en la plana siguiente: al crecer la receptividad hacia los contenidos espirituales, los anticuarios se volvieron insensiblemente maestros y predicadores

«The Greek monopoly of all forms of intellectual expression had for the oriental spirit simultaneously the aspects of suppression and of liberation: suppression because this monopoly deprived it of its native medium and forced a dissimulation upon the expression of its own contents; liberation because the Greek conceptual form offered to the oriental mind an entirely new possibility of bringing to light the meaning of its own heritage.» — según Jonas, el monopolio griego de la expresión intelectual fue a la vez supresión y liberación para el espíritu oriental: le quitó su medio propio y lo obligó a disimular sus contenidos, y a la vez le ofreció en la forma conceptual griega una posibilidad nueva de sacar a la luz el sentido de su herencia

«For Greece had invented the logos, the abstract concept, the method of theoretical exposition, the reasoned system—one of the greatest discoveries in the history of the human mind. This formal instrument, applicable to any content whatsoever, Hellenism made available to the East, whose self-expression could now benefit from it.» — Jonas cifra el aporte griego en la invención del logos, el concepto abstracto, la exposición teórica y el sistema razonado, instrumento formal aplicable a cualquier contenido que el helenismo puso a disposición de Oriente

«Oriental thought had been nonconceptual, conveyed in images and symbols, rather disguising its ultimate objects in myths and rites than expounding them logically. In the rigidity of its ancient symbols it lay bound; from this imprisonment it was liberated by the vivifying breath of Greek thought, which gave new momentum and at the same time adequate tools to whatever tendencies of abstraction had been at work before.» — según Jonas, el pensamiento oriental era no conceptual, transmitido en imágenes y símbolos, y estaba preso en la rigidez de sus símbolos antiguos hasta que el aliento griego le dio impulso y herramientas; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de non-conceptual y devuelve nonconceptual, forma que el impreso no lleva

«At bottom, oriental thought remained mythological, as became clear when it presented itself anew to the world; but it had learned in the meantime to bring its ideas into the form of theories and to employ rational concepts, instead of sensuous imagery alone, in expounding them.» — y la reserva que Jonas mantiene: en el fondo el pensamiento oriental siguió siendo mitológico, aunque había aprendido a dar forma de teoría a sus ideas y a usar conceptos racionales en vez de sola imaginería sensible

«In this way, the definite formulation of the systems of dualism, astrological fatalism, and transcendent monotheism came about with the help of Greek conceptualization. With the status of metaphysical doctrines they gained general currency, and their message could address itself to all.» — según Jonas, así se formularon definitivamente el dualismo, el fatalismo astrológico y el monoteísmo trascendente, que con estatuto de doctrinas metafísicas ganaron curso general

«For one thing, every generation or rationalization is paid for with the loss of specificity.» — el precio que Jonas consigna: toda generalización o racionalización se paga con pérdida de especificidad; el escaneo imprime generation por generalization

«In particular, the Greek ascendancy naturally tempted oriental thinkers to profit from the prestige of everything Greek by expressing their cause not directly but in the disguise of analogues gleaned from the Greek tradition of thought. Thus, for instance, astrological fatalism and magic could be clothed in the garments of the Stoic cosmology with its doctrines of sympathy and cosmic law, religious dualism in the garment of Plato-nism.» — según Jonas, el ascendiente griego tentó a los pensadores orientales a exponer su causa disfrazada de análogos griegos: el fatalismo astrológico y la magia con ropaje de cosmología estoica, el dualismo religioso con ropaje platónico

«To the mentality of assimilation this was certainly a rise in the world; but the mimicry thus initiated reacted upon the further growth of the Eastern mind and presents peculiar problems of interpretation to the historian.» — y el efecto que Jonas atribuye a esa mimetización: reaccionó sobre el crecimiento posterior de la mente oriental y plantea al historiador problemas de interpretación peculiares

«The phenomenon which Oswald Spengler called, with a term borrowed from mineralogy, "pseudomorphosis" will engage our attention as we go on (see below, Ch. 2, d).» — el término que Jonas toma de Oswald Spengler, tomado a su vez de la mineralogía, para ese fenómeno: pseudomorfosis

«There was another, perhaps sill profounder, effect which Greek ascendancy had upon the inner life of the East, an effect which was to become manifest only much later: the division of the oriental spirit into a surface and a sub-surface stream, a public and a secret tradition.» — el segundo efecto que Jonas atribuye al ascendiente griego, manifiesto solo mucho después: la división del espíritu oriental en una corriente de superficie y otra subterránea, una tradición pública y una secreta; el escaneo imprime sill por still

«Its selective standards acted like a filter: what was capable of Hellenization was passed and gained a place in the light, that is, became part of the articulate upper stratum of the cosmopolitan culture; the remainder, the radically different and unassimilated was excluded and went underground.» — cómo describe Jonas ese filtro: lo helenizable pasaba y ganaba lugar en la luz, y lo radicalmente distinto y no asimilado quedaba excluido y pasaba a la clandestinidad

«In the nature of things it was the most genuine and original tendencies of the spirit of the East, those of the future rather than of the past, that were subjected to this condition of subterranean existence.» — y qué quedó abajo, según Jonas: las tendencias más genuinas y originales del espíritu de Oriente, las del futuro y no las del pasado

«Processes of profound transformation, far-reaching new departures, must have been under way in this period of submergence. We do not know them, of course; and our whole description, conjectural as it is, would be without foundation were it not for the sudden eruption of a new East which we witness at the turn of the era and from whose force and scale we can draw inferences as to its incubation.» — Jonas declara el estatuto conjetural de esa descripción: no conocemos esos procesos, y la descripción entera carecería de fundamento si no fuera por la erupción súbita de un Oriente nuevo en el cambio de era, de cuya fuerza y escala se infiere la incubación

«What we do witness at the period roughly coinciding with the beginnings of Christianity is an explosion of the East. Like longpent-up waters its forces broke through the Hellenistic crust and flooded the ancient world, flowing into the established Greek forms and filling them with their content, besides creating their own new beds. The metamorphosis of Hellenism into a religious oriental culture was set on foot.» — la imagen con que Jonas nombra el fenómeno: una explosión de Oriente que rompe la costra helenística como aguas represadas, llena las formas griegas establecidas y abre cauces nuevos; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de long-pent y devuelve longpent, forma que el impreso no lleva

«The time of the breakthrough was probably determined by the coinciding of two complementary conditions, the maturing of the subterranean growth in the East, which enabled it to emerge into the light of day, and the readiness of the West for a religious renewal, even its deeply felt need of it, which was grounded in the whole spiritual state of that world and disposed it to respond eagerly to the message of the East.» — las dos condiciones complementarias a que Jonas atribuye, con reserva, la fecha de la irrupción: la maduración del crecimiento subterráneo en Oriente y la disposición de Occidente, con necesidad sentida, a una renovación religiosa

«Now it is important to recognize that in these events we are dealing, not with a reaction of the old East, but with a novel phenomenon which at that crucial hour entered the stage of history.» — según Jonas, lo que entra en escena no es una reacción del viejo Oriente sino un fenómeno nuevo

«The "Old East" was dead. The new awakening did not mean a classicist resuscitation of its time-honored heritage. Not even the more recent conceptualizations of earlier oriental thought were the real substance of the movement.» — Jonas niega que el despertar fuera resurrección clasicista de la herencia venerable, y niega también que las conceptualizaciones recientes del pensamiento oriental fueran la sustancia real del movimiento

«Traditional dualism, traditional astrological fatalism, traditional monotheism were all drawn into it, yet with such a peculiarly new twist to them, that in the present setting they subserved the representation of a novel spiritual principle;» — y precisa: el dualismo, el fatalismo astrológico y el monoteísmo tradicionales fueron arrastrados al movimiento con un giro tan nuevo que ahí sirven a la representación de un principio espiritual novedoso

«It is necessary to emphasize this fact from the outset because of the strong suggestion to the contrary created by the outer appearances, which have long misled historians into regarding the fabric of thought they were confronted with, except for its Christian part, as simply made up of the remnants of older traditions.» — Jonas señala que las apariencias exteriores llevaron largo tiempo a los historiadores a ver ese tejido de pensamiento, salvo su parte cristiana, como mera suma de restos de tradiciones viejas

«It is in the nature of the syncretistic situation that all these different .elements were available and could be combined at will. But syncretism itself provides only the outer aspect and not the essence of the phenomenon.» — la distinción que Jonas sostiene: el sincretismo da el aspecto exterior y no la esencia del fenómeno

«However, though these associations are by no means irrelevant, we can discern a new spiritual center around which the elements of tradition now crystallize, the unity behind their multiplicity; and this rather than the syncretistic means of expression is the true entity with which we are confronted.» — frente a esa compositidad Jonas afirma discernir un centro espiritual nuevo en torno al cual cristalizan los elementos de la tradición, la unidad tras la multiplicidad, y lo tiene por la entidad verdadera del asunto

«If we acknowledge this center as an autonomous force, then we must say that it makes use of those elements rather than that it is constituted by their confluence; and the whole which thus originated will in spite of its manifestly synthetic character have to be understood not as the product of an uncommitted eclecticism but as an original and determinate system of ideas.» — y saca la consecuencia: ese centro usa los elementos en vez de estar constituido por su confluencia, de modo que el conjunto no se entiende como eclecticismo sin compromiso sino como un sistema de ideas original y determinado

«Yet this system has to be elicited as such from the mass of disparate materials, which yield it only under proper questioning, that is, to an interpretation already guided by an anticipatory knowledge of the underlying unity.» — Jonas declara el método que eso exige: el sistema hay que sacarlo de la masa de materiales dispares, que solo lo entregan bajo un interrogatorio guiado por un conocimiento anticipado de la unidad subyacente

«A certain circularity in the proof thus obtained cannot be denied, nor can the subjective element involved in the intuitive anticipation of the goal toward which the interpretation is to move. Such, however, is the nature and risk of historical interpretation, which has to take its cues from an initial impression of the material and is vindicated only by the result, its intrinsic convincingness or plausibility, and above all by the progressively confirmatory experience of things falling into their place when brought into contact with the hypothetical pattern.» — y la reserva con que lo declara, sin resolverla: no niega la circularidad de la prueba ni el elemento subjetivo de la anticipación intuitiva, y remite la validación al resultado, a su plausibilidad y a la experiencia progresiva de que las cosas caigan en su sitio

«They are in the main as follows: the spread of Hellenistic Judaism, and especially the rise of Alexandrian Jewish philosophy; the spread of Babylonian astrology and of magic, coinciding with a general growth of fatalism in the Western world; the spread of diverse Eastern mystery-cults over the Hellenistic-Roman world, and their evolution into spiritual mystery-religions; the rise of Christianity; the efflorescence of the gnostic movements with their great systemformations inside and outside the Christian framework; and the transcendental philosophies of late antiquity, beginning with Neopythagoreanism and culminating in the Neoplatonic school.» — el inventario con que Jonas enumera la ola oriental desde el comienzo de la era cristiana: judaísmo helenístico y filosofía judía alejandrina, astrología y magia babilonias con el auge del fatalismo, cultos mistéricos orientales vueltos religiones mistéricas espirituales, el surgimiento del cristianismo, los movimientos gnósticos con sus grandes sistemas dentro y fuera del marco cristiano, y las filosofías trascendentales tardoantiguas, del neopitagorismo al neoplatonismo; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de system-formations y devuelve systemformations, forma que el impreso no lleva

«All these phenomena, different as they are, are in a broad sense interrelated. Their teachings have important points in common and even in their divergences share in a common climate of thought: the literature of each can supplement our understanding of the others.» — según Jonas esos fenómenos están emparentados en sentido amplio: comparten puntos de doctrina y hasta en sus divergencias un clima común de pensamiento, y la literatura de cada uno suplementa la comprensión de los otros

«In Philo of Alexandria we encounter, besides the Platonic and Stoic elements with which the Jewish core is overlaid, also the language of the mystery-cults and the incipient terminology of a new mysticism.» — el ejemplo de Filón de Alejandría, donde Jonas halla, sobre el núcleo judío recubierto de elementos platónicos y estoicos, el lenguaje de los cultos mistéricos y la terminología incipiente de una mística nueva

«Christianity, even in its "orthodox" utterances, had from the outset (certainly as early as St. Paul) syncretistic aspects, far exceeded however in this respect by its heretical offshoots: the gnostic systems compounded everything—oriental mythologies, astrological doctrines, Iranian theology, elements of Jewish tradition, whether Biblical, rabbinical, or occult, Christian salvation-eschatology, Platonic terms and concepts.» — según Jonas, el cristianismo tuvo aspectos sincréticos desde el principio, ya en san Pablo, y sus vástagos heréticos mucho más: los sistemas gnósticos componían mitologías orientales, doctrinas astrológicas, teología irania, tradición judía bíblica, rabínica u oculta, escatología cristiana de salvación y términos platónicos

«Syncretism attained in this period its greatest efficacy. It was no longer confined to specific cults and the concern of their priests but pervaded the whole thought of the age and showed itself in all provinces of literary expression.» — Jonas fecha ahí la máxima eficacia del sincretismo: dejó de estar confinado a cultos concretos y a sus sacerdotes para permear el pensamiento entero de la época

«Thus the Greek spirit delivered Eastern thought from the bondage of its own symbolism» — la fórmula con que Jonas cierra el punto: el espíritu griego liberó al pensamiento oriental de la servidumbre de su propio simbolismo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«and enabled it in the reflection of the logos to discover itself. And it was with the arms acquired from. the Greek arsenal that the East, when its time came, launched its counteroffensive.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: le permitió reconocerse en el reflejo del logos, y con armas tomadas del arsenal griego lanzó Oriente, llegada su hora, la contraofensiva

«Is there a one in the many, and what is it? we ask in the face of such a compound phenomenon. What is the organizing force in the syncretistic matter? We said before by way of preliminary assertion that in spite of its "synthetic" exterior the new spirit was not a directionless eclecticism. What then was the directing principle, and what the direction?» — las preguntas con que Jonas plantea el problema del fenómeno compuesto: si hay un uno en lo múltiple, cuál es la fuerza organizadora de la materia sincrética, cuál el principio director y cuál la dirección

«In order to reach an answer to this question, one has to fix one's attention upon certain characteristic mental attitudes which are more or less distinctly exhibited throughout the whole group, irrespective of otherwise greatly differing content and intellectual level. If in these common features we find at work a spiritual principle which was not present in the given elements of the mixture, we may identify this as the true agent of it.» — el criterio que Jonas propone: fijarse en ciertas actitudes mentales características comunes a todo el grupo, y si en ellas obra un principio espiritual que no estaba en los elementos de la mezcla, identificarlo como el agente verdadero

«It appears everywhere in the movements coming from the East, and most conspicuously in that group of spiritual movements which are comprised under the name "gnostic." We can therefore take the latter as the most radical and uncompromising representatives of a new spirit, and may consequently call the general principle, which in less unequivocal representations extends beyond the area of gnostic literature proper, by way of analogy the "gnostic principle."» — según Jonas, ese principio novedoso se discierne por toda esa literatura y de manera más conspicua en los movimientos llamados gnósticos, a los que toma por representantes más radicales del espíritu nuevo, y de ahí llama por analogía principio gnóstico al principio general

«Whatever the usefulness of such an extension of the meaning of the name, it is certain that the study of this particular group not only is highly interesting in itself but also can furnish, if not the key to the whole epoch, at least a vital contribution toward its understanding.» — y acota la extensión del nombre: sea cual sea su utilidad, el estudio de ese grupo aporta, si no la clave de la época entera, al menos una contribución vital a entenderla

«I personally am strongly inclined to regard the whole series of phenomena in which the oriental wave manifests itself as different refractions of, and reactions to, this hypothetical gnostic principle, and I have elsewhere argued my reasons for this view.» — Jonas declara como inclinación personal, y no como resultado, su lectura de toda la ola oriental como refracciones y reacciones de ese principio gnóstico hipotético, y remite a donde argumentó sus razones

«However far such a view may be granted, it carries in its own meaning the qualification that what can be thus identified as a common denomi8H. Jonas, Gnosis und spatantiker Geist, I and II, 1, passim; see especially the introduction to vol. I, and Ch. 4 of vol. II, 1. nator can wear many masks and admits of many degrees of dilution and of compromise with conflicting principles. It may thus in many cases itself be only one of the elements in a complex set of intellectual motives, only partially effective and imperfectly realized in the resulting whole.» — y la reserva que la acompaña: ese denominador común puede llevar muchas máscaras y admite grados de dilución y compromiso con principios en pugna, de modo que a veces sea solo uno de los motivos de un conjunto complejo; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de denomi-8H y devuelve denomi8H, forma que el impreso no lleva

«But it is a novel factor wherever it makes itself felt, and its most unadulterated revelation is to be found in the gnostic literature properly so called.» — aun así Jonas lo sostiene como factor nuevo dondequiera que se deje sentir, y sitúa su revelación menos adulterada en la literatura gnóstica propiamente dicha

«At the beginning of the Christian era and progressively throughout the two following centuries, the eastern Mediterranean world was in profound spiritual ferment. The genesis of Christianity itself and the response to its message are evidence of this ferment, but they do not stand alone.» — según Jonas, el mundo mediterráneo oriental estaba en fermento espiritual profundo al comenzar la era cristiana, y la génesis misma del cristianismo es prueba de ese fermento y no un caso aislado

«With regard to the environment in which Christianity originated, the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls have added powerful support to the view, reasonably certain before, that Palestine was seething with eschatological (i.e., salvational) movements and that the emergence of the Christian sect was anything but an isolated incident.» — Jonas invoca los Rollos del Mar Muerto como apoyo poderoso a una tesis ya razonablemente cierta: Palestina hervía de movimientos escatológicos, es decir salvacionales, y la aparición de la secta cristiana no fue incidente aislado

«In the thought of the manifold gnostic sects which soon began to spring up everywhere in the wake of the Christian expansion, the spiritual crisis of the age found its boldest expression and, as it were, its extremist representation. The abstruseness of their speculations, in part intentionally provocative, does not diminish but rather enhances their symbolic representativeness for the thought of an agitated period.» — según Jonas, en las sectas gnósticas la crisis espiritual de la época halló su expresión más audaz y su representación extremista, y lo abstruso de sus especulaciones, en parte provocador de propósito, aumenta en vez de disminuir su valor representativo

«The name "Gnosticism," which has come to serve as a collective heading for a manifoldness of sectarian doctrines appearing within and around Christianity during its critical first centuries, is derived from gnosis, the Greek word for "knowledge."» — Jonas deriva el nombre gnosticismo de gnosis, la palabra griega para conocimiento, y lo describe como rótulo colectivo de una multiplicidad de doctrinas sectarias surgidas dentro y alrededor del cristianismo en sus primeros siglos críticos

«The emphasis on knowledge as the means for the attainment of salvation, or even as the form of salvation itself, and the claim to the possession of this knowledge in one's own articulate doctrine, are common features of the numerous sects in which the gnostic movement historically expressed itself.» — el rasgo común que Jonas asigna a esas sectas: el énfasis en el conocimiento como medio de salvación o como la salvación misma, y la pretensión de poseerlo en la doctrina articulada propia

«Actually there were only a few groups whose members expressly called themselves Gnostics, "the Knowing ones"; but already Irenaeus, in the title of his work, used the name "gnosis" (with the addition "falsely so called") to cover all those sects that shared with them that emphasis and certain other characteristics.» — Jonas acota el uso del nombre: solo unos pocos grupos se llamaban a sí mismos gnósticos, los que saben, y fue ya Ireneo quien en el título de su obra usó gnosis —con el añadido falsamente llamada— para cubrir a todas las sectas que compartían ese énfasis

«In following the example of the ancient authors who first extended the name beyond the self-styling of a few groups, we are not obliged to stop where their knowledge or polemical interest did and may treat the term as a class-concept, to be applied wherever the defining properties are present.» — Jonas declara su licencia metodológica: seguir a los antiguos que extendieron el nombre sin quedarse donde su conocimiento o su interés polémico se detuvo, y tratar el término como concepto de clase

«Finally, if we take as a criterion not so much the special motif of "knowledge" as the dualistic-anticosmic spirit in general, the religion of Mani too must be classified as gnostic.» — y el criterio con que Jonas incorpora a Mani: tomando por definitorio el espíritu dualista y anticósmico más que el motivo del conocimiento, la religión de Mani también es gnóstica

«Asking next the question where or from what historical tradition Gnosticism originated, we are confronted with an old crux of historical speculation: the most conflicting theories have been advanced in the course of time and are still in the field today.» — Jonas declara la cuestión del origen como una vieja crux de la especulación histórica, con las teorías más contradictorias todavía en pie

«The early Church Fathers, and independently of them Plotinus, emphasized the influence upon a Christian thinking not yet firmly consolidated of Plato and of misunderstood Hellenic philosophy in general.» — la primera de esas teorías, que Jonas atribuye a los Padres y, con independencia de ellos, a Plotino: la influencia de Platón y de una filosofía helénica mal entendida sobre un pensamiento cristiano aún no consolidado

«Modern scholars have advanced in turn Hellenic, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Iranian origins and every possible combination of these with one another and with Jewish and Christian elements. Since in the material of its representation Gnosticism actually is a product of syncretism, each of these theories can be supported from the sources and none of them is satisfactory alone; but neither is the combination of all of them, which would make Gnosticism out to be a mere mosaic of these elements and so miss its autonomous essence.» — Jonas consigna que cada teoría moderna —helénica, babilonia, egipcia, irania y sus combinaciones— puede apoyarse en las fuentes y ninguna basta, y que tampoco basta la suma de todas, que haría del gnosticismo un mosaico y perdería su esencia autónoma

«On the whole, however, the oriental thesis has an edge over the Hellenic one, once the meaning of the term "knowledge" is freed from the misleading associations suggested by the tradition of classical philosophy.» — el fiel que Jonas inclina, con esa reserva: la tesis oriental lleva ventaja sobre la helénica una vez que se libera el término conocimiento de las asociaciones de la filosofía clásica

«The recent Coptic discoveries in Upper Egypt (see below, sec. e) are said to underline the share of a heterodox occultist Judaism, though judgment must be reserved pending the translation of the vast body of material.» — Jonas registra que se atribuye a los hallazgos coptos del Alto Egipto subrayar la parte de un judaísmo ocultista heterodoxo, y reserva el juicio a la espera de la traducción del material

«Some connection of Gnosticism with the beginnings of the Cabbala has in any case to be assumed, whatever the order of cause and effect.» — según Jonas hay que suponer alguna conexión entre el gnosticismo y los comienzos de la cábala, sin resolver el orden de causa y efecto

«The violently anti-Jewish bias of the more prominent gnostic systems is by itself not incompatible with Jewish heretical origin at some distance.» — y añade que el sesgo violentamente antijudío de los sistemas gnósticos más prominentes no es por sí incompatible con un origen herético judío a cierta distancia

«pendently, however, of who the first Gnostics were and what the main religious traditions drawn into the movement and suffering arbitrary reinterpretation at its hands, the movement itself transcended ethnic and denominational boundaries, and its spiritual principle was new.» — la conclusión que Jonas mantiene con independencia del origen: el movimiento trascendió las fronteras étnicas y confesionales y su principio espiritual era nuevo

«The Jewish strain in Gnosticism is as little the orthodox Jewish as the Babylonian is the orthodox Babylonian, the Iranian the orthodox Iranian, and so on.» — y la acota: la veta judía del gnosticismo no es la judía ortodoxa, como la babilonia no es la babilonia ortodoxa ni la irania la irania ortodoxa

«"Knowledge" is by itself a purely formal term and does not specify what is to be known; neither does it specify the psychological manner and subjective significance of possessing knowledge or the ways in which it is acquired.» — Jonas advierte que conocimiento es término puramente formal: no dice qué se conoce, ni el modo psicológico, ni la significación subjetiva de poseerlo, ni las vías de adquirirlo

«In the gnostic context, however, "knowledge" has an emphatically religious or supranatural meaning and refers to objects which we nowadays should call those of faith rather than of reason.» — y precisa el sentido gnóstico: religioso o supranatural, referido a objetos que hoy llamaríamos de fe y no de razón

«Now although the relation between faith and knowledge (pistis and gnosis) became a major issue in the Church between the gnostic heretics and the orthodox, this was not the modern issue between faith and reason with which we are familiar; for the "knowledge” of the Gnostics with which simple Christian faith was contrasted whether in praise or blame was not of the rational kind.» — Jonas deshace la analogía moderna: aunque la relación entre pistis y gnosis fue asunto mayor entre herejes gnósticos y ortodoxos, no era el problema moderno entre fe y razón, porque el conocimiento de los gnósticos no era del tipo racional

«Gnosis meant pre-eminently knowledge of God, and from what we have said about the radical transcendence of the deity it follows that "knowledge of God" is the knowledge of something naturally unknowable and therefore itself not a natural condition.» — la definición que Jonas asienta: gnosis significaba ante todo conocimiento de Dios, y por la trascendencia radical de la deidad ese conocer lo es de algo naturalmente incognoscible, y por tanto no es él mismo una condición natural

«Its objects include everything that belongs to the divine realm of being, namely, the order and history of the upper worlds, and what is to issue from it, namely, the salvation of man.» — y su alcance: el orden y la historia de los mundos superiores y lo que ha de salir de ellos, la salvación del hombre

«First, all the phenomena which we noted in connection with the "oriental wave" are of a decidedly religious nature; and this, as we have repeatedly stated, is the prominent characteristic of the second phase of Hellenistic culture in general. Second, all these currents have in some way to do with salvation: the general religion of the period is a religion of salvation. Third, all of them exhibit an exceedingly transcendent (i.e., transmundane) conception of God and in connection with it an equally transcendent and other-worldly idea of the goal of salvation. Finally, they maintain a radical dualism of realms of being—God and the world, spirit and matter, soul and body, light and darkness, good and evil, life and death» — los cuatro rasgos con que Jonas caracteriza el pensamiento de la época: carácter religioso decidido, salvación, concepción trascendente de Dios y de la meta, y dualismo radical de ámbitos del ser —Dios y mundo, espíritu y materia, alma y cuerpo, luz y tinieblas, bien y mal, vida y muerte—; el tramo se corta antes del folio impreso, en el cambio de plana

«consequently an extreme polarization of existence affecting not only man but reality as a whole: the general religion of the period is a dualistic transcendent religion of salvation.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: la polarización extrema de la existencia afecta no solo al hombre sino a la realidad entera, y la religión general del periodo es una religión de salvación dualista y trascendente

«The Church Fathers considered Gnosticism as essentially a Christian heresy and confined their reports and refutations to systems which either had sprouted already from the soil of Christianity (e.g., the Valentinian system), or had somehow added and adapted the figure of Christ to their otherwise heterogeneous teaching (e.g., that of the Phrygian Naassenes), or else through a common Jewish background were close enough to be felt as competing with and distorting the Christian message» — según Jonas, los Padres tuvieron el gnosticismo por herejía cristiana y confinaron sus informes a sistemas brotados del suelo cristiano, como el valentiniano, a los que añadieron la figura de Cristo a una doctrina heterogénea, como el de los naasenos frigios, o a los sentidos como competidores por un fondo judío común; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido que el escaneo mete a media plana

«through sacred and secret lore or through inner illumination replaces rational argument and theory (though this extra-rational basis may then provide scope for independent speculation); on the other hand, being concerned with the secrets of salvation, "knowledge" is not just theoretical information about certain things but is itself, as a modification of the human condition, charged with performing a function in the bringing about of salvation.» — según Jonas, en la gnosis la recepción de la verdad por saber sagrado y secreto o por iluminación interior sustituye al argumento racional, y el conocimiento no es información teórica sino una modificación de la condición humana cargada de una función en la salvación

«Thus gnostic "knowledge" has an eminently practical aspect. The ultimate "object" of gnosis is God: its event in the soul transforms the knower himself by making him a partaker in the divine existence (which means more than assimilating him to the divine essence).» — de ahí el aspecto eminentemente práctico que Jonas le atribuye: el objeto último de la gnosis es Dios, y su acontecer en el alma transforma al que conoce haciéndolo partícipe de la existencia divina

«Thus in the more radical systems like the Valentinian the "knowledge" is not only an instrument of salvation but itself the very form in which the goal of salvation, i.e., ultimate perfection, is possessed. In these cases knowledge and the attainment of the known by the soul are claimed to coincide—the claim of all true mysticism.» — según Jonas, en los sistemas más radicales, como el valentiniano, el conocimiento no es solo instrumento de salvación sino la forma misma en que se posee la perfección última, y ahí conocimiento y logro coinciden, como en todo misticismo verdadero

«It is, to be sure, also the claim of Greek theoria, but in a different sense. There, the object of knowledge is the universal, and the cognitive relation is "optical," i.e., an analogue of the visual relation to objective form that remains unaffected by the relation.» — la distinción que Jonas traza con la theoria griega: ahí el objeto es lo universal y la relación cognitiva es óptica, análoga a la visión de una forma objetiva que la relación no altera

«Gnostic "knowledge" is about the particular (for the transcendent deity is still a particular), and the relation of knowing is mutual, i.e., a being known at the same time, and involving active self-divulgence on the part of the "known." There, the mind is "informed" with the forms it beholds and while it beholds (thinks) them: here, the subject is "transformed" (from "soul" to "spirit") by the union with a reality that in truth is itself the supreme subject in the situation and strictly speaking never an object at all.» — y del otro lado: la gnosis versa sobre lo particular, porque la deidad trascendente sigue siendo un particular, el conocer es mutuo e implica autodivulgación activa del conocido, y el sujeto queda transformado de alma en espíritu por la unión con una realidad que en verdad es el sujeto supremo y hablando con propiedad nunca un objeto

«About the idea of "knowledge," the great watchword of the movement, it must be emphasized that its objectification in articulate systems of thought concerning God and the universe was an autonomous achievement of this substance, not its subjection to a borrowed scheme of theory.» — Jonas sostiene que la objetivación del conocimiento en sistemas articulados sobre Dios y el universo fue logro autónomo de esa sustancia y no su sometimiento a un esquema teórico prestado

«The combination of the practical, salvational concept of knowledge with its theoretical satisfaction in quasi-rational systems of thought —the rationalization of the supranatural—was typical of the higher forms of Gnosticism and gave rise to a kind of speculation previously unknown but never afterwards to disappear from religious thought.» — y nombra lo que esa combinación produjo: la racionalización de lo supranatural, típica de las formas altas del gnosticismo, que dio lugar a una especulación antes desconocida y que ya no desapareció del pensamiento religioso

«The struggle against Gnosticism as a danger to the true faith occupied a large space in early Christian literature, and the writings devoted to its refutation are by their discussion, by the summaries they give of gnostic teachings, and frequently also by extensive verbatim quotation from gnostic writings the most important secondary source of our knowledge.» — según Jonas, los escritos de refutación son la fuente secundaria más importante, por su discusión, por los resúmenes que dan y por la cita literal extensa de escritos gnósticos

«We may add that until the nineteenth century they were (apart from Plotinus' treatise) the only source, as the victory of the Church naturally led to the disappearance of the gnostic originals.» — y acota su condición de fuente única hasta el siglo XIX, salvo el tratado de Plotino, porque la victoria de la Iglesia llevó a la desaparición de los originales gnósticos

«Of this group we name the great polemical works of the Fathers Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Origen, and Epiphanius in Greek and Tertullian in Latin. Another Father, Clement of Alexandria, left among his writings an extremely valuable collection of Greek Excerpts from the writings of Theodotus, a member of the Valentinian school of Gnosticism, representing its Eastern ("Ana» — los nombres que Jonas da de ese grupo: Ireneo, Hipólito, Orígenes y Epifanio en griego, Tertuliano en latín, y Clemente de Alejandría con sus Extractos de Teodoto, de la rama oriental de la escuela valentiniana

«Of its Italic branch Epiphanius has preserved an entire literary document, Ptolemaeus' Letter to Flora. In the case of such complete, or almost complete, renderings of the subject of the attack (among which may be counted also Hippolytus' reports on the Naassenes and on the book Baruch), our distinction between secondary and primary sources of course becomes blurred.» — según Jonas, de la rama itálica Epifanio conservó entero un documento, la Carta a Flora de Ptolomeo, y en casos así —con los informes de Hipólito sobre naasenos y sobre el libro Baruch— la distinción entre fuente secundaria y primaria se desdibuja

«Taken together, these patristic sources give information about a large number of sects, all of them at least nominally Christian, though in some cases the Christian veneer is rather thin.» — Jonas acota lo que las fuentes patrísticas cubren: muchas sectas, todas al menos nominalmente cristianas, y en algunos casos con barniz cristiano bastante delgado

«A unique contribution from the pagan camp concerning this group is the treatise of Plotinus, the Neoplatonic philosopher, Against the Gnostics, or against those who say that the Creator of the World is evil and that the World is bad» — la única contribución del campo pagano que Jonas registra para ese grupo: el tratado de Plotino contra los gnósticos, o contra quienes dicen que el Creador del mundo es malo y que el mundo es malo

«It is directed against the teachings of one particular Christian gnostic sect which cannot be definitely identified with any individual one named in the patristic catalogues but clearly falls into one of their major groupings.» — y el límite de identificación que Jonas declara: la secta cristiana gnóstica atacada por Plotino no se deja identificar con ninguna de las nombradas en los catálogos patrísticos, aunque cae claramente en uno de sus grupos mayores

«They did not consider this new religion as part of the gnostic heresy, which in its narrower sense had by then been disposed of; but by the broader criteria of the history of religion it belongs to the same circle of ideas.» — el desacuerdo de criterio que Jonas consigna sin armonizar: los antiheréticos no tuvieron el maniqueísmo por parte de la herejía gnóstica, y por los criterios más amplios de la historia de las religiones pertenece al mismo círculo de ideas

«Of the very extensive Christian literature we need name only the Acta Archelai, the works of Titus of Bostra (Greek), of St. Augustine (Latin), and of Theodore bar Konai (Syriac).» — los nombres que Jonas retiene de la literatura cristiana antimaniquea: los Acta Archelai, Tito de Bostra en griego, san Agustín en latín y Teodoro bar Konai en siríaco

«Here too a philosophically trained pagan author, Alexander of Lycopolis (in Egypt), writing one generation after Mani, supplements the Chris tian chorus.» — y el pagano que suma al coro cristiano una generación después de Mani: Alejandro de Licópolis, en Egipto

«In a qualified way, some of the mystery-religions of late an tiquity also belong to the gnostic circle, insofar as they allegorized their ritual and their original cult-myths in a spirit similar to the gnostic one: we may mention the mysteries of Isis, Mithras, and Attis.» — según Jonas, algunas religiones mistéricas tardoantiguas pertenecen con reservas al círculo gnóstico en la medida en que alegorizaron su ritual y sus mitos de culto en espíritu semejante: los misterios de Isis, de Mitra y de Atis

«A certain amount of veiled information is scattered in rab' binical literature, though on the whole, unlike the Christian prac» — Jonas registra información velada dispersa en la literatura rabínica; el escaneo imprime rab' por rab- y corta el tramo ante el encabezado corrido

«tice, silence was there considered the more effective way of dealing with heresy.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: ahí, a diferencia de la práctica cristiana, el silencio se tuvo por el modo más eficaz de tratar la herejía

«Finally, the branch of Islamic literature that deals with the variety of religions, late as it is, contains valuable accounts, especially of the Manichaean religion but also of some more obscure gnostic sects whose writings had survived into the Islamic period.» — y la última fuente secundaria: la rama de la literatura islámica sobre la variedad de religiones, tardía pero valiosa sobre todo para el maniqueísmo

«Of inestimable value for the knowledge of Gnosticism out side the Christian orbit are the sacred books of the Mandaeans, a sect which survives in a few remnants in the region of the lower Euphrates (the modern Iraq), no less violently anti-Christian than anti-Jewish, but including among its prophets John the Baptist in opposition to and at the expense of Christ. This is the only instance of the continued existence of a gnostic religion to the present day.» — el valor que Jonas asigna a los libros sagrados de los mandeos: una secta que sobrevive en el bajo Éufrates, tan violentamente anticristiana como antijudía, con Juan Bautista entre sus profetas a expensas de Cristo, y el único caso de religión gnóstica continuada hasta hoy

«The name is derived from the Aramaic manda, "knowledge," so that "Mandaeans" means literally "Gnostics."» — la etimología que Jonas da: mandeos viene del arameo manda, conocimiento, de modo que el nombre significa literalmente gnósticos

«Their scriptures, writ ten in an Aramaic dialect closely related to that of the Talmud, make up the largest corpus—with the possible exception of the next group—of original gnostic writings in our possession. It includes mythological and doctrinal treatises, ritual and moral teaching, liturgy, and collections of hymns and psalms, these last containing some profoundly moving religious poetry.» — y el contenido del corpus mandeo según Jonas: tratados mitológicos y doctrinales, enseñanza ritual y moral, liturgia y colecciones de himnos y salmos con poesía religiosa profundamente conmovedora, en un dialecto arameo cercano al del Talmud

«Coptic was the Egyptian vernacular of the later Hellenistic period, descended from the ancient Egyptian with an admixture of Greek. The promotion of this popular language to use as a literary me dium reflects the rise of a mass-religion as against the Greek secular culture of the Hellenistically educated.» — según Jonas, promover el copto a medio literario refleja el ascenso de una religión de masas frente a la cultura secular griega de los educados a la helenística

«But lately (about 1945) a sensational find at Nag-Hammadi (Chenoboskion) in Upper Egypt has brought to light a whole library of a gnostic community, containing in Coptic translation from the Greek hitherto unknown writings of what may be termed the "classical" phase of gnostic literature: among them one of the major books of the Valentinians, the Gospel of Truth— if not by Valentinus himself, certainly dating back to the founding generation of the school—of which the mere existence and title had been known from Irenaeus.» — el hallazgo que Jonas fecha hacia 1945 en Nag-Hammadi, Quenoboskion: una biblioteca entera de comunidad gnóstica en traducción copta del griego, con el Evangelio de la Verdad, uno de los libros mayores de los valentinianos, cuya existencia y título se conocían por Ireneo

«if not by Valentinus himself, certainly dating back to the founding generation of the school» — el grado de certeza con que Jonas lo atribuye: si no del propio Valentín, sí de la generación fundadora de la escuela

«On the other hand, one codex of the older Coptic discoveries, after sixty years in the Berlin Museum, has recently (1955) for the first time been published in its gnostic parts, of which the most important is the Apocryphon of John, a main work of the Barbelo-Gnostics already used by Irenaeus in his account of this second-century system.» — el otro hallazgo que Jonas registra: un códice copto viejo, sesenta años en el Museo de Berlín, publicado en 1955 en sus partes gnósticas, con el Apócrifo de Juan, obra principal de los barbeloítas ya usada por Ireneo

«Also in the Coptic language is the library of Manichaean papyri discovered in Egypt in 1930, the editing of which is still in progress. Dating back to the fourth century A.D., the very badly preserved codices, estimated at about 3500 pages, have so far yielded one of Mani's own books, known before by title and, like all his writings, believed irretrievably lost: the Kephalaia, i.e., "Chapters"; a (the?) Psalm-Boo^ of the early Manichaean community; also part of a collection of Homilies (sermons) from the first generation after Mani.» — la biblioteca maniquea copta hallada en Egipto en 1930 que Jonas describe: códices del siglo IV muy mal conservados que dieron uno de los libros del propio Mani, los Kephalaia, un libro de salmos de la comunidad temprana y parte de una colección de homilías

«Barring the Dead Sea Scrolls, this find is easily the greatest event for the history of religion which archaeology has provided within this generation.» — el rango que Jonas le asigna: salvo los Rollos del Mar Muerto, el mayor acontecimiento para la historia de las religiones que la arqueología dio en esa generación

«Another group of original, though later, sources for the Manichaean religion, this time in its Eastern form, is the so-called Turfan fragments in Persian and Turkish, found in explorations at the oasis of Turfan in Chinese Turkestan at the beginning of this century; to which must be added two Chinese texts also found in Turkestan, a hymn scroll and a treatise quoted by the name of its discoverer and editor Pelliot. These documents—also not yet edited in full—are evidence of the flowering of a gnostic religion so far away as central Asia.» — el cuarto grupo primario: los fragmentos de Turfán en persa y turco, más dos textos chinos hallados en Turquestán, prueba para Jonas del florecimiento de una religión gnóstica tan lejos como Asia central

«Longest known to Western scholars has been the corpus of Greek writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and often quoted as Poimandres, which strictly speaking is the name of the first treatise only. The extant corpus, first published in the sixteenth century, is the remnant of an Egyptian Hellenistic literature of revelation, called "Hermetic" because of the syncretistic identification of the Egyptian god Thoth with the Greek Hermes.» — el corpus que Jonas nombra como el más conocido en Occidente: los escritos griegos atribuidos a Hermes Trismegisto, citados a menudo como Poimandres —nombre en rigor solo del primer tratado—, resto de una literatura de revelación egipcio-helenística llamada hermética por la identificación sincretista de Thot con Hermes

«This literature, not as a whole but in certain portions, reflects gnostic spirit. The same goes for the closely related alchemistic literature and some of the Greek and Coptic magical papyri, which show an admixture of gnostic ideas.» — y la acotación de Jonas: esa literatura refleja espíritu gnóstico no como un todo sino en ciertas porciones, y lo mismo vale para la literatura alquimista emparentada y para parte de los papiros mágicos griegos y coptos

«The Hermetic Poimandres treatise itself, in spite of some signs of Jewish influence, is to be regarded as a prime document of independent pagan Gnosticism.» — y el estatuto que le adjudica pese a signos de influencia judía: documento de primer orden de un gnosticismo pagano independiente

«There is, finally, gnostic material in some of the New Testa ment Apocrypha, like the Acts of Thomas and the Odes of Solo mon—in both these cases in the shape of poems which are among the finest expressions of gnostic sentiment and belief.» — el último grupo: material gnóstico en apócrifos neotestamentarios como los Hechos de Tomás y las Odas de Salomón, en forma de poemas que Jonas cuenta entre las expresiones más finas del sentimiento y la creencia gnósticos

«the Coptic-gnostic writings in our possession, such as the Pistis Sophia and the Books of Jeu, represented a rather low and degenerate level of gnostic thought, belonging to the declining stage of the Sophia speculation.» — el juicio de nivel que Jonas emite sobre lo copto-gnóstico conocido hasta entonces —la Pistis Sophia y los Libros de Jeú—: un estadio bastante bajo y degenerado del pensamiento gnóstico, de la fase declinante de la especulación sobre Sofía

«The leading Gnostics displayed pronounced intellectual individualism, and the mythological imagination of the whole movement was incessantly fertile. Non-conformism was almost a principle of the gnostic mind and was closely connected with the doctrine of the sovereign "spirit" as a source of direct knowledge and illumination.» — según Jonas, los gnósticos principales mostraron un individualismo intelectual pronunciado y el no conformismo fue casi un principio, ligado a la doctrina del espíritu soberano como fuente de conocimiento directo

«Already Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. I. 18. 1) observed that "Every day every one of them invents something new.» — la frase de Ireneo que Jonas cita para eso: cada día cada uno de ellos inventa algo nuevo

«The great system builders like Ptolemaeus, Basilides, Mani erected ingenious and elaborate speculative structures which are original creations of individual minds yet at the same time variations and developments of certain main themes shared by all: these together form what we may call the simpler "basic myth."» — según Jonas, los grandes constructores de sistemas —Ptolomeo, Basílides, Mani— levantaron estructuras especulativas originales que son a la vez variaciones de unos temas compartidos, y esos temas forman lo que llama el mito básico

«On a less intellectual level, the same basic content is conveyed in fables, exhortations, practical instructions (moral and magical), hymns, and prayers.» — y su circulación en un nivel menos intelectual: fábulas, exhortaciones, instrucciones prácticas morales y mágicas, himnos y oraciones

«The cardinal feature of gnostic thought is the radical dualism that governs the relation of God and world, and correspondingly that of man and world.» — la tesis cardinal de la obra: el rasgo cardinal del pensamiento gnóstico es el dualismo radical que gobierna la relación entre Dios y mundo y, en correspondencia, la del hombre y el mundo

«The deity is absolutely transmundane, its nature alien to that of the universe, which it neither created nor governs and to which it is the complete antithesis: to the divine realm of light, self-contained and remote, the cosmos is opposed as the realm of darkness.» — y su desarrollo: la deidad es absolutamente transmundana, ajena por naturaleza al universo, que ni creó ni gobierna y del que es la antítesis completa; al reino divino de luz se le opone el cosmos como reino de tinieblas

«The world is the work of lowly powers which though they may mediately be descended from Him do not know the true God and obstruct the knowledge of Him in the cosmos over which they rule.» — según Jonas, el mundo es obra de potencias bajas que, aunque puedan descender mediatamente de Él, no conocen al Dios verdadero y obstruyen su conocimiento en el cosmos que rigen

«The transcendent God Himself is hidden from all creatures and is unknowable by natural concepts. Knowledge of Him requires supranatural» — el límite del conocer que Jonas asienta: el Dios trascendente está oculto a toda criatura y es incognoscible por conceptos naturales, y conocerlo exige revelación supranatural; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«revelation and illumination and even then can hardly be expressed otherwise than in negative terms.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: aun así apenas puede expresarse sino en términos negativos

«The universe, the domain of the Archons, is like a vast prison whose innermost dungeon is the earth, the scene of man's life.» — la imagen cosmológica que Jonas resume: el universo, dominio de los arcontes, es como una cárcel inmensa cuya mazmorra más interior es la tierra

«Most frequently there are the seven spheres of the planets surrounded by the eighth, that of the fixed stars. There was, however, a tendency to multiply the structures and make the scheme more and more extensive: Basilides counted no fewer than 365 "heavens."» — el esquema más frecuente según Jonas —siete esferas planetarias rodeadas por la octava de las estrellas fijas— y la tendencia a multiplicarlo, con Basílides contando 365 cielos

«The religious significance of this cosmic architecture lies in the idea that everything which intervenes between here and the beyond serves to separate man from God, not merely by spatial distance but through active demonic force. Thus the vastness and multiplicity of the cosmic system express the degree to which man is removed from God.» — el sentido religioso que Jonas asigna a esa arquitectura: todo lo que se interpone entre aquí y el más allá sirve para separar al hombre de Dios, no solo por distancia espacial sino por fuerza demónica activa

«It is significant that these are now often called by Old Testament names for God (Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai), which from being synonyms for the one and supreme God are by this transposition turned into proper names of inferior demonic beings—an example of the pejorative revaluation to which Gnosticism subjected ancient traditions in general and Jewish tradition in particular.» — el dato que Jonas subraya: los siete planetarios tomados del panteón babilonio llevan ahora nombres veterotestamentarios de Dios —Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai—, que de sinónimos del Dios único pasan a nombres propios de seres demónicos inferiores, ejemplo de la revaluación peyorativa a que el gnosticismo sometió las tradiciones antiguas y la judía en particular

«Their tyrannical world-rule is called heimarmene, universal Fate, a concept taken over from astrology but now tinged with the gnostic anti-cosmic spirit. In its physical aspect this rule is the law of nature; in its psychical aspect, which includes for instance the institution and enforcement of the Mosaic Law, it aims at the enslavement of man.» — el término que Jonas retiene para ese gobierno tiránico: heimarmene, el Destino universal, tomado de la astrología y teñido de espíritu anticósmico; en lo físico es la ley de la naturaleza y en lo psíquico, que incluye la imposición de la Ley mosaica, apunta a la esclavización del hombre

«As guardian of his sphere, each Archon bars the passage to the souls that seek to ascend after death, in order to prevent their escape from the world and their return to God.» — y la función carcelaria de cada arconte: cerrar el paso a las almas que buscan ascender tras la muerte

«Man, the main object of these vast dispositions, is composed of flesh, soul, and spirit. But reduced to ultimate principles, his origin is twofold: mundane and extra-mundane.» — la antropología que Jonas resume: el hombre se compone de carne, alma y espíritu, y reducido a principios últimos su origen es doble, mundano y extramundano

«Not only the body but also the "soul" is a product of the cosmic powers, which shaped the body in the image of the divine Primal (or Archetypal) Man and animated it with their own psychical forces: these are the appetites and passions of natural man, each of which stems from and corresponds to one of the cosmic spheres and all of which together make up the astral soul of man, his "psyche." Through his body and his soul man is a part of the world and subjected to the heimarmene.» — y su desarrollo: también el alma es producto de las potencias cósmicas, que modelaron el cuerpo a imagen del Hombre Primordial divino y lo animaron con sus fuerzas psíquicas —apetitos y pasiones, cada uno correspondiente a una esfera— que forman juntas el alma astral, la psyche

«Enclosed in the soul is the spirit, or "pneuma" (called also the "spark"), a portion of the divine substance from beyond which has fallen into the world; and the Archons created man for the express purpose of keeping it captive there.» — el núcleo de esa antropología: encerrado en el alma está el espíritu o pneuma, llamado también la chispa, porción de sustancia divina caída al mundo, y los arcontes crearon al hombre justamente para mantenerla cautiva

«Thus, as in the macrocosm man is enclosed by the seven spheres, so in the human microcosm again the pneuma is enclosed by the seven soul-vestments originating from them. In its unredeemed state the pneuma thus immersed in soul and flesh is unconscious of itself, benumbed, asleep, or intoxicated by the poison of the world: in brief, it is "ignorant." Its awakening and liberation is effected through "knowledge."» — la correspondencia macrocosmos-microcosmos que Jonas asienta: como el hombre está encerrado por las siete esferas, el pneuma lo está por los siete vestidos anímicos que de ellas provienen, y en estado no redimido yace inconsciente de sí, aletargado, dormido o embriagado por el veneno del mundo, es decir ignorante

«The goal of gnostic striving is the release of the "inner man" from the bonds of the world and his return to his native realm of light.» — la meta que Jonas asigna al esfuerzo gnóstico: liberar al hombre interior de las ataduras del mundo y devolverlo a su reino natal de luz

«The necessary condition for this is that he knows about the transmundane God and about himself, that is, about his divine origin as well as his present situation, and accordingly also about the nature of the world which determines this situation.» — y su condición necesaria: saber del Dios transmundano y de sí mismo, es decir de su origen divino y de su situación presente, y por tanto también de la naturaleza del mundo que la determina

«What liberates is the knowledge of who we were, what we became; where we were, where into we have been thrown; whereto we speed, wherefrom we are redeemed; what birth is, and what rebirth. (Exc. Theod. 78. 2)» — la fórmula valentiniana que Jonas cita entera, tomada de los Extractos de Teodoto: lo que libera es el conocimiento de quiénes éramos, en qué nos convertimos, dónde estábamos, adónde fuimos arrojados, hacia dónde nos apresuramos, de dónde somos redimidos, qué es el nacimiento y qué el renacimiento

«This knowledge, however, is withheld from him by his very situation, since "ignorance" is the essence of mundane existence, just as it was the principle of the world's coming into existence. In particular, the transcendent God is unknown in the world and cannot be discovered from it; therefore revelation is needed.» — el círculo que Jonas describe: ese conocimiento le está negado por su situación misma, porque la ignorancia es la esencia de la existencia mundana como fue el principio del venir a ser del mundo, y de ahí la necesidad de revelación

«Its bearer is a messenger from the world of light who penetrates the barriers of the spheres, outwits the Archons, awakens the spirit from its earthly slumber, and imparts to it the saving knowledge "from without." The mission of this transcendent savior begins even before the creation of the world (since the fall of the divine element preceded the creation) and runs parallel to its history.» — el portador que Jonas describe: un mensajero del mundo de luz que atraviesa las barreras de las esferas, burla a los arcontes, despierta al espíritu de su sueño terreno y le imparte el conocimiento salvador desde fuera; su misión empieza antes de la creación del mundo y corre paralela a su historia

«On the practical side, however, it is more particularly "knowledge of the way," namely, of the soul's way out of the world, comprising the sacramental and magical preparations for its future ascent and the secret names and formulas that force the passage through each sphere.» — el aspecto práctico de esa gnosis según Jonas: conocimiento del camino de salida del alma, con las preparaciones sacramentales y mágicas del ascenso y los nombres y fórmulas secretos que fuerzan el paso por cada esfera

«Equipped with this gnosis, the soul after death travels upwards, leaving behind at each sphere the psychical "vestment" contributed by it: thus the spirit stripped of all foreign accretions reaches the God beyond the world and becomes reunited with the divine substance.» — el ascenso que Jonas describe: el alma deja en cada esfera el vestido psíquico que esa esfera aportó, y el espíritu despojado de accreciones ajenas alcanza al Dios de más allá del mundo

«On the scale of the total divine drama, this process is part of the restoration of the deity's own wholeness, which in pre-cosmic times has become impaired by the loss of portions of the divine substance. It is through these alone that the deity became involved in the destiny of the world, and it is to retrieve them that its messenger intervenes in cosmic history.» — y su lugar en el drama total: ese proceso es parte de la restauración de la integridad de la deidad, mermada en tiempos precósmicos por la pérdida de porciones de sustancia divina

«In this life the pneumatics, as the possessors of gnosis called themselves, are 8et apart from the great mass of mankind.» — según Jonas, los pneumáticos, como se llamaban a sí mismos los poseedores de la gnosis, quedan apartados de la gran masa; el escaneo imprime 8et por set

«Generally speaking, the pneumatic morality is determined by hostility toward the world and contempt for all mundane ties. From this principle, however, two contrary conclusions could be drawn, and both found their extreme representatives: the ascetic and the libertine.» — la moral pneumática que Jonas describe —hostilidad hacia el mundo y desprecio de todo vínculo mundano— y las dos conclusiones contrarias que de ese mismo principio se sacaron, con representantes extremos ambas: la ascética y la libertina

«The former deduces from the possession of gnosis the obligation to avoid further contamination by the world and therefore to reduce contact with it to a minimum; the latter derives from the same possession the privilege of absolute freedom.» — el reparto exacto que Jonas hace de esas dos: el asceta deduce de la gnosis la obligación de reducir al mínimo el contacto con el mundo, y el libertino deriva de la misma posesión el privilegio de la libertad absoluta

«The law of "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not" promulgated by the Creator is just one more form of the "cosmic" tyranny. The sanctions attaching to its transgression can affect only the body and the psyche. As the pneumatic is free from the heimarmene, so he is free from the yoke of the moral law.» — según Jonas, la ley del harás y no harás promulgada por el Creador es una forma más de la tiranía cósmica, y como el pneumático está libre de la heimarmene lo está también del yugo de la ley moral

«To him all things are permitted, since the pneuma is "saved in its nature" and can be neither sullied by actions nor frightened by the threat of archontic retribution.» — y su fundamento: al pneumático todo le está permitido porque el pneuma está salvado por naturaleza y no puede mancharse con actos ni asustarse con la amenaza de castigo arcóntico

«The pneumatic freedom, however, is a matter of more than mere indifferent permission: through intentional violation of the demiurgical norms the pneumatic thwarts the design of the Archons and paradoxically contributes to the work of salvation. This antinomian libertinism exhibits more forcefully than the ascetic version the nihilistic element contained in gnostic acosmism.» — el paso que Jonas señala como decisivo: por violación intencional de las normas demiúrgicas el pneumático frustra el designio de los arcontes y contribuye paradójicamente a la obra de salvación, y ese libertinismo antinomiano exhibe con más fuerza que la versión ascética el elemento nihilista del acosmismo gnóstico

«Even the reader unfamiliar with the subject will realize from the foregoing abstract that, whatever heights of conceptualization gnostic theory attained to in individual thinkers, there is an indissoluble mythological core to gnostic thought as such. Far remote from the rarefied atmosphere of philosophical reasoning, it moves in the denser medium of imagery and personification.» — la conclusión con que Jonas cierra el resumen: por altas que fueran las conceptualizaciones de algunos pensadores, hay un núcleo mitológico indisoluble en el pensamiento gnóstico, que se mueve en el medio más denso de la imagen y la personificación

«The Archons are also the creators of the world, except where this role is reserved for their leader, who then has the name of demi» — según Jonas, los arcontes son también creadores del mundo, salvo donde ese papel se reserva a su jefe; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana, a mitad de la palabra demiurgo

«urge (the world-artificer in Plato's Timaeus) and is often painted with the distorted features of the Old Testament God.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: el jefe lleva el nombre de demiurgo, el artífice del mundo del Timeo de Platón, y suele pintarse con los rasgos distorsionados del Dios veterotestamentario

«Especially rich in the kind of original coinage that displays the stamp of the gnostic mind with telling force is the Mandaean literature. This wealth of expressiveness is at least in part the obverse of its poorness on the theoretical side; it is also connected with the fact that owing to their geographical and social remoteness from Hellenistic influence the Mandaeans were less exposed than most to the temptation to assimilate the expression of their ideas to Western intellectual and literary conventions.» — según Jonas, la literatura mandea es especialmente rica en acuñaciones propias, y esa riqueza es en parte el reverso de su pobreza teórica y de su lejanía geográfica y social de la influencia helenística

«In their writings mythological fantasy abounds, the compactness of its imagery unattenuated by any ambition toward conceptualization, its variety unchecked by care for consistency and system.» — el juicio con que Jonas describe esos escritos: fantasía mitológica abundante, imaginería compacta sin ambición conceptual y variedad no frenada por el cuidado de la consistencia ni del sistema

«Although this lack of intellectual discipline often makes tedious the reading of their larger compositions, which are highly repetitious, the unsophisticated colorfulness of mythical vision that permeates them offers ample compensation; and in Mandaean poetry the gnostic soul pours forth its anguish, nostalgia, and relief in an unending stream of powerful symbolism.» — y la balanza que hace sin armonizarla: esa falta de disciplina intelectual vuelve tediosas sus composiciones largas y repetitivas, y a la vez en la poesía mandea el alma gnóstica vierte su angustia, su nostalgia y su alivio en un caudal de simbolismo poderoso

«In the name of the great first alien Life from the worlds of light, the sublime that stands above all works» — la apertura estándar de las composiciones mandeas que Jonas cita: en el nombre de la gran primera Vida ajena de los mundos de luz, la sublime que está sobre todas las obras

«The concept of the alien Life is one of the great impressive word-symbols which we encounter in gnostic speech, and it is new in the history of human speech in general.» — la tesis del capítulo: el concepto de la Vida ajena es uno de los grandes símbolos verbales del habla gnóstica, y Jonas lo declara nuevo en la historia del habla humana en general

«It has equivalents throughout gnostic literature, for example Marcion's concept of the "alien God" or just "the Alien," "the Other," "the Unknown," "the Nameless," "the Hidden"; or the "unknown Father" in many Christian-gnostic writings.» — los equivalentes que Jonas enumera: el Dios ajeno de Marción, o simplemente el Ajeno, el Otro, el Desconocido, el Innombrable, el Oculto, y el Padre desconocido de muchos escritos cristiano-gnósticos

«Its philosophic counterpart is the "absolute transcendence" of Neoplatonic thought.» — y su contrapartida filosófica según Jonas: la trascendencia absoluta del pensamiento neoplatónico

«The alien is that which stems from elsewhere and does not belong here. To those who do belong here it is thus the strange, the unfamiliar and incomprehensible; but their world on its part is just as incomprehensible to the alien that comes to dwell here, and like a foreign land where it is far from home. Then it suffers the lot of the stranger who is lonely, unprotected, uncomprehended, and uncomprehending in a situation full of danger.» — la fenomenología del ajeno que Jonas despliega: lo que viene de otra parte y no pertenece aquí es extraño e incomprensible para los de aquí, y el mundo de estos lo es igual para él, que sufre la suerte del extranjero solo, desprotegido, incomprendido e incomprensivo en una situación llena de peligro

«The stranger who does not know the ways of the foreign land wanders about lost; if he learns its ways too well, he forgets that he is a stranger and gets lost in a different sense by succumbing to the lure of the alien world and becoming estranged from his own origin.» — y la trampa doble que señala: el extranjero que no conoce el país anda perdido, y si aprende demasiado bien sus modos olvida que es extranjero y se pierde de otra manera, sucumbiendo al señuelo del mundo ajeno

«In his alienation from himself the distress has gone, but this very fact is the culmination of the stranger's tragedy. The recollection of his own alienness, the recognition of his place of exile for what it is, is the first step back; the awakened homesickness is the beginning of the return.» — el punto de giro que Jonas fija: en la alienación de sí la angustia ha cesado, y justo eso es la culminación de la tragedia; recordar la propia ajenidad y reconocer el lugar de exilio por lo que es es el primer paso de vuelta, y la nostalgia despierta es el comienzo del retorno

«Yet with relation to its origin it is at the same time a mark of excellence, a source of power and of a secret life unknown to the environment and in the last resort impregnable to it, as it is incomprehensible to the creatures of this world. This superiority of the alien which distinguishes it even here, though secretly, is its manifest glory in its own native realm, which is outside this world. In such position the alien is the remote, the inaccessible, and its strangeness means majesty. Thus the alien taken absolutely is the wholly transcendent, the "beyond," and an eminent attribute of God.» — el otro lado que Jonas consigna sin armonizarlo: respecto de su origen la ajenidad es marca de excelencia, fuente de poder y de una vida secreta inexpugnable, y tomada en absoluto es lo enteramente trascendente, el más allá, y atributo eminente de Dios

«Both sides of the idea of the-"Alien," the positive and the negative, alienness as superiority and as suffering, as the prerogative of remoteness and as the fate of involvement, alternate as the characteristics of one and the same subject—the "Life."» — Jonas declara que los dos lados de la idea del Ajeno —ajenidad como superioridad y como sufrimiento, prerrogativa de la lejanía y destino de la implicación— alternan como caracteres de un mismo sujeto, la Vida

«In its split-off existence in the world it tragically partakes in the interpenetration of both sides; and the actualization of all the features outlined above, in a dramatic succession that is governed by the theme of salvation, makes up the metaphysical history of the light exiled from Light, of the life exiled from Life and involved in the world—the history of its alienation and recovery, its "way" down and through the nether world and up again.» — y la historia metafísica que de ahí resulta: la luz exiliada de la Luz y la vida exiliada de la Vida, su alienación y su recobro, su camino de bajada, de travesía por el mundo inferior y de subida

«Thus by implication the very concept of the "alien" includes in its meaning all the aspects which the "way" explicates in the form of temporally distinct phases. At the same» — la conclusión del apartado: el concepto de ajeno incluye ya todos los aspectos que el camino explicita como fases temporalmente distintas; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«time it most directly expresses the basic experience which first led to this conception of the "way" of existence—the elementary experience of alienness and transcendence. We may therefore regard the figure of the "alien Life" as a primary symbol of Gnosticism.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: expresa del modo más directo la experiencia básica que llevó a esa concepción del camino, y Jonas tiene a la Vida ajena por símbolo primario del gnosticismo

«If the "Life" is originally alien, then its home is "outside" or "beyond" this world. "Beyond" here means beyond everything that is of the cosmos, heaven and its stars included.» — según Jonas, si la Vida es originalmente ajena su hogar está fuera o más allá de este mundo, y más allá significa más allá de todo lo del cosmos, cielo y estrellas incluidos

«And "included" literally: the idea of an absolute "without" limits the world to a closed and bounded system, terrifying in its vastness and inclusiveness to those who are lost in it, yet finite within the total scope of being. It is a power-system, a demonic entity charged with personal tendencies and compulsive forces.» — y lo que ese fuera absoluto hace con el mundo: lo limita a un sistema cerrado y acotado, aterrador por su vastedad para los perdidos en él y finito en el alcance total del ser, un sistema de poder, entidad demónica cargada de tendencias personales y fuerzas compulsivas

«The limitation by the idea of the "beyond" deprives the "world" of its claim to totality. As long as "world" means "the All," the sum total of reality, there is only "the" world, and further specification would be pointless: if the cosmos ceases to be the All, if it is limited by something radically "other" yet eminently real, then it must be designated as "this" world.» — el efecto lógico que Jonas señala: el más allá despoja al mundo de su pretensión de totalidad, y si el cosmos deja de ser el Todo hay que designarlo este mundo

«Seen from beyond, however, and in the eyes of the inhabitants of the worlds of Light and Life, it is our world which appears as "that world." The demonstrative pronoun has thus become a relevant addition to the term "world"; and the combination is again a fundamental linguistic symbol of Gnosticism, closely related to the primary concept of the "alien."» — y la simetría que añade: visto desde el más allá, es nuestro mundo el que aparece como aquel mundo, de modo que el pronombre demostrativo se vuelve añadido relevante y símbolo lingüístico fundamental del gnosticismo

«The expression "the worlds" denotes the long chain of such closed power-domains, divisions of the larger cosmic system, through which Life has to pass on its way, all of them equally alien to it.» — según Jonas, la expresión los mundos denota la larga cadena de dominios de poder cerrados por los que la Vida ha de pasar, todos igualmente ajenos a ella

«The plurality denotes also the labyrinthine aspect of the world: in the worlds the soul loses its way and wanders about, and wherever it seeks an escape it only passes from one world into another that is no less world.» — el aspecto laberíntico que Jonas le atribuye: en los mundos el alma se extravía y erra, y dondequiera que busca salida solo pasa de un mundo a otro que no es menos mundo

«To the "worlds" of the Mandaeans correspond the "aeons" of Hellenistic Gnosticism. Usually there are seven or twelve (corresponding to the number of the planets or the signs of the zodiac), but in some systems the plurality proliferates to dizzying and terrifying dimensions, up to 365 "heavens" or the innumerable "spaces," "mysteries" (here used topologically), and "aeons" of the Pistis Sophia.» — la correspondencia que Jonas establece: a los mundos mandeos corresponden los eones del gnosticismo helenístico, siete o doce por los planetas o los signos, y en algunos sistemas multiplicados hasta los 365 cielos o los innumerables espacios, misterios y eones de la Pistis Sophia

«You see, O child, through how many bodies [elements?], how many ranks of demons, how many concatenations and revolutions of stars, we have to work our way in order to hasten to the one and only God. (CM. IV. 8)» — la cita hermética que Jonas trae de los Hermetica: por cuántos cuerpos, cuántos rangos de demonios, cuántas concatenaciones y revoluciones de estrellas hay que abrirse paso para llegar al único Dios; el escaneo imprime CM por C.H.

«It is to be understood even where it is not expressly stated that the role of these intervening forces is inimical and obstructive: with the spatial extent they symbolize at the same time the anti-divine and imprisoning power of this world.» — la lectura que Jonas propone aun donde no se dice: el papel de esas fuerzas interpuestas es hostil y obstructivo, y con la extensión espacial simbolizan el poder antidivino y carcelario de este mundo

«Having once strayed into the labyrinth of evils, The wretched [Soul] finds no way out . . . She seeks to escape from the bitter chaos, And knows not how she shall get through. (Naassene Psalm, Hippol. V. 10. 2)» — el salmo naaseno que Jonas cita por Hipólito: extraviada en el laberinto de los males, el alma no halla salida ni sabe cómo atravesar el amargo caos

«Apart from all personification, the whole of space in which life finds itself has a malevolently spiritual character, and the "demons"» — según Jonas, el espacio entero en que la vida se halla tiene carácter espiritual malévolo; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie y el encabezado corrido

«themselves are as much spatial realms as they are persons. To overcome them is the same thing as to pass through them, and in breaking through their boundaries this passage at the same time breaks their power and achieves the liberation from the magic of their sphere.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: los demonios son tanto ámbitos espaciales como personas, de modo que vencerlos es lo mismo que atravesarlos, y romper sus límites quiebra su poder

«No less demonized is the time dimension of life's cosmic existence, which also is represented as an order of quasi-personal powers (e.g., the "Aeons"). Its quality, like that of the world's space, reflects the basic experience of alienness and exile. Here too we meet the plurality we observed there: whole series of ages stretch between the soul and its goal, and their mere number expresses the hold which the cosmos as a principle has over its captives.» — según Jonas, la dimensión temporal está igual de demonizada y también se representa como orden de potencias casi personales, los Eones: series enteras de edades se tienden entre el alma y su meta, y su solo número expresa el dominio del cosmos sobre sus cautivos

«Thus the way of salvation leads through the temporal order of the "generations": through chains of unnumbered generations the transcendent Life enters the world, sojourns in it, and endures its seemingly endless duration, and only through this long and laborious way, with memory lost and regained, can it fulfill its destiny.» — y el camino que de ahí resulta: la Vida trascendente entra en el mundo por cadenas de generaciones innumerables, mora en él y soporta su duración aparentemente sin fin, y solo por esa vía larga y penosa, con la memoria perdida y recobrada, cumple su destino

«This explains the impressive formula "worlds and generations" which constantly occurs in Mandaean writings: "I wandered through worlds and generations," says the redeemer.» — la fórmula mandea que Jonas destaca: erré por mundos y generaciones, dice el redentor

«The terror of the vastness of cosmic spaces is matched by the terror of the times that have to be endured: "How long have I endured already and been dwelling in the world!" (G 458).» — el paralelo con que Jonas cierra: al terror de la vastedad de los espacios cósmicos le corresponde el terror de los tiempos que hay que soportar, y cita el Ginza

«Originally a timeconcept purely (duration of life, length of cosmic time, hence eternity), it underwent personification in pre-gnostic Hellenistic religion—possibly an adaptation of the Persian god Zervan—and became an object of worship, even then with some fearsome associations. In Gnosticism it takes a further mythological turn and becomes a class-name for whole categories of either divine, semi» — la historia del término Aión que Jonas traza: concepto temporal puro —duración de la vida, extensión del tiempo cósmico, de ahí eternidad—, personificado en la religión helenística pregnóstica, quizá por adaptación del dios persa Zervan, hecho objeto de culto con asociaciones temibles, y en el gnosticismo vuelto nombre de clase de categorías enteras de seres; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de time-concept y devuelve timeconcept, forma que el impreso no lleva

«extensive metaphors; and more than for their frequency of occurrence, they are significant for their inherent eloquence, often enhanced by startling novelty. In this chapter we shall consider some of them. The advantage of this line of approach is that it confronts us with a level of utterance more fundamental than the doctrinal differentiation into which gnostic thought branched out in the completed systems.» — el método del capítulo según Jonas: partir de los elementos recurrentes de expresión, significativos por su elocuencia inherente más que por su frecuencia, que confrontan con un nivel de enunciación más fundamental que la diferenciación doctrinal de los sistemas acabados

«particularized and at the same time demonized, did the concept "world" come to admit of plurality.» — la condición de esa pluralidad según Jonas: solo perdiendo su estatuto de totalidad, particularizándose y demonizándose a la vez, admitió el concepto de mundo el plural

«In that world [of darkness] I dwelt thousands of myriads of years, and nobody knew of me that I was there. . . . Year upon year and generation upon generation I was there, and they did not know about me that I dwelt in their world. (G 153 f.)» — el pasaje mandeo del Ginza con que Jonas ilustra el aspecto temporal del exilio: milenios y generaciones morando en el mundo de tinieblas sin que nadie supiera de él; en nota Jonas aclara que las palabras son del salvador y las acerca a las de la vida exiliada en general

«Now, O our gracious Father, numberless myriads of years have passed since we were separated from thee. Thy beloved shining living countenance we long to behold. . . . (Abh. d. Pr. A» — el texto maniqueo turco que Jonas cita a continuación: miríadas incontables de años desde la separación del Padre, y el anhelo de ver su rostro luminoso

«The immeasurable cosmic duration means separation from God, as does the towering scale of cosmic spaces, and the demonic quality of both consists in maintaining this separation.» — la equivalencia que Jonas asienta: la duración cósmica inmensurable significa separación de Dios, igual que la escala descomunal de los espacios, y la cualidad demónica de ambos consiste en mantener esa separación

«For the world as a whole, vast as it appears to its inhabitants, we have thus the visual image of an enclosed cell—what Marcion contemptuously called haec cellula creatoris—into which or out of which life may move.» — la imagen visual que Jonas propone para el mundo entero: una celda cerrada, lo que Marción llamaba con desprecio haec cellula creatoris

«The sojourn "in the world" is called "dwelling," the world itself a "dwelling" or "house," and in contrast to the bright dwellings, the "dark" or the "base" dwelling, "the mortal house."» — los nombres que Jonas recoge para la estancia en el mundo: morar, y el mundo como morada o casa, frente a las moradas luminosas la morada oscura o baja, la casa mortal

«The idea of "dwelling" has two aspects: on the one hand it implies a temporary state, something contingent and therefore revocable—a dwelling can be exchanged for another, it can be abandoned and even allowed to go to ruin; on the other hand, it implies the dependence of life on its surroundings—the place where he dwells makes a decisive difference to the dweller and determines his whole condition.» — los dos aspectos que Jonas distingue en la idea de morar: implica un estado temporal, contingente y revocable, y a la vez la dependencia de la vida respecto de su entorno, porque el lugar donde se mora determina la condición entera del que mora

«When Life settles in the world, the temporary belonging thus established may lead to its becoming "a son of the house" and make necessary the reminder, "Thou wert not from here, and thy root was not of the world» — el recordatorio mandeo que Jonas cita contra ese arraigo: no eras de aquí, y tu raíz no era del mundo

«If the emphasis is on the temporary and transient nature of the worldly sojourn and on the condition of being a stranger, the world is called also the "inn," in which one "lodges"; and "to keep the inn" is a formula for "to be in the world" or "in the body." The creatures of this world are the "fellow-dwellers of the» — el otro nombre que Jonas registra cuando se subraya lo pasajero: el mundo como posada donde uno se hospeda, y guardar la posada como fórmula de estar en el mundo o en el cuerpo

«The same expressions can refer also to the body, which is eminently the "house" of life and the instrument of the world's power over the Life that is enclosed in it. More particularly, "tent" and "garment" denote the body as a passing earthly form encasing the soul; these too, however, can also be applied to the world. A garment is donned and doffed and changed, the earthly garment for that of light.» — según Jonas, esas mismas expresiones valen para el cuerpo, casa por excelencia de la vida e instrumento del poder del mundo sobre ella; tienda y vestidura designan el cuerpo como forma terrena pasajera, y la vestidura terrena se cambia por la de luz

«Grief and woe I suffer in the body-garment into which they transported and cast me. How often must I put it off, how often put it on, must ever and again settle my strife6 and not behold the Life in its sh'kina.7 (G 461)» — otro lamento del Ginza: pena y aflicción en la vestidura corporal, puesta y quitada una y otra vez, sin ver la Vida en su shekiná

«From all this arises the question addressed to the great Life: "Why hast thou created this world, why hast thou ordered the tribes [of Life] into it out of thy midst?" (G 437). The answer to such questions differs from system to system: the questions themselves are more basic than any particular doctrine and immediately reflect the underlying human condition.» — la pregunta que Jonas destaca —por qué creaste este mundo, por qué ordenaste en él las tribus de la Vida— y su comentario: las respuestas difieren de sistema en sistema y las preguntas son más básicas que cualquier doctrina particular

«Its symbolism meets us everywhere in gnostic literature, but for reasons we shall discuss later its most emphatic and doctrinally important use is to be found in what we shall call the Iranian strain of Gnosticism, which is also one component of Mandaean thought.» — Jonas localiza el uso doctrinalmente más importante de la antítesis de luz y tinieblas en lo que llamará la veta irania del gnosticismo, uno de los componentes del pensamiento mandeo

«Irrespective of the theoretical context, however, the symbolism reflects a universal gnostic attitude.» — y acota su alcance: con independencia del contexto teórico, ese simbolismo refleja una actitud gnóstica universal

«The first alien Life is the "King of Light," whose world is "a world of splendor and of light without darkness," "a world of mildness without rebellion, a world of righteousness without turbulence, a world of eternal life without decay and death, a world of goodness without evil. . . . A pure world unmixed with ill» — la descripción mandea del mundo de luz que Jonas cita: mundo de esplendor y de luz sin tinieblas, de mansedumbre sin rebelión, de justicia sin turbulencia, de vida eterna sin decaimiento ni muerte, de bondad sin mal

«Opposed to it is the "world of darkness, utterly full of evil, . . . full of devouring fire . . . full of falsehood and deceit. . . . A world of turbulence without steadfastness, a world of darkness without light . . . a world of death without eternal life, a world in which the good things perish and plans come to naught» — y su opuesto: mundo de tinieblas lleno de mal, de fuego devorador, de falsedad y engaño, de turbulencia sin firmeza, de muerte sin vida eterna

«Mani, who most completely adopted the Iranian version of dualism, commences his doctrine of origins, as reported in the Fihrist, an Arabic source, as follows: "Two beings were at the beginning of the world, the one Light, the other Darkness.» — la frase con que, según el Fihrist árabe, Mani abre su doctrina de los orígenes: dos seres había al principio del mundo, el uno Luz, el otro Tinieblas

«On this assumption the existing world, "this" world, is a mixture of light and darkness, yet with a preponderance of darkness: its main substance is darkness, its foreign admixture, light. In the given state of things, the duality of darkness and light coincides with that of "this world" and "the other world," since darkness has embodied its whole essence and power in this world, which now therefore is the world of darkness.» — la consecuencia que Jonas saca de ese supuesto: este mundo es mezcla de luz y tinieblas con preponderancia de tinieblas, y la dualidad coincide con la de este mundo y el otro mundo

«In the Hermetic Corpus we find the exhortation, "Turn ye away from the dark light" (CU. I. 28), where the paradoxical combination drives home the point that even the light so called in this world is in truth darkness.» — la exhortación del Corpus Hermeticum que Jonas cita y glosa: apartaos de la luz oscura, combinación paradójica que remacha que aun la luz llamada así en este mundo es en verdad tiniebla

«He who is born of the mother is brought forth into death and the cosmos: he who is reborn of Christ is transported into life and the Eight [i.e., removed from the power of the Seven]" (Exc. Theod. 80. 1)» — el pasaje de los Extractos de Teodoto que Jonas trae: quien nace de la madre es dado a luz para la muerte y el cosmos, y quien renace de Cristo es trasladado a la vida y a la Ogdóada, fuera del poder de los Siete

«Thus we understand the Hermetic statement quoted in Macrobius (In somn. Scip. I. 11) that the soul "through as many deaths as she passes spheres descends to what on earth is called life.» — la sentencia hermética que Jonas toma de Macrobio: el alma desciende, por tantas muertes como esferas atraviesa, a lo que en la tierra se llama vida

«To return once more to the Iranian conception, the idea of two original and opposite entities leads to the metaphor of "mixture" for the origin and composition of this world. The mixture is, however, an uneven one, and the term essentially denotes the tragedy of the portions of the Light separated from its main body and immersed in the foreign element.» — según Jonas, la idea de dos entidades originales y opuestas lleva a la metáfora de la mezcla, y esa mezcla es despareja: el término designa en esencia la tragedia de las porciones de Luz separadas de su cuerpo principal

«The mixing is here expressed in terms of the five basic elements of the Manichaean scheme, which obviously underlies this Mandaean text.» — la adjudicación que Jonas hace de ese texto: la mezcla se expresa ahí con los cinco elementos básicos del esquema maniqueo, que subyace al texto mandeo

«Even the messenger is subject to the fate of mixture: Then the living fire in him became changed. . . . His splendor was impaired and dulled. . . . See how the splendor of the alien man is diminished! (G 98 f.)» — el pasaje con que Jonas muestra que también el mensajero sufre la mezcla: el fuego vivo en él se alteró, su esplendor quedó mermado y empañado

«Closely connected with the idea of "mixing" is that of "dispersal." If portions of the Light or the first Life have been separated from it and mixed in with the darkness, then an original unity has been split up and given over to plurality: the splinters are the sparks dispersed throughout the creation.» — el concepto que Jonas encadena a la mezcla: la dispersión, porque si porciones de la Luz fueron separadas y mezcladas con la tiniebla, una unidad original quedó rota y entregada a la pluralidad, y las esquirlas son las chispas dispersas por la creación

«The very creation of Eve and the scheme of reproduction initiated by it subserve the indefinite further dispersion of the particles of light which the powers of darkness have succeeded in engulfing and by this means endeavor to retain the more securely.» — la función que Jonas atribuye a la creación de Eva y a la reproducción: dispersar indefinidamente las partículas de luz que las potencias de tiniebla lograron engullir, para retenerlas con más seguridad

«Consequently, salvation involves a process of gathering in, of re-collection of what has been so dispersed, and salvation aims at the restoration of the original unity.» — y la consecuencia soteriológica: la salvación es un proceso de recogida, de re-colección de lo disperso, y apunta a restaurar la unidad original

«I was a stranger to my fellow-dwellers in the inn" ("Hymn of the Pearl" in the Ada Thomae).» — la frase del Himno de la Perla, en los Hechos de Tomás, que Jonas cita para eso: fui un extraño para mis compañeros de posada; el escaneo imprime Ada por Acta

«I am a Mana4 of the great Life. Who has made me live in the Tibil,5 who has thrown me into the body-stump? (G 454)» — el lamento mandeo que Jonas cita, con la llamada a nota conservada: soy un Mana de la gran Vida; quién me hizo vivir en el Tibil, quién me arrojó al tronco del cuerpo

«A Mana am I of the great Life. Who has thrown me into the suffering of the worlds, who has transported me to the evil darkness? So long I endured and dwelt in the world, so long I dwelt among the works of my hands. (G 457 f.)» — y el segundo lamento del Ginza: quién me arrojó al sufrimiento de los mundos, quién me llevó a la mala tiniebla; tanto tiempo soporté y moré en el mundo, entre las obras de mis manos

«mos) = darkness" is in fact independent of and more basic than the particular theory of origins just exemplified, and as an expression of the given condition admits of widely divergent types of derivation, as we shall see later. The equation as such is symbolically valid for Gnosticism in general.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: la igualdad cosmos igual a tinieblas es independiente de esa doctrina de los orígenes y más básica que ella, admite derivaciones muy divergentes y vale simbólicamente para el gnosticismo en general

«They brought living water9 and poured it into the turbid water;9 they brought shining light and cast it into the dense darkness. They of darkness [etc.]" (J 55). Logically speaking, this is inconsistent; but symbolically it is more genuinely gnostic than Mani's abstraction, since the principle of "darkness" is here from the outset defined as that of the "world" from whose gnostic experience it had first been conceived. "World" is determined by darkness, and "darkness" solely by world. 9 See Glossary, pp. 97 and 99, respectively. brought the refreshing wind and cast it into the scorching wind. They brought the living fire and cast it into the devouring fire. They brought the soul, the pure Mana, and cast it into the worthless body. (J56)» — el pasaje mandeo del Libro de Juan que Jonas cita para la mezcla, con las llamadas a nota conservadas: agua viva vertida en agua turbia, luz resplandeciente echada en la densa tiniebla, viento refrescante en viento abrasador, fuego vivo en fuego devorador, y el alma, el Mana puro, en el cuerpo sin valor

«Thou hast taken the treasure of Life and cast it onto the worthless earth. Thou hast taken the word of Life and cast it into the word of mortality. (G 362)» — otro pasaje del Ginza sobre la mezcla: has tomado el tesoro de la Vida y lo has echado a la tierra sin valor, has tomado la palabra de la Vida y la has echado a la palabra de la mortalidad

«As it entered the turbid water, the living water lamented and wept. ... As he mingled the living water with the turbid, darkness entered the light. (J 216)» — y el del Libro de Juan: al entrar en el agua turbia, el agua viva se lamentó y lloró, y al mezclarlas la tiniebla entró en la luz

«I am thou and thou art I, and where thou art I am, and in all things am I dispersed. And from wherever thou willst thou gatherest me; but in gathering me thou gatherest thyself.» — el fragmento del Evangelio de Eva, conservado por Epifanio, que Jonas cita para la re-colección: yo soy tú y tú eres yo, y donde tú estás yo estoy, y en todas las cosas estoy disperso; al recogerme te recoges a ti mismo

«This self-gathering is regarded as proceeding pari passu with the progress of "knowledge," and its completion as a condition for the ultimate release from the world: He who attains to this gnosis and gathers himself from the cosmos ... is no longer detained here but rises above the Archons;» — según Jonas, ese recogerse a sí mismo avanza a la par que el conocimiento, y su cumplimiento es condición de la liberación última: quien alcanza esa gnosis y se recoge del cosmos ya no queda retenido aquí sino que se eleva sobre los arcontes

«and by proclaiming this very feat the ascending soul answers the challenge of the celestial gatekeepers: I have come to know myself and have gathered myself from every» — y la fórmula con que el alma ascendente responde al desafío de los guardianes celestes: he llegado a conocerme y me he recogido de todas partes

«It is easy to see from these quotations that the concept of unity and unification, like that of plurality, diversity, and dispersal, has an inward as well as metaphysical aspect, i.e., applies to the individual self as it does to universal being,» — según Jonas, el concepto de unidad y unificación, como el de pluralidad y dispersión, tiene un aspecto interior y otro metafísico: vale para el sí mismo individual igual que para el ser universal

«ft is a mark of the higher, or more philosophical, forms of Gnosis that these two aspects, complementary from the beginning, come to ever more complete coincidence; and that the increasing realization of the internal aspect purifies the metaphysical one of the cruder mythological meanings it had to begin with.» — y la marca que asigna a las formas más filosóficas de la gnosis: esos dos aspectos, complementarios desde el principio, llegan a coincidir cada vez más, y la realización creciente del interno purifica al metafísico de sus significados mitológicos más crudos; el escaneo imprime ft por It

«It is by means of Unity that each one shall receive himself back again. Through knowledge he shall purify himself of diversity with a view to Unity, by engulfing (devouring) the Matter within himself like a flame, Darkness by Light and Death by Life. (GT 25:10-19)» — la definición valentiniana que Jonas cita del Evangelio de la Verdad: por la Unidad cada uno se recibirá de vuelta a sí mismo, y por el conocimiento se purificará de la diversidad con vistas a la Unidad, engullendo la Materia dentro de sí como una llama, la Tiniebla por la Luz y la Muerte por la Vida

«Origen, whose proximity to gnostic thought is obvious in his system (duly anathematized by the Church), viewed the whole movement of reality in the categories of the loss and recovery of metaphysical Unity.» — según Jonas, Orígenes —cuya proximidad al pensamiento gnóstico es obvia en su sistema, debidamente anatematizado por la Iglesia— vio el movimiento entero de la realidad en las categorías de pérdida y recobro de la Unidad metafísica

«But it was Plotinus who in his speculation drew the full mystical conclusions from the metaphysics of "Unity versus Plurality." Dispersal and gathering, ontological categories of total reality, are at the same time action-patterns of each soul's potential experience, and unification within is union with the One.» — y a Plotino le atribuye haber sacado las conclusiones místicas plenas de la metafísica de la unidad frente a la pluralidad: dispersión y recogida son a la vez categorías ontológicas de la realidad total y pautas de acción de la experiencia posible de cada alma

«Endeavor to ascend into thyself, gathering in from the body all thy members which have been dispersed and scattered into multiplicity from that unity which once abounded in the greatness of its power. Bring together and unify the inborn ideas and try to articulate those that are confused and to draw into light those that are obscured. (Porphyr. Ad Marcell. x)» — el pasaje de Porfirio que Jonas cita: esfuérzate por ascender a ti mismo, recogiendo del cuerpo todos tus miembros dispersos en la multiplicidad, y reúne y unifica las ideas innatas

«It was probably through the writings of Porphyry that this Neoplatonic conception of unification as a principle of personal life came to Augustine, in whose intensely subjective manner the emphasis at last shifts from the metaphysical aspect entirely to the moral one.» — la filiación que Jonas propone con reserva: probablemente por los escritos de Porfirio llegó a Agustín esa concepción neoplatónica de la unificación, y en él el énfasis se corre del aspecto metafísico al moral

«Since through the iniquity of godlessness we have seceded and dissented and fallen away from the one true and highest God and dissipated ourselves into the many, split up by the many and cleaving to the many: it was necessary that . . . the many should have joined in clamor for the coming of One (Christ) . . . and that we, disencumbered from the many, should come to One . . . and, justified in the justice of One, be made One. (Trin. IV. 11)» — el pasaje de Agustín que Jonas cita: por la iniquidad de la impiedad nos apartamos del único Dios verdadero y nos disipamos en los muchos, y era necesario que los muchos clamaran por la venida de Uno y que, descargados de los muchos, viniéramos a Uno

«By continence we are collected into the One from which we have declined to the many. (Confess. X. 14; cf. Ord. I. 3)» — y el segundo, de las Confesiones: por la continencia somos recogidos en el Uno del que hemos declinado hacia los muchos

«The "dispersal" has finally received what we should nowadays call an existentialist meaning: that of the soul's "distraction" by the manifold concerns and lures of the world acting through the senses of the body; that is, it has been turned into a psychological and ethical concept within the scheme of individual salvation.» — la lectura que Jonas propone de ese punto de llegada: la dispersión recibe un sentido que hoy llamaríamos existencialista, el de la distracción del alma por los cuidados y señuelos del mundo, vuelta concepto psicológico y ético dentro del esquema de la salvación individual

«More drastic is the image of falling: the soul or spirit, a part of the first Life or of the Light, fell into the world or into the body. This is one of the fundamental symbols of Gnosticism: a pre-cosmic fall of part of the divine principle underlies the genesis of the world and of human existence in the majority of gnostic systems.» — el símbolo que Jonas cuenta entre los fundamentales del gnosticismo: la caída, y una caída precósmica de parte del principio divino que subyace a la génesis del mundo y de la existencia humana en la mayoría de los sistemas

«The Light fell into the darkness" signifies an early phase of the same divine drama of which "the Light shone in the darkness" can be said to signify a later phase.» — la distinción de fases que Jonas traza entre dos fórmulas: la Luz cayó en la tiniebla señala una fase temprana del mismo drama divino, y la Luz brilló en la tiniebla una fase posterior

«How this fall originated and by what stages it proceeded is the subject of greatly divergent speculations. Except in Manichaeism and related Iranian types, where the whole process is initiated by the powers of darkness, there is a voluntary element in 14 See Glossary, p. 98. the downward movement of the divine: a guilty "inclination" of the Soul (as a mythical entity) toward the lower realms, with various motivations such as curiosity, vanity, sensual desire, is the gnostic equivalent» — el desacuerdo que Jonas consigna sin arbitrar: cómo se originó la caída y por qué etapas transcurrió es objeto de especulaciones muy divergentes, y salvo en el maniqueísmo y los tipos iranios afines, donde el proceso lo inician las potencias de tiniebla, hay un elemento voluntario —una inclinación culpable del Alma por curiosidad, vanidad o deseo sensual— que hace de equivalente gnóstico del pecado original

«The fall is a pre-cosmic one, and one of its consequences is the world itself, another the condition and fate of the individual souls in the world.» — y sus dos consecuencias: el mundo mismo, y la condición y el destino de las almas individuales en él

«The Soul once turned toward matter, she became enamored of it, and burning with the desire to experience the pleasures of the body, she no longer wanted to disengage herself from it. Thus the world was born. From that moment the Soul forgot herself. She forgot her original habitation, her true center, her eternal being.» — el pasaje que Jonas atribuye al Chatibi de los harranitas: vuelta hacia la materia, el Alma se enamoró de ella, no quiso ya desprenderse, y así nació el mundo y el Alma se olvidó de sí, de su habitación original, de su centro verdadero y de su ser eterno

«Once separated from the divine realm and engulfed by the alien medium, the movement of the Soul continues in the downward direction in which it started and is described as "sinking": "How long shall I sink within all the worlds?» — el verbo que Jonas registra para la continuación de ese movimiento: hundirse, con el lamento mandeo cuánto tiempo me hundiré dentro de todos los mundos

«The term "cast" or "thrown" occurring in the last quotation requires some comment. Its use, as we have seen before, is not confined to the metaphor of captivity: it is an image in its own right and of very wide application—life has been cast (thrown) into the world and into the body.» — según Jonas, el término arrojado no se limita a la metáfora del cautiverio: es una imagen por derecho propio y de aplicación muy amplia, la vida ha sido arrojada al mundo y al cuerpo

«Ptahil17 threw the form which the Second [Life] had formed into the world of darkness. He made creations and formed tribes outside the Life» — el pasaje mandeo sobre la actividad cosmogónica del demiurgo que Jonas cita con la llamada a nota conservada: Ptahil arrojó al mundo de tinieblas la forma que la Segunda Vida había formado

«Ptahil took a hidden Mana which was given to him from the house of Life, brought it hither and threw it into Adam and Eve» — y la repetición en la antropogonía, que Jonas tiene por la expresión constante del animamiento del hombre por su creador no autorizado: Ptahil tomó un Mana oculto y lo arrojó a Adán y Eva

«That this is not an event planned in the scheme of Life but a violence done to it and to the divine order is evident from the remorse which the demiurge feels afterwards. "Who has stultified me, so that I was a fool and cast the soul into the body?» — la prueba que Jonas aduce de que eso es violencia y no plan: el remordimiento que el demiurgo siente después, y el lamento quién me atontó, para que fuera necio y arrojara el alma al cuerpo

«The remorse of the creator is also encountered in Christian Gnosticism. In the Boo\ of Baruch we even see him pleading—unsuccessfully—with the supreme God, "Lord, let me destroy the world which I made, for my spirit [pneuma] is fettered into the human beings and I will deliver it thence" (Hippol. V. 26. 17).» — la nota en que Jonas registra el mismo remordimiento en el gnosticismo cristiano: en el Libro de Baruch el creador suplica sin éxito al Dios supremo que lo deje destruir el mundo que hizo, porque su pneuma está encadenado en los seres humanos

«The jarring note which this concrete term introduces into the series of abstract and neutral verbs preceding it in the formula (forms of "to be" and "to become") is certainly intended.» — la lectura que Jonas hace del término concreto arrojados dentro de la fórmula valentiniana: la nota discordante frente a los verbos abstractos y neutros que lo preceden es sin duda intencional

«It would be of great interest to compare its use in Gnosticism with its use in a very recent philosophical analysis of existence, that of Martin Heidegger.» — la comparación que Jonas propone y aplaza: la de ese uso gnóstico con el análisis reciente de la existencia de Martin Heidegger

«All we wish to say here is that in both cases "to have been thrown" is not merely a description of the past but an attribute qualifying the given existential situation as determined by that past.» — y lo único que afirma ahí: en ambos casos haber sido arrojado no es solo descripción de un pasado sino atributo que califica la situación existencial dada como determinada por ese pasado

«It is from the gnostic experience of the present situation of life that this dramatic image of its genesis has been projected into the past, and it is part of the mythological expression of this experience.» — la dirección causal que Jonas fija: la imagen dramática de la génesis se proyecta al pasado desde la experiencia gnóstica de la situación presente de la vida, y es parte de la expresión mitológica de esa experiencia

«To the question the Great Life replies, "It is not according to the will of the Great Life that thou hast come there" (G 329): "That house in which thou dwellest, not Life has built it" (G 379): "This world was not created according to the wish of the Life» — las respuestas negativas de la Gran Vida que Jonas alinea: no es según la voluntad de la Gran Vida que hayas venido ahí; esa casa en que moras, no la construyó la Vida; este mundo no fue creado según el deseo de la Vida

«It must be noted that in the Valentinian system the same achievement is ascribed to gnosis on the plane of universal being where» — la advertencia que Jonas añade: en el sistema valentiniano ese mismo logro se adjudica a la gnosis en el plano del ser universal; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie que el escaneo intercala en el cuerpo

«the "restoring of Unity" and the "engulfing of Matter" mean no less than the actual dissolution of the whole lower world, i.e., sensible nature as such—not by an act of external force but solely by an inner event of mind: "knowledge" on a transcendental scale.» — la continuación tras las notas: restaurar la Unidad y engullir la Materia significan la disolución efectiva del mundo inferior, la naturaleza sensible como tal, no por acto de fuerza externa sino por un acontecimiento interno de la mente, conocimiento a escala trascendental

«Here some Mandaean examples will suffice. "Who has carried me into captivity away from my place and my abode, from the household of my parents who brought me up?" (G 323)» — el ejemplo mandeo con que Jonas ilustra la metáfora del cautiverio: quién me llevó cautivo lejos de mi lugar y mi morada, de la casa de mis padres que me criaron

«Why did ye carry me away from my abode into captivity and cast me into the stinking body?" (G 388).» — y el segundo, del Ginza: por qué me llevasteis cautivo de mi morada y me arrojasteis al cuerpo hediondo; Jonas anota que prisión, grillete, atadura y nudo son símbolos frecuentes del cuerpo

«Gnostic myth is precisely concerned with translating the brute factuality experienced in the gnostic vision of existence, and directly expressed in those queries and their negative answers, into terms of an explanatory scheme which derives the given state from its origins and at the same time holds out the promise of overcoming it.» — según Jonas, el mito gnóstico se ocupa justamente de traducir la facticidad bruta experimentada en la visión gnóstica de la existencia a un esquema explicativo que deriva el estado dado de sus orígenes y a la vez promete superarlo

«For the most part these refer in the gnostic sources, not to- "man" in the ordinary sense, but to a symbolic-mythological being, a divine figure dwelling in the world in a peculiar and tragic role as victim and savior at once.» — la advertencia de lectura que Jonas hace: en las fuentes gnósticas esas metáforas no se refieren al hombre en sentido ordinario sino a un ser simbólico-mitológico, figura divina que mora en el mundo en un papel a la vez de víctima y de salvador

«Since, however, this figure according to the meaning of the system is the prototype of man, whose destiny in its full force he suffers in his own person (frequently his name is Man, though the figure can also be female), we are justified in taking the first-person accounts of his suffering as projections of the experience of those who make him speak thus, even if such statements refer to pre-cosmic events.» — y la licencia que de ahí deriva: como esa figura es el prototipo del hombre, cuyo destino padece en persona, está justificado tomar sus relatos en primera persona como proyecciones de la experiencia de quienes lo hacen hablar así, aunque se refieran a acontecimientos precósmicos

«Mandaean narratives and hymns, the Valentinian fantasies about the adventures of the erring Sophia, the long-drawn-out lamentations of the Pistis Sophia, abound with expressions of the frightened and nostalgic state of the soul forlorn in the world.» — el inventario de fuentes que Jonas alinea para el estado de desamparo del alma: relatos e himnos mandeos, las fantasías valentinianas sobre las aventuras de la Sofía errante y las lamentaciones prolongadas de la Pistis Sophia

«The evil ones conspire against me. . . . They say to one another, In our own world the call of Life shall not be heard, it [the world] shall be ours. . . . Day in, day out I seek to escape them, as I stand alone in this world. I lift up mine eyes unto Manda d'Hayye, who said unto me, Soon I come to thee. . . . Daily I lift mine eyes to the way upon which my brothers walk, to the path upon which Manda d'Hayye shall come. . . . Manda d'Hayye came, called to me, and said unto me, Little Enosh, why art thou afraid, why didst thou tremble? . . . Since terror overcame thee in this world, I came to enlighten thee. Be not afraid of the evil powers of this world.» — la continuación del mismo pasaje: los malvados conspiran y dicen que en su mundo no se oirá la llamada de la Vida, y Manda d'Hayye viene a iluminar al pequeño Enosh sobrecogido de terror

«O how shall I rejoice then, who am now afflicted and afraid in the dwelling of the evil ones! O how shall my heart rejoice outside the works which I have made in this world! How long shall I wander, and how long sink within all the worlds? (J 196)» — el lamento del alma abandonada que mira hacia su liberación: cuánto me alegraré, yo que ahora estoy afligida y con miedo en la morada de los malvados; cuánto tiempo erraré y cuánto me hundiré dentro de todos los mundos

«A vine am I, a lonely one, that stands in the world. I have no sublime planter, no keeper, no mild helper to come and instruct me about every thing. (G 346)» — la imagen mandea del desamparo que Jonas destaca: una vid soy, solitaria, que está en el mundo, sin plantador sublime, sin guardián, sin ayudante manso que venga a instruirme

«The Seven oppressed me and the Twelve became my persecution. The First [Life] has forgotten me, and the Second does not enquire after me. (J62)» — el pasaje del olvido: los Siete me oprimieron y los Doce se volvieron mi persecución; la Primera Vida me ha olvidado y la Segunda no pregunta por mí

«The question form which so conspicuously abounds in Mandaean literature reflects with peculiar vividness the groping and helplessness of the Life lost in the alien world.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de un rasgo formal: la forma interrogativa que abunda en la literatura mandea refleja con viveza el tantear y el desvalimiento de la Vida perdida en el mundo ajeno

«I consider in my mind how this has come about. Who has carried me into captivity away from my place and my abode, from the household of my parents who brought me up? Who brought me to the guilty ones, the sons of the vain dwelling? Who brought me to the rebels who make war day after day? (G 328)» — el pasaje del Ginza en que esas preguntas se encadenan: quién me llevó cautivo, quién me trajo a los culpables, hijos de la morada vana, quién me trajo a los rebeldes que guerrean día tras día

«I am a Mana of the great Life. I am a Mana of the mighty Life. Who has made me live in the Tibil, who has thrown me into the body-stump? . . . My eyes, which were opened from the abode of light, now belong to the stump. My heart, which longs for the Life, came here and was made part of the stump. It is the path of the stump, the Seven will not let me go my own path. How I must obey, how endure, how must I quiet my mind! How I must hear of the seven and twelve mysteries, how must I groan! How must my mild Father's Word dwell among the creatures of the dark! (G 454 f.)» — el lamento largo del Ginza que Jonas cita: ojos abiertos desde la morada de luz vueltos parte del tronco, un corazón que anhela la Vida hecho parte del tronco, y los Siete que no lo dejan ir por su propio camino

«These will suffice as examples from Mandaean literature. We note the tone of lamentation which is a characteristic of the Eastern sources.» — la caracterización con que Jonas cierra la serie: el tono de lamentación es un rasgo de las fuentes orientales

«Of all the Greek sources it most dramatically describes the plight of the Soul in the labyrinth of the hostile world.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna al Salmo del Alma naaseno: de todas las fuentes griegas es la que describe con más dramatismo la situación del Alma en el laberinto del mundo hostil

«The text is hopelessly corrupted, and any rendering of it can only be tentative: the general content, however, is sufficiently clear.» — y la reserva textual con que lo hace: el texto está irremediablemente corrompido y toda versión solo puede ser tentativa, aunque el contenido general es bastante claro

«The Soul, a third principle somehow placed between the first two of Spirit and Chaos, has become immersed in the latter. In the unworthy form in which she has been clothed she struggles and toils. A prey of Death, she now has regal power and beholds the light, now is plunged into misery and weeps. Lamented21 she rejoices, lamenting she is condemned, condemned she dies, forever to be reborn.» — el resumen que Jonas da de ese salmo: el Alma, tercer principio situado entre el Espíritu y el Caos, se hunde en este último, y en la forma indigna que la reviste lucha y se afana, ora con poder regio y viendo la luz, ora sumida en la miseria y llorando, muriendo condenada para renacer siempre

«It is for her sake that Jesus asks the Father to send him forth with the seals that enable him to pass through the Aeons and to unlock their Mysteries (Hippol. V. 10. 2).» — y el desenlace: por ella pide Jesús al Padre que lo envíe con los sellos que le permitan atravesar los Eones y abrir sus Misterios

«O Light of Lights, in which I have had faith from the beginning, hearken now to my repentance.22 Deliver me, O Light, for evil thoughts have entered into me. . . . I went, and found myself in the darkness which is in the chaos beneath, and I was powerless to hasten away and to return to my place, for I was afflicted by all the Emanations of the Authades [the Arrogant One]. . . . And I cried for help, but my voice did not carry out of the darkness, and I looked upwards so that the Light in which I had faith might come to my help. . . . And I was in that place, mourning and seeking the Light that I had seen on high. And the watchmen of the gates of the Aeons sought me, and all those who stay within their Mystery mocked me. . . . Now, O Light of Lights, I am afflicted in the darkness of the chaos. . . . Deliver me out of the matter of this darkness, so that I shall not be submerged in it. . . . My strength looked up from the midst of the chaos and from the midst of the darknesses, and I waited for my spouse, that he might come and fight for me, and he came not.» — la lamentación de la Pistis Sophia que Jonas cita del capítulo 32: hallarse en la tiniebla del caos de abajo, sin fuerza para volver a su lugar, afligida por las Emanaciones del Authades, el Arrogante, con la voz que no sale de la tiniebla, burlada por los guardianes de las puertas de los Eones, esperando al esposo que no vino

«The emotional categories of the last section may be said to reflect general human experiences which may spring up and find expression anywhere, though rarely in such emphatic forms.» — la acotación con que Jonas separa las dos series: las categorías emocionales anteriores reflejan experiencias humanas generales que pueden brotar en cualquier parte, aunque rara vez en formas tan enfáticas

«While earthly existence is on the one hand, as we just saw, characterized by the feelings of forlornness, dread, nostalgia, it is on the other hand described also as "numbness," "sleep," "drunkenness," and "oblivion": that is to say, it has assumed (if we except drunkenness) all the characteristics which a former time ascribed to the state of the dead in the underworld.» — la segunda serie, que Jonas llama más propiamente gnóstica: la existencia terrena descrita como entumecimiento, sueño, embriaguez y olvido, es decir con todos los caracteres que un tiempo anterior asignaba al estado de los muertos en el inframundo

«Indeed, we shall find that in gnostic thought the world takes the place of the traditional underworld and is itself already the realm of the dead, that is, of those who have to be raised to life again.» — la tesis que de ahí saca: en el pensamiento gnóstico el mundo ocupa el lugar del inframundo tradicional y es ya el reino de los muertos, de quienes han de ser devueltos a la vida

«In some respects this series of metaphors contradicts the previous one: unconsciousness excludes fear. This is not overlooked in the detailed narrative of the myths: it is only the awakening from the state of unconsciousness ("ignorance"), effected from without, that reveals» — la contradicción que Jonas consigna sin armonizar: la inconsciencia excluye el miedo, y eso no se pasa por alto en el relato detallado de los mitos, porque solo el despertar operado desde fuera revela algo; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie que el escaneo mete en el cuerpo

«to man his situation, hitherto hidden from him, and causes an outburst of dread and despair; yet in some way these must have been at work already in the preceding state of ignorance, in that life shows a tendency to hold fast to it and to resist the awakening.» — el remate tras la nota: ese despertar revela al hombre su situación, hasta entonces oculta, y desata un estallido de pavor y desesperación, aunque algo de eso debía obrar ya en el estado de ignorancia, en cuanto la vida tiende a aferrarse a él y a resistir el despertar

«The "throw" as such would account for a numbness of the fallen soul; but the alien medium itself, the world as a demonic entity, has an active share in it.» — el reparto de causas que Jonas propone: el arrojamiento explicaría por sí el entumecimiento del alma caída, pero el medio ajeno, el mundo como entidad demónica, tiene parte activa en él

«As the Sons of Darkness had devoured them, the five Luminous Gods [the sons of the Primal Man, and the substance of all the souls later dispersed in the world] were deprived of understanding, and through the poison of the Sons of Darkness they became like a man who has been bitten by a mad dog or a serpent.» — la cosmogonía maniquea según Teodoro bar Konai que Jonas cita: devorados por los Hijos de la Tiniebla, los cinco Dioses Luminosos quedaron privados de entendimiento y, por el veneno, como un hombre mordido por un perro rabioso o una serpiente

«The unconsciousness is thus a veritable infection by the poison of darkness. We are dealing here, as in the whole group of the metaphors of sleeping, not with a mythological detail, a mere episode in a narrative, but with a fundamental feature of existence in the world to which the whole redemptional enterprise of the extra-mundane deity is related.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de eso: la inconsciencia es una infección verdadera por el veneno de la tiniebla, y no un detalle mitológico ni un episodio, sino un rasgo fundamental de la existencia en el mundo al que se refiere toda la empresa redentora de la deidad extramundana

«The "world" on its part makes elaborate efforts to create and maintain this state in its victims and to counteract the operation of awakening: its power, even its existence, is at stake.» — y el interés que Jonas atribuye al mundo en mantener ese estado: en ello le va el poder y hasta la existencia

«They mixed me drink with their cunning and gave me to taste of their meat. I forgot that I was a king's son, and served their king. I forgot the Pearl for which my parents had sent me. Through the heaviness of their nourishment I sank into deep slumber. ("Hymn of the Pearl" in the Acta Thomae)» — el pasaje del Himno de la Perla que Jonas cita para eso: me mezclaron bebida con astucia y me dieron a probar su vianda; olvidé que era hijo de rey y serví a su rey, olvidé la Perla por la que mis padres me habían enviado

«Of the most constant and widest use is probably the image of "sleep." The Soul slumbers in Matter. Adam, the "head" of the race and at the same time symbol of mankind, lies in deep slumber, of a very different kind from that of the biblical Adam:» — la imagen que Jonas tiene por la de uso más constante y amplio: el sueño, con el Alma que dormita en la Materia y Adán, cabeza de la raza y símbolo de la humanidad, en sueño profundo de índole muy distinta a la del Adán bíblico

«See also the parallel description in a Turfan fragment: "[Ahriman] captured the fair Soul and fettered it within the impurity. Since he had made it blind and deaf, it was unconscious and confused, so that [at first] it did not know its true origin» — el paralelo de Turfán que Jonas anota: Ahrimán capturó al alma bella y la encadenó en la impureza, y por haberla dejado ciega y sorda quedó inconsciente y confusa, sin conocer al principio su verdadero origen

«Manda d'Hayye20 spake unto Anosh:20 Fear not and be not dismayed, and say not, They have left me alone in this world of the evil ones. For soon I will come to thee.» — el consuelo mandeo que Jonas cita, con las llamadas a nota conservadas: Manda d'Hayye dice a Anosh que no tema ni se desanime ni diga que lo dejaron solo en este mundo de los malvados, porque pronto vendrá a él

«general are "asleep" in the world. The metaphor expresses man's total abandonment to the world.» — según Jonas, los hombres en general están dormidos en el mundo, y la metáfora expresa el abandono total del hombre al mundo

«Men are not just asleep but "love" the sleep ("Why will ye love the sleep, and stumble with them that stumble?"—G 181); they have abandoned themselves to sleep as well as to drunkenness (C.H. I. 27).» — el matiz moral que Jonas subraya: los hombres no solo duermen sino que aman el sueño, y se han entregado a él igual que a la embriaguez

«According to what thou, great Life, saidst unto me, would that a voice might come daily to me to awaken me, that I may not stumble. If thou callest unto me, the evil worlds will not entrap me and I shall not fall prey to the Aeons. (G 485)» — la plegaria mandea que Jonas cita: ojalá viniera cada día una voz a despertarme para no tropezar, porque si la Vida llama, los mundos malos no lo atraparán

«The metaphor of sleep may equally serve to discount the sensations of "life here" as mere illusions and dreams, though nightmarish ones, which we are powerless to control; and there the similes of "sleep" join with those of "erring" and "dread":» — el segundo uso que Jonas asigna a la metáfora del sueño: descontar las sensaciones de la vida de aquí como ilusiones y sueños, aunque de pesadilla, incontrolables, y ahí el símil se junta con los del errar y el pavor

«What, then, is that which He desires man to think? This: "I am as the shadows and phantoms of the Night." When the light of dawn appears, then this man understands that the Terror which had seized upon him, was nothing. ... As long as Ignorance inspired them with terror and confusion, and left them unstable, torn and divided, there were many illusions by which they were haunted, and empty fictions, as if they were sunk in sleep and as if they found themselves a prey to troubled dreams. Either they are fleeing somewhere, or are driven ineffectually to pursue others; or they find themselves involved in brawls, giving blows or receiving blows; or they are falling from great heights . . . [etc., etc.]: until the moment when those who are passing through all these things, wake up. Then, those who have been experiencing all these confusions, suddenly see nothing. For they are nothing—namely, phantasmagoria of this kind.» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas cita para eso: soy como las sombras y fantasmas de la Noche, y al aparecer la luz del alba el hombre entiende que el Terror que lo había tomado no era nada; mientras la Ignorancia los llenó de terror hubo muchas ilusiones, como de gente sumida en el sueño y presa de sueños turbados

«Since the gnostic message conceives itself as the counter-move to the design of the world, as the call intended to break its spell, the metaphor of sleep, or its equivalents, is a constant component of the typical gnostic appeals to man, which accordingly present themselves as calls of "awakening."» — según Jonas, como el mensaje gnóstico se concibe como contragolpe al designio del mundo y como llamada que rompe su hechizo, la metáfora del sueño es componente constante de las apelaciones gnósticas, que se presentan como llamadas de despertar

«The "drunkenness" of the world is a phenomenon peculiarly characteristic of the spiritual aspect of what the Gnostics understood by the term "world." It is induced by the "wine of ignorance" (C.H. VII. 1), which the world everywhere proffers to man.» — el fenómeno que Jonas llama peculiarmente característico del aspecto espiritual del mundo gnóstico: la embriaguez, inducida por el vino de la ignorancia que el mundo ofrece por todas partes

«The metaphor makes it clear that ignorance is not a neutral state, the mere absence of knowledge, but is itself a positive counter-condition to that of knowledge, actively induced and maintained to prevent it.» — la consecuencia que Jonas saca de la metáfora: la ignorancia no es estado neutro ni mera ausencia de conocimiento, sino una contracondición positiva, inducida y mantenida activamente para impedirlo

«The ignorance of drunkenness is the soul's ignorance of itself, its origin, and its situation in the alien world: it is precisely the awareness of alienness which the intoxication is meant to suppress; man drawn into the whirlpool and made oblivious of his true being is to be made one of the children of this world.» — y su contenido: la ignorancia de la embriaguez es la del alma sobre sí misma, su origen y su situación en el mundo ajeno, y lo que la intoxicación busca suprimir es justamente la conciencia de ajenidad

«The drunkenness of ignorance is opposed by the "sobriety" of knowledge, a religious formula sometimes intensified to the paradox of "sober drunkenness."» — la fórmula religiosa opuesta que Jonas registra: la sobriedad del conocimiento, intensificada a veces en la paradoja de la embriaguez sobria

«Probably a coinage of Philo Judaeus which gained wide currency in mystical literature: cf. Hans Lewy, Sobria ebrietas (Beihejte zur ZNW 9, Giessen,» — la atribución con reserva que Jonas hace de esa fórmula en nota: probablemente una acuñación de Filón el Judío que tuvo curso amplio en la literatura mística

«From the Lord's spring came speaking water in abundance to my lips. I drank and was drunken with the water of everlasting life, yet my drunkenness was not that of ignorance, but I turned away from vanity. (Ode XI. 6-8)» — la Oda de Salomón que Jonas cita: bebí y me embriagué con el agua de la vida eterna, pero mi embriaguez no fue la de la ignorancia, sino que me aparté de la vanidad

«He who thus possesses knowledge . . . [is like] a person who, having been intoxicated, becomes sober and having come to himself reaffirms that which is essentially his own. (GT 22:13-20)» — y el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad: quien posee el conocimiento es como quien, habiendo estado ebrio, se serena y, vuelto en sí, reafirma lo que le es propio

«The orgiastic feast prepared by the world for the seduction of man, or more generally of the alien Life from beyond, is repeatedly described in extensive scenes in Mandaean writings.» — según Jonas, la fiesta orgiástica que el mundo prepara para seducir al hombre, o más en general a la Vida ajena venida de más allá, se describe una y otra vez en escenas extensas de los escritos mandeos

«Ruha and the Planets began to forge plans and said, "We will entrap Adam and catch him and detain him with us in the Tibil. When he eats and drinks, we will entrap the world. We will practise embracing in the world and found a community in the world. We will entrap him with horns and flutes, so that he may not break away from us. . . . We will seduce the tribe of life and cut it off with us in the world . . . [G 113 f.]. Arise, let us make a celebration: arise, let us make a drinkingfeast. Let us practise the mysteries of love and seduce the whole world! . . . The call of Life we will silence, we will cast strife into the house, which shall not be settled in all eternity. We will kill the Stranger. We will make Adam our adherent and see who then will be his deliverer. . . . We will confound his party, the party that the Stranger has founded, so that he may have no share in the world. The whole house shall be ours alone. . . . What has the Stranger done in the house, that he could found himself a party therein?" They took the living water and poured turbid [water] into it. They took the head of the tribe and practised on him the mystery of love and of lust, through which all the worlds are inflamed. They practised on him seduction, by which all the worlds are seduced. They practised on him the mystery of drunkenness, by which all the worlds are made drunken. . . . The worlds are made drunk by it and turn their faces to the Suf-Sea.26 (G 120 ff.)» — la escena mandea de la conspiración que Jonas abrevia y cita: Ruha y los Planetas planean atrapar a Adán, hacer una celebración y un festín de bebida, practicar los misterios del amor, silenciar la llamada de la Vida, matar al Extranjero y quedarse con la casa entera; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de drinking-feast y devuelve drinkingfeast, forma que el impreso no lleva

«Ruha, literally "spirit." The perversion of this term to denote the highest personification of evil is an interesting episode in the history of religion, all the more paradoxical in view of the fact that the full title of this anti-divine figure is Ruha d'Qudsha, i.e., "the Holy Spirit." But this very paradox indicates the cause: the violent hostility to Christian doctrine, whose Founder according to Mandaean tradition had stolen and falsified the message of his master, John the Baptist. But an ambivalence in the figure of the "Holy Spirit," understood as female, is noticeable also in Christian Gnosticism, as will be seen when we deal with the Sophia specu» — la nota en que Jonas explica esa figura: Ruha significa espíritu y su título completo es Ruha d'Qudsha, el Espíritu Santo, de modo que la perversión del término hasta nombrar la personificación suprema del mal es un episodio paradójico, cuya causa sitúa en la hostilidad mandea a la doctrina cristiana, cuyo fundador habría robado y falsificado el mensaje de su maestro Juan Bautista

«The main weapon of the world in its great seduction is "love." Here we encounter a widespread motif of gnostic thought: the mistrust of sexual love and sensual pleasure in general. It is seen as the eminent form of man's ensnarement by the world:» — el motivo que Jonas identifica ahí como muy extendido en el pensamiento gnóstico: la desconfianza del amor sexual y del placer sensual en general, visto como la forma eminente del enredo del hombre en el mundo

«More than sexual love is involved in this role of eros as the principle of mortality (to Plato it was the principle of the striving for immortality). The lust for the things of this world in general may take on many forms, and by all of them the soul is turned away from its true goal and kept under the spell of its alien abode.» — la acotación que Jonas hace de ese eros como principio de mortalidad, y el contraste que traza con Platón, para quien era el principio del anhelo de inmortalidad: en juego está también el apetito de las cosas del mundo en general

«Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (I John 2:15-16)» — el pasaje de la primera epístola de Juan que Jonas alinea ahí: no améis al mundo ni las cosas del mundo, porque todo lo que hay en el mundo, la concupiscencia de la carne, la de los ojos y la soberbia de la vida, no es del Padre sino del mundo

«The three propensities mentioned here, "the lust of the flesh," "the lust of the eyes," and "the pride of life," later serve Augustine as main categories of the general "temptation" of the world (see Confess. X. 41 ff.). The "mystery of love" in the Mandaean text is a mythological version of the same idea.» — la filiación que Jonas traza: esas tres propensiones sirven después a Agustín como categorías principales de la tentación del mundo, y el misterio del amor del texto mandeo es una versión mitológica de la misma idea

«The orgiastic feast, intended to draw man into its drunken whirl, has besides intoxication another aspect: its noise is to drown out the "call of Life" and deafen man to .the voice of the alien Man.» — el segundo aspecto que Jonas asigna a la fiesta orgiástica, además de la embriaguez: su ruido ha de ahogar la llamada de la Vida y ensordecer al hombre para la voz del Hombre ajeno

«Come let us make him hear a great upheaval, that he may forget the heavenly voices. (J 62)» — el pasaje mandeo que lo dice: vengan, hagámosle oír un gran tumulto para que olvide las voces celestiales

«However, as in view of the essential foolishness of the world-powers might be expected, the din has also a very different and ultimately self-defeating effect:» — la vuelta que Jonas señala: dada la necedad esencial de las potencias del mundo, cabe esperar que el estruendo tenga también un efecto muy distinto y en última instancia contraproducente

«As their noise fell upon Adam's ear, he awoke from his slumber and lifted his eyes to the place of the light. He called his helpers, called the mild faithful Uthras. He spoke to Hibil-Uthra [here instead of Manda d'Hayye], the man who had made him hear his voice: "What has happened in the house, that the sound of the din rises up to heaven?" As Adam spoke thus, a tear gathered itself together in his eye. . . . I came near him, took him by his right hand, and made his heart rest again on its support. (G 126)» — y el pasaje que lo muestra: al caer el ruido en el oído de Adán, este despertó de su sopor, alzó los ojos al lugar de la luz y llamó a los Uthras mansos y fieles

«Thus the world's own weapon turns against it: meant to deafen and confuse, it also frightens and causes Adam to look toward the stranger, to strain his ears toward the other voice.» — la lectura de Jonas: el arma del mundo se vuelve contra él, porque lo que había de ensordecer y confundir también asusta y hace que Adán mire hacia el extranjero

«The transmundane penetrates the enclosure of the world and makes itself heard therein as a call.» — la tesis del apartado: lo transmundano penetra el recinto del mundo y se hace oír dentro como una llamada

«The symbol of the call as the form in which the transmundane makes its appearance within the world is so fundamental to Eastern Gnosticism that we may even designate the Mandaean and Manichaean religions as "religions of the call."» — el rótulo que Jonas propone a partir de ese símbolo: religiones de la llamada, para la mandea y la maniquea

«Caller of the Call" is the title of the Manichaean missionary; and as late as in Islam the word for mission is "call," for missionary, "caller."» — la nota en que Jonas lo apoya: llamador de la Llamada es el título del misionero maniqueo, y aún en el islam la palabra para misión es llamada y para misionero, llamador

«The reader will remember the close connection which obtains in the New Testament between hearing and faith. We find many examples of it in Mandaean writings: faith is the response to the call from beyond that» — el paralelo que Jonas invoca: la conexión entre oír y creer en el Nuevo Testamento, con muchos ejemplos mandeos donde la fe es respuesta a la llamada de más allá; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie

«cannot be seen but must be heard.» — el remate tras la nota: esa llamada no se puede ver y hay que oírla

«Manichaean symbolism went so far as to hypostatize "Call" and "Answer" into separate divine figures» — el paso que Jonas atribuye al simbolismo maniqueo: hipostasiar Llamada y Respuesta en figuras divinas separadas

«Like a messenger was the letter which the King had sealed with his right hand. ... He flew like an eagle and alighted beside me and became wholly speech. At the sound of his voice I awoke and arose from my slumber . . . and directed my steps that I might come to the light of our home. The letter who had awakened me I found before me on the way, the letter who with his voice had awakened me from sleep.» — el pasaje del Himno de la Perla en que la carta se vuelve voz: voló como un águila, se posó junto a él y se hizo toda habla, y al sonido de su voz despertó y se levantó del sopor

«In the Valentinian elaboration, the call is specifically the calling by "name," i.e., the person's mystic spiritual name, from eternity "inscribed" with God in the "book of the living» — la elaboración valentiniana que Jonas describe: la llamada es el llamar por el nombre, el nombre espiritual y místico de la persona, inscrito desde la eternidad junto a Dios en el libro de los vivientes

«Those whose names He knew in advance, were called at the end, so that he who knows, is he whose name has been spoken by the Father. For he whose name has not been pronounced, is ignorant. Truly, how should a person be able to hear, if his name has not been called ? For he who remains ignorant until the end, is a creature of "Oblivion" and will be destroyed with it. If this is not the case, why have these miserable ones received no name, why do they not hear the call? (GT21:25-22:2)» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad que lo dice: quien conoce es aquel cuyo nombre ha pronunciado el Padre, y quien no ha sido nombrado es ignorante y criatura del Olvido

«This idea, like the whole "name"—and "book"—mysticism so conspicuous in the Gospel of Truth, points to certain Jewish speculations as the probable source; but the motif may have been widespread in oriental thought—see, in the Mandaean psalm quoted on p. 80, the line "who calls my name, his name I call.» — la filiación que Jonas propone con reserva para esa mística del nombre y del libro: apunta a ciertas especulaciones judías como fuente probable, aunque el motivo pudo estar extendido en el pensamiento oriental

«Finally, the call can also be the apocalyptic call announcing the end of the world: A call rang out over the whole world, the splendor departed from every city. Manda d'Hayye revealed himself to all the children of men and redeemed them from the darkness into the light. (G 182)» — el último sentido que Jonas asigna a la llamada: la apocalíptica que anuncia el fin del mundo, con Manda d'Hayye revelándose a todos los hijos de los hombres y redimiéndolos de la tiniebla a la luz

«spiritual man shall recognize himself as immortal, and love as the cause of death" (CM. I. 17); "He who has cherished the body issued from the error of love, he remains in the darkness erring, suffering in his senses the dispensations of death» — los dos pasajes herméticos que Jonas cita: el hombre espiritual ha de reconocerse inmortal y reconocer el amor como causa de la muerte, y quien amó el cuerpo salido del error del amor permanece errando en la tiniebla, padeciendo en sus sentidos las dispensaciones de la muerte; el escaneo imprime CM por C.H.

«takes upon itself the stranger's fate: he is the Messenger or Envoy —in relation to the world, the Alien Man.» — según Jonas, la Vida trascendente toma sobre sí la suerte del extranjero en la persona del enviado, que respecto del mundo es el Hombre ajeno

«The man does not belong to us, and his speech is not your speech. He has no connection with you. . . . His speech comes from without.» — el pasaje mandeo en que Ruha lo advierte a los Planetas: ese hombre no nos pertenece, su habla no es la vuestra y viene de fuera

«The name "the alien" indicates the kinds of reception he finds down here: the welcoming exultation of those who feel themselves alien and exiled here ("Adam felt love for the Alien Man whose speech is alien, estranged from the world» — la primera de las tres recepciones que Jonas distingue: el júbilo de quienes se sienten ajenos y exiliados aquí, con Adán amando al Hombre ajeno cuya habla es ajena

«the shocked surprise of the cosmic powers who do not comprehend what is happening in their midst ("What has the Stranger done in the house, that he could found himself a party therein?» — la segunda: la sorpresa escandalizada de las potencias cósmicas, que no entienden qué hace el Extranjero en la casa

«finally, the hostile banding together of the sons of the house against the intruder ("We will kill the Stranger. . . . We will confound his party, so that he may have no share in the world. The whole house shall be ours alone» — y la tercera: la coalición hostil de los hijos de la casa contra el intruso, que quieren matar al Extranjero y quedarse con la casa entera

«When the Word appeared, the Word which is in the hearts of those who pronounce It—and It was not only a sound, but It had taken on a body as well—a great confusion reigned among the vessels, for some had been emptied, others filled; some were provided for, others were overthrown; some were sanctified, still others were broken to pieces. All the spaces (?) were shaken and confused, for they had no fixity nor stability. "Error" was agitated, not knowing what it should do. It was afflicted, and lamented and worried because it knew nothing. Since the Gnosis, which is the perdition of "Error" and all its Emanations, approached it, "Error" became empty, there being nothing more in it. (GT 26:4-27)» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad con que Jonas describe el efecto inmediato de esa aparición: al aparecer el Verbo, que no era solo sonido sino que había tomado cuerpo, reinó una gran confusión entre las vasijas, y el Error se agitó sin saber qué hacer y quedó vacío

«Thus, to retrieve its own, Life in one of its unfallen members once more undertakes to descend into the dungeon of the world, "to clothe itself in the affliction of the worlds" and to assume the lot of exile far from the realm of light.» — según Jonas, para recobrar lo suyo la Vida vuelve a descender a la mazmorra del mundo en uno de sus miembros no caídos, a vestirse de la aflicción de los mundos

«This we may call the second descent of the divine, as distinct from the tragic earlier one which led to the situation that now has to be redeemed. Whereas formerly» — la distinción que Jonas propone: es el segundo descenso de lo divino, distinto del trágico anterior que llevó a la situación que ahora hay que redimir; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«the Life now entangled in the world got into it by way of "fall," "sinking," "being thrown," "being taken captive," its entrance this time is of a very different nature: sent by the Great Life and invested with authority, the Alien Man does not fall but betakes himself into the world.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: mientras la Vida enredada en el mundo entró en él por caída, hundimiento, arrojamiento o cautiverio, esta vez el Hombre ajeno no cae sino que se traslada al mundo por encargo y con autoridad

«One call comes and instructs about all calls. One speech comes and instructs about all speech. One beloved Son comes, who was formed from the womb of splendor. . . . His image is kept safe in its place. He comes with the illumination of life, with the command which his Father imparts. He comes in the garment of living fire and betakes himself into thy [Ruha's] world. (G90)» — el pasaje mandeo que Jonas cita para ese envío: viene un Hijo amado formado del seno del esplendor, con la iluminación de la vida y el mandato de su Padre, en la vestidura de fuego vivo

«I am Yokabar-Kushta, who have gone forth from my Father's house and come hither. I have come hither with hidden splendor and with light without end. (G 318)» — y la declaración del enviado: soy Yokabar-Kushta, que he salido de la casa de mi Padre y he venido aquí con esplendor oculto y luz sin fin

«The going forth and coming hither have to be taken literally in their spatial meaning: they really lead, in the sense of an actual "way," from outside into the enclosure of the world, and in the passage have to penetrate through all its concentric shells, i.e., the manifold spheres or aeons or worlds, in order to get to the innermost space, where man is imprisoned.» — la lectura que Jonas exige de esas fórmulas: salir y venir aquí se toman literalmente en su sentido espacial, como un camino real de fuera al recinto del mundo, atravesando todas sus cortezas concéntricas

«For his sake send me, Father! Holding the seals will I descend, through all the Aeons will I take my way, all the Mysteries will I unlock, the forms of the gods will I make manifest, the secrets of the sacred Way, known as Knowledge, I will transmit.» — el salmo naaseno que Jonas cita: envíame, Padre; con los sellos descenderé, atravesaré todos los Eones, abriré todos los Misterios y transmitiré los secretos del Camino sagrado que se llama Conocimiento

«This passage through the cosmic system is in the nature of a breaking through, thereby already a victory over its powers.» — la lectura de Jonas: ese paso por el sistema cósmico es de suyo una irrupción y por eso ya una victoria sobre sus potencias

«In the name of him who came, in the name of him who comes, and in the name of him who is to be brought forth. In the name of that Alien Man who forced his way through the worlds, came, split the firmament and revealed himself. (G 197)» — la fórmula mandea que lo dice: en el nombre de aquel Hombre ajeno que se abrió paso por los mundos, vino, hendió el firmamento y se reveló

«Here we have the reason why the mere call of awakening from outside is not enough: not only must men be awakened and called to return, but if their souls are to escape the world, a real breach must be made in the "iron wall" of the firmament, which bars the way outward as well as inward. Only the real act of the godhead in itself entering the system can make that breach: "He broke their watchtowers and made a breach in their fastness» — el argumento que Jonas destaca: la sola llamada de despertar no basta, porque para que las almas escapen hay que abrir una brecha real en el muro de hierro del firmamento, y solo el acto real de la divinidad entrando en el sistema puede abrirla

«Thus already by the mere fact of his descent the Messenger prepares the way for the ascending souls. Depending on the degree of spiritualization in different systems, however, the emphasis may shift increasingly from this mythological function to the purely religious one embodied in the call as such and the teaching it has to convey, and thereby also to the individual response to the call as the human contribution to salvation.» — y su consecuencia, con la reserva de grado: por el mero hecho de descender el Mensajero abre camino a las almas que ascienden, aunque según el grado de espiritualización de cada sistema el énfasis puede correrse de esa función mitológica a la puramente religiosa de la llamada y de la respuesta individual

«Through Him He enlightened those who were in darkness because of "Oblivion." He enlightened them and indicated a path for them; and that path is the Truth which He taught them. It was because of this that "Error" became angry with Him, persecuted Him, oppressed Him, annihilated Him. (GT 18:16-24)» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad sobre Jesús: iluminó a los que estaban en tinieblas por el Olvido y les indicó un camino, que es la Verdad que les enseñó, y por eso el Error se enojó con Él, lo persiguió, lo oprimió y lo aniquiló

«Here, incidentally, we have as much as the "Christian" Gnostics in general could make of the passion of Christ and of the reason for it: it is due to the enmity of the powers of the lower creation (the cosmic principle: "Error"—usually personified in the Archons), threatened in their dominion and very existence by his mission; and often enough, the suffering and death they are able to inflict upon him are not real at all.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de la pasión en el gnosticismo cristiano: se debe a la enemistad de las potencias de la creación inferior, amenazadas en su dominio por la misión, y a menudo el sufrimiento y la muerte que le infligen no son reales

«Not so, it must be added, in the Gospel of Truth: there, indeed, for once the utterances on Christ's suffering betray an emotional fervor and sense of mystery ("Oh! great, sublime Teaching") which suggest for it a religious significance far surpassing what is usual in so-called Christian Gnosticism, including most of the known Valentinian literature itself.» — la excepción que Jonas anota: en el Evangelio de la Verdad las expresiones sobre el sufrimiento de Cristo delatan un fervor emocional y un sentido de misterio que sugieren para él un significado religioso mayor que el usual en el gnosticismo llamado cristiano

«Now in the last analysis he who comes is identical with him to whom he comes: Life the Savior with the life to be saved. The Alien from without comes to him who is alien in the world, and» — la identidad que Jonas asienta en último análisis: el que viene es idéntico a aquel a quien viene, la Vida salvadora con la vida por salvar, y el Ajeno de fuera viene al que es ajeno en el mundo

«the same descriptive terms can in a striking way alternate between the two. Both in suffering and in triumph, it is often impossible to distinguish which of the two is speaking or to whom a statement refers. The prisoner here is also called "the alien man" (cf. J 67 ff., where the name is applied to the man to be saved), and he regains as it were this quality through the encounter with the Alien sent from without:» — y el efecto textual que de ahí se sigue: los mismos términos descriptivos alternan entre los dos y a menudo es imposible distinguir cuál de ellos habla o a cuál se refiere un enunciado

«I am an alien man. . . . I beheld the Life and the Life beheld me. My provisions for the journey come from the Alien Man whom the Life willed and planted. I shall come amongst the good whom this Alien Man has loved. (G 273)» — el pasaje mandeo que Jonas trae para eso: soy un hombre ajeno; vi la Vida y la Vida me vio, y mis provisiones para el viaje vienen del Hombre ajeno que la Vida quiso y plantó

«There is a strong suggestion of an active-passive double role of one and the same entity. Ultimately the descending Alien redeems himself, that is, that part of himself (the Soul) once lost to the world, and for its sake he himself must become a stranger in the land of darkness and in the end a "saved savior." "The Life supported the Life, the Life found its own» — la tesis del redentor redimido tal como Jonas la formula: en último término el Ajeno que desciende se redime a sí mismo, esto es, a aquella parte de sí, el Alma, perdida un día en el mundo, y por ella ha de volverse extranjero en la tierra de tinieblas y al final salvador salvado

«This seeking, finding, and gathering of its own is a long-drawn-out process bound to the spatio-temporal form of cosmic existence. "I wandered through worlds and generations until I came to the gate of Jerusalem» — el carácter que Jonas asigna a esa busca: un proceso largo, atado a la forma espacio-temporal de la existencia cósmica

«This leads to the idea that the savior does not come just once into the world but that from the beginning of time he wanders in different forms through history, himself exiled in the world, and revealing himself ever anew until, with his gathering-in complete, he can be released from his cosmic mission» — la doctrina que de ahí resulta según Jonas: el salvador no viene una sola vez sino que desde el comienzo del tiempo erra en formas distintas por la historia, él mismo exiliado, revelándose una y otra vez hasta completar la recogida

«Apart from the changing human incarnations, the constant form of his presence is precisely the other-worldly call resounding through the world and representing the alien in its midst; and between his manifestations he walks invisible through time.» — y la forma constante de su presencia entre esas manifestaciones: la llamada de otro mundo que resuena en este y representa lo ajeno en su medio, mientras él camina invisible por el tiempo

«What is it that the call has come to communicate to men? Its content is determined by its aim of "awakening," the simple naming of which may sometimes be the whole message itself, and nearly always is the opening part of it.» — la pregunta con que Jonas abre el apartado y su respuesta: el contenido de la llamada lo determina su fin de despertar, cuya sola enunciación puede ser a veces el mensaje entero y casi siempre es su parte inicial

«I am the call of awakening from sleep in the Aeon of the night," begins an excerpt from a scripture of the Peratae in Hippolytus {Refut. V. 14. 1).» — el arranque de un escrito de los peratas que Jonas toma de Hipólito: soy la llamada de despertar del sueño en el Eón de la noche

«Here the call as such is its own content, since it simply states what its being sounded will effect: the awakening from sleep.» — la lectura de Jonas: ahí la llamada es su propio contenido, porque enuncia sin más lo que su sonar producirá

«I am a word, a son of words, who have come in the name of Jawar. The great Life called, charged and prepared me, me, Anosh [Man], the great Uthra the son of mighty ones. . . . It sent me forth to watch over this era, to shake out of their sleep and raise up those that slumber. It said to me: "Go, gather thee a following from the Tibil. . . . Elect, and draw the elect out of the world. . . . Instruct the souls, that they may not die and perish, nor be kept back in the dense darkness. . . . When thou comest to the earth Tibil, the evil ones shall not know of thee. . . . Fear not and be not dismayed, and say not, I stand here alone. When fear overcomes thee, we shall all be beside thee. . . ." (G 295 f.)» — el envío mandeo que Jonas cita: la gran Vida manda a Anosh a velar sobre esta era, a sacudir del sueño a los que dormitan, a elegir y sacar a los elegidos del mundo, e instruir a las almas para que no mueran ni queden retenidas en la densa tiniebla

«They bestowed upon the guardians a sublime call, to shake up and make to rise those that slumber. They were to awaken the souls that had stumbled away from the place of light. They were to awaken them and shake them up, that they might lift their faces to the place of light. (G 308)» — el segundo pasaje: dieron a los guardianes una llamada sublime para sacudir y hacer levantarse a los que dormitan y despertar a las almas que se habían apartado del lugar de la luz

«in whose mind I repose. Who thinks of me, of him I think: who calls my name, his name I call. Who prays my prayer from down below, his prayer I pray from the place of light. . . . I came and found the truthful and believing hearts. When I was not dwelling among them, yet my name was on their lips. I took them and guided them up to the world of light.» — el remate del salmo en la plana siguiente: quien piensa en mí, en él pienso; quien llama mi nombre, su nombre llamo; quien reza mi oración desde abajo, su oración rezo desde el lugar de la luz; vine y hallé los corazones veraces y creyentes

«he walks invisible through time. From the place of light have I gone forth, from thee, bright habitation. I come to feel the hearts, to measure and try all minds, to see in whose heart I dwell,» — el salmo mandeo que Jonas cita para esa presencia constante: he salido del lugar de la luz, de ti, morada luminosa, para tantear los corazones y probar todas las mentes; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«However, this formal imperative implicitly includes the whole speculative framework within which the ideas of sleep, drunkenness, and waking assume their specific meanings; and as a rule the call makes this framework explicit as part of its own content, that is, it connects the command to awake with the following doctrinal elements: the reminder of the heavenly origin and the transcendent history of man; the promise of redemption, to which also belongs the redeemer's account of his own mission and descent to this world; and finally the practical instruction as to how to live henceforth in the world, in conformity with the newly won "knowledge" and in preparation for the eventual ascent.» — los tres elementos doctrinales que Jonas dice implicados en el imperativo de despertar: el recuerdo del origen celeste y de la historia trascendente del hombre, la promesa de redención con el relato de la misión y el descenso del redentor, y la instrucción práctica sobre cómo vivir en el mundo conforme al conocimiento recién ganado

«Now, these three elements contain in a nutshell the complete gnostic myth, so that the gnostic call of awakening is a kind of abbreviation of gnostic doctrine in general.» — y la consecuencia que saca: esos tres elementos contienen en germen el mito gnóstico completo, de modo que la llamada de despertar es una especie de abreviatura de la doctrina gnóstica

«The gnosis transmitted by the message and compressed in it into a few symbolic terms is the total cosmogonic-soteriological myth within whose narrative the event of this message itself constitutes one phase, in fact the turning point with which the total movement is reversed.» — la posición que Jonas asigna al mensaje dentro del mito: la gnosis transmitida es el mito cosmogónico-soteriológico total, dentro de cuyo relato el acontecimiento del mensaje constituye una fase, y de hecho el punto de giro que invierte el movimiento entero

«This compendious "knowledge" of the theoretical whole has its practical complement in the knowledge of the right "way" to liberation from the captivity of the world.» — el complemento práctico que le corresponde: el conocimiento del camino recto para liberarse del cautiverio del mundo

«In the numerous literary versions of the call, one or the other of these aspects may preponderate or be expressed exclusively: the reminder of origin, the promise of salvation, the moral instruction.» — y la variación que Jonas registra: en las versiones literarias de la llamada puede predominar o aparecer en exclusiva uno de esos aspectos, el recuerdo del origen, la promesa de salvación o la instrucción moral

«The first of such calls in the rigidly constructed Manichaean world-drama occurs before the beginning of our world and is addressed to the Primal Man, who is lying unconscious in the depths after being defeated and swallowed up in the first pre-cosmic contest of light and darkness.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna a la primera llamada del drama maniqueo: antes del comienzo de nuestro mundo, dirigida al Hombre Primordial que yace inconsciente en las profundidades tras ser vencido y engullido en la primera contienda precósmica

«Here the call apparently has the form of a simple salutation. As such, however, it includes the reminder of the divine origin of the one saluted, that is, the reawakening of the knowledge of himself, lost through the poison of the darkness, and at the same time the promise of his salvation: the address "Good one amidst the wicked," etc., represents the reminder, the salutation "Peace be unto thee" the promise.» — el desglose que Jonas hace de ese saludo: incluye el recuerdo del origen divino del saludado, es decir el redespertar del conocimiento de sí perdido por el veneno de la tiniebla, y a la vez la promesa de su salvación

«The touching inquiry of the Primal Man about the sons of light in their city must be understood in connection with» — la lectura que Jonas propone de la pregunta del Hombre Primordial por los hijos de la luz; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie

«the fact that he had gone forth to his destiny for their protection. Awaking from his stupefaction, he wants to know whether the sacrifice has fulfilled its purpose.» — el remate tras las notas: había salido a su destino para protegerlos, y al despertar de su estupor quiere saber si el sacrificio cumplió su propósito

«Shake off the drunkenness in which thou hast slumbered, awake and behold me! Good tidings to thee from the world of joy from which I am sent for thy sake. And he answered him who is without suffering: I am I, the son of the mild ones. Mingled am I and lamentation I see. Lead me out of the embracement of death. [The messenger speaks:] Power and prosperity of the Living unto thee from thy home! Follow me, son of mildness, set upon thy head the crown of light.» — la versión de esa escena en el fragmento M 7 de Turfán que Jonas cita: sacude la embriaguez en que dormitaste, despierta y mírame; sígueme, hijo de la mansedumbre, ponte en la cabeza la corona de luz

«My soul, O most splendid one, . . . whither hast thou gone? Return again. Awake, soul of splendor, from the slumber of drunkenness into which thou hast fallen . . . , follow me to the place of the exalted earth where thou dwelledst from the beginning.» — la llamada desligada del contexto mitológico que Jonas toma de la llamada Misa abreviada de los muertos, de Turfán: alma mía, la más esplendorosa, adónde has ido; despierta del sopor de la embriaguez en que caíste y sígueme al lugar de la tierra exaltada donde morabas desde el principio

«We pass to the Mandaean literature, where versions of the call of awakening are extremely numerous, addressed either to Adam (not identical with Primal Man) or to the indefinite number of the believers in the world.» — el paso de Jonas a la literatura mandea, donde dice que las versiones de la llamada son numerosísimas, dirigidas a Adán —que no se identifica con el Hombre Primordial— o al número indefinido de los creyentes

«here we shall say merely that the biblical motif of his sleep in the Garden is turned into a symbol of the human condition in the world.» — la lectura que Jonas adelanta del Adán mandeo: el motivo bíblico de su sueño en el Jardín queda convertido en símbolo de la condición humana en el mundo

«They created the messenger and sent him to the head of the generations. He called with heavenly voice into the turmoil of the worlds. At the messenger's call Adam, who lay there, awoke . . . and went to meet the messenger: "Come in peace, thou messenger, envoy of the Life, who hast come from the house of the Father. How firmly planted in its place is the dear fair Life! And how sits here my dark form in lamentation!" Then replied the messenger: ". . . All remembered thee with love and . . . sent me to thee. I have come and will instruct thee, Adam, and release thee out of this world. Hearken and hear and be instructed, and rise up victorious to the place of light." (J57)» — el pasaje mandeo paralelo a las versiones maniqueas que Jonas cita: al llamado del mensajero Adán despierta y lo recibe, y el mensajero dice haber venido a instruirlo y a liberarlo de este mundo

«The instruction mentioned here is frequently included in the call as the explication of the command "Sleep not," and sometimes grows into lengthy moral homilies which monopolize the whole content of the call and by their sheer extent make of the basic situation simply a literary fiction.» — la deriva que Jonas señala: la instrucción se incluye a menudo como explicación del mandato de no dormir y crece a veces en homilías morales largas que acaparan el contenido de la llamada y por su extensión vuelven la situación básica una mera ficción literaria

«An Uthra calls from without and instructs Adam the man. He speaks unto Adam: "Slumber not nor sleep, and forget not that with which thy Lord hath charged thee. Be not a son of the house, and be not called a sinner in the Tibil. Love not pleasant-smelling garlands and take not pleasure in a fair woman. . . . Love not lust nor deceiving shadows. ... At thy going out and thy coming in see that thou forget not thy Lord [etc., etc.]. . . . Adam, behold the world, that it is a thing wholly without substance, . .. in which thou must place no trust. The scales stand prepared, and of thousands they choose one. . . . Scented garlands fade, and the beauty of woman becomes as if it had never been. . . . All works pass away, take their end and are as if they had never been.» — la homilía mandea que Jonas cita como ejemplo: no dormir, no ser hijo de la casa, no amar las guirnaldas olorosas ni gozarse en una mujer hermosa, no amar la lujuria ni las sombras engañosas, y mirar el mundo como cosa sin sustancia en que no hay que poner confianza

«Sometimes the call of awakening is immediately connected with the summons to leave the world: it is at the same time the message of death, and is then followed by the ascent of the soul, as in the following example.» — el otro uso que Jonas registra: la llamada de despertar unida a la orden de dejar el mundo, que entonces es a la vez mensaje de muerte y va seguida del ascenso del alma

«The savior approached, stood at Adam's pillow, and awakened him from his sleep. "Arise, arise, Adam, put off thy stinking body, thy garment of clay, the fetter, the bond . . . for thy time is come, thy measure is full, to depart from this world. . . ." (G 430)» — el pasaje mandeo que lo ilustra: levántate, Adán, quítate tu cuerpo hediondo, tu vestido de barro, el grillete, la atadura, porque llegó tu tiempo de partir de este mundo

«I sent a call out into the world: Let every man be watchful of himself. Whosoever is watchful of himself shall be saved from the devouring fire. (G58)» — la llamada concentrada en una sola amonestación que Jonas cita: envié una llamada al mundo, que cada hombre vele sobre sí; quien vela sobre sí se salvará del fuego devorador

«The typical formula of awakening has passed also into the New Testament, where it occurs in Eph. 5:14 as an anonymous quotation: Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.» — el paso de la fórmula al Nuevo Testamento que Jonas señala: aparece en Efesios 5:14 como cita anónima, despierta tú que duermes y levántate de entre los muertos, y Cristo te alumbrará

«know his30 honor. Thereupon Primal Man answered him and spoke: Come for the peace of him who is dead, come, oh treasure of serenity and peace! and he spoke further to him: How is it with our Fathers, the Sons of Light in their city? And the Call said unto him: It is well with them. And Call and Answer joined each other and ascended to the Mother of Life and to the Living Spirit. The Living Spirit put on the Call and the Mother of Life put on the Answer, her beloved son.» — el remate de la escena siria de Teodoro bar Konai que Jonas cita: el Hombre Primordial responde y pregunta por los Hijos de la Luz en su ciudad, y Llamada y Respuesta se unen y ascienden a la Madre de la Vida y al Espíritu Viviente, que se las ponen como vestiduras; el volumen imprime la misma escena dos veces, aquí y en la p. 130, y este tramo lleva la llamada a nota propia de esta plana

«O ye people, earthborn men, who have abandoned yourselves to drunkenness and sleep and to ignorance of God—become sober! cease from your intoxication, from the enchantment of irrational sleep! . . . Why, O earthborn men, have ye given yourselves over to death, being vested with power to partake in immortality? Change your ways, ye fellow-travellers of error and companions of ignorance; turn ye away from the dark light [i.e., of the cosmos], take part in immortality and forsake corruption.» — la llamada helenística del Poimandres que Jonas cita: hombres nacidos de la tierra, entregados a la embriaguez, al sueño y a la ignorancia de Dios, volved en vosotros, apartaos de la luz oscura, tomad parte en la inmortalidad y dejad la corrupción

«Whither are ye carried, O ye drunken men who have drained the unmixed wine [lit. "word"] of ignorance . . . stop and become sober, and look up with the eyes of the heart. . . . Seek the guide who will lead ye by the hand to the gates of knowledge where is the brilliant light that is pure of darkness, where none is drunken but all are sober and turn their hearts to see Him whose will it is to be seen.» — el pasaje hermético paralelo que Jonas trae en nota: adónde os llevan, ebrios que habéis apurado el vino puro de la ignorancia; deteneos, serenaos, mirad con los ojos del corazón y buscad al guía que os lleve de la mano a las puertas del conocimiento

«The first effect of the call is of course the awakening from the deep slumber of the world. Then, however, the reaction of the one awakened to his situation as revealed in the call and to the demands made upon him can be of different kinds, and significant dialogues between the called and the caller may ensue.» — según Jonas, el primer efecto de la llamada es el despertar del sueño profundo del mundo, y la reacción del despertado a la situación revelada puede ser de índoles distintas, con diálogos significativos entre llamado y llamador

«In the Manichaean cosmogony according to Theodore bar Konai, for instance, Adam's first reaction to the wakening and the information he receives about himself is an outburst of acute terror at his situation:» — la primera de esas reacciones que Jonas registra: en la cosmogonía maniquea de Teodoro bar Konai, la respuesta de Adán al despertar y a lo que se le informa sobre sí mismo es un estallido de terror agudo

«Jesus the Luminous approached the innocent Adam. He awakened him from the sleep of death, so that he might be delivered from the many demons. And as a man who is just and finds a man possessed by a mighty demon and calms him by his power—so was Adam because that Friend found him sunk in deepest slumber, awakened him, made him stir, shook him awake, drove away from him the seducing Demon and removed the mighty Archon [here female] away from him into bonds. And Adam examined himself and discovered who he was. Jesus showed him the Fathers on high and his own Self 36 cast into all things, to the teeth of panthers and elephants,» — la escena que Jonas cita: Jesús el Luminoso despierta a Adán del sueño de la muerte, lo sacude, aparta al Demonio seductor y le muestra a los Padres de lo alto y su propio Sí mismo arrojado en todas las cosas; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el encabezado corrido

«devour, consumed by them that consume, eaten by the dogs, mingled and bound in all that is, imprisoned in the stench of darkness. He raised him up and made him eat of the tree of life. Then Adam cried and lamented: terribly he raised his voice like a roaring lion, tore [his dress], smote his breast, and spoke: "Woe, woe unto the shaper of my body, unto those who fettered my soul, and unto the rebels that enslaved me!» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: ese Sí mismo queda devorado, consumido, comido por los perros, mezclado y atado en todo lo que es, y Adán clama contra el que modeló su cuerpo y contra los rebeldes que lo esclavizaron

«Either Jesus' or Adam's, but more probably the first: see below, p. 228 ff., the doctrine of the Jesus patibilis.» — la abstención que Jonas declara en nota sobre de quién es ese Sí mismo arrojado: de Jesús o de Adán, aunque más probablemente lo primero, y remite a la doctrina del Jesus patibilis

«More primitively human is Adam's reaction in the Mandaean text G 430 f., whose beginning we quoted on p. 85. There, as we saw, the call of awakening coincides with the message of death, and the continuation shows the earthbound soul terrified at the prospect of having to depart and clinging desperately to the things of this world:» — la segunda reacción que Jonas registra, y que llama más primitivamente humana: en el texto mandeo la llamada coincide con el mensaje de muerte y el alma atada a la tierra se aterra ante la partida y se aferra a las cosas de este mundo

«When Adam heard this, he lamented his fate and wept. [He argues his indispensability in the world:] "Father! If I come with thee, who will be guardian in this wide Tibil? . . . Who will harness the oxen to the plow, and who will guide the seed into the soil? . . . Who will clothe the naked, . . . who settle the strife in the village?" [The messenger of Life:] "Have no regret, Adam, for this place in which thou dwelledst, for this place is desolate. . . . The works shall be wholly abandoned and shall not come together again. . . ." [Then Adam begs that his wife Eve, his sons and his daughters may accompany him on the way. The messenger informs him that in the house of Life there is no body nor kinship. Then he instructs him about the way:] "The way that we have to go is long and endless. . . . Overseers are installed there, and watchmen and toll-collectors sit beside it. ... The scales stand prepared, and of thousands they choose one soul that is good and enlightened." Thereupon Adam departed from his body [he turns back once more and regrets his body], then he began his journey through the ether. [Even here the dialogue continues; again Adam laments his body, once more he asks for Eve—although he has known that he "would have to depart alone, to settle his strife alone." Finally he is told:] "Calm thyself and be silent, Adam, and the peace of the good enfold thee. Thou goest and risest up to thy place, and thy wife Eve shall rise up after thee. Then all the generations shall come to an end and all creatures perish.» — el diálogo mandeo que Jonas cita: Adán alega su indispensabilidad —quién guardará el Tibil, quién uncirá los bueyes, quién vestirá a los desnudos—, pide que Eva y sus hijos lo acompañen, y el mensajero le responde que en la casa de la Vida no hay cuerpo ni parentesco y que el camino es largo y sin fin

«Thus the call to the individual is connected with the general eschatology of the return of all souls.» — el enlace que Jonas señala: la llamada al individuo queda ligada a la escatología general del retorno de todas las almas

«To the different meanings of the lamentation with which the awakened soul first responds to the call we must add its complaint about, even its accusation of, the Great Life itself, which is called to account for the unnatural condition just revealed to the soul.» — la tercera respuesta que Jonas añade: la queja y aun la acusación contra la Gran Vida misma, a la que se pide cuentas por la condición antinatural recién revelada al alma

«As Adam heard this, he lamented and wept over himself. He spoke to the Uthra of Life: "If you know that this is so, why have you carried me away from my place into captivity and cast me into the stinking body . . . ?" Thereupon he replied unto him: "Be silent, Adam, thou head of the whole tribe. The world which is to be we cannot suppress. Arise, arise, worship the Great [Life] and submit thyself, that the Life may be thy savior. The Life be thy savior, and do thou ascend and behold the place of light.» — el pasaje en que Adán pregunta por qué lo llevaron cautivo de su lugar y lo arrojaron al cuerpo hediondo, y el Uthra le responde que calle, que el mundo que ha de ser no se puede suprimir, y que se levante y adore a la Gran Vida

«Ultimately the soul calls the Great Life to account for the existence of the world as such and for its own exile there: that is, it asks the great "Why?" which, far from being appeased by the awakening and the reminder of its origin, is powerfully stirred up by them and becomes a main concern of the gnosis just initiated.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese reclamo: el alma pide cuentas por la existencia misma del mundo y por su exilio en él, y ese gran porqué, lejos de aplacarse con el despertar y el recuerdo del origen, queda avivado por ellos y se vuelve asunto central de la gnosis recién iniciada

«This query is even called "the lawsuit concerning the world" which Adam is to present directly to the First Life itself. "Do thou, Adam, ascend and present thy lawsuit to the Great First Life, thy lawsuit concerning the world in which thou dwellest. Say unto the Great Life: 'Why hast thou created this world, why hast thou •ordered the tribes there away out of thy midst, why hast thou cast strife into the Tibil? Why dost thou ask now for me and my whole tribe?'" (G 437)» — el nombre que Jonas recoge para esa pregunta: el pleito acerca del mundo, que Adán ha de presentar a la Primera Vida —por qué creaste este mundo, por qué ordenaste las tribus fuera de tu seno, por qué arrojaste la contienda al Tibil

«The answer to this type of question is the major object of the various gnostic speculations about the beginnings: some of its forms will be dealt with when we come to the treatment of the different systems.» — y el lugar que le asigna: responder a esa clase de pregunta es el objeto mayor de las diversas especulaciones gnósticas sobre los comienzos

«For the most part, however, the response to the call is not of this problematical kind but one of joyous and grateful acceptance. "The Gospel of Truth is joy for those who have received from the Father of Truth the grace of knowing Him» — la respuesta que Jonas dice predominante: no la problemática sino la de aceptación gozosa y agradecida, con las palabras que abren el Evangelio de la Verdad

«If a person has the Gnosis, he is a being from on high. If he is called, he hears, replies, and turns towards Him who calls him, in order to reascend to Him. And he knows what he is called. Having the Gnosis, he performs the will of Him who called him. He desires to do that which pleases Him, and he receives repose. [Each?] one's name comes to him. He who thus possesses the Gnosis, knows whence he came and whither he goes.87» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad sobre esa respuesta: quien tiene la gnosis es un ser de lo alto, y si es llamado oye, responde y se vuelve hacia el que llama para reascender a Él, y sabe de dónde vino y adónde va; el tramo se corta antes del folio impreso

«Joy to the man who has rediscovered himself and awakened! (GT 30:13 f.)» — y la aclamación: gozo para el hombre que se ha reencontrado a sí mismo y ha despertado

«We often meet in this context the sequence of "hearing" and "believing" so familiar from the New Testament: Adam heard and believed. . . . Adam received Truth. . . . Adam gazed upwards full of hope and ascended. . . . (J57)» — la secuencia que Jonas señala como familiar por el Nuevo Testamento, oír y creer, con el pasaje mandeo: Adán oyó y creyó, recibió la Verdad, miró hacia arriba lleno de esperanza y ascendió

«Here we have the triad faith, knowledge, and hope as response to the hearing of the call. Elsewhere love is mentioned in the same context: "Adam felt love for the Alien Man whose speech is alien and estranged from the world" (G 244). "For each one loves Truth, since Truth is the Mouth of the Father; His Tongue is the Holy Ghost . . ." (Gosp. of Truth, p. 26. 33-36). The Christian reader is of course familiar with St. Paul's triad of faith, hope, and charity (I Cor. 13:13), which, not without reason» — la tríada que Jonas extrae de ahí —fe, conocimiento y esperanza— y su contraste con la de Pablo, fe, esperanza y caridad; el lector cristiano la reconocerá

«which, not without reason and perhaps with intent, omits knowledge and extols love as the greatest of them all.» — y la lectura que Jonas hace de esa diferencia: no sin razón y quizá con intención, la tríada paulina omite el conocimiento y ensalza el amor como la mayor de las tres

«Mandaean poetry gives wonderful expression to the gratefully believing acceptance of the message and the ensuing conversion of the heart and renewal of life.» — el juicio con que Jonas cierra el capítulo: la poesía mandea expresa maravillosamente la aceptación agradecida y creyente del mensaje y la conversión del corazón y renovación de la vida que la siguen

«From the day when we beheld thee, from the day when we heard thy word, our hearts were filled with peace. We believed in thee, Good One, we beheld thy light and shall not forget thee. All our days we shall not forget thee, not one hour let thee from our hearts.» — el primero de esos poemas: desde el día en que te vimos y oímos tu palabra, nuestros corazones se llenaron de paz, creímos en ti, vimos tu luz y no te olvidaremos

«An Uthra from the house of Life accompanied me. The Uthra who accompanied me from the house of the Great Life held a staff of living water in his hand. The staff which he held in his hand was full of leaves of excellent kind. He offered me of its leaves, and prayers and rituals sprang complete from it. Again he offered me of them, and my sick heart found healing and my alien soul found relief. A third time he offered me of them, and he turned upwards the eyes in my head so that I beheld my Father and knew him. I beheld my Father and knew him, and I addressed three requests to him. I asked him for mildness in which there is no rebellion. I asked him for a strong heart to bear both great and small. I asked him for smooth paths to ascend and behold the place of light.» — el segundo, con el báculo de agua viva cuyas hojas curan el corazón enfermo y alivian el alma ajena, y las tres peticiones al Padre: mansedumbre sin rebelión, un corazón fuerte para soportar lo grande y lo pequeño, y senderos llanos para ascender y ver el lugar de la luz

«From the day when I came to love the Life, from the day when my heart came to love the Truth, I no longer have trust in anything in the world. In father and mother I have no trust in the world. In brothers and sisters I have no trust in the world . . . In what is made and created I have no trust in the world. In the whole world and its works I have no trust in the world. After my soul alone I go searching about, which to me is worth generations and worlds.» — el tercero: desde el día en que amé la Vida y mi corazón amó la Verdad, ya no confío en nada del mundo, ni en padre y madre, ni en hermanos y hermanas, ni en lo hecho y creado, y solo busco mi alma, que vale para mí generaciones y mundos

«what are to me all the worlds? . . . I went and found Truth as she stands at the outer rim of the worlds» — el remate del poema mandeo que Jonas cita: qué me son todos los mundos, y fui y hallé la Verdad, que está en el borde exterior de los mundos

«Allegory, probably an invention of the philosophers, was widely used in Greek literature as a means of making the tales and figures of mythical lore conform to enlightened thought.» — según Jonas, la alegoría, probablemente invención de los filósofos, se usó mucho en la literatura griega para hacer que los relatos y figuras del mito se conformaran al pensamiento ilustrado

«By taking the concrete entities and episodes of classical myth as symbolic expressions of abstract ideas, such time-honored elements of tradition and popular belief could be so conceptualized that a general consensus of truth seemed to unite the most advanced intellectual insight with the wisdom of the past.» — el mecanismo que Jonas describe: tomar las entidades y episodios concretos del mito clásico por expresiones simbólicas de ideas abstractas, de modo que un consenso de verdad pareciera unir la intuición más avanzada con la sabiduría del pasado

«Thus Zeus became equated with the cosmic "reason" of the Stoics, and other Olympic gods with particular manifestations of the universal principle.» — el ejemplo que Jonas da: Zeus igualado a la razón cósmica de los estoicos y los otros olímpicos a manifestaciones particulares del principio universal

«Arbitrary as the method was, it could claim to elicit the true meaning of the ancient lore and in the conceptual translation to present it stripped of the symbolic cloak. At the same time it bestowed upon contemporary ideas the prestige of venerable antiquity.» — la doble ganancia que Jonas atribuye al método, por arbitrario que fuera: pretendía sacar el sentido verdadero de la doctrina antigua y a la vez daba a las ideas contemporáneas el prestigio de la antigüedad venerable

«Thus the tendency was a harmonizing one, and with all boldness of interpretation in the individual cases conservative, essentially respectful of tradition: one homogeneous heritage of knowledge about the highest things was seen to comprehend oldest and newest and to teach the same things under different forms.» — la tendencia que Jonas asigna a esa alegoría: armonizadora y, con toda su audacia en los casos particulares, conservadora y respetuosa de la tradición

«In consequence, the myth, however freely handled, was never contradicted nor were its own valuations controverted.» — y su límite: por libremente que se tratara, al mito nunca se lo contradecía ni se controvertían sus propias valoraciones

«In the first century A.D., that is, at the time when the gnostic movement was gathering momentum, Philo of Alexandria put allegory, hitherto chiefly an instrument for adapting myth to philosophy, into the service of religion itself in his effort to establish a congruency between his Jewish creed and his Platonizing philosophy. The system of scriptural allegory evolved in his school was bequeathed as a model to the early Fathers of the Church. Here again the purpose is that of integration and synthesis.» — el papel que Jonas asigna a Filón de Alejandría: puso la alegoría, hasta entonces instrumento para adaptar el mito a la filosofía, al servicio de la religión misma, y su escuela legó a los primeros Padres el sistema de alegoría escrituraria, también con fin de integración y síntesis

«It tries, not to demonstrate agreement, but to shock by blatantly subverting the meaning of the most firmly established, and preferably also the most revered, elements of tradition.» — y su propósito: no demostrar concordancia sino escandalizar subvirtiendo el sentido de los elementos más asentados y de preferencia más venerados de la tradición

«The rebellious tone of this type of allegory cannot be missed, and it therefore is one of the expressions of the revolutionary position which Gnosticism occupies in late classical culture.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese tono rebelde: es una de las expresiones de la posición revolucionaria que el gnosticismo ocupa en la cultura clásica tardía

«The first Archon (Ialdabaoth) brought Adam (created by the Archons) and placed him in paradise which he said to be a "delight" 38 for him: that is, he intended to deceive him. For their (the Archons') delight is bitter and their beauty is lawless. Their delight is deceit and their tree was hostility. Their fruit is poison against which there is no cure, and their promise is death to him. Yet their tree was planted as "tree of life": I shall disclose to you the mystery of their "life"—it is their Counterfeit Spirit,39 which originated from them so as to turn him away,40 so that he might not know his perfection. (55:18-56:17, Till)» — el pasaje del Apócrifo de Juan que Jonas cita sobre el jardín: el primer Arconte puso a Adán en el paraíso diciéndole que era un deleite, con intención de engañarlo, porque el deleite de los arcontes es amargo, su árbol era hostilidad, su fruto veneno sin cura y su promesa muerte

«Not as Moses said "He made him sleep," but he enshrouded his perception with a veil and made him heavy with unperceptiveness— as he said himself through the prophet (Is. 6:10): "I will make heavy» — el pasaje del Apócrifo de Juan sobre el sueño: no como dijo Moisés que lo hizo dormir, sino que le envolvió la percepción con un velo y lo hizo pesado de no percibir, según él mismo dijo por el profeta; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie y el encabezado corrido

«the ears of their hearts, that they may not understand and may not see.» — el remate de la cita profética tras el encabezado corrido: haré pesados los oídos de sus corazones, para que no entiendan ni vean

«For more than one reason, not the least of which was the mention of "knowledge," the biblical tale exerted a strong attraction upon the Gnostics.» — según Jonas, el relato bíblico ejerció fuerte atracción sobre los gnósticos por más de una razón, y no la menor la mención del conocimiento

«Since it is the serpent that persuades Adam and Eve to taste of the fruit of knowledge and thereby to disobey their Creator, it came in a whole group of systems to represent the "pneumatic" principle from beyond counteracting the designs of the Demiurge, and thus could become, as much a symbol of the powers of redemption as the biblical God had been degraded to a symbol of cosmic oppression.» — la inversión que Jonas describe: como es la serpiente quien persuade a Adán y Eva de probar el fruto del conocimiento y desobedecer a su Creador, en todo un grupo de sistemas pasó a representar el principio pneumático de más allá que contraría los designios del Demiurgo, mientras el Dios bíblico quedaba degradado a símbolo de la opresión cósmica

«Indeed, more than one gnostic sect derived its name from the cult of the serpent ("Ophites" from the Gk. ophis; "Naassenes" from the Heb. nahas—the group as a whole being termed "ophitic"); and this position of the serpent is based on a bold allegorizing of the biblical text.» — las etimologías que Jonas recoge: ofitas del griego ophis y naasenos del hebreo nahas, y esa posición de la serpiente se apoya en una alegorización audaz del texto bíblico

«This is the version found in the ophitic summary of Irenaeus (I. 30. 7): the transmundane Mother, Sophia-Prunikos, trying to counteract the demiurgic activity of her apostatical son Ialdabaoth, sends the serpent to "seduce Adam and Eve into breaking Ialdabaoth's command." The plan succeeds, both eat of the tree "of which God [i.e., the Demiurge] had forbidden them to eat. But when they had eaten, they knew the power from beyond and turned away from their creators.» — la versión ofita que Jonas toma de Ireneo: la Madre transmundana, Sofía-Prúnicos, manda a la serpiente a seducir a Adán y Eva para que quebranten el mandato de Ialdabaoth, y al comer conocieron el poder de más allá y se apartaron de sus creadores

«It is the first success of the transcendent principle against the principle of the world, which is vitally interested in preventing knowledge in man as the inner-worldly hostage of Light: the serpent's action marks the beginning of all gnosis on earth which thus by its very origin is stamped as opposed to the world and its God, and indeed as a form of rebellion.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese episodio: es el primer éxito del principio trascendente contra el principio del mundo, y la acción de la serpiente marca el comienzo de toda gnosis en la tierra, que por su origen queda marcada como opuesta al mundo y a su Dios, y aun como forma de rebelión

«The Peratae, sweepingly consistent, did not even shrink from regarding the historical Jesus as a particular incarnation of the "general serpent," i.e., the serpent from Paradise understood as a principle (see below).» — la consecuencia que Jonas atribuye a los peratas, consistentes hasta el final: tener al Jesús histórico por encarnación particular de la serpiente general, la del Paraíso entendida como principio

«Thus, with the merging of the figures just avoided, part of the serpent's function has passed over to Christ.» — y el saldo de esa evasiva: parte de la función de la serpiente ha pasado a Cristo

«The Valentinians, on the other hand, though not involving Jesus in the Paradise action itself, drew an allegorical parallel between him and the fruit from the tree: by being affixed to a "wood," 41 he "became a Fruit of the Knowledge of the Father, which did not, however, bring perdition upon those who ate it» — el paralelo valentiniano que Jonas trae: clavado a un madero, Jesús se volvió Fruto del Conocimiento del Padre que, sin embargo, no trajo perdición a quienes lo comieron

«Whether the denial simply contrasts the new to the old event (after the manner of St. Paul) or is meant to rectify the Genesis account itself must in this instance be left undecided.» — la abstención que Jonas declara ahí: si esa negación contrasta el hecho nuevo con el viejo, a la manera de san Pablo, o si rectifica el relato del Génesis, queda sin decidir en este caso

«But the latter is clearly the case elsewhere and very much the gnostic fashion (cf. the repeated, blunt "not as Moses said" in the Apocryphon of John).» — aunque sostiene que lo segundo es claramente el caso en otros lugares y muy a la moda gnóstica, como en el repetido y rotundo no como dijo Moisés del Apócrifo de Juan

«By Mani's time (third century) the gnostic interpretation of the Paradise story and Jesus' connection with it had become so firmly established that he could simply put Jesus in the place of the serpent with no mention of the latter:» — el estado que Jonas data en tiempos de Mani: la interpretación gnóstica del relato del Paraíso estaba tan asentada que pudo poner a Jesús en el lugar de la serpiente sin mencionarla

«What was once a conscious boldness of allegory had become itself an independent myth that could be used without a reference to (and perhaps even a memory of) the original model. The revolutionary genesis of the motif is probably forgotten at this stage.» — y la lectura que hace de ese paso: lo que fue audacia consciente de alegoría se volvió mito independiente, usable sin referencia y quizá sin memoria del modelo original

«This goes to show that, unlike the allegory of the Stoics or of syncretistic literature in general, gnostic allegory is itself the source of a new mythology: it is the revolutionary vehicle of its emergence in the face of an entrenched tradition, and since it aims at subverting the latter, the principle of this allegory must be paradox and not congruency.» — la tesis que de ahí saca: a diferencia de la alegoría estoica o sincretista, la gnóstica es ella misma fuente de una mitología nueva, vehículo revolucionario de su aparición, y su principio ha de ser la paradoja y no la congruencia

«This general Serpent is also the wise Word of Eve. This is the mystery of Eden: this is the river that flows out of Eden. This is also» — el pasaje de los peratas que Jonas toma de Hipólito: esa Serpiente general es la Palabra sabia de Eva, el misterio del Edén y el río que sale del Edén; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el encabezado corrido

«the mark that was set on Cain, whose sacrifice the god of this world did not accept whereas he accepted the bloody sacrifice of Abel: for the lord of this world delights in blood. This Serpent is he who appeared in the latter days in human form at the time of Herod.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: es también la marca puesta sobre Caín, cuyo sacrificio no aceptó el dios de este mundo mientras aceptaba el sangriento de Abel, porque el señor de este mundo se deleita en la sangre, y esa Serpiente apareció en forma humana en tiempos de Herodes

«The elevation of Cain, prototype of the outcast, condemned by God to be "a fugitive and a vagabond" on earth, to a pneumatic symbol and an honored position in the line leading to Christ is of course an intentional challenge to ingrained valuations.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de esa elevación de Caín, prototipo del proscrito condenado a ser fugitivo y vagabundo, a símbolo pneumático y a puesto de honor en la línea que lleva a Cristo: un desafío intencional a las valoraciones arraigadas

«This opting for the "other" side, for the traditionally infamous, is a heretical method, and much more serious than a merely sentimental siding with the underdog, let alone mere indulgence in speculative freedom.» — y su alcance: optar por el otro lado, por lo tradicionalmente infame, es un método herético y algo mucho más serio que un sentimental ponerse del lado del perdedor o un mero desahogo de libertad especulativa

«Perhaps we should speak in such cases, not of allegory at all, but of a form of polemics, that is, not of an exegesis of the original text, but of its tendentious rewriting.» — la propuesta terminológica que Jonas hace con reserva: quizá en tales casos no haya que hablar de alegoría sino de una forma de polémica, no de exégesis del texto original sino de su reescritura tendenciosa

«Indeed, the Gnostics in such cases hardly claimed to bring out the correct meaning of the original, if by "correct" is meant the meaning intended by its author—seeing that this author, directly or indirectly, was their great adversary, the benighted creator-god. Their unspoken claim was rather that the blind author had unwittingly embodied something of the truth in his partisan version of things, and that this truth can be brought out by turning the intended meaning upside down.» — el reclamo tácito que Jonas atribuye a los gnósticos: no el de dar con el sentido querido por el autor —que era su gran adversario, el dios creador ofuscado—, sino el de que ese autor ciego encarnó sin saberlo algo de la verdad en su versión partidista, verdad que se saca poniendo el sentido de cabeza

«In the construction of a complete series of such countertypes, stretching through the ages, a rebels' view of history as a whole is consciously opposed to the official one.» — el alcance histórico que Jonas asigna al procedimiento: al construir una serie completa de contratipos a lo largo de las edades, se opone conscientemente una visión rebelde de la historia entera a la oficial

«The siding with Cain extends consistently to all the "rejected" among Scriptural figures: the passage quoted above continues with a like elevation of Esau, who "did not receive the blind blessing but became rich outside without accepting anything from the blind one» — la extensión que Jonas registra: ponerse del lado de Caín se extiende a todos los rechazados de la Escritura, con Esaú, que no recibió la bendición del ciego y se hizo rico fuera, sin aceptar nada de él

«its most telling instances of a very different nature. Instead of taking over the value-system of the traditional myth, it proves the deeper "knowledge" by reversing the roles of good and evil, sublime and base, blest and accursed, found in the original.» — la diferencia que Jonas establece: en sus casos más elocuentes la alegoría gnóstica prueba el conocimiento más hondo invirtiendo los papeles de bien y mal, sublime y bajo, bendito y maldito que trae el original

«In the barbelo-gnostic (non-ophitic) Apocryphon of John this identification, made almost inevitable in the course of its argument, is only narrowly evaded by playing on the difference between the "tree of life" and the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil": of the latter Christ indeed causes man to eat» — la evasiva que Jonas describe en el Apócrifo de Juan barbeloíta: la identificación de Jesús con la serpiente se sortea a duras penas jugando con la diferencia entre el árbol de la vida y el del conocimiento del bien y del mal; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«against the Archon's commandment, while the serpent, acting for the other tree and identified with Ialdabaoth, is left in its traditional role of corrupter (this, none too convincingly, in reply to the disciple's startled question, "Christ, was it not the serpent who taught her?» — el remate en la plana siguiente: la serpiente, actuando por el otro árbol e identificada con Ialdabaoth, queda en su papel tradicional de corruptor, y eso en respuesta poco convincente a la pregunta sobresaltada del discípulo sobre si no fue la serpiente quien enseñó a Eva

«The third example is added mainly to show that we are dealing here with a general principle of gnostic allegory and not with a particular attitude toward the Old Testament alone.» — el motivo que Jonas declara para el tercer ejemplo: mostrar que se trata de un principio general de la alegoría gnóstica y no de una actitud particular hacia el Antiguo Testamento

«It is true that the blasphemous degrading of the Most High of former religion to a demonic power and the consequent revision of status of his friends and foes found its preferred material in the Jewish tradition: there alone the prestige of the sacred original, the gravity of its claims, the devotion of its believers, gave to the gnostic reversal that flavor of provocation and scandal which was an intended effect of the novel message.» — la razón que Jonas da de la preferencia por el material judío: solo ahí el prestigio del original sagrado, la gravedad de sus pretensiones y la devoción de sus creyentes daban a la inversión gnóstica el sabor de provocación y escándalo que el mensaje nuevo buscaba

«With the Olympians literary fancy could play much more freely without outrage to pious feelings. They were taken less seriously, even by their conventional believers, and on the whole the Gnostics ignored them:» — el contraste que Jonas traza con los olímpicos: la fantasía literaria podía jugar con ellos sin ultrajar sentimientos piadosos, se los tomaba menos en serio aun entre sus creyentes convencionales, y en conjunto los gnósticos los ignoraron

«yet the position of Zeus as the highest god of the pantheon was reverend enough to make his degradation a grave matter, and so he can occasionally be subjected to the same treatment as we saw accorded the biblical Lord of Creation.» — la excepción que Jonas registra: la posición de Zeus como dios supremo era bastante reverenciada como para que su degradación fuera cosa grave, y por eso se le aplica a veces el mismo tratamiento que al Señor bíblico de la creación

«The alchemist Zosimos in his treatise Omega (paras. 3 f., p. 229, lines 16 ff., Berthelot) divides mankind into those "under" and those "over" the heimarmene, and calls the latter "the tribe of the philosophers":42 these, he says, are "over the heimarmene in that they neither are gladdened by its happiness, for they master their pleasures, nor are cast down by its misfortunes . . . , nor do they even accept the fair gifts it offers." Of the others he says that they "follow in the procession of the heimarmene" and are "in every respect its acolytes.» — la partición que Jonas toma del alquimista Zósimo en su tratado Omega: los que están bajo la heimarmene y los que están sobre ella, a quienes llama la tribu de los filósofos, que ni se alegran con su felicidad ni se abaten con sus desgracias ni aceptan los dones que ofrece

«Philosopher" here means what in gnostic terminology is more normally called "pneumatic"; through this use it comes to be a term for the true alchemist, who has the mystical power to transform the base elements into noble ones: hence "the philosophers' stone.» — la nota en que Jonas explica ese término: filósofo significa ahí lo que la terminología gnóstica llama pneumático, y de ese uso viene el nombre del verdadero alquimista, con el poder místico de transformar los elementos bajos en nobles, y de ahí la piedra de los filósofos

«Then he continues with an allegory: for this reason Prometheus advises Epimetheus in Hesiod (Erga I. 86 f.) "'never to accept a gift from Olympian Zeus, but to send it.back': thus he teaches his brother through philosophy to refuse the gifts of Zeus, i.e. of the heimarmene.» — la alegoría que Jonas cita de Zósimo: Prometeo aconseja a Epimeteo en Hesíodo que nunca acepte un don de Zeus olímpico sino que lo devuelva, y así le enseña por la filosofía a rechazar los dones de Zeus, es decir de la heimarmene

«It is the identification of Zeus with the heimarmene that makes of the Hesiod quotation a gnostic» — la lectura que Jonas hace: identificar a Zeus con la heimarmene convierte la cita de Hesíodo en alegoría gnóstica; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie

«allegory. The identification implies the parallel one of Prometheus, his challenger and victim, with the type of the "spiritual" man whose loyalty is not to the god of this world but to the transcendent one beyond.» — el remate tras la nota: esa identificación implica la paralela de Prometeo, su desafiador y su víctima, con el tipo del hombre espiritual cuya lealtad no es al dios de este mundo sino al trascendente de más allá

«Thus in a paradoxical way the status of Zeus as the highest principle of the cosmos is taken over from tradition, but with reversed values: because the opponent of Prometheus is this cosmic ruler, the interpreter takes the rebel's side and makes the latter the embodiment of a principle superior to the whole universe.» — la paradoja que Jonas describe: el estatuto de Zeus como principio supremo del cosmos se toma de la tradición pero con los valores invertidos, y el intérprete se pone del lado del rebelde

«The victim of the older mythology becomes the bearer of the gospel in the new. Here again the allegory consciously shocks the piety of a whole religious culture powerfully entrenched in the Hellenistic environment.» — la fórmula con que lo resume: la víctima de la mitología vieja se vuelve portadora del evangelio en la nueva, y también aquí la alegoría escandaliza a conciencia la piedad de una cultura religiosa entera

«It must be noted that to identify the Jupiter summus exsuperantissimus of imperial religion with the heimarmene is not really to misjudge him, for the necessity of cosmic destiny was a legitimate aspect of his divine power.» — la precisión que Jonas añade: identificar al Júpiter summus exsuperantissimus de la religión imperial con la heimarmene no es propiamente juzgarlo mal, porque la necesidad del destino cósmico era un aspecto legítimo de su poder divino

«The point is that the gnostic revaluation of the cosmos as such (for which "heimarmene" had come to stand as the repulsive symbol) brought down along with it its highest divinity, and it is precisely his cosmic power which now makes Zeus an object of contempt.» — y el punto que sostiene: la revaluación gnóstica del cosmos arrastró consigo a su divinidad más alta, y es justamente su poder cósmico lo que vuelve a Zeus objeto de desprecio

«Manda d'Hayye. "Knowledge of life": the gnosis personified in the central divine savior-figure of Mandaean religion, called forth by the Life in the worlds of light and sent down into the lower world. The combination is used exclusively as a proper name.» — la entrada del glosario mandeo de Jonas para Manda d'Hayye: conocimiento de la vida, la gnosis personificada en la figura salvadora central de la religión mandea, llamada por la Vida en los mundos de luz y enviada abajo

«Ptahil. One of the Uthras; as the executor of the cosmogonic designs of a group of Uthras, most directly connected with the fashioning of this world: he is thus the Mandaean Demiurge. The name Ptah-il is that of the Egyptian artisan-god Ptah with the Semitic -il ("god") suffixed to it. That the name for the Demiurge was taken from the Egyptian pantheon is doubtless connected with the symbolic role of Egypt as the representative of the material world (see under "Suf» — la entrada de Ptahil: uno de los Uthras y ejecutor de los designios cosmogónicos, el demiurgo mandeo, cuyo nombre junta el del dios artesano egipcio Ptah con el sufijo semítico -il

«Suf-Sea. The Red Sea through which the children of Israel had to pass on the exodus from Egypt: in gnostic as well as in Alexandrian-Jewish speculation this was allegorically referred to the exodus of the soul from the body, or from the world, so that the Red Sea came to be a symbol for the dividing waters between this and the other world. By an easy vowel-transition from suf (reed) to sof (end) the Suf-Sea could be interpreted as "sea of the end," i.e., of death.» — la entrada del mar Suf: el mar Rojo del éxodo, referido alegóricamente en la especulación gnóstica y judeoalejandrina al éxodo del alma fuera del cuerpo o del mundo, y por transición vocálica de suf a sof interpretable como mar del fin, es decir de la muerte

«Uthra. Name for divine beings beneath the Great Mana and the First Life, comparable to the angels and archangels of Jewish and Christian lore. It has ousted the common Semitic mal'ach for angel used throughout the Old Testament: where the older term occurs in Mandaean writings it denotes genii of sorcery or evil spirits. The literal meaning of Uthra is "wealth," "abundance," denoting these beings as emanations from the divine fullness. They were generated (partly in orders of mediate descent) within the world of light, and in their entirety, with their respective sh'kinas, make up that world. Some of them, however, are fallible (see under "Firmly grounded").» — la entrada de Uthra: seres divinos bajo el gran Mana y la Primera Vida, comparables a ángeles y arcángeles, cuyo nombre significa riqueza o abundancia y los señala como emanaciones de la plenitud divina; algunos son falibles

«Gnostic speculation had its task set for it by the basic tenets of the gnostic view of things. This as we have seen comprised a certain conception of the world, of man's alienness within it, and of the transmundane nature of the godhead. These tenets as it were constituted the vision of reality as given here and now. But that which is, especially if it is of such a disturbing kind, must have had a history by which it has come to be as it is and which explains its "unnatural" condition. The task of speculation, then, is to account in a historical narrative for the present state of things, to derive it from first beginnings and thereby to explain its riddle—in other words, to lift the vision of reality into the light of gnosis.» — la tarea que Jonas asigna a la especulación gnóstica: dar cuenta en un relato histórico del estado presente de las cosas, derivarlo de los primeros comienzos y así explicar su enigma, es decir alzar la visión de la realidad a la luz de la gnosis

«Its symbolism is highly deliberate, and in the hands of the prominent system-builders becomes an instrument, wielded with great virtuosity, for the communication of sophisticated ideas.» — el juicio que Jonas emite sobre ese simbolismo: muy deliberado, y en manos de los grandes constructores de sistemas un instrumento manejado con virtuosismo para comunicar ideas sofisticadas

«The mythological character of these speculations must nevertheless not be underrated. The dramatic nature and the psychological significance of the truths to be conveyed called for this medium, in which personification is the legitimate form of expression.» — y la reserva que opone: no hay que subestimar el carácter mitológico de esas especulaciones, porque la índole dramática y el significado psicológico de las verdades por transmitir pedían ese medio, donde la personificación es la forma legítima de expresión

«The Fathers of the Church regarded Simon Magus as the father of all heresy. He was a contemporary of the apostles and a Samaritan, and Samaria was notoriously unruly in matters of religion and regarded with suspicion by the orthodox.» — según Jonas, los Padres tuvieron a Simón Mago por padre de toda herejía; era contemporáneo de los apóstoles y samaritano, y Samaria pasaba por díscola en materia de religión

«When the apostle Philip came there to preach the gospel, he found the movement of Simon in full swing, with Simon saying of himself, and the people concurring with him, that he was "the Power of God that is called the great" (Acts 8:10). This means that he preached not as an apostle but as himself a messiah.» — el pasaje de Hechos que Jonas lee así: Simón decía de sí, y el pueblo con él, que era el Poder de Dios llamado grande, lo que significa que predicaba no como apóstol sino como mesías él mismo

«The story of his subsequent conversion, though not necessarily that of his baptism, must be wrong (if indeed the Simon of the Acts and the heresiarch of the Fathers are one and the same person, which has been seriously doubted) as in none of the heresiological accounts of the Simonian teaching from the second and third centuries is there an indication that the position of Jesus was granted by the sect, except for his having been a precursory incarnation of Simon himself.» — la objeción que Jonas plantea, con su propia reserva sobre la identidad del personaje: el relato de la conversión posterior ha de ser erróneo, porque en ninguno de los informes heresiológicos de los siglos II y III se indica que la secta concediera a Jesús otro lugar que el de encarnación precursora de Simón

«By all accounts—even if we discount the story of the Acts as relating to a different person, and date the gnostic prophet of the same name one or two generations later—Simonianism was from the start and remained strictly a rival message of obviously independent origin; that is to say, Simon was not a dissident Christian, and if the Church Fathers cast him in the role of the arch-heretic, they implicitly admitted that Gnosticism was not an inner-Christian phenomenon.» — la conclusión que Jonas saca: el simonianismo fue desde el principio un mensaje rival de origen independiente, Simón no era un cristiano disidente, y al hacerlo archihereje los Padres admitieron implícitamente que el gnosticismo no era un fenómeno intracristiano

«On the other hand, the terms in which Simon is said to have spoken of himself are testified by the pagan writer Celsus to have been current with the pseudo-messiahs still swarming in Phoenicia and Palestine at his time about the middle of the second century.» — el testimonio pagano que Jonas alinea: Celso atestigua que los términos en que se dice que Simón hablaba de sí eran corrientes entre los pseudomesías que aún pululaban en Fenicia y Palestina a mediados del siglo II

«that Christ descended into hell solely to redeem Cain and Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Esau, and all nations which did not acknowledge the God of the Jews, while Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and» — la doctrina que Jonas atribuye a Marción: Cristo bajó al infierno solo para redimir a Caín, a Coré, Datán y Abirón, a Esaú y a todas las naciones que no reconocieron al Dios de los judíos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«so on, because they served the creator and his law and ignored the true God, were left down below» — el remate en la plana siguiente: Abel, Enoc, Noé, Abraham y los demás quedaron abajo por haber servido al creador y a su ley e ignorado al Dios verdadero

«The manner in which this task is performed is invariably mythological, but the resulting myth, apart from its general plan, is in many cases a work of free invention by individual authors» — y el medio que Jonas asigna a esa tarea: siempre mitológico, aunque el mito resultante es en muchos casos invención libre de autores individuales; el tramo se corta antes del folio impreso, en el cambio de plana

«I am God (or a son of God, or a divine Spirit). And I have come. Already the world is being destroyed. And you, O men, are to perish because of your iniquities. But I wish to save you. And you see me returning again with heavenly power. Blessed is he who has worshipped me now! But I will cast everlasting fire upon all the rest, both on cities and on country places. And men who fail to realize the penalties in store for them will in vain repent and groan. But I will preserve for ever those who have been convinced by me.» — el sermón típico de los pseudomesías que Jonas cita por Celso: soy Dios y he venido; el mundo ya se destruye y vosotros pereceréis por vuestras iniquidades, pero quiero salvaros; dichoso el que me ha adorado ahora

«Celsus continues: "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover; for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes." (Origen, Contra Celsum VII. 9, tr. Chadwick, pp. 402-3).» — la continuación de Celso que Jonas trae en nota: tras blandir esas amenazas añaden enunciados incomprensibles, incoherentes y oscurísimos, cuyo sentido ningún hombre inteligente podría descubrir

«A singular feature of Simon's terrestrial journey was that he took about with him a woman called Helena whom he said he had found in a brothel in Tyre and who according to him was the latest and lowliest incarnation of the fallen "Thought" of God, redeemed by him and a means of redemption for all who believed in them both.» — el rasgo que Jonas llama singular del viaje terrestre de Simón: llevaba consigo a una mujer llamada Helena, hallada según él en un burdel de Tiro, y la declaraba la encarnación última y más baja del Pensamiento caído de Dios

«The developed Simonian doctrine, whether it was his own work or that of his school, has been preserved by a number of later writers beginning with Justin Martyr (who himself grew up in the district of Samaria) and including Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Epiphanius. A source of great value is the writings entitled Recognitions and Homilies, purporting to be by Clement of Rome and therefore called the "Clementines" or "Pseudo-Clementines." We shall give here a synthesis of all these accounts, only occasionally indicating the particular source.» — las fuentes que Jonas enumera para la doctrina simoniana desarrollada: Justino Mártir, que creció en el distrito de Samaria, más Ireneo, Hipólito, Tertuliano y Epifanio, y las Recogniciones y Homilías pseudoclementinas

«There is one Power, divided into upper and lower, begetting itself, increasing itself, seeking itself, finding itself, being its own mother, its own father . . . , its own daughter, its own son . . . , One, root of the All.» — la fórmula simoniana que Jonas cita: hay un Poder, dividido en superior e inferior, que se engendra, se acrece, se busca y se halla a sí mismo, madre y padre de sí, hija e hijo de sí, Uno, raíz del Todo

«This One, unfolded, "is he who stands, stood and shall stand: he stands above in the unbegotten Power; he stood a Celsus continues: "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover; for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes." (Origen, Contra Celsum VII. 9, tr. Chadwick, pp. 402-3). 3 Simon is unjustly, and unnecessarily, robbed of an original and provocative trait if one tries with a recent author to explain the whore away as a slander or misunderstanding of the earliest Christian writers (G. Quispel, Gnosis als Weltreligion, p. 69). below in the stream of the waters [i.e., the world of matter], begotten in the image; he shall stand above with the blessed infinite Power when his image shall be perfected" (Hippol. Refut. VI. 17. 1-3).» — el desdoblamiento de ese Uno que Jonas cita de Hipólito: es el que está de pie, estuvo y estará; está arriba en el Poder no engendrado, estuvo abajo en la corriente de las aguas, engendrado a imagen, y estará arriba cuando su imagen sea perfeccionada

«It is characteristic of the following speculation that no original world of darkness or of matter is assumed to oppose the primal being, but that the dualism of existing reality is derived from an inner process within the one divinity itself. This is a distinctive feature of the Syrian and Alexandrian gnosis and its major difference from the Iranian type of gnostic speculation, which starts from a dualism of pre-existent principles.» — la característica que Jonas señala en esa especulación y la distinción de tipos que de ahí saca: no se supone un mundo original de tinieblas o de materia frente al ser primordial, sino que el dualismo se deriva de un proceso interno dentro de la divinidad única, rasgo distintivo de la gnosis siria y alejandrina y su diferencia mayor con el tipo iranio, que parte de un dualismo de principios preexistentes

«The one root is unfathomable Silence, pre-existent limitless power, existing in singleness. It bestirs itself and assumes a determinate aspect by turning into Thinking (Nous, i.e., Mind), from which comes forth the Thought (Epinoia) conceived in the singleness. Mind and Thought are no longer one but two: in his Thought the First "appeared to himself from himself and thereby became a Second.» — la deducción que Jonas resume de la Gran Exposición: la raíz única es Silencio insondable, poder ilimitado preexistente en unidad, que se mueve y toma aspecto determinado volviéndose Pensar, del que sale el Pensamiento concebido en la unidad, y en su Pensamiento el Primero se apareció a sí mismo desde sí y así se volvió un Segundo

«Thus through the act of reflection the indeterminate and only negatively describable power of the Root turns into a positive principle committed to the object of its thinking, even though that object is itself. It is still One in that it contains the Thought in itself, yet already divided and no longer in its original integrity.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese acto: por la reflexión el poder indeterminado de la Raíz, describible solo en negativo, se vuelve principio positivo comprometido con el objeto de su pensar, aunque ese objeto sea él mismo, y sigue siendo Uno y a la vez ya está dividido

«Now, the whole sequel, here and in other speculations of this type, depends on the fact that the Greek words epinoia and ennoia, like the more frequent sophia (wisdom) of other systems, are feminine, and the same is true of their Hebrew and Aramaic equivalents.» — el dato gramatical del que Jonas hace depender toda la secuela: epinoia y ennoia, como la sophia más frecuente de otros sistemas, son femeninos, y también lo son sus equivalentes hebreos y arameos

«The Thought begotten by the original One is in relation to it a female principle; and responding to her capacity to conceive the Mind (Nous) assumes the male role. His name becomes "Father" when his Thought calls him thus, that is, addresses him and appeals to him in his generative function.» — la consecuencia mitológica: el Pensamiento engendrado por el Uno original es respecto de él principio femenino, el Nous asume el papel masculino, y su nombre se vuelve Padre cuando su Pensamiento lo llama así

«The manifested Epinoia beholds the Father and hides him as the creative power within herself, and to that extent the original Power is drawn into the Thought, making an androgynous combination: the Power (or Mind) is the upper and the Epinoia the lower element. Though conjoined in a unity, they are at the same time ranged opposite each other, and in their duality make apparent the distance between.» — la combinación andrógina que Jonas describe: la Epinoia manifestada contempla al Padre y lo esconde dentro de sí como poder creador, de modo que el Poder es el elemento superior y la Epinoia el inferior, unidos y a la vez enfrentados, haciendo patente en su dualidad la distancia

«He 'thought' His own likeness when He saw it in the pure Light-water that surrounded Him. And His Thought [ennoia] be came efficacious and made herself manifest. Out of the splendor of the Light she stood herself before Him: this is the Power-before-the-All which became manifest; this is the perfect Forethought of the All, the Light that is the image of the Light, the likeness of the Invisible. . . . She is the first Ennoia, His likeness» — el paralelo del Apócrifo de Juan que Jonas trae en nota: pensó su propia semejanza al verla en el agua-luz pura que lo rodeaba, y su Pensamiento se hizo eficaz y se manifestó, primera Ennoia, semejanza suya

«From here on—turning now to the more authentic sources—the hypostatized and personified female figure of the Epinoia (or, alternatively, Ennoia), who has absorbed into herself the generative power of the Father, is the subject of the further divine history, which has been set in motion by the first act of reflection.» — el hilo que Jonas sigue desde ahí: la figura femenina hipostasiada de la Epinoia, que ha absorbido el poder generativo del Padre, es el sujeto de la historia divina puesta en marcha por el primer acto de reflexión

«This history is one of creation or a series of creations, and the specifically gnostic feature of the process is that it is one of progressive deterioration (alienation) in which the Epinoia, the bearer of the creative powers separated from their source, loses control over her own creations and more and more falls victim to their self-assertive forces.» — y el rasgo que Jonas llama específicamente gnóstico del proceso: es de deterioro progresivo, de alienación, en el que la Epinoia pierde el control de sus propias creaciones y cae víctima de sus fuerzas autoafirmativas

«the first Thought of His (the divine) mind, the universal mother through whom He in the beginning had it in mind to create angels and archangels.» — la presentación simple con que, según Jonas, los informes más viejos introducen a esa entidad femenina: el primer Pensamiento de su mente, la madre universal por la que Él pensó en el principio crear ángeles y arcángeles

«This Ennoia, springing forth from Him6 and perceiving her Father's intention, descended to the lower regions and, anticipating Him, generated angels and powers, by whom this world was then made. After she had brought them forth, she was detained by them out of envy because they did not want to be thought someone else's progeny. The Father was totally unknown to them: his Thought, however, was detained by those angels and powers who had emanated from her and was dragged down from the highest heavens into the cosmos. And she suffered all manner of abuse from them, that she might not return upward to her Father, and this went so far that she was even enclosed in human flesh and migrated for centuries as from vessel to vessel into different female bodies. And since all the Powers contended for her possession, strife and warfare raged among the nations wherever she appeared. Thus she was also that Helen about whom the Trojan war was fought, and in this manner Greeks and barbarians beheld a phantasm of the truth. Migrating from body to body, suffering abuse in each, she at last became a whore in a brothel, and this is the 'lost sheep.'» — el relato que Jonas cita: la Ennoia descendió a las regiones inferiores y generó ángeles y potencias que hicieron este mundo, y estos la detuvieron por envidia, la arrastraron desde los cielos más altos al cosmos, la encerraron en carne humana y la hicieron migrar de cuerpo en cuerpo; fue también aquella Helena por la que se peleó la guerra de Troya, y acabó de prostituta en un burdel, la oveja perdida

«A recollection of the myth describing the birth of Pallas Athena from the head of Zeus.» — el eco que Jonas anota en ese brotar de la Ennoia: el mito del nacimiento de Palas Atenea de la cabeza de Zeus

«For her sake God descended in the person of Simon; and a main point of the latter's gospel consisted precisely in declaring that the whore from Tyre traveling around with him was the fallen Ennoia of the highest God, i.e., of himself, and that world salvation was bound up with her redemption by him.» — el punto principal que Jonas asigna al evangelio de Simón: declarar que la prostituta de Tiro que viajaba con él era la Ennoia caída del Dios altísimo, es decir de sí mismo, y que la salvación del mundo iba atada a la redención de ella

«Therefore [he says] he came, first to raise up her and release her from her bonds, and then to bring salvation to all men through knowledge of him. For since the angels ruled the world evilly, because each of them coveted the mastery, he has come to set things right, and has descended, transforming and assimilating himself to the virtues and powers and angels, so that (eventually) among men he appeared as a man, though he was not one, and was thought to have suffered in Judaea, though he did not suffer.» — la misión que Simón se adjudica según el pasaje que Jonas cita: vino a levantarla y soltarla de sus ataduras y a traer salvación a todos por el conocimiento de él, transformándose y asimilándose a las virtudes, potencias y ángeles, hasta aparecer entre los hombres como hombre sin serlo y ser tenido por padeciente en Judea sin haber padecido

«The relation to Jesus is more specifically defined in Simon's statement that he, himself the highest power, appeared in Judaea as Son, in Samaria as Father and in other nations as Holy Spirit.» — la definición que Jonas recoge de la relación con Jesús: Simón, el poder supremo, apareció en Judea como Hijo, en Samaria como Padre y en otras naciones como Espíritu Santo

«The transformation of the savior in his descent through the spheres is a widespread motif in gnostic eschatology, and Simon himself according to Epiphanius describes it thus:» — el motivo que Jonas llama muy extendido en la escatología gnóstica: la transformación del salvador en su descenso por las esferas

«In every heaven I took on a different form, according to the form of the beings in each heaven, that I might remain concealed from the ruling angels and descend to the Ennoia, who is called also Prunikos8 and Holy Spirit, through whom I created the angels, who then created the world and man.» — la fórmula que Jonas toma de Epifanio: en cada cielo tomé una forma distinta, según la de los seres de ese cielo, para quedar oculto a los ángeles gobernantes y descender hasta la Ennoia, llamada también Prúnicos y Espíritu Santo

«We must here add to the account quoted from Irenaeus {et al.) that every "He" or "His" referring to the divine Father was "I" etc. in Simon's own words;» — la precisión que Jonas añade sobre la voz: cada Él o Suyo referido al Padre divino era Yo en las propias palabras de Simón; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie que el escaneo intercala

«The prophets uttered their prophecies inspired by the angels that made the world; wherefore those who placed their hope in himself and his Helena need no longer heed them and might freely do what they liked. For by his grace men were saved, not by righteous deeds. For works are not in their nature good [or bad], but by external dispensation: the angels who made the world decreed them as such, by precepts of this kind to bring men into servitude. Wherefore he promised that the world should be dissolved and that his own should be liberated from the dominion of those who made the world" (Iren. Adv. Haer. I.» — la doctrina simoniana que Jonas cita de Ireneo: los profetas profetizaron inspirados por los ángeles que hicieron el mundo, de modo que quienes ponen su esperanza en Simón y su Helena pueden hacer libremente lo que quieran; los hombres se salvan por su gracia y no por obras justas, porque las obras no son buenas por naturaleza sino por disposición externa de los ángeles, que las decretaron para someter a los hombres

«Simon's Helena was also called Selene (Moon), which suggests the mythological derivation of the figure from the ancient» — la derivación mitológica que Jonas propone: Helena se llamaba también Selene, luna, lo que sugiere que la figura viene de la antigua diosa lunar; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el encabezado corrido

«moon-goddess.9 The number of thirty disciples also mentioned in the Recognitions likewise suggests lunar origin.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: el número de treinta discípulos que mencionan las Recogniciones apunta igualmente a un origen lunar

«This feature as we shall see has persisted into the pleroma speculation of the Valentinians, where the Sophia and her consort are the last two of thirty Aeons.» — y su persistencia: según Jonas ese rasgo llega a la especulación valentiniana sobre el pleroma, donde Sofía y su consorte son los dos últimos de treinta Eones

«The basis for the transference of the lunar theme to the symbolism of salvation is the waning and waxing of the moon, which in the old nature mythology was sometimes represented as a rape and recovery.» — la base que Jonas asigna a esa transferencia: el menguar y crecer de la luna, representado a veces en la vieja mitología de la naturaleza como rapto y recobro

«In the gnostic spiritualization, "Moon" is merely the exoteric name of the figure: her true name is Epinoia, Ennoia, Sophia, and Holy Spirit. Her representation as a harlot is intended to show the depth to which the divine principle has sunk by becoming involved in the creation.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de la espiritualización gnóstica: Luna es solo el nombre exotérico de la figura, cuyo nombre verdadero es Epinoia, Ennoia, Sofía y Espíritu Santo, y su representación como ramera muestra la hondura a la que ha caído el principio divino al implicarse en la creación

«The disputations of the Pseudo-Clementines emphasize the anti-Judaistic aspect of Simon's teaching. According to this source he professes "a Power of the immeasurable and ineffable light, whose magnitude is to be held incomprehensible, which Power even the creator of the world does not know, nor the lawgiver Moses, nor your teacher Jesus» — el aspecto antijudaico que Jonas destaca en las pseudoclementinas: Simón profesa un Poder de la luz inmensurable e inefable, cuya magnitud ni el creador del mundo, ni el legislador Moisés, ni Jesús conocen

«In this polemical context he singles out the highest of the angels who created the world and divided it among themselves, and identifies this leader with the God of the Jews: out of the seventy-two nations of the earth the Jewish people fell by lot to him» — la identificación que Jonas registra en ese contexto polémico: el más alto de los ángeles que hicieron el mundo y se lo repartieron es el Dios de los judíos, a quien de las setenta y dos naciones le tocó en suerte el pueblo judío

«The fact that what is elsewhere told of the abduction of the Ennoia is here related of the plurality of the souls shows that the Ennoia is the general Soul which we have met e.g. in the Psalm of the Naassenes: her incarnation in the Tyrian Helena is thus an added trait peculiar to Simon.» — la inferencia que Jonas saca de esa variante: la Ennoia es el Alma general que ya se vio en el salmo de los naasenos, y su encarnación en la Helena de Tiro es un rasgo añadido, propio de Simón

«Regarding the character of the world-god, Simon—as Marcion did later with particular vehemence—proves his inferiority from his creation, and he determines his nature, in contrast to the "goodness" of the transcendent God, by the quality of "justice" interpreted in the vicious sense as was the fashion of the time.» — el argumento que Jonas atribuye a Simón, y después con más vehemencia a Marción: prueba la inferioridad del dios del mundo por su creación y determina su naturaleza, frente a la bondad del Dios trascendente, por la cualidad de justicia entendida en sentido vicioso

«We have seen already that the antinomianism resulting from this interpretation of the world-god and his law leads straight to libertinism, which we shall find in other gnostic sects as a fully fledged doctrine.» — la consecuencia que Jonas señala: el antinomianismo derivado de esa interpretación del dios del mundo y de su ley lleva derecho al libertinismo, que en otras sectas aparece como doctrina desarrollada

«Thou indeed as one stupefied continually as it were stoppest thine ears that they may not be polluted by blasphemy and takest to flight, finding nothing to reply; and the unthinking people assenting unto thee will yet approve thee as one teaching what is familiar to them: but me they will execrate, as one who professes novel and unheard-of things» — la réplica de Simón a Pedro que Jonas cita: tú, como estupefacto, te tapas los oídos para que no se contaminen y huyes sin hallar qué responder, y la gente irreflexiva te aprobará por enseñar lo que le es familiar, mientras a mí me execrarán por profesar cosas nuevas e inauditas

«This speech rings too true to have been invented by an opponent like the author of the Clementines: disputations of this kind must actually have taken place, if not between Simon and Peter themselves, then between their followers of the first or second generation, and subsequently ascribed to the original protagonists.» — el juicio de autenticidad que Jonas emite: ese discurso suena demasiado verdadero para haberlo inventado un adversario, y disputas así debieron ocurrir, si no entre Simón y Pedro, sí entre sus seguidores de la primera o segunda generación

«What then was the thing "novel and unheard-of"? In the last analysis, nothing else than the profession of a transcendent power beyond the creator of the world which at the same time can appear within the world even in the basest forms and if it knows itself can despise him. In brief, the unheard-of is the revolt against the world and its god in the name of an absolute spiritual freedom.» — la respuesta que Jonas da a su propia pregunta: lo nuevo e inaudito era la profesión de un poder trascendente más allá del creador del mundo que a la vez puede aparecer dentro del mundo en las formas más bajas y, si se conoce a sí mismo, despreciarlo; en breve, la revuelta contra el mundo y su dios en nombre de una libertad espiritual absoluta

«Simon traveled around as a prophet, miracle-worker, and magician, apparently with a great deal of showmanship. The extant sources, o£ course, being Christian, draw a none too sympathetic picture of his person and doings.» — la reserva de fuente que Jonas declara: las fuentes existentes son cristianas y pintan un cuadro poco simpático de la persona y los hechos de Simón, que andaba de profeta, taumaturgo y mago con mucha teatralidad

«According to at least one source, however, this was an attempted ascension meant as the end and consummation of his terrestrial mission and announced in these words: "Tomorrow I shall leave you impious and wicked ones and shall repair above to God whose power I am, even if become weak. Whereas ye have fallen, behold, I am He-who-stands. And I ascend to the Father and shall tell him: me too, thy Son the Standing, they wished to cause to fall, but I had no dealings with them but returned to myself» — la versión que Jonas contrapone en nota: al menos una fuente presenta ese vuelo como ascensión deliberada, fin y consumación de su misión terrestre, anunciada con las palabras mañana os dejaré, impíos y malvados, y subiré a Dios de quien soy el poder

«It is of interest, though in a context far removed from ours, that in Latin surroundings Simon used the cognomen Faustus ("the favoured one"): this in connection with his permanent cognomen "the Magician" and the fact that he was accompanied by a Helena whom he claimed to be the reborn Helen of Troy shows clearly that we have here one of the sources of the Faust legend of the early Renaissance. Surely few admirers of Marlowe's and Goethe's plays have an inkling that thdr hero is the descendant of a gnostic sectary, and that the beautiful Helen called up by his art was once the fallen Thought of God through whose raising mankind was to be saved.» — la filiación que Jonas propone: el cognomen latino Faustus, el apodo permanente de Mago y la compañía de una Helena que decía ser la Helena de Troya renacida muestran que ahí está una de las fuentes de la leyenda de Fausto del primer Renacimiento

«In the Simonian doctrine we have introduced a specimen of what we shall call the Syrian-Egyptian gnosis. We follow this with an introductory example of the other main type of gnostic speculation, which for reasons to be explained later we shall call the Iranian one.» — la partición de tipos que Jonas declara: la doctrina simoniana es un espécimen de lo que llamará gnosis sirio-egipcia, y ahora presenta el otro tipo principal, que llamará iranio

«Strictly speaking, the text chosen for a first representation of this type is not a systematic but a poetic composition, which clothes the central part of the Iranian doctrine in the garment of a fable apparently dealing with human actors, and in concentrating upon the eschatological part of the divine drama omits its first, cosmogonic part.» — la salvedad que Jonas hace sobre el texto elegido: no es una composición sistemática sino poética, que viste la parte central de la doctrina irania con una fábula de actores aparentemente humanos y omite la parte cosmogónica al concentrarse en la escatológica

«It is nevertheless in its vividness and subtle naivete' such an immediately captivating document of gnostic feeling and thought alike that no better introduction to the whole type could be provided.» — y la razón de elegirlo pese a eso: por su viveza y su ingenuidad sutil es un documento tan cautivador del sentir y el pensar gnósticos que no cabe mejor introducción al tipo entero

«The so-called "Hymn of the Pearl" is found in the apocryphal Acts of the Apostle Thomas, a gnostic composition preserved with orthodox reworkings that are relatively slight: the text of the Hymn itself is entirely free of these.» — la sede del poema según Jonas: los apócrifos Hechos del apóstol Tomás, composición gnóstica conservada con retoques ortodoxos relativamente leves, de los que el texto del Himno está enteramente libre

«Hymn of the Pearl" is a title given to it by modern translators: in the Acts themselves it is headed "Song of the Apostle Judas Thomas in the land of the Indians.» — la precisión de título que Jonas hace: Himno de la Perla es rótulo de traductores modernos, y en los Hechos la pieza se encabeza Canto del apóstol Judas Tomás en la tierra de los indios

«In view of the didactic intention and narrative form of the poem, "hymn" is perhaps not exactly appropriate.» — y la reserva que añade: dada la intención didáctica y la forma narrativa, himno quizá no sea el término exacto

«It is with the rest of the Acts extant in a Syriac and a Greek version, the Syriac being the original one (or an immediate descendant of the original, which was doubtlessly Syriac). In our rendering, based mainly on the Syriac text, we shall disregard the metrical divisions and treat the text as a prose narrative.» — la declaración de texto base y de método de Jonas: la versión siríaca es la original o descendiente inmediata de ella, y su versión se basa sobre todo en el siríaco, desatendiendo las divisiones métricas y tratando el texto como prosa narrativa

«When I was a little child and dwelt in the kingdom of my Father's house and delighted in the wealth and splendor of those who raised me, my parents sent me forth from the East, our homeland, with provisions for the journey.2 From the riches of our treasure-house they tied me a burden: great it was, yet light, so that I might carry it alone. . . .8 They took off from me the robe of glory which in their love they had made for me, and my purple mantle that was woven to conform exactly to my figure,4 and made a covenant with me, and wrote it in my heart that I might not forget it: "When thou goest down into Egypt and bringest the One Pearl which lies in the middle of the sea which is encircled by the snorting serpent, thou shalt put on again thy robe of glory and thy mantle over it and with thy brother our next in rank be heir in our kingdom.» — el comienzo del Himno de la Perla en la versión de Jonas: los padres envían al niño desde el Oriente con provisiones, le quitan la vestidura de gloria y el manto de púrpura y pactan con él que al traer de Egipto la Perla única, que yace en medio del mar ceñido por la serpiente que resopla, recobrará la vestidura y será heredero del reino

«We have met this symbol already in the Mandaean literature (see above p. 79), where differently from here the provision is intended for the return of the souls, but for this purpose also brought down by the alien man in his own journey: it is the transmundane spiritual instruction, the gnosis, which he communicates to the faithful.» — la nota en que Jonas identifica ese símbolo: la provisión del viaje es la instrucción espiritual transmundana, la gnosis, aunque en la literatura mandea sirve para el retorno de las almas

«The burden as described in the ommitted lines consists of five precious substances, which clearly connects the "Prince" of this tale with the Primal Man of Manichaean speculation:» — la nota en que Jonas liga la fábula al maniqueísmo: la carga de las líneas omitidas consta de cinco sustancias preciosas, lo que conecta claramente al Príncipe del relato con el Hombre Primordial de la especulación maniquea; el escaneo imprime ommitted por omitted

«I left the East and took my way downwards, accompanied by two royal envoys, since the way was dangerous and hard and I was young for such a journey; I passed over the borders of Maishan, the gathering-place of the merchants of the East, and came into the land of Babel and entered within the walls of Sarbug. I went down into Egypt, and my companions parted from me. I went straightway to the serpent and settled down close by his inn until he should slumber and sleep so that I might take the Pearl from him. Since I was one and kept to myself, I was a stranger to my fellow-dwellers in the inn. Yet saw I there one of my race, a fair and well-favored youth, the son of kings» — la travesía que el poema narra según la versión de Jonas: dejó el Oriente acompañado de dos enviados reales, pasó Maishán, entró en la tierra de Babel y en los muros de Sarbug, bajó a Egipto, se apostó junto a la posada de la serpiente esperando que durmiera, y por guardarse para sí fue un extraño entre los huéspedes hasta ver a uno de su raza

«Sometimes, passing over the figure of the Ennoia, he simply states that this demiurge was originally sent out by the good God to create the world but established himself here as an independent deity, that is, gave himself out to be» — la variante que Jonas recoge: a veces, sin pasar por la Ennoia, se dice que el demiurgo fue enviado por el Dios bueno a crear el mundo y se estableció aquí como deidad independiente; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie y el cambio de plana

«the Most High and holds captive in his creation the souls which belong to the supreme God (loc. cit. 57).» — el remate en la plana siguiente: se dio por el Altísimo y retiene cautivas en su creación las almas que pertenecen al Dios supremo

«This idea is also found elsewhere in gnostic literature, e.g., in Basilides.» — la nota en que Jonas registra que esa idea del reparto de las naciones aparece también en otros lugares del gnosticismo, por ejemplo en Basílides

«Yet I clothed myself in their garments, lest they suspect me as one coming from without to take the Pearl and arouse the serpent against me. But through some cause they marked that I was not their countryman, and they ingratiated themselves with me, and mixed me [drink] with their cunning, and gave me to taste of their meat; and I forgot that I was a king's son and served their king. I forgot the Pearl for which my parents had sent me. Through the heaviness of their nourishment I sank into deep slumber.» — la caída del Príncipe en la versión de Jonas: se vistió con los ropajes egipcios para que no lo tomaran por venido de fuera, pero notaron que no era compatriota, se congraciaron con él, le mezclaron bebida con astucia y le dieron a probar su vianda, y olvidó que era hijo de rey y sirvió a su rey

«All this that befell me, my parents marked, and they were grieved for me. It was proclaimed in our kingdom that all should come to our gates. And the kings and grandees of Parthia and all the nobles of the East wove a plan that I must not be left in Egypt. And they wrote a letter to me, and each of the great ones signed it with his name.» — el paso siguiente: los padres advirtieron lo ocurrido, se proclamó en el reino que todos vinieran a las puertas, y los reyes y grandes de Partia y todos los nobles del Oriente tramaron que no quedara en Egipto, y le escribieron una carta que cada uno firmó con su nombre

«From thy father the King of Kings, and from thy mother, mistress of the East, and from thy brother, our next in rank, unto thee, our son in Egypt, greeting. Awake and rise up out of thy sleep, and perceive the words of our letter. Remember that thou art a king's son: behold whom thou hast served in bondage. Be mindful of the Pearl, for whose sake thou hast departed into Egypt. Remember thy robe of glory, recall thy splendid mantle, that thou mayest put them on and deck thyself with them and thy name be read in the book of the heroes and thou become with thy brother, our deputy, heir in our kingdom.» — la carta que Jonas cita entera: del Rey de Reyes tu padre, de tu madre señora del Oriente y de tu hermano nuestro segundo, a ti, hijo nuestro en Egipto: despierta y levántate de tu sueño, recuerda que eres hijo de rey, mira a quién has servido en servidumbre y acuérdate de la Perla y de tu vestidura de gloria

«Like a messenger was the letter that the King had sealed with his right hand against the evil ones, the children of Babel and the rebellious demons of Sarbug. It rose up in the form of an eagle, the king of all winged fowl, and flew until it alighted beside me and became wholly speech. At its voice and sound I awoke and arose from my sleep, took it up, kissed it, broke its seal, and read. Just as was written on my heart were the words of my letter to read.» — la carta hecha mensajero: sellada por el Rey contra los malvados, hijos de Babel y demonios rebeldes de Sarbug, se alzó en forma de águila, voló hasta posarse junto a él y se hizo toda habla, y a su voz despertó, la besó, rompió el sello y leyó lo que ya estaba escrito en su corazón

«I remembered that I was a son of kings, and that my freeborn soul desired its own kind. I remembered the Pearl for which I had been sent down to Egypt, and I began» — el desenlace de la aventura: recordó ser hijo de reyes, que su alma nacida libre deseaba su propia especie y la Perla por la que lo habían enviado a Egipto; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido y el folio impreso

«to enchant the terrible and snorting serpent. I charmed it to sleep by naming over it my Father's name, the name of our next in rank, and that of my mother, the queen of the East. I seized the Pearl, and turned to repair home to my Father. Their filthy and impure garment I put off, and left it behind in their land, and directed my way that I might come to the light of our homeland, the East.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: encantó a la serpiente terrible durmiéndola con el nombre de su Padre, tomó la Perla, dejó la vestidura sucia e impura y se encaminó a la luz de su patria, el Oriente

«My letter which had awakened me I found before me on my way; and as it had awakened me with its voice, so it guided me with its light that shone before me, and with its voice it encouraged my fear, and with its love it drew me on.» — la doble función de la carta en el regreso según la versión de Jonas: como lo había despertado con su voz, lo guio con su luz, alentó su miedo con su voz y lo atrajo con su amor

«As I now beheld the robe, it seemed to me suddenly to become a mirror-image of myself: myself entire I saw in it, and it entire I saw in myself, that we were two in separateness, and yet again one in the sameness of our forms.» — la escena del reencuentro con la vestidura: al verla le pareció de pronto una imagen especular de sí mismo, se vio entero en ella y la vio entera en sí, dos en la separación y a la vez uno en la mismidad de sus formas

«And the image of the King of kings was depicted all over it. . . . I saw also quiver all over it the movements of the gnosis. I saw that it was about to speak, and perceived the sound of its songs which it murmured on its way down: "I am that acted in the acts of him for whom I was brought up in my Father's house, and I perceived in myself how my stature grew in accordance with his labors.» — la vestidura que habla: llevaba pintada por todas partes la imagen del Rey de reyes, temblaban en ella los movimientos de la gnosis, y murmuraba que ella actuó en los actos de aquel para quien fue criada en la casa del Padre y creció conforme a sus trabajos

«And with its regal movements it pours itself wholly out to me, and from the hands of its bringers hastens that I may take it; and me too my love urged on to run towards it and to receive it. And I stretched towards it and took it and decked myself with the beauty of its colors. And I cast the royal mantle about my entire self. Clothed therein, I ascended to the gate of salutation and adoration. I bowed my head and adored the splendor of» — el cierre del poema: la vestidura se derrama entera hacia él y el amor lo empuja a correr hacia ella, se adorna con la hermosura de sus colores, se echa encima el manto regio y asciende a la puerta del saludo y la adoración

«The immediate charm of this tale is such that it affects the reader prior to all analysis of meaning. The mystery of its message speaks with its own force, which almost seems to dispense with the need for detailed interpretation.» — el juicio con que Jonas abre el comentario: el encanto inmediato del relato afecta al lector antes de todo análisis, y el misterio de su mensaje habla con fuerza propia que casi parece dispensar de la interpretación detallada

«Perhaps nowhere else is the basic gnostic experience expressed in terms more moving and more simple.» — y la valoración que hace: quizá en ningún otro lugar se expresa la experiencia gnóstica básica en términos más conmovedores y más simples

«Yet the tale is a symbolic one as a whole and employs symbols as its parts, and both the total symbolism and its component elements have to be explained. We shall begin with the latter.» — aun así declara la tarea: el relato es simbólico como un todo y usa símbolos como partes, y hay que explicar tanto el simbolismo total como sus elementos

«The serpent we meet here for the second time in the gnostic world of images (see above, p. 93 f.); but differently from its meaning in the Ophitic sects, where it is a pneumatic symbol, it is here, in the form of the earth-encircling dragon of the original chaos, the ruler or evil principle of this world.» — la distinción que Jonas traza: la serpiente aparece aquí por segunda vez en el mundo de imágenes gnóstico, pero a diferencia de las sectas ofitas, donde es símbolo pneumático, aquí es el dragón del caos original que ciñe la tierra, gobernante o principio malo de este mundo

«The outer darkness is a huge dragon whose tail is in its mouth» — la frase de la Pistis Sophia que Jonas cita: la tiniebla exterior es un dragón enorme cuya cola está en su boca

«I am the offspring of the serpent-nature and a corrupter's son. I am a son of him who . . . sits on the throne and has dominion over the creation beneath the heavens, . . . who encircles the sphere, . . . who is outside (around) the ocean, whose tail lies in his mouth. (para. 32)» — la caracterización que Jonas toma de los propios Hechos, en boca de uno de los hijos del dragón: soy engendro de la naturaleza serpentina e hijo de un corruptor, hijo del que se sienta en el trono y domina la creación bajo los cielos, ciñe la esfera y está fuera del océano, con la cola en la boca

«Origen in his work Contra Celsum (VI. 25. 35) describes the so-called "diagram of the Ophites," where the seven circles of the Archons are placed within a larger circle which is called the Leviathan, the great dragon (not identical, of course, with the "serpent" of the system), and also the psyche (here "world-soul» — el paralelo que Jonas trae de Orígenes: en el llamado diagrama de los ofitas los siete círculos de los arcontes se sitúan dentro de un círculo mayor llamado Leviatán, el gran dragón, y también psique

«In the Mandaean system this Leviathan is called Ur and is the father of the Seven. The mythological archetype of this figure is the Babylonian Ti'amat, the chaos-monster slain by Marduk in the history of creation.» — las identificaciones que Jonas encadena: en el sistema mandeo ese Leviatán se llama Ur y es padre de los Siete, y el arquetipo mitológico de la figura es la Tiamat babilonia, el monstruo del caos que Marduk mata en la historia de la creación

«The closest gnostic parallel to our tale is to be found in the Jewish apocryphal Acts of Kyriakos and Julitta (see Reitzenstein, Das iranische Erlosungsmysterium, p. 77), where the prayer of Kyriakos relates, also in the first person, how the hero, sent out by his Mother into the foreign land, the "city of darkness," after long wandering and passing through the waters of the abyss meets the dragon, the "king of the worms of the earth, whose tail lies in his mouth. This is the serpent that led astray through passions the angels from on high; this is the serpent that led astray the first Adam and expelled him from Paradise. . . ." 7 There too a mystical letter saves him from the serpent and causes him to fulfill his mission.» — el paralelo más cercano que Jonas señala: los apócrifos Hechos de Ciriaco y Julita, donde el héroe enviado por su Madre a la ciudad de tinieblas encuentra al dragón, rey de los gusanos de la tierra, con la cola en la boca, y también una carta mística lo salva y le hace cumplir su misión

«Sea or waters is a standing gnostic symbol for the world of matter or of darkness into which the divine has sunk.» — el símbolo que Jonas fija: mar o aguas es en el gnosticismo símbolo estable del mundo de la materia o de las tinieblas en que lo divino se ha hundido

«Thus, the Naassenes interpreted Ps. 29: 3 and 10, about God's inhabiting the abyss and His voice ringing out over the waters, as follows: The many waters is the multifarious world of mortal generation into which the god Man has sunk and out of whose depth he cries up to the supreme God, the Primal Man, his unfallen original (Hippol. V. 8.15).» — la lectura naasena que Jonas recoge: las muchas aguas son el mundo multiforme de la generación mortal en que el dios Hombre se ha hundido y desde cuya hondura clama al Dios supremo, el Hombre Primordial, su original no caído

«The Peratae interpreted the Red Sea (Suf-Sea), which has to be passed on the way to or from Egypt, as the "water of corruption,'* and identified it with Kronos, i.e., "time," and with "becoming'* {ibid. 16. 5).» — la lectura perata que Jonas recoge: el mar Rojo que hay que pasar camino de Egipto o desde Egipto es el agua de la corrupción, identificada con Cronos, es decir el tiempo, y con el devenir

«In the Mandaean Left Ginza III we read: "I am a great Mana . . . who dwelt in the sea . . . until wings were formed for me and I raised my wings to the place of light.» — el pasaje mandeo del Ginza izquierdo que Jonas cita: soy un gran Mana que moró en el mar hasta que me nacieron alas y las alcé al lugar de la luz

«Egypt as a symbol for the material world is very common in Gnosticism (and beyond it). The biblical story of Israel's bondage and liberation lent itself admirably to spiritual interpretation of the type the Gnostics liked.» — según Jonas, Egipto como símbolo del mundo material es muy común en el gnosticismo, y la historia bíblica de la servidumbre y la liberación de Israel se prestaba de maravilla a la interpretación espiritual que gustaba a los gnósticos

«But the biblical story is not the only association which qualified Egypt for its allegorical role. From ancient times Egypt had been regarded as the home of the cult of the dead, and therefore the kingdom of Death; this and other features of Egyptian religion, such as its beast-headed gods and the great role of sorcery, inspired the Hebrews and later the Persians with a particular abhorrence and made them see in "Egypt" the embodiment of a demonic principle.» — la segunda razón que Jonas añade: Egipto pasaba desde antiguo por patria del culto de los muertos y por reino de la Muerte, y sus dioses con cabeza de bestia y el gran papel de la hechicería inspiraron a hebreos y persas una aversión particular

«The Gnostics then turned this evaluation into their use of Egypt as a symbol for "this world,'* that is, the world of matter, of ignorance, and of perverse religion: "A11 ignorant ones [i.e, those lacking gnosis] are 'Egyptians,'" states a Peratic dictum quoted by Hippolytus (V. 16. 5).» — el uso gnóstico que de ahí resulta según Jonas: Egipto como símbolo de este mundo, el de la materia, la ignorancia y la religión perversa, con el dicho perata de que todos los ignorantes son egipcios

«We noted before that generally the symbols for world can serve also as symbols for the body and vice versa; this is true also for the three just treated: "sea" and "dragon" occasionally denote the body in Mandaean writings, and regarding "Egypt" the Peratae, to whom it is otherwise "the world," also said that "the body is a little Egypt" (Hippol. V. 16. 5; similarly the Naassenes, ibid. 7. 41).» — la reversibilidad que Jonas recuerda: los símbolos del mundo sirven también para el cuerpo, de modo que mar y dragón designan a veces el cuerpo en los escritos mandeos y los peratas decían que el cuerpo es un pequeño Egipto

«That the stranger puts on the garments of the Egyptians belongs to the widespread symbolism of the "garment" which we met before (p. 56). The purpose stated here, that of remaining incognito to the Egyptians, connects that symbolism with a theme found throughout Gnosticism in numerous variations: the savior comes into the world unknown to its rulers, taking on by turns their various forms.» — el tema que Jonas identifica en el disfraz egipcio: el salvador entra en el mundo desconocido para sus gobernantes, tomando por turnos sus formas

«In fact this theme combines two different ideas, that of the ruse by which the Archons are outwitted, and that of the sacrificial necessity for the savior to "clothe himself in the affliction of the worlds" in order to exhaust the powers of the world, i.e., as part of the mechanism of salvation itself.» — las dos ideas que Jonas dice combinadas ahí: la astucia con que se burla a los arcontes y la necesidad sacrificial de que el salvador se vista de la aflicción de los mundos para agotar las potencias del mundo

«And if we look at our text closely, we realize that the King's Son has actually no choice but to put on the terrestrial garments, seeing that he has left his own in the upper realm.» — la observación que Jonas hace del texto: el Hijo del Rey no tiene otra opción que ponerse los ropajes terrestres, ya que dejó los suyos en el reino de arriba

«It is obvious also, and in spite of its paradoxicality part of the logic of the process itself, that the familiarity with the "Egyptians" made possible by this change of garments to some extent defeats the purpose of the messenger's protection by making him a partaker in their meat and drink.» — la paradoja que Jonas señala como parte de la lógica del proceso: la familiaridad con los egipcios que ese cambio de ropas hace posible frustra en cierta medida el propósito de protección del mensajero

«The Egyptians, though they do not recognize his origin or mission (in that case they would have aroused the dragon against him), perceive his difference from themselves and are anxious to make him one of them. They succeed precisely for the reason that his concealment succeeded: namely, his having a body.» — y su razón: los egipcios no reconocen su origen ni su misión, pero perciben su diferencia y quieren hacerlo uno de ellos, y lo logran justamente por aquello mismo en que su ocultamiento tuvo éxito, el tener cuerpo

«Thus the means of concealment from the cosmic powers becomes almost by necessity a cause of self-alienation which imperils the whole mission. This is part of the divine predicament: the necessary condition of the savior's success at the same time introduces the greatest threat of failure.» — la fórmula con que Jonas resume ese aprieto divino: el medio de ocultarse ante las potencias cósmicas se vuelve casi por necesidad causa de autoalienación que pone en peligro la misión entera, y la condición necesaria del éxito del salvador introduce a la vez la mayor amenaza de fracaso

«The "letter" in particular is the theme of the entire Ode XXIII from the apocryphal Odes of Solomon, of which we render here one stanza.» — la remisión que Jonas hace para el motivo de la carta: la Oda XXIII entera de las Odas de Salomón apócrifas

«His plan of salvation became like unto a letter, his will came down from on high and was dispatched like an arrow which is driven mightily from the bow. Many hands reached out for the letter to snatch it, to take it and read it; but it eluded their fingers. They were afraid of it and of the seal upon it,» — la estrofa de esa Oda que Jonas vierte: su plan de salvación se hizo como una carta, su voluntad bajó de lo alto y fue despachada como flecha disparada con fuerza del arco, y muchas manos se tendieron a arrebatarla pero se les escapó de los dedos

«sea." The fish symbolism of early Christianity must also be noted in this connection.» — y el último apunte, en la plana siguiente: hay que anotar también en esa conexión el simbolismo del pez del cristianismo primitivo

«We may note that the Mandaeans, reversing the direction, called the soul departing from the body "a well-sealed letter dispatched out of the world whose secret nobody knew . . . the soul flies and proceeds on its way» — la inversión mandea que Jonas anota: al alma que sale del cuerpo la llaman una carta bien sellada despachada fuera del mundo, cuyo secreto nadie conocía

«But more naturally the letter is the embodiment of the call going into the world and reaching the soul dormant here below, and this in the context of our narrative creates a curious contrapuntal play of meaning.» — el juego contrapuntístico que Jonas señala: lo natural es que la carta encarne la llamada que entra al mundo y alcanza al alma dormida, y en este relato eso crea una curiosa duplicación de sentidos

«The caller in gnostic symbolism is the messenger, and the called the sleeping soul. Here, however, the called sleeper is himself the messenger, the letter therefore a duplication of his role as he on his part duplicates that of the divine treasure he came to retrieve from the world.» — la duplicación que describe: aquí el durmiente llamado es él mismo el mensajero, de modo que la carta duplica su papel como él duplica el del tesoro divino que vino a rescatar

«If we add to this the duplication of the messenger's figure in his heavenly garment, his mirror-image with which he is reunited at the completion of his mission, we perceive some of the logic of that strain of eschatological symbolism which has been summarized in the expression, "the saved savior.» — y el remate: sumada la duplicación del mensajero en su vestidura celeste, con la que se reúne al cumplir su misión, se percibe la lógica de esa veta de simbolismo escatológico resumida en la expresión salvador salvado

«The manner in which the messenger overcomes the serpent and snatches the treasure from it is barely narrated in our text. It simply states that the serpent is put to sleep, that is, experiences what the messenger has experienced before.» — la parquedad del texto que Jonas registra: apenas se narra cómo el mensajero vence a la serpiente y le arrebata el tesoro, y solo se dice que la duerme, es decir que le pasa lo que antes le pasó a él

«What is here briefly attributed to a charm is in other sources explained by the fact that the Light is as much poison to the Darkness as the Darkness is to the Light.» — la explicación que Jonas trae de otras fuentes: la Luz es tanto veneno para la Tiniebla como la Tiniebla lo es para la Luz

«Thus in the Manichaean cosmogony the Primal Man, seeing his impending defeat in the encounter with the forces of Darkness, "gave himself and his five sons as food to the five sons of Darkness, as a man who has an enemy mixes a deadly poison in a cake and gives it to him" (according to Theodore bar Konai).» — la escena maniquea que Jonas cita por Teodoro bar Konai: viendo su derrota inminente, el Hombre Primordial se dio a sí y a sus cinco hijos como alimento a los cinco hijos de la Tiniebla, como quien mezcla veneno mortal en un pastel y se lo da a su enemigo

«Here the connection of the gnostic savior-motif with the old sun-myth of nature religion is obvious: the theme of the hero's allowing himself to be devoured by the monster and vanquishing it from within is extremely widespread in mythology all over the» — el enlace que Jonas propone: el motivo del héroe que se deja devorar por el monstruo y lo vence desde dentro, extendidísimo en la mitología, conecta el motivo gnóstico del salvador con el viejo mito solar de la religión de la naturaleza

«Its transposition from nature religion to the symbolism of salvation we witness in the Christian myth of Christ's harrowing hell, which properly belongs in a dualistic setting and is hardly genuinely Christian.» — y la transposición que señala: el mito cristiano del descenso de Cristo a los infiernos, que a su juicio pertenece propiamente a un marco dualista y difícilmente es genuinamente cristiano

«Hell beheld me and became weak: Death spewed me out and many with me: gall and poison was I to him: I descended with him to the uttermost depth of Hell: his feet and head became strengthless. . . . (Ode XLII, 11-13)» — la Oda de Salomón que Jonas cita para eso: el Infierno me vio y se debilitó, la Muerte me vomitó y a muchos conmigo, hiel y veneno fui para él

«The Mandaeans most literally preserved the original, non-spiritualized form of the myth. In their main treatise on the descent of the savior into the lower worlds, Hibil, the savior-god, thus describes his adventure: Karkum the great flesh-mountain said unto me: Go, or I shall devour thee. When he spake thus to me, I was in a casing of swords, sabres, lances, knives, and blades, and I said unto him: Devour me. Then . . . he swallowed me half-way: then he spewed me forth. . . . He spewed venom out of his mouth, for his bowels, his liver and his reins were cut to pieces. (G 157)» — la versión mandea que Jonas dice conservar la forma original y no espiritualizada del mito: Hibil entra en una funda de espadas, sables, lanzas, cuchillos y hojas y se deja tragar por Karkum, la gran montaña de carne, que lo vomita con las entrañas hechas pedazos

«The author of the Hymn was obviously not interested in such crudities.» — el juicio con que Jonas cierra: al autor del Himno no le interesaban esas crudezas

«The ascent starts with the discarding of the impure garments8 and is guided and spurred on by the letter, which is light and voice at the same time.» — el ascenso según Jonas: empieza con desechar los ropajes impuros y lo guía y espolea la carta, que es a la vez luz y voz

«I ascended up to the light as if on the chariot of Truth, the Truth guided and led me. She brought me over gulfs and abysses and bore me upward out of gorges and valleys. She became to me a harbor of salvation and laid me in the arms of life everlasting. (Ode XXXVIII, 1-3)» — la Oda de Salomón paralela que Jonas cita: ascendí a la luz como en el carro de la Verdad, y ella me guio y me llevó por golfos y abismos hasta ser puerto de salvación

«In the Mandaean Liturgies for the Dead we read the standard formula: "I go to meet my image and my image comes to meet me: it caresses and embraces me as if I were returning from captiv» — la fórmula estándar de las liturgias mandeas de difuntos que Jonas cita: voy al encuentro de mi imagen y mi imagen viene a mi encuentro, me acaricia y me abraza como si volviera del cautiverio

«The conception is derived from an Avesta9 doctrine according to which after the death of a believer "his own religious conscience in the form of a fair maiden" appears to his soul and replies to his question as to who she is, I am, O youth of good thoughts, good words, good deeds, good conscience, none other than thine own personal conscience.» — la filiación que Jonas propone: la concepción viene de una doctrina del Avesta según la cual, tras la muerte del creyente, su propia conciencia religiosa en forma de doncella hermosa se aparece a su alma y le dice que no es otra que su conciencia personal

«The doctrine was taken over by the Manichaeans: ct F 100 of the Turfan fragments, where it is said that the soul after death is met by the garment, the crown (and other emblems) and "the virgin like unto the soul of the truthful one.» — la recepción maniquea que Jonas registra: en los fragmentos de Turfán el alma es recibida tras la muerte por la vestidura, la corona y la virgen semejante al alma del veraz

«And in the Coptic-Manichaean genealogy of the gods we find among the divine emanations the "figure of light that comes to meet the dying," also called "the angel with the garment of light.» — y en la genealogía copto-maniquea, la figura de luz que viene al encuentro del moribundo, llamada también el ángel con la vestidura de luz

«In our narrative the garment has become this figure itself and acts like a person. It symbolizes the heavenly or eternal self of the person, his original idea, a kind of double or alter ego preserved in the upper world while he labors down below:» — la lectura que Jonas hace de la vestidura del Himno: se ha vuelto esa figura misma y actúa como persona, y simboliza el sí mismo celeste o eterno de la persona, su idea original, una especie de doble o alter ego preservado en el mundo de arriba

«It grows with his deeds and its form is perfected by his toils.10 Its fullness marks the fulfillment of his task and therefore his release from exile in the world.» — y su dinámica: crece con los hechos del hombre, su forma se perfecciona con sus fatigas, y su plenitud marca el cumplimiento de la tarea y por tanto su liberación del exilio

«Cf. the reverse of this idea in The Picture of Dorian Gray.» — el reverso de esa idea que Jonas anota: El retrato de Dorian Gray

«Thus the encounter with this divided-off aspect of himself, the recognition of it as his own image, and the reunion with it signify the real moment of his salvation.» — la conclusión que Jonas saca: el encuentro con ese aspecto separado de sí, reconocerlo como imagen propia y reunirse con él son el momento real de la salvación

«Applied to the messenger or savior as it is here and elsewhere, the conception leads to the interesting» — la consecuencia teológica que Jonas señala al aplicarlo al mensajero; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie, el encabezado corrido y los folios impresos

«theological idea of a twin brother or eternal original of the savior remaining in the upper world during his terrestrial mission.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: la idea de un hermano gemelo u original eterno del salvador que permanece en el mundo de arriba durante su misión terrestre

«For the interpretation of our text, these considerations strongly suggest that the Second ("next in rank") repeatedly mentioned as staying with his parents, and together with whom the King's Son is to be heir in his Father's house, is another such duplication, and in fact the same as the garment: he is actually nc longer mentioned where otherwise we should most expect him to be mentioned, namely, after the stranger's triumphant return. In the latter's reunion with his own garment, the figure of the brother seems to have been reabsorbed into a unity.» — la lectura que Jonas propone del Segundo del Himno, con su indicio textual: es otra duplicación así y de hecho lo mismo que la vestidura, y ya no se lo menciona donde más se lo esperaría, tras el regreso triunfal del extranjero

«In this concept we may discern what is perhaps the profoundest contribution of Persian religion to Gnosticism and to the history of religion in general.» — la deuda que Jonas adjudica: el concepto del Sí mismo es quizá la contribución más honda de la religión persa al gnosticismo y a la historia de las religiones

«The Avesta word is daena, for which the orientalist Bartholomae lists the following meanings: "1. religion, 2. inner essence, spiritual ego, individuality; often hardly translatable.» — el término y las acepciones que Jonas toma del orientalista Bartholomae: daena, religión, esencia interior, ego espiritual, individualidad, a menudo apenas traducible

«In the Manichaean fragments from Turfan, another Persian word is used, grev, which can be translated either by "self" or by "ego." It denotes the metaphysical person, the transcendent and true subject of salvation, which is not identical with the empirical soul.» — el otro término que Jonas registra: grev, que denota la persona metafísica, el sujeto trascendente y verdadero de la salvación, no idéntico al alma empírica

«In the Chinese Manichaean treatise translated by Pelliot, it is called "the luminous nature," "our original luminous nature,"" or "inner nature," which recalls St. Paul's "inner man"; Manichaean hymns call it/the "living self" or the "luminous self."» — las variantes que Jonas alinea: en el tratado maniqueo chino traducido por Pelliot, la naturaleza luminosa o naturaleza interior, que recuerda al hombre interior de san Pablo, y en los himnos maniqueos el sí mismo viviente o luminoso

«The Mandaean "Mana" expresses the same idea and makes particularly clear the identity between this inner principle and the highest godhead; for "Mana" is the name for the transmundane Power of Light, the first deity, and at the same time that for the transcendent,» — la identidad que Jonas destaca en el Mana mandeo: es a la vez el nombre del Poder de Luz transmundano, la primera deidad, y el del centro trascendente del ego individual

«The same identity is expressed in the Naassene use of the name "Man" or "Adam" for the highest God and for his sunken counterpart.» — el paralelo naaseno: el uso del nombre Hombre o Adán para el Dios supremo y para su contraparte hundida

«It is remarkable that Paul, writing in Greek and certainly not ignorant of Greek terminological traditions, never uses in this connection the term "psyche," which since the Orphics and Plato had denoted the divine principle in us. On the contrary, he opposes, as did the Greek-writing Gnostics after him, "soul" and "spirit," and "psychic man"13 and "pneumatic man."» — el dato terminológico que Jonas llama notable: Pablo, que escribe en griego y no ignora la tradición terminológica, nunca usa psyche en esa conexión, y opone alma y espíritu, hombre psíquico y hombre pneumático

«Obviously the Greek meaning of psyche, with all its dignity, did not suffice to express the new conception of a principle transcending all natural and cosmic associations that adhered to the Greek concept.» — la explicación que Jonas propone: el sentido griego de psyche, con toda su dignidad, no bastaba para expresar un principio que trasciende las asociaciones naturales y cósmicas adheridas al concepto griego

«The term pneuma serves in Greek Gnosticism generally as the equivalent of the expressions for the spiritual "self," for which Greek, unlike some oriental languages, lacked an indigenous word.» — y el suplente que ocupó ese lugar: pneuma sirve en el gnosticismo griego como equivalente de las expresiones para el sí mismo espiritual, palabra que al griego, a diferencia de algunas lenguas orientales, le faltaba

«It is no exaggeration to say that the discovery of this transcendent inner principle in man and the supreme concern about its destiny is the very center of gnostic religion.» — la tesis con que Jonas cierra el punto: no es exageración decir que el descubrimiento de ese principio interior trascendente en el hombre y la preocupación suprema por su destino son el centro mismo de la religión gnóstica

«In the glossary of gnostic symbolism, "pearl" is one of the standing metaphors for the "soul" in the supranatural sense.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna al símbolo: en el glosario del simbolismo gnóstico, perla es una de las metáforas usuales del alma en sentido supranatural

«Yet it is more of a secret name than the more direct terms of that enumeration; and it also stands in a category by itself by singling out one particular aspect, or metaphysical condition, of that transcendent principle. Whereas almost all the other expressions can apply equally to divinity unimpaired and to its sunken part, the "pearl" denotes specifically the latter in the fate that has overtaken it.» — y su especificidad: es más nombre secreto que los términos directos y singulariza un aspecto o condición metafísica, porque mientras casi todas las otras expresiones valen igual para la divinidad intacta y para su parte hundida, la perla designa específicamente esta última en la suerte que le ha caído

«The "pearl" is essentially the "lost" pearl, and has to be retrieved. The fact of the pearl's being enclosed in an animal shell and hidden in the deep may have been among the associations that originally suggested the image.» — la fórmula y la conjetura de Jonas: la perla es esencialmente la perla perdida y hay que rescatarla, y estar encerrada en una concha animal y escondida en lo hondo pudo estar entre las asociaciones que sugirieron la imagen

«The Naassenes, interpreting in their own way Matt. 7:6, called "understandings and intelligences and men" (i.e., the "living" elements in the physical cosmos) "the pearls of that Formless One cast into the formation [i.e., the body]" (Hippol. Re jut. V. 8. 32).» — la lectura naasena que Jonas recoge: entendimientos, inteligencias y hombres son las perlas de aquel Sin Forma arrojadas a la formación, es decir al cuerpo

«When the soul is addressed as "pearl" (as happens in a Turf an text), it is to remind it of its origin, but also to emphasize its preciousness to the celestial ones who seek for it, and also to contrast its worth to the worthlessness of its present surroundings, its luster to the darkness in which it is immersed.» — los tres efectos que Jonas asigna a llamar perla al alma: recordarle su origen, subrayar cuánto vale para los celestes que la buscan, y contrastar su valor con lo que la rodea y su lustre con la tiniebla en que está sumergida

«And for thy sake the gods went forth and appeared and destroyed Death and killed Darkness. . . . And I have come, who shall deliver from evil. . . . And I shall open before thee the gate in every heaven . . . and show thee the Father, the King for ever; and lead thee before him in a pure garment.» — el mensaje de salvación que Jonas cita de ese texto de Turfán: por tu causa salieron los dioses y destruyeron la Muerte y mataron la Tiniebla, y he venido yo, que te libraré del mal, y te abriré la puerta en cada cielo y te mostraré al Padre

«In our narrative, however, the guidance of the letter ceases at what we must call the climax of the ascent, the encounter of the returning» — la salvedad que Jonas hace: en este relato la guía de la carta cesa en lo que hay que llamar el clímax del ascenso, el encuentro del hijo que vuelve; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«son with his garment. This fascinating symbol requires special comment.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: ese encuentro con la vestidura, símbolo fascinante que pide comentario aparte

«In the New Testament, especially in St. Paul, this transcendent principle in the human soul is called the "spirit" (pneuma), "the spirit in us," "the inner man," eschatologically also called "the new man."» — los nombres que Jonas registra en el Nuevo Testamento y sobre todo en Pablo para ese principio trascendente del alma humana: espíritu, pneuma, el espíritu en nosotros, el hombre interior y, escatológicamente, el hombre nuevo

«Now, if this is the message addressed to the Pearl, the reader, who remembers the story from the Acts of Thomas, must be struck by the fact that this is also the message addressed to him who went forth to recover the Pearl: he too is assured that the "gods," the great ones in his Father's kingdom, care about his deliverance, he too is reminded of his kingly origin, and he too is guided upward by the "letter," that is, the Spirit or the Truth; finally he too is led before the Father in pure garments.» — el paralelismo que Jonas hace notar: ese mensaje dirigido a la Perla es también el dirigido a quien salió a recobrarla, con el mismo cuidado de los grandes del reino, el mismo recuerdo del origen regio, la misma guía por la carta y la misma comparecencia ante el Padre en vestiduras puras

«In other words, the fate of the messenger has drawn to itself all the characteristics which would aptly describe the fate of the Pearl, while in the Hymn the Pearl itself remains a mere object, and even as such entirely undescribed. So much is it here merely the symbol for a task on whose execution the messenger's own destiny depends that it is all but forgotten in the story of his return, and its handing over to the King is barely mentioned.» — el desequilibrio que Jonas señala en el poema: la suerte del mensajero se ha llevado todos los rasgos que describirían la de la Perla, mientras la Perla queda como mero objeto sin describir, casi olvidada en el relato del regreso

«Thus, if our poem is sometimes called "The Hymn of the Soul," its content seems to justify this designation in the figure of the Prince alone: whatever it has to tell about the soul's condition and destiny, it tells through his experiences.» — la lectura que de ahí saca: si al poema se lo llama a veces Himno del Alma, su contenido justifica ese nombre solo en la figura del Príncipe, porque cuanto tiene que decir de la condición y el destino del alma lo dice por las experiencias de él

«This has led some interpreters to believe that the Pearl stands here simply for the "self" or the "good life" of the envoy which he has to find on his terrestrial journey, this terrestrial journey being a trial to which he is subjected in order that he may prove himself: which means that he himself, and not the Pearl, represents the "soul" in general, and that the journey was really undertaken not for the Pearl's sake but for his own.» — la interpretación ajena que Jonas expone antes de discutirla: algunos entienden que la Perla es aquí el sí mismo o la vida buena del enviado, que ha de hallar en su viaje terrestre como prueba de sí, de modo que él y no la Perla representa al alma

«In this case the Pearl, the object of the quest, would have no independent status apart from the quest: it would be rather an expression for the latter, which may then be designated as "self-integration."» — y su consecuencia: la Perla no tendría estatuto independiente de la busca y sería más bien una expresión de esta, que podría llamarse autointegración

«Much as such an interpretation seems to be supported by the symbolism of the heavenly garment which grows with the traveler's deeds, etc., the allegorical meaning of the Pearl itself is too firmly established in gnostic myth15 to allow of its being dissolved into a» — la objeción que Jonas opone: por mucho que el simbolismo de la vestidura celeste parezca apoyar esa lectura, el sentido alegórico de la Perla está demasiado asentado en el mito gnóstico para disolverlo; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y sigue con mera función moral

«Cf., e.g., the extensive allegory of the "Holy Church" in the Manichaean Kephalaia (p. 204), which may be summarized thus: The raindrop falls from above into the sea and forms in the oyster-shell into a pearl; the divers descend into the depths of the sea to bring up this pearl; the divers give it to the merchants, and the merchants give it to the kings. The allegory then equates: the raindrop—with the spoil that was carried off in the beginning, i.e., the living Soul; the oyster-shell— with the flesh of mankind in which the Soul is gathered and laid up as pearl; the» — la alegoría maniquea de los Kephalaia que Jonas resume en nota: la gota de lluvia cae al mar y se hace perla en la concha, los buzos bajan a traerla, la dan a los mercaderes y los mercaderes a los reyes, y la gota se equipara con el botín arrebatado al principio, el Alma viviente, y la concha con la carne de la humanidad; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«divers—with the apostles; the merchants—with the enlighteners of the heavens (sun and moon as agents of salvation in the Manichaean myth); the kings and nobles— with the Aeons' of the Greatness.» — el remate de esa nota tras el encabezado corrido: los buzos se equiparan con los apóstoles, los mercaderes con los luminares del cielo, sol y luna como agentes de salvación en el mito maniqueo, y los reyes y nobles con los Eones de la Grandeza

«The Pearl is an entity in its own right; it fell into the power of Darkness prior to the sending out of the Prince, and for its sake he is ready to assume the burden of descent and exile, thereby inevitably reproducing some of the features of the "pearl's" own fate.» — la tesis que Jonas sostiene: la Perla es una entidad por derecho propio, cayó en poder de la Tiniebla antes del envío del Príncipe, y por ella él asume la carga del descenso y del exilio, reproduciendo inevitablemente algunos rasgos de la suerte de ella

«In fact, the interpreters' puzzle, the interchangeability of the subject and object of the mission, of savior and soul, of Prince and Pearl, is the key to the true meaning of the poem, and to gnostic eschatology in general.» — la clave que Jonas propone: el enigma mismo de los intérpretes —la intercambiabilidad de sujeto y objeto de la misión, de salvador y alma, de Príncipe y Perla— es la clave del sentido del poema y de la escatología gnóstica en general

«We can confidently take the King's Son to be the Savior, a definite divine figure, and not just the personification of the human soul in general.» — el grado de certeza con que Jonas adjudica: cabe tomar con confianza al Hijo del Rey por el Salvador, figura divina definida, y no por mera personificación del alma humana

«Yet this unique position does not prevent him from undergoing in his own person the full force of human destiny, even to the extent that he the savior himself has to be saved. Indeed, this is an irremissible condition of his saving function.» — y la reserva que añade: esa posición única no le impide padecer en persona toda la fuerza del destino humano, hasta el punto de que el salvador mismo tenga que ser salvado, condición irremisible de su función salvadora

«For the parts of divinity lost to the darkness can be reached only down there in the depth in which they are swallowed up; and the power which holds them, that of the world, can be overcome only from within. This means that the savior-god must assimilate himself to the forms of cosmic existence and thereby subject himself to its conditions.» — el argumento de esa necesidad: las partes de la divinidad perdidas en la tiniebla solo se alcanzan allá abajo donde están engullidas, y el poder que las retiene solo se vence desde dentro, de modo que el dios salvador ha de asimilarse a las formas de la existencia cósmica

«Rather, the idea is either that of a technical necessity imposed by the conditions of the mission, namely, the nature of the system, far from the divine realm, into which the messenger has to penetrate and whose laws he cannot cancel for himself, or that of a ruse by which the Archons are to be deceived.» — las dos ideas que Jonas propone en su lugar: una necesidad técnica impuesta por las condiciones de la misión, es decir por la naturaleza del sistema en que el mensajero ha de penetrar y cuyas leyes no puede cancelar para sí, o una astucia para engañar a los arcontes

«In the latter version the suffering or temporary succumbing of the savior may not be real at all but merely apparent and part of the deception.» — y la consecuencia de la segunda: el sufrimiento o el sucumbir temporal del salvador puede no ser real y ser solo aparente, parte del engaño

«This is the interpretation put by many Christian Gnostics upon the passion of Christ, the so-called Docetism.» — el nombre que Jonas da a esa lectura en nota: el docetismo con que muchos gnósticos cristianos interpretaron la pasión de Cristo

«This of course is not the case in our poem, where the stranger's predicament is quite real; yet even here his trials are an outcome of the inevitable dangers of his mission and not part of its very meaning.» — la salvedad que Jonas hace sobre el Himno: ahí el aprieto del extranjero es del todo real, y aun así sus pruebas son resultado de los peligros inevitables de la misión y no parte de su sentido mismo

«To put it differently, they imperil the success of his mission and are triumphantly overcome, whereas in the Christian account the trials are the very means and manner of the fulfillment of the mission.» — la diferencia cardinal que Jonas fija sin arbitrar: en el poema las pruebas ponen en peligro el éxito de la misión y se superan triunfalmente, mientras que en el relato cristiano son el medio y la manera misma de cumplirla

«With this cardinal difference in mind, we may still say that there is a sacrificial element in the savior's descent according to our poem, in that he was willing for the Pearl's sake to take upon himself an exile's fate and to duplicate in his person the history of that which he came to redeem: the Soul.» — lo que aun así concede: hay un elemento sacrificial en el descenso del salvador del poema, en cuanto acepta por la Perla una suerte de exiliado y duplica en su persona la historia de lo que vino a redimir, el Alma

«If in addition we are right in discerning in the King's Son certain features of the Primal Man of Manichaean doctrine, he also duplicates the fate of that pre-cosmic divinity in which the present condition of the Soul, i.e., the Pearl, originated.» — la hipótesis condicional que Jonas propone: si acierta al ver en el Hijo del Rey rasgos del Hombre Primordial maniqueo, entonces duplica también la suerte de aquella divinidad precósmica en que se originó la condición presente del Alma

«Indeed, as we shall see when we come to the Manichaean cosmogony, all these successive and mutually analogous phases of the world-drama, notwithstanding their cosmic significance, symbolize also the tribulations and triumphs of the human soul.» — y la lectura general que anticipa: todas esas fases sucesivas y análogas del drama del mundo, con toda su significación cósmica, simbolizan también las tribulaciones y los triunfos del alma humana

«It is not for nothing that a pre-cosmic (and mediately cosmogonic) eternal divinity bears the name "Man": the souls dispersed in the world are his "Light-Armor," part of his original substance, which he lost to the Darkness in the primordial fight (the "spoil carried off" in the allegory quoted, note 15), so that he is actually present in every human soul, exiled, captive, stunned;» — el sentido que Jonas atribuye al nombre: no en vano una divinidad eterna precósmica se llama Hombre, porque las almas dispersas en el mundo son su Armadura de Luz, parte de su sustancia original perdida en la lucha primordial, de modo que está realmente presente en cada alma humana, exiliado, cautivo, aturdido

«and if the Prince as his later representation comes to recover these lost elements, he in a sense really seeks his own, and his work is one of reintegration» — la consecuencia para el Príncipe: al recobrar esos elementos perdidos busca en cierto sentido lo suyo propio y su obra es de reintegración; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie, el encabezado corrido y los folios impresos

«of the divine self—even of his own self, only not in the sense pertaining to an individual person.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: reintegración del sí mismo divino y aun del suyo propio, solo que no en el sentido que corresponde a una persona individual

«If, then, there is this metaphysical, though not numerical, identity between the messenger and the Pearl, every hearer of the tale can legitimately, without confounding personal identities, recognize in the adventures of the messenger the story of his own earthbound soul, see his own fate as part and analogue of the deity's, yet at the same time also as the latter's object. Thus in the proper perspective the competing interpretations resolve themselves as not really alternative but complementary.» — la resolución con que Jonas cierra el capítulo, sin eliminar ninguna de las dos lecturas: dada esa identidad metafísica y no numérica entre mensajero y Perla, todo oyente puede reconocer en las aventuras del mensajero la historia de su propia alma atada a la tierra, y así las interpretaciones rivales resultan no alternativas sino complementarias

«The "Hymn of the Pearl" did not relate how the Pearl got into the power of the Darkness. Simon Magus did so, if rather briefly in the extant renderings, with regard to the divine Ennoia or Sophia, which in his system corresponds to the Pearl of the Hymn.» — el hueco que Jonas señala en el Himno y quién lo llena: no cuenta cómo la Perla cayó en poder de la Tiniebla, y Simón Mago sí lo hace respecto de la Ennoia o Sofía divina, que en su sistema corresponde a la Perla

«The divine origin, though at some remove, of these cosmic agencies, and therefore the conception of the whole story as one of divine failure, is an integral point in this type of speculation, indeed its explanatory principle.» — el punto que Jonas llama integral de ese tipo de especulación y su principio explicativo: el origen divino, aunque remoto, de esas agencias cósmicas, y por tanto la concepción de la historia entera como fracaso divino

«The same derivation could not well be supplied for the dragon which holds the Pearl in captivity. If, as its Babylonian archetype suggests, it embodies the power of the primordial chaos, then its principle was anti-divine from the beginning, and its character evil or "dark" in a sense different from the delusion and folly of Simon's erring angels.» — el contraste que Jonas traza: esa derivación no valdría para el dragón que retiene cautiva a la Perla, cuyo principio, si encarna el caos primordial de su arquetipo babilonio, fue antidivino desde el comienzo

«Whereas the Iranian speculation had to explain how the original Darkness could engulf elements of Light, the Syrian-Egyptian speculation saw its major task in deriving the dualistic rift itself, and the ensuing predicament of the divine in the system of creation, from the one and undivided source of being; and this it did by way of an extensive genealogy of divine states evolving from one another which described the progressive darkening of the divine Light in mental categories.» — la partición de tareas que Jonas asigna a los dos tipos: la especulación irania debía explicar cómo la Tiniebla original pudo engullir elementos de Luz, y la sirio-egipcia derivar la escisión dualista misma de una fuente única e indivisa, mediante una genealogía de estados divinos que describe el oscurecimiento progresivo de la Luz en categorías mentales

«The really important difference rests, not so much in the pre-existence or otherwise of a realm of Darkness independent of God, but in whether the tragedy of the divine is forced upon it from outside or is motivated from within itself.» — la diferencia que Jonas declara verdaderamente importante: no tanto la preexistencia o no de un reino de Tinieblas independiente de Dios, sino si la tragedia de lo divino le viene impuesta desde fuera o está motivada desde dentro de sí

«The latter can be the case even in the face of a pre-existing Darkness or Matter if its role is the passive one of tempting members of the upper realm into material creativity rather than the active one of invading the realm of Light.» — y la condición que la hace compatible: puede estar motivada desde dentro aun ante una Tiniebla o Materia preexistente, si el papel de esta es el pasivo de tentar a miembros del reino de arriba a la creatividad material y no el activo de invadir el reino de Luz

«It might be argued that for the existing state of things and the concern of salvation based upon it, which was after all the chief concern of gnostic religion, it made no appreciable difference whether one or the other kind of prehistory was adopted, for both led essentially to the same result: whether it is the demiurgical angels "ruling the world evilly," or the demons of primordial Darkness, that hold the souls in captivity, "salvation" means salvation from their power and the savior has to overcome them as his enemies.» — el argumento que Jonas expone y concede en parte: para el estado presente de las cosas y para la salvación daría igual una prehistoria u otra, porque tanto si retienen las almas los ángeles demiúrgicos como los demonios de la Tiniebla primordial, salvarse es salvarse de su poder

«This is true, and if it were otherwise the two theoretical types could not both be expressions of the gnostic spirit, for which the negative evaluation of the cosmos is fundamental.» — y por qué lo concede: si fuera de otro modo, los dos tipos teóricos no podrían ser ambos expresiones del espíritu gnóstico, para el que la valoración negativa del cosmos es fundamental

«Yet it is by no means religiously irrelevant whether the world is regarded as the expression of an inferior principle or whether its substance is seen as outright devilish.» — la reserva que impone a esa concesión: no es religiosamente indiferente que el mundo se tenga por expresión de un principio inferior o que su sustancia se vea como francamente diabólica

«And it is the Syrian-Egyptian type which, with its subtler and more intriguing deductive task, is not only more ambitious speculatively and more differentiated psychologically than the rigid Iranian type of dualism but also the one of the two which can do full systematic justice to the redemptional claim of gnosis so central to gnostic religion: this because its opposite, "ignorance" as a divine event, is accorded a metaphysical role in the very origination of the cosmos and in sustaining the dualistic situation as such.» — la preferencia que Jonas argumenta: el tipo sirio-egipcio es especulativamente más ambicioso y psicológicamente más diferenciado que el iranio, y es el que puede hacer justicia sistemática plena a la pretensión redentora de la gnosis, porque su contrario, la ignorancia como acontecimiento divino, recibe un papel metafísico en el origen mismo del cosmos

«Even at this stage it is obvious that the Syrian-Egyptian scheme allows the greater speculative variety, and that, once the character of this world and of its immediate lords and creators was established, as it was in the general gnostic view almost as a matter of course, the theoretical center of gravity would shift to the elaboration of the mediate stages between these cosmocratic deities and the primary godhead from which they had sprung:» — la consecuencia que Jonas anticipa: el esquema sirio-egipcio permite mayor variedad especulativa, y una vez fijado el carácter de este mundo y de sus señores el centro de gravedad teórico se corre a elaborar los estadios intermedios entre esas deidades cosmocráticas y la divinidad primera

«the tendency would then be to multiply figures and lengthen the genealogy—for the sake of spiritual differentiation no less than for the sake of widening the distance between» — y la tendencia que de ahí resulta: multiplicar figuras y alargar la genealogía, tanto por diferenciación espiritual como por ensanchar la distancia

«and as undoubtedly as the envoy's experiences can be substituted for those of the Pearl, if this is to represent the soul, just as undoubtedly is the recovery of the Pearl itself the primary concern of the Celestials which prompts the mission of the Son with its otherwise unnecessary dangers to» — el otro lado que Jonas mantiene sin armonizar: tan indudable como que las experiencias del enviado pueden sustituir a las de la Perla es que recobrar la Perla misma es la preocupación primaria de los Celestes, la que motiva la misión del Hijo con sus peligros de otro modo innecesarios

«The Christian reader must not confuse this necessity with the orthodox interpretation of Christ's passion. Since the gnostic concept of salvation has nothing to do with the remission of sin ("sin" itself having no place in gnostic doctrine, which puts "ignorance" in its place), there is in the savior's descent nothing of vicarious suffering, of atonement as a condition for divine forgiveness, and, with the one exception of Marcion, nothing even of a ransom by which the captive souls» — la advertencia con que Jonas separa esa necesidad de la interpretación ortodoxa de la pasión: como la salvación gnóstica nada tiene que ver con la remisión del pecado —que no tiene lugar en la doctrina gnóstica, donde ocupa su sitio la ignorancia—, en el descenso del salvador no hay sufrimiento vicario, ni expiación como condición del perdón divino, ni, salvo en Marción, rescate; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«have to be bought back. Rather, the idea is either that of a technical necessity imposed by the conditions of the mission, namely, the nature of the system, far from the divine realm, into which the messenger has to penetrate and whose laws he cannot cancel for himself, or that of a ruse by which the Archons are to be deceived.» — el remate en la plana siguiente y las dos ideas que Jonas propone en lugar del rescate: una necesidad técnica impuesta por la naturaleza del sistema en que el mensajero ha de penetrar, o una astucia para engañar a los arcontes

«To explain this very noticeable tendency we may also assume simply a growing speculative interest in the upper worlds as such which found its satisfaction only in an increasing manifoldness.» — la explicación alternativa que Jonas propone con reserva para el alargamiento de las genealogías: un interés especulativo creciente por los mundos superiores que solo se satisfacía en una multiplicidad cada vez mayor

«At any rate, in the light of what eventually emerged, the genealogy of Simon with its two steps of Ennoia and world-creating angels must appear as a very modest beginning.» — y su medida: a la luz de lo que acabó emergiendo, la genealogía de Simón, con sus dos pasos de Ennoia y ángeles creadores, resulta un comienzo muy modesto

«By far the majority of the Christian gnostic systems listed by the heresiologists belong to the Syrian type, even when incorporating the original Darkness in the Platonizing form of a passive matter.» — el censo que Jonas hace: la gran mayoría de los sistemas gnósticos cristianos que listan los heresiólogos pertenecen al tipo sirio, aun cuando incorporen la Tiniebla original en la forma platonizante de una materia pasiva

«In fact, wherever either "angels" or the "demiurge" are said to be the creators and rulers of the world, even without having their line of descent from the supreme God traced, we deal with a principle not outright evil, but rather inferior and degenerate, as the cause and essence of creation.» — el criterio que Jonas fija: dondequiera que se diga que los ángeles o el demiurgo son creadores y señores del mundo, aun sin trazar su descendencia del Dios supremo, se trata de un principio no francamente malo sino inferior y degenerado

«Thus Carpocrates, without any attempt at deduction (as far as Irenaeus' report goes), simply states that the world was made by angels "that are lower by far than the unbegotten Father": Jesus and all souls which like his remained pure and strong in their memory of the unbegotten Father can despise the creators and pass through them (Iren. I. 25. 1-2).» — la doctrina que Jonas atribuye a Carpócrates, sin intento de deducción según el informe de Ireneo: el mundo lo hicieron ángeles muy inferiores al Padre no engendrado, y Jesús y las almas que como la suya conservaron puro el recuerdo de ese Padre pueden despreciar a los creadores y pasar de largo

«Menander taught similarly to Simon that the First Power is unknown to all and the world made by angels, who he "like Simon says are emanated from the Ennoia": he claims by magic to be able to conquer these world-rulers (loc. cit. 23. 5).» — la de Menandro: el Primer Poder es desconocido para todos y el mundo lo hicieron ángeles emanados de la Ennoia, y él dice poder vencer por magia a esos gobernantes del mundo

«Saturninus, passing over the Ennoia, or any such female principle, taught according to Irenaeus simply that "the one unknown Father made the angels, archangels, powers and dominions. The world, however, and everything in it, was made by seven particular angels, and man too is a work of the angels," of whom the Jewish god is one. These angels he describes in turn as feeble artisans and as rebellious.» — la de Saturnino, que según Jonas pasa por alto la Ennoia o cualquier principio femenino: el Padre único y desconocido hizo ángeles, arcángeles, potestades y dominaciones, y el mundo y todo lo que hay en él lo hicieron siete ángeles particulares, entre ellos el dios judío, a quienes describe como artesanos endebles y como rebeldes

«Saturninus went so far as to say that the prophecies were spoken partly by the world-makers, partly by Satan.» — y hasta dónde llega según Jonas: Saturnino llegó a decir que las profecías las hablaron en parte los hacedores del mundo y en parte Satán

«Thus, for instance, Basilides stretches' the line of descent into an enormous chain which, via a number of spiritual figures like Nous, Logos, etc., leads through 365 successively generated heavens with their angelic populations, the last of which is the one we see, inhabited by the angels who made this world.» — la genealogía que Jonas atribuye a Basílides: una cadena enorme que por figuras espirituales como Nous y Logos atraviesa 365 cielos generados sucesivamente, el último de los cuales es el que vemos, habitado por los ángeles que hicieron este mundo

«Here too the unnameable Father sends Christ, the eternal Nous, to liberate those who believe in him from the domination of the makers of the world. His passion was a deception, Simon of Cyrene dying on the cross in his shape (loc, cit. 24. 3-4;» — y su soteriología: el Padre innombrable envía a Cristo, el Nous eterno, a liberar a los que creen en él del dominio de los hacedores del mundo, y su pasión fue un engaño, porque Simón de Cirene murió en la cruz con su figura

«In all these cases, the powers which are responsible for the world and against which the work of salvation is directed are more contemptible than sinister. Their badness is not that of the arch-enemy, the eternal hater of the Light, but that of ignorant usurpers who, unaware of their subaltern rank in the hierarchy of being, arrogate lordship to themselves and in the combination of feeble means with envy and lust for power can achieve only a caricature of true divinity.» — el juicio con que Jonas caracteriza a esas potencias: más despreciables que siniestras, con la maldad no del archienemigo eterno de la Luz sino de usurpadores ignorantes que, sin saber su rango subalterno, se arrogan el señorío y, con medios endebles, envidia y ansia de poder, solo logran una caricatura de la divinidad verdadera

«The world, created by them in illegitimate imitation of divine creativeness and as a proof of their own godhead, in fact proves their inferiority in both its constitution and its governance.» — y la prueba que Jonas aduce: el mundo, creado por ellos en imitación ilegítima de la creatividad divina y como prueba de su propia divinidad, delata de hecho, dice, su inferioridad en su constitución y en su gobierno

«One recurring feature is the assertion that the prophecies and the Mosaic Law issued from these world-ruling angels, among whom the Jewish god is prominent.3 This bespeaks a particular antagonism toward the Old Testament religion and toward its God, the reality of whom is by no means denied.» — el rasgo recurrente que Jonas señala: la afirmación de que las profecías y la Ley mosaica vinieron de esos ángeles que rigen el mundo, entre los que destaca el dios judío, lo que revela un antagonismo particular hacia la religión veterotestamentaria y hacia su Dios, cuya realidad en modo alguno se niega

«Iao, Sabaoth, Adonaios, Elohim; more rarely also Esaldaios = El-shaddai.» — los nombres que Jonas enumera en nota para esos arcontes planetarios: Iao, Sabaoth, Adonaios, Elohim y, más raramente, Esaldaios, es decir El-shaddai

«In the system of the Ophites as related by Irenaeus, he is the firstborn of the lower Sophia or Prunikos and begets out of the waters a son called Iao, who in turn in the same way generates a son, Sabaoth, and so on to seven. Thus Ialdabaoth is mediately the father of them all and thereby of the creation.» — la genealogía ofita que Jonas toma de Ireneo: Ialdabaoth es el primogénito de la Sofía inferior o Prúnicos y engendra de las aguas un hijo llamado Iao, que a su vez engendra a Sabaoth, y así hasta siete, de modo que es mediatamente padre de todos y de la creación

«He boasted of what was taking place at his feet and said, 'I am Father and God, and there is none above me'" (after the pattern of certain Old Testament formulas, such as Is. 45:5, "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me"); to which his mother retorts, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: there is above thee the Father of all, the First Man, and Man the Son of Man» — la baladronada de Ialdabaoth y la réplica de su madre que Jonas cita: soy Padre y Dios, y no hay nadie sobre mí; no mientas, Ialdabaoth, sobre ti está el Padre de todos, el Primer Hombre, y el Hombre Hijo del Hombre

«The theme of the demiurgical conceit is frequent in gnostic literature, including the Old Testament allusions. "For there ruled the great Archon, whose dominion extends to the firmament, who believes that he is the only God and that there is nothing above him" (Basilides, in Hippol. VII. 25. 3, cf. 23. 4f.).» — el tema que Jonas llama frecuente y su formulación en Basílides según Hipólito: gobernaba el gran Arconte, cuyo dominio llega al firmamento, que cree ser el único Dios y que nada hay sobre él

«One step further in defamation of character goes the Apocryphon of John, where Ialdabaoth, for the sake of dominion, cheats his own angels by what he grants and what he withholds in their creation, and where his jealousy is taken to betray a knowledge rather than ignorance of the higher God:» — el paso adicional que Jonas señala en el Apócrifo de Juan: Ialdabaoth engaña a sus propios ángeles en lo que les concede y lo que les retiene, y sus celos delatan un conocimiento y no una ignorancia del Dios superior

«He apportioned to them some of his fire, which is his own attribute, and of his power; but of the pure Light of the power which he had inherited from his Mother he gave them none. For this reason he held sway over them, because of the glory that was in him from the power of the Light of the Mother. Therefore he let himself be called "the God," renouncing the substance from which he had issued. . . . And he contemplated the creation beneath him and the multitude of angels under him which had sprung from him, and he said to them "I am a jealous god, besides me there is none"—thereby already indicating to the angels beneath him that there is another God: for if there were cone, of whom should he be jealous? (42:13 ff.; 44:9 ff., Till).» — el pasaje que lo dice: les repartió algo de su fuego y de su poder pero nada de la Luz pura heredada de su Madre, y al decir soy un dios celoso, fuera de mí no hay ninguno, ya indicaba a los ángeles que hay otro Dios, porque si no lo hubiera de quién habría de estar celoso

«Mandaean speculations about the beginnings abound with the same theme, though here without manifest reference to the Old Testament God: "B'haq-Ziva regarded himself as a mighty one, and forsook the name which his Father had created [for him]. He said, 'I am the father of the Uthras, who have created sh'kinas for them.' He pondered over the turbid water and said, 'I will create a world'" (G97f.).» — el paralelo mandeo que Jonas trae, sin referencia manifiesta al Dios veterotestamentario: B'haq-Ziva se tuvo por poderoso, abandonó el nombre que su Padre le había creado y dijo que crearía un mundo

«But even more humiliating is the same reprimand coming from the ascending soul of the pneumatic which flaunts its higher origin in the face of the lord, or lords, of the world:» — la variante que Jonas llama aún más humillante: la misma reprimenda dicha por el alma ascendente del pneumático, que restriega su origen más alto en la cara del señor o los señores del mundo

«I am a vessel more precious than the woman that made ye. Your mother does not know her origin, but I know myself and know whence I come. I invoke the incorruptible Sophia who dwells in the Father and is the mother of your mother. . . . But a woman born of woman brought ye forth, without knowing her own mother and believing that she was from herself: but I invoke her mother. (Iren. I. 21. 5)» — la fórmula que Jonas cita de Ireneo: soy un vaso más precioso que la mujer que os hizo; vuestra madre no conoce su origen, pero yo me conozco y sé de dónde vengo, e invoco a la Sofía incorruptible que mora en el Padre y es la madre de vuestra madre

«E. g., the Ialdabaoth-Sabaoth of the "Gnostics" in Epiphanius is treated to exactly the same rebuke by his mother Barbelo (as the Sophia is called in that system) as was the Ialdabaoth of the Ophites in Irenaeus (Epiph. Haer. XXVI. 2. 3f.). Basilides lets the correction issue, in the less harsh form of an enlightenment, from the "Gospel of the Sonship," which also finds a more satisfactory response than is elsewhere ascribed to the demiurge: "and the Archon learned that he was not the universal God but was begotten and had above him the treasure of the ineffable and nameless 'Non-Existent' [Basilides' paradoxical name for the First Cause] and of the Sonship; and he turned and was afraid, perceiving in what ignorance he had been . . . and he confessed the sin which he had committed in magnifying himself" (Hippol. VII. 26. 1-3). Cf. above p. 64, n. 18 on the "remorse of the creator.» — la nota en que Jonas alinea las variantes de esa corrección: en Epifanio la reprimenda viene de la madre Barbelo, y en Basílides la corrección llega como iluminación desde el Evangelio de la Filiación, con una respuesta más satisfactoria del arconte, que se volvió y tuvo miedo al percibir en qué ignorancia había estado y confesó el pecado de haberse engrandecido

«Such formulas, of which there are many, forcibly express the confidence of the gnostic elect and his sovereign contempt for those lower powers even though they are the rulers of this world.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de esas fórmulas: expresan con fuerza la confianza del elegido gnóstico y su desprecio soberano por esas potencias inferiores aunque sean los señores de este mundo

«This does not exclude a feeling of dread, which we find curiously blended with the daring of provocation. The soul's main concern is to escape the terrible archons, and rather than meet them face to face she likes to slip by them unnoticed if she can.» — la reserva que añade sin armonizarla: eso no excluye un sentimiento de pavor, curiosamente mezclado con la osadía de la provocación, y la mayor preocupación del alma es escapar de los arcontes terribles y, más que encararlos, escurrirse sin ser vista

«Since the gist of this law is "justice," the Gnostic's intended escape from its sanctions is part of the general antinomian attitude and expresses the repudiation of the Old Testament God in its moral aspect.» — y su sentido: como el meollo de esa ley es la justicia, el escape que el gnóstico busca es parte de la actitud antinomiana general y expresa el repudio del Dios veterotestamentario en su aspecto moral

«In some of the Christian Gnostics, the figure of one world-god entirely absorbs the plurality of angels or archons and becomes, as he was represented in the Bible, the sole symbol of the creation and its law, so that the whole issue of salvation is narrowed down to one between him and the unknown God beyond.» — el desarrollo que Jonas llama cuasi monoteísta en cuanto al ámbito cósmico: la figura de un solo dios del mundo absorbe la pluralidad de ángeles o arcontes y se vuelve el símbolo único de la creación y de su ley

«Cerinthus taught that "the world was made, not by the first God, but by a power which was far removed and separated from the source of being and did not even know of the God who is exalted above all things": Christ was the first to preach the unknown Father in the world (Iren. I. 26. I).» — la doctrina de Cerinto según Jonas: el mundo no lo hizo el primer Dios sino un poder alejado y separado de la fuente del ser, que ni siquiera sabía del Dios exaltado sobre todo, y Cristo fue el primero en predicar en el mundo al Padre desconocido

«In the same vein, Cerdon maintained that "the God whom Moses and the prophets preached is not the Father of Jesus Christ: the one is knowable, the other not, the one merely just, the other good» — la de Cerdón: el Dios que predicaron Moisés y los profetas no es el Padre de Jesucristo; el uno es cognoscible y el otro no, el uno meramente justo y el otro bueno

«As main Scriptural support for the doctrine of the Unknown Father first and solely revealed by Christ served Matt. 11:25-27 = Luke 10:21-22. In his general account of the Valentinians, Irenaeus relates: "As keystone of their thesis they adduce the following passage: 'I thank thee, Father, Lord of the heavens [sic] and the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes . . . no one knows the Father but the Son, nor the Son but the Father and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal [this]' [thus quoted in slight deviation from our N.T. text]. With these words, they say, he has explicitly taught that the 'Father of Truth' newly invented by them had never been known to anybody before his [Christ's] appearance; and they wish to make out that the creator and maker of the world had always been known by all: those words, therefore,—they say—the Lord has spoken about the Unknown-to-all Father whom they proclaim" (adv. haer. I. 20. 3).» — el apoyo escriturario que Jonas identifica para la doctrina del Padre desconocido y el informe de Ireneo sobre los valentinianos: el pasaje de Mateo y Lucas sobre lo escondido a sabios y prudentes y revelado a los pequeños, y que nadie conoce al Padre sino el Hijo, citado con leve desviación del texto neotestamentario

«Marcion of Sinope in Pontus occupies a unique position in gnostic thought, as well as in the history of the Christian Church. In the latter respect, he was the most resolutely and undilutedly "Christian" of the Gnostics, and for this very reason his was the greatest challenge to Christian orthodoxy; or more precisely, his challenge more than that of any other "heresy" led to the formulation of the orthodox creed itself.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna a Marción de Sínope, en el Ponto: el más resuelta y menos diluidamente cristiano de los gnósticos, y por eso mismo el mayor desafío a la ortodoxia, cuyo desafío llevó más que ninguna otra herejía a la formulación del credo ortodoxo

«Within gnostic thought, the uniqueness of his position is such that his classification with the whole movement has been rejected by no less a student of Marcion than Harnack.» — el desacuerdo que Jonas consigna sin arbitrar: Harnack, que no es poco estudioso de Marción, ha rechazado su clasificación dentro del movimiento gnóstico

«He is indeed the exception to many gnostic rules. He alone of them all took the passion of Christ seriously, although the interpretation he put on it was unacceptable to the Church; his teaching is entirely free of the mythological fantasy in which gnostic thought reveled; he does not speculate about the first beginnings; he does not multiply divine and semi-divine figures; he rejects allegory in the understanding of both Old and New Testaments; he does not claim possession of a superior, "pneumatic" knowledge or the presence in man generally of that divine element which could be its source or recipient; he bases his doctrine entirely on what he claims to be the literal meaning of the gospel; in this rigorous restriction he is entirely free of the syncretism so characteristic of Gnosticism in general; and lastly, like Paul, who was to him the apostle, he makes faith and not knowledge the vehicle of redemption.» — la lista de excepciones que Jonas concede: Marción es el único que tomó en serio la pasión de Cristo, su enseñanza está libre de fantasía mitológica, no especula sobre los comienzos, no multiplica figuras divinas, rechaza la alegoría en los dos Testamentos, no reclama un conocimiento pneumático superior ni un elemento divino en el hombre, y, como Pablo, hace de la fe y no del conocimiento el vehículo de la redención

«The last circumstance would seem to put Marcion squarely outside the gnostic area, if this is defined by the concept of gnosis. Yet the anti-cosmic dualism as such, of which Marcion is the most uncompromising exponent, the idea of the unknown God opposed to that of the cosmos, the very conception of an inferior and oppressive creator and the consequent view of salvation as liberation from his power by an alien principle are so outstandingly gnostic that anyone who professed them in this historical environment must be counted as one of the Gnostics» — y la conclusión que aun así sostiene: el dualismo anticósmico del que Marción es el exponente más intransigente, la idea del Dios desconocido opuesto al cosmos, la concepción de un creador inferior y opresivo y la salvación como liberación de su poder por un principio ajeno son tan señaladamente gnósticos que quien los profesara en ese medio histórico ha de contarse entre los gnósticos

«As a particular trait,2 Saturninus acknowledges besides these angels also the devil, who "is an angel who is an» — el rasgo particular que Jonas destaca en Saturnino: reconoce además al diablo, que es un ángel; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie

«enemy of those angels and the god of the Jews"—a kind of private feud within the camp of the lower powers (Joe. cit. 24. 1-2).» — el remate tras la nota: ese ángel es enemigo de esos ángeles y del dios de los judíos, una especie de reyerta privada dentro del campo de las potencias inferiores

«On the contrary, after he had first in astrology lent his names to four of the seven planetary archons,4 whom the Gnostics then promoted to world» — el proceso que Jonas describe: el Dios veterotestamentario prestó primero en la astrología sus nombres a cuatro de los siete arcontes planetarios, a quienes los gnósticos ascendieron después a creadores del mundo; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«creators, his polemically drawn likeness emerged with increasing pre-eminence from their number as an unmistakeable caricature of the biblical God—not venerable indeed, but none the less formidable.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: su retrato dibujado polémicamente emerge con preeminencia creciente entre ellos como caricatura inconfundible del Dios bíblico, no venerable pero sí temible

«Accordingly, the task of the sacraments is sometimes said to be that of making the souls in their future ascent invisible to the archons who would block their way, and especially to their prince, who in the role of judge» — la función que Jonas asigna a los sacramentos en ese esquema: volver a las almas invisibles a los arcontes que les cerrarían el paso en su ascenso, y sobre todo a su príncipe; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«The same concept, however, that so strongly connects Marcion with the general gnostic stream, that of the "Alien," received in his teaching an entirely new twist.» — el giro que Jonas señala: el mismo concepto que más liga a Marción con la corriente gnóstica, el del Ajeno, recibe en su enseñanza un sesgo enteramente nuevo

«The concept of the alienness of the true God Mafcion shares with Gnosticism in general: that he is alien even to the objects of his salvation, that men even in their souls or spirits are strangers to him, is entirely his own.» — el reparto que Jonas hace: la ajenidad del Dios verdadero la comparte Marción con el gnosticismo en general, pero que sea ajeno incluso a los objetos de su salvación, y que los hombres le sean extraños aun en sus almas o espíritus, es enteramente suyo

«It actually cancels out one of the basic tenets of gnostic religion: that men are strangers in this world, that therefore their assumption into the divine realm is a return to their true home, or that in saving mankind the supreme God saves his own.» — y lo que eso cancela: el principio gnóstico básico de que los hombres son extraños en este mundo, de que su asunción al reino divino es un retorno a su patria verdadera, y de que al salvar a la humanidad el Dios supremo salva lo suyo

«According to Marcion, man in his complete constitution like all nature is a creature of the world-god and prior to the advent of Christ his rightful and unrestricted property, body and soul alike.9 "Naturally," therefore, no part of him is alien in the world, while the Good God is alien in the absolute sense to him as to everything created.» — la doctrina de Marción que Jonas expone: el hombre entero, como toda la naturaleza, es criatura del dios del mundo y, antes de Cristo, propiedad legítima e irrestricta suya en cuerpo y alma, de modo que ninguna parte de él es ajena en el mundo mientras el Dios bueno le es ajeno en sentido absoluto

«Marcion accepts the Genesis account of the creation of man, with the conse quence to him that the Good God had no hand in it at all.» — la consecuencia que Jonas anota: Marción acepta el relato del Génesis sobre la creación del hombre, y para él eso implica que el Dios bueno no tuvo parte alguna en ella

«There is no sense in which the deity that saves from the world has anything to do with the existence of the world, not even the sense in which throughout gnostic speculation some part of it was drawn into the creation either by defection or by violence.» — el corte que Jonas subraya: en ningún sentido la deidad que salva del mundo tiene que ver con la existencia del mundo, ni siquiera en aquel en que la especulación gnóstica hacía que alguna parte de ella fuera arrastrada a la creación por defección o por violencia

«Consequently no genealogy, or history of any kind, connects the demiurge with the Good God. The former is a divinity in his own right, expressing his nature in the visible universe his creation, and he is the antithesis to the Good God not as evil but as "just."» — y su corolario: ninguna genealogía ni historia conecta al demiurgo con el Dios bueno, que es divinidad por derecho propio, expresa su naturaleza en el universo visible y es la antítesis del Dios bueno no como malo sino como justo

«Thus, however unsympathetically depicted, he is not the Prince of Darkness.» — la acotación que Jonas hace: por antipáticamente que se lo pinte, ese creador no es el Príncipe de las Tinieblas

«This answer prompts the question, What reason had the Good God for concerning himself in the destiny of man? To this the answer is, None except his goodness. He does not gather lost children from exile back into their home but freely adopts strangers» — la pregunta que Jonas plantea y su respuesta: qué razón tenía el Dios bueno para ocuparse del destino del hombre, y ninguna salvo su bondad, porque no recoge del exilio a hijos perdidos sino que adopta libremente a extraños

«Accordingly, since they are not his but the world-god's original property, their salvation is a "buying free" on the part of Christ. Marcion here invokes Gal. 3:13, "Christ has purchased us" (and incidentally, by a change of two letters, read also Gal. 2:20, "purchased [ηγωρησε] me" for "loved [ηγαπησε] me"—one of the textual emendations characteristic of Marcion), and argues, "evidently as strangers, for no-one ever purchases those who belong to him.» — la lógica jurídica que Jonas describe: como los hombres son propiedad original del dios del mundo, su salvación es una compra, y Marción invoca la Carta a los Gálatas y argumenta que evidentemente se compra a extraños, porque nadie compra a los que ya le pertenecen

«The purchase price was Christ's blood, which was given not for the remission of sins or the cleansing of mankind from guilt or as a vicarious atonement fulfilling the Law—not, in brief, for any reconciliation of mankind with God—but for the cancellation of the creator's claim to his property.» — el precio de esa compra según Jonas: la sangre de Cristo, dada no para la remisión de los pecados ni como expiación vicaria que cumpliera la Ley, sino para cancelar el derecho del creador sobre su propiedad

«The legality of this claim is acknowledged, as is also the validity of the Law, to which as subjects of the world-lord, and as long as they are so, men owe obedience.» — lo que Marción concede según Jonas: la legalidad de ese derecho y la validez de la Ley, a la que los hombres deben obediencia mientras sean súbditos del señor del mundo

«Not only was he not interested in such concordance, he could not even concede it, seeing that the Old Testament declared itself to be the revelation of that god who created and governs the world. Accepting this claim, Marcion could accept in their literal sense statements which the Church could only by way of allegorical interpretation reconcile with the Christian revelation.» — y por qué no podía conceder esa concordancia: el Antiguo Testamento se declaraba a sí mismo revelación del dios que creó y gobierna el mundo, y aceptando esa pretensión Marción podía tomar en sentido literal enunciados que la Iglesia solo conciliaba por vía alegórica

«Thus Marcion agreed with the Jews that their promised Messiah, the earthly one, son of the world-god, was really still to come and would establish his earthly kingdom just as the prophets had declared.» — el acuerdo que Jonas registra: Marción concedía a los judíos que su Mesías prometido, el terrenal, hijo del dios del mundo, estaba todavía por venir y establecería su reino terrenal como habían declarado los profetas

«Only this has nothing to do with the salvation brought by Christ, which is acosmic in its nature and does not change the course of worldly events, not even in the sense of amelioration: in fact it changes only the prospect for the future life of the redeemed soul and, through faith in this future, its present spiritual condition, but leaves the world to itself—i.e., to its eventual self-destruction.» — y el deslinde: eso nada tiene que ver con la salvación traída por Cristo, que es acósmica y no cambia el curso de los acontecimientos mundanos ni siquiera para mejorarlos, sino que deja al mundo a su propia autodestrucción

«For the remainder of their earthly sojourn, the conduct of the believers is determined not so much by a positive concern of sanctifying life but by the negative one of reducing contact with the domain of the creator» — la conducta que de ahí se sigue según Jonas: para el resto de la estancia terrena, la de los creyentes no se determina por el afán positivo de santificar la vida sino por el negativo de reducir el contacto con el dominio del creador

«The future bliss can be anticipated here only by faith, and faith indeed is the only form in which the divine adoption offered by Christ is to be accepted, as by its withholding it can be rejected: those who remain under the sway of the creator do so by their own choice.» — el lugar de la fe en ese esquema: la bienaventuranza futura solo se anticipa aquí por la fe, única forma en que se acepta la adopción divina ofrecida por Cristo, y quienes siguen bajo el poder del creador lo hacen por elección propia

«In this connection Marcion has an original if somewhat facetious explanation for the alleged fact that, in contrast to Cain, the Sodomites, and their like, Abel, the patriarchs, and all the just men and prophets of biblical tradition were not saved when Christ descended to hell: knowing from long experience that their God liked to tempt them, they suspected a temptation this time too and therefore did not believe Christ's gospel (Iren. I. 27. 3).» — la explicación que Jonas llama original y algo jocosa: Abel, los patriarcas y los justos no se salvaron cuando Cristo bajó al infierno porque, sabiendo por larga experiencia que su Dios gustaba de tentarlos, sospecharon también esta vez una tentación y no creyeron el evangelio de Cristo

«Thus no "pneumatic experience," no illumination of the elect by a "gnosis" transforming his nature or bringing forth the hidden divine element in him, intervenes in this strictly legal transaction among the Good God, the creator, and the souls adopted into the former's fatherhood. The saved ones are believers, not "gnostics," though faith with its assurance carries its own experience of blessedness.» — la exclusión que Jonas subraya: en esa transacción estrictamente legal entre el Dios bueno, el creador y las almas adoptadas no interviene experiencia pneumática ni iluminación alguna, y los salvados son creyentes y no gnósticos, aunque la fe lleve consigo su propia experiencia de bienaventuranza

«His theology Marcion elaborated in the form of "antitheses": this was the title of one of his lost books. Most of these antitheses were in terms of attributes of the two gods. One is "the craftsman" (demiurgos), the "God of creation" (or "generation"), the "ruler of this aeon," "known" and "predicable"—the other is "the hidden" God, "unknown," "unperceivable," "unpredicable," "the strange," "the alien," "the other," "the different," and also "the new."» — la forma de esa teología según Jonas y las antítesis que enumera: uno es el artesano, demiurgo, Dios de la creación, señor de este eón, conocido y predicable; el otro es el Dios oculto, desconocido, imperceptible, impredicable, el extraño, el ajeno, el otro, el distinto y también el nuevo

«Known is the creator-God from his creation, in which his nature lies revealed. The world betrays not only his existence but also his character, and this as one of pettiness.» — el argumento que Jonas expone: el Dios creador se conoce por su creación, en la que su naturaleza queda revelada, y el mundo delata no solo su existencia sino su carácter, y este como de mezquindad

«turning up their noses the utterly shameless Marcionites take to tearing down the work of the Creator: 'Indeed,' they say, 'a grand production, and worthy of its God, is this world!» — la burla marcionita que Jonas cita de Tertuliano: con la nariz arrugada, los desvergonzadísimos marcionitas se ponen a demoler la obra del Creador diciendo que en verdad es una producción magnífica y digna de su Dios este mundo

«Elsewhere Tertullian mentions the expressions "these miserable elements" and "this puny cell of the Creator.» — las otras expresiones que Jonas recoge de Tertuliano: estos miserables elementos y esta celdilla del Creador

«Generally Marcion determines the character of the world-god after that of the world, "for the made must be like unto the maker" (Hippol. Refut. X. 19. 2); his wisdom is identical with the "wisdom of this world" in the pejorative sense of transcendental religion. In the exegesis of certain passages in St. Paul, Marcion simply identifies the creator with the world, taking what is said of the latter as applying to the former; and according to him he finally perishes with the world by a kind of self-destruction, which shows that in the last analysis he is not genuinely a god but nothing but the spirit of this world.» — la nota en que Jonas cierra ese punto: Marción determina el carácter del dios del mundo por el del mundo, porque lo hecho ha de parecerse al hacedor, y según él ese dios perece al fin con el mundo por una especie de autodestrucción, lo que muestra que en último análisis no es propiamente un dios sino el espíritu de este mundo

«His most revealing self-revelation is the Law, and this brings us to the final and to Marcion most important antithesis: that of the "just" God and the "good" God.» — la antítesis que Jonas declara final y la más importante para Marción: la del Dios justo y el Dios bueno, revelada sobre todo en la Ley

«From the Christian point of view this is the most dangerous aspect of Marcion's dualism: it sunders and distributes to two mutually exclusive gods that polarity of justice and mercy whose very togetherness in one God motivates by its tension the whole dialectic of Pauline theology.» — el juicio que Jonas emite desde el punto de vista cristiano: ese es el aspecto más peligroso del dualismo de Marción, porque escinde y reparte entre dos dioses excluyentes la polaridad de justicia y misericordia cuya convivencia tensa en un solo Dios mueve la dialéctica entera de la teología paulina

«Marcion, here as elsewhere oversimplifying St. Paul, understands the "justice" of the Law as merely formal, narrow, retributive, and vindictive ("an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"): this justice, not outright evilness, is the cardinal property of the creator-god.» — la simplificación que Jonas le imputa: entiende la justicia de la Ley como meramente formal, estrecha, retributiva y vengativa, ojo por ojo y diente por diente, y hace de esa justicia, y no de una maldad declarada, la propiedad cardinal del dios creador

«Thus the god whom Christ has put in the wrong is not the Persian Ahriman, not absolute darkness—Marcion left the devil in existence as a separate figure within the domain of the creator—nor matter, but simply the world-god such as the Law and the prophets had taught.» — el deslinde que Jonas traza: el dios al que Cristo ha dejado en falta no es el Ahrimán persa ni la tiniebla absoluta ni la materia, sino simplemente el dios del mundo tal como lo enseñaron la Ley y los profetas, y Marción dejó al diablo existiendo como figura aparte dentro del dominio del creador

«Moral goodness under the Law, though by inner-worldly standards preferable to licentiousness, is irrelevant from the point of view of transcendent salvation.» — y la consecuencia moral: la bondad bajo la Ley, preferible por criterios intramundanos al libertinaje, es irrelevante desde el punto de vista de la salvación trascendente

«He is unknown because the world can teach nothing about him. As he had no share in creation, there is no trace in all nature from which even his existence could be suspected.» — el argumento del desconocimiento: el mundo nada puede enseñar de ese Dios porque no tuvo parte en la creación, de modo que no hay en toda la naturaleza rastro del que pudiera sospecharse su existencia

«As Tertullian sums up: "the God of Marcion, naturally unknown and never except in the Gospel revealed" (op. cit. V. 16).» — el resumen de Tertuliano que Jonas cita: el Dios de Marción, naturalmente desconocido y nunca revelado salvo en el Evangelio

«Being not the author of the world, including man, he is also the alien. That is, no natural bond, no pre-existing relationship, connects him with the creatures of this world, and there is no obligation on his part to care for the destiny of man.» — la consecuencia de esa no autoría: ningún vínculo natural ni relación preexistente lo conecta con las criaturas de este mundo, y no hay de su parte obligación de cuidar del destino del hombre

«That he takes no hand in the physical government of the world is self-evident for Marcion: he had to eliminate from the gospel as Judaistic interpolation such of the Lord's sayings as that about the Father's being mindful of sparrows and of each hair on one's head. The Father whom Jesus Christ proclaimed could not have been concerned with what is nature's affair or that of its god.» — el corte editorial que Jonas atribuye a Marción: tuvo que eliminar del evangelio, como interpolación judaizante, los dichos del Señor sobre el Padre que cuida de los gorriones y de cada cabello

«This does away with the whole idea of a divine providence within the world. Only with one activity does the Good God intervene in the world, and this is his sole relation with it: sending down his Son to redeem man from the world and its god: "This one work suffices our God, that he has liberated man by his supreme and superlative goodness, which is to be preferred to all grasshoppers» — y lo que eso suprime: la idea entera de una providencia divina dentro del mundo, de modo que el Dios bueno solo interviene enviando a su Hijo a redimir al hombre del mundo y de su dios

«This Marcion indeed acknowledges qua the authentic document of the world-god, and in its interpretation he sides with the Jewish exegesis against his Christian contemporaries in insisting on the» — la posición exegética que Jonas le atribuye: reconoce el Antiguo Testamento como documento auténtico del dios del mundo y en su interpretación se pone del lado de la exégesis judía contra sus contemporáneos cristianos; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«literal meaning and rejecting the allegorical method, which the Church applied to the Old Testament for the purpose of establishing its concordance with the New.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: insistir en el sentido literal y rechazar el método alegórico que la Iglesia aplicaba al Antiguo Testamento para establecer su concordancia con el Nuevo

«To Marcion, a lesser mind and therefore more addicted to the neatness of formal consistency, justice and goodness are contradictory and therefore cannot reside in the same god:» — la explicación y el juicio que Jonas junta ahí: Marción, mente menor y por eso más adicta a la pulcritud de la consistencia formal, tiene justicia y bondad por contradictorias y por tanto incapaces de residir en el mismo dios; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«concept of each god, certainly that of the true God, must be unequivocal—the fallacy of all theological dualism.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: el concepto de cada dios, y desde luego el del Dios verdadero, ha de ser unívoco, lo que Jonas llama la falacia de todo dualismo teológico

«In its briefest formulation, Marcion's gospel8 was that "of the alien and good God, the Father of Jesus Christ, who redeems from heavy bonds to eternal life wretched mankind, who yet are entire grangers to him.» — la fórmula más breve del evangelio de Marción según Jonas: la del Dios ajeno y bueno, Padre de Jesucristo, que redime de pesadas ataduras a la vida eterna a una humanidad miserable que le es del todo extraña; el escaneo imprime grangers donde el impreso lleva strangers

«We see that the goodness of the Good God is connected with his alienness in that the latter removes all other grounds for his concern with man. The goodness of his saving deed is the better for his being alien and dealing with aliens:» — el enlace que Jonas establece: la bondad del Dios bueno va unida a su ajenidad, porque esta remueve todo otro fundamento para su interés por el hombre, y la bondad de su acto salvador es tanto mayor por ser él ajeno y tratar con ajenos

«Man, this work of the creator-god, that better God chose to love, and for his sake he labored to descend from the third heaven into these miserable elements, and on his account he even was crucified in this puny cell of the creator» — el pasaje de Tertuliano que Jonas cita para eso: al hombre, obra del dios creador, aquel Dios mejor eligió amarlo, y por él se afanó en descender del tercer cielo a estos miserables elementos y por él fue crucificado en esta celdilla del creador

«Thus the Good God's only relation to the world is soteriological, that is, directed against it and its god. With regard to man, this relation is entirely gratuitously entered into on the part of the alien God and is therefore an act of pure grace.» — la única relación que Jonas concede entre el Dios bueno y el mundo: soteriológica, dirigida contra él y contra su dios, y respecto del hombre enteramente gratuita y por tanto acto de pura gracia

«Here again Marcion interprets in his own way a Pauline antithesis: that of the "grace freely given" and "justification through works." That the grace is freely given is to both men the whole content of the Christian religion; but whereas the "freely" in Paul means "in the face of human guilt and insufficiency," i.e., in the absence of all human merit, it means in Marcion "in the face of mutual alienness," i.e., in the absence of all obligating bonds.» — la reinterpretación que Jonas señala: en Pablo la gracia dada gratis lo es frente a la culpa y la insuficiencia humanas, es decir en ausencia de todo mérito, y en Marción lo es frente a la ajenidad mutua, es decir en ausencia de todo vínculo obligante

«Neither the responsibility nor the fatherly attachment of a creator toward his creatures operates in this case, nor is the Good God in the usual gnostic manner mediately involved in the destiny of the souls (and the world) by the genealogical connections described: so that there is nothing for him to recover or restore.» — lo que Jonas declara ausente en ese esquema: ni la responsabilidad ni el apego paternal de un creador hacia sus criaturas, ni la implicación mediata del Dios bueno en el destino de las almas por conexiones genealógicas, de modo que no hay nada que recobrar ni restaurar

«Finally, in the absence of any previous dealings the ideas of forgiveness and reconciliation cannot apply: if men have been sinners before, they certainly could not sin against Him.» — y la última exclusión: sin trato previo no caben las ideas de perdón ni de reconciliación, porque si los hombres fueron pecadores antes, no pudieron pecar contra Él

«The point is that the very first relationship between this God and those creatures not his own was established through his act of a grace without a past, and the relation continues to exist in this mode entirely.» — el punto que Jonas subraya: la primera relación entre ese Dios y unas criaturas que no son suyas se estableció por un acto de gracia sin pasado, y la relación sigue existiendo enteramente en ese modo

«It is for the Christian reader to ponder what has been done here to the Christian concept of divine love and mercy. The call to repent, the imminence of judgment, fear and trembling, atonement—all these are eliminated from the Christian message.» — lo que Jonas deja a la ponderación del lector cristiano: la llamada al arrepentimiento, la inminencia del juicio, el temor y el temblor y la expiación quedan eliminados del mensaje cristiano

«For this reason Marcion must be counted among the great protagonists of paradoxical religion.» — y la consecuencia que saca: por eso hay que contar a Marción entre los grandes protagonistas de la religión paradójica

«No less uncompromising than in theological doctrine was Marcion in the precepts for conduct he deduced from it. There could of course be no qualifying for, or supplementing, divine grace through works, even less the perfecting of human nature through virtue in the pagan-classical manner.» — lo que Jonas descarta de la moral marcionita: no cabe merecer ni suplementar la gracia divina con obras, ni menos perfeccionar la naturaleza humana por la virtud a la manera pagano-clásica

«In principle, all positive morality, as a way of regulating and thereby confirming man's membership in the system of creation, was but a version of that Law through which the creator exercised his hold over man's soul and to which the saved were no longer beholden: to go on practicing it would be to consolidate a belonging to the cosmos which should on the contrary be reduced to the inevitable minimum pending the ultimate removal from its range.» — el principio que Jonas expone: toda moral positiva, en cuanto regula y con ello confirma la pertenencia del hombre al sistema de la creación, era una versión de aquella Ley con que el creador ejercía su dominio, y seguir practicándola sería consolidar una pertenencia al cosmos que debe reducirse al mínimo inevitable

«Its principle was: not to complete but to reduce the world of the creator and to make the least possible use of it.» — la fórmula de esa moral: no completar sino reducir el mundo del creador y usarlo lo menos posible

«The asceticism thus prescribed is strictly speaking a matter not of ethics but of metaphysical alignment. Much as the avoidance of worldly contamination was an aspect of it, its main aspect was to obstruct rather than promote the cause of the creator; or even, just» — la precisión que Jonas hace: ese ascetismo no es en rigor asunto de ética sino de alineamiento metafísico, y su aspecto principal no era evitar la contaminación mundana sino obstruir en vez de promover la causa del creador

«Marcion] believes that he vexes the Demiurge by abstaining from what he made or instituted" (Hippol. Refut. X. 19. 4).» — la frase de Hipólito que Jonas cita: Marción cree fastidiar al Demiurgo absteniéndose de lo que este hizo o instituyó

«The "perpetual abstinence" in matters of food is "for the sake of destroying and contemning and abominating the works of the creator" (Jerome Adv.» — el motivo que Jonas toma de Jerónimo para la abstinencia perpetua en materia de comida: destruir, despreciar y abominar las obras del creador

«Especially clear is the purpose of obstructing in the prohibition of sexual intercourse and marriage: "Not wishing to help replenish the world made by the Demiurge, the Marcionites decreed abstention from matrimony, defying their creator and hastening to the Good One who has called them and who, they say, is God in a different sense: wherefore, wishing to leave nothing of their own down here, they turn abstemious not from a moral principle but from hostility to their maker and unwillingness to use his creation» — el pasaje de Clemente de Alejandría que Jonas cita: los marcionitas decretaron la abstención del matrimonio para no ayudar a repoblar el mundo hecho por el Demiurgo, y se vuelven abstemios no por un principio moral sino por hostilidad a su hacedor y por no querer usar su creación

«Here the pollution by the flesh and its lust, so widespread a theme in this age, is not even mentioned; instead (though not to its exclusion: cf. Tertullian, op. cit. I. 19, where marriage is called a "filthiness" or "obscenity" [spurcitiae]) it is the aspect of reproduction which disqualifies sexuality—that very aspect which in the eyes of the Church alone justifies it as its purpose under nature's dispensation.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese pasaje: ahí ni siquiera se menciona la contaminación por la carne y su lujuria, tan extendida en la época, y lo que descalifica a la sexualidad es el aspecto reproductivo, justamente el que a ojos de la Iglesia la justifica

«Marcion here voices a genuine and typical gnostic argument, whose fullest elaboration we shall meet in Mani: that the reproductive scheme is an ingenious archontic device for the indefinite retention of souls in the world.» — el argumento que Jonas llama genuino y típicamente gnóstico: el esquema reproductivo es un ingenioso artificio arcóntico para retener indefinidamente a las almas en el mundo

«This incidentally provides a conclusive proof, against Harnack, of Marcion's dependence on prior gnostic speculation: for the argument makes real sense only where the souls are lost parts of the godhead to be retrieved—in that case reproduction prolongs divine captivity and by further dispersal makes more difficult the work of salvation as one of gathering-in.» — el argumento con que Jonas contradice a Harnack en nota: eso prueba de modo concluyente la dependencia de Marción respecto de la especulación gnóstica previa, porque el argumento solo tiene sentido pleno donde las almas son partes perdidas de la divinidad por recobrar

«Thus Marcion's asceticism, unlike that of the Essenes or later of Christian monasticism, was not conceived to further the sanctification of human existence, but was essentially negative in conception and part of the gnostic revolt against the cosmos.» — la conclusión que Jonas saca: a diferencia del de los esenios o del monacato cristiano, el ascetismo de Marción no se concibió para promover la santificación de la existencia humana, sino que era esencialmente negativo y parte de la revuelta gnóstica contra el cosmos

«In using his understanding of St. Paul as a yardstick for what is genuinely Christian and what not, Marcion subjected the New Testament writings to a rigorous sifting process to divide the true from what he had to regard as later falsifications.» — el procedimiento que Jonas describe: con su lectura de Pablo por vara de lo genuinamente cristiano, Marción sometió los escritos neotestamentarios a un cribado riguroso para separar lo verdadero de lo que tenía por falsificación posterior

«It was in this way that for the first time not only text-critical work, if in rather a highhanded manner, was applied to the early Christian documents but the very idea of a canon was conceived and executed in the Christian Church.» — el hecho que Jonas le adjudica: así se aplicó por primera vez trabajo crítico-textual a los documentos cristianos primitivos, con mano bastante libre, y se concibió y ejecutó por primera vez en la Iglesia cristiana la idea misma de un canon; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de high-handed y devuelve highhanded, forma que el impreso no lleva

«The latter had in his view also invaded St. Luke's Gospel, which on the whole he considered the only authentic, i,e., God-given one (and therefore not by Luke), so that it needed careful expurgation: the birth story, for instance, with its Davidic reference, had to go, and much else (of which we have mentioned the elemination of 12:6). These major features are sufficient to illustrate the general character of Marcion's text-critical work.» — el expurgo que Jonas registra: a su ver esas interpolaciones habían invadido también el Evangelio de Lucas, que tenía por el único auténtico, es decir dado por Dios y por tanto no de Lucas, y del que había que quitar por ejemplo la historia del nacimiento con su referencia davídica

«It was in answer to Marcion's attempt to thrust his canon and with it his whole interpretation of the Christian message upon the Church that the latter proceeded to establish the orthodox canon and the orthodox dogma.» — la consecuencia histórica que Jonas asigna: la Iglesia procedió a establecer el canon ortodoxo y el dogma ortodoxo en respuesta al intento de Marción de imponerle el suyo

«In fixing the former, the major struggle was about the retention or dropping of the Old Testament, and if "Holy Scripture" to this day means both Testaments, this is due to the fact that Marcionitism did not have its own way.» — y su saldo: en la fijación del canon la lucha mayor fue por retener o soltar el Antiguo Testamento, y que Sagrada Escritura signifique hasta hoy los dos Testamentos se debe a que el marcionitismo no se salió con la suya

«The regula fidei with which Origen prefaced his main work, De Principiis, contains the emphatic statement,16 "This God, just and good, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has himself given the law and the prophets and the gospels, he who is the God both of the apostles and of the Old and the New Testament.» — la regula fidei con que Orígenes encabeza De Principiis, en la que Jonas ve un énfasis antimarcionita: este Dios, justo y bueno, Padre de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, ha dado él mismo la ley, los profetas y los evangelios, y es el Dios de los apóstoles y de los dos Testamentos

«Yet in one way or another Marcionitism has remained an issue in Christianity to this day. And quite apart from all doctrinal controversy, Marcion's message of the new and alien God will never fail to touch the human heart.» — el cierre del capítulo: de un modo u otro el marcionitismo sigue siendo un asunto vivo en el cristianismo, y al margen de toda controversia doctrinal el mensaje de Marción sobre el Dios nuevo y ajeno nunca dejará de tocar el corazón humano

«The subject of this chapter will show that there was abroad in the Hellenistic world gnostic thought and speculation entirely free of Christian connections.» — la tesis del capítulo siguiente: había en el mundo helenístico pensamiento y especulación gnósticos enteramente libres de conexiones cristianas

«The Hermetic writings, composed in Greek from the first, not only are purely pagan but even lack polemical reference to either Judaism or Christianity, though the Poimandres treatise for one shows its author's acquaintance with the biblical story of creation which through the Septuagint translation had become widely known in the Greek world.» — la caracterización que Jonas hace de los escritos herméticos: compuestos en griego desde el principio, no solo son puramente paganos sino que carecen de referencia polémica al judaísmo o al cristianismo, aunque el Poimandres muestra que su autor conocía el relato bíblico de la creación por la Septuaginta

«The religion of the "Thricegreatest Hermes" originated in Hellenistic Egypt, where Hermes was identified with Thoth.» — el origen que Jonas le asigna: la religión del Hermes tres veces grande nació en el Egipto helenístico, donde Hermes se identificó con Thot; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de Thrice-greatest y devuelve Thricegreatest, forma que el impreso no lleva

«Not the whole Corpus can be regarded as a gnostic source: large parts of it breathe the spirit of a cosmic pantheism far removed from the violent denunciation of the physical universe so characteristic of the Gnostics. Other portions are predominantly moral, and their strong dualism of the sensual and the spiritual, of body and mind, though well agreeing with the gnostic attitude, would fit equally well, e.g., into a Christian or Platonic framework, since it expresses the general transcendental mood of the age.» — la reserva que Jonas impone: no todo el Corpus es fuente gnóstica, porque grandes partes respiran un panteísmo cósmico muy lejos de la denuncia violenta del universo físico, y otras son sobre todo morales y encajarían igual en un marco cristiano o platónico

«There are, however, unmistakably gnostic portions in this syncretistic whole, and especially the first treatise of the corpus, called Poimandres, is an outstanding document of gnostic cosmogony and anthropogony independent of the speculations of the Christian Gnostics.» — lo que sí concede: hay porciones inequívocamente gnósticas en ese conjunto sincretista, y el primer tratado del corpus, el Poimandres, es un documento destacado de cosmogonía y antropogonía gnósticas independiente de la especulación cristiano-gnóstica

«The antithesis of the creator and the highest God is absent here: the demiurge has been commissioned by the Father, and his creation seems to be (as it was still represented later in Manichaeism) the best way of coping with the existence of a chaotic darkness.» — la diferencia que Jonas destaca: ahí falta la antítesis entre el creador y el Dios altísimo, porque el demiurgo ha sido comisionado por el Padre y su creación parece ser la mejor manera de vérselas con la existencia de una tiniebla caótica

«Yet the unplanned inclusion of the divine Man in the cosmic system is distinctly tragic; and even the character of the most genuine product of the demiurge, the seven spheres and their governors, turns out to be much more problematic than one would expect from the account of their origin.» — y el contrapeso que Jonas mantiene: la inclusión no planeada del Hombre divino en el sistema cósmico es netamente trágica, y hasta el carácter de las siete esferas y sus gobernadores resulta mucho más problemático de lo que su origen haría esperar

«There are considerable difficulties in integrating the different parts of the composition into a consistent doctrine, and perhaps a certain ambiguity, due to the combination of contradictory material, is of its very substance.» — la abstención que Jonas declara: integrar las distintas partes de la composición en una doctrina consistente ofrece dificultades considerables, y quizá cierta ambigüedad, debida a la combinación de materiales contradictorios, sea de su sustancia misma

«Once, when I had engaged in meditation upon the things that are and my mind was mightily lifted up, while my bodily senses were curbed ... I thought I beheld a presence of immeasurable greatness that called my name and said to me: "What dost thou wish to hear and see and in thought learn and understand?" (2) I said, "Who art thou?" "I am," he said, "Poimandres, the Nous of the Absolute Power. I know what thou wishest, and I am with thee everywhere." (3) I said, "I desire to be taught about the things that are and understand their nature and know God. . . ." And he replied, "Hold fast in thy mind what thou wishest to learn, and I shall teach thee.» — la apertura del Poimandres en la versión de Jonas: en meditación sobre las cosas que son y con los sentidos corporales refrenados, el narrador percibe una presencia de grandeza inmensurable que lo llama por su nombre y se declara Poimandres, el Nous del Poder Absoluto

«With these words, he changed his form, and suddenly everything was opened before me in a flash, and I behold a boundless view, everything become Light, serene and joyful. And I became enamored with the sight. And after a while there was a Darkness borne downward . . . ,* appalling and hateful, tortuously coiled, resembling a serpent.» — la visión que sigue: todo se abrió en un relámpago, todo se hizo Luz serena y gozosa, y al cabo de un rato una Tiniebla descendió, espantosa y odiosa, tortuosamente enroscada, semejante a una serpiente

«But it may be noted here that while Marcion abolished the Pauline paradox of a God who is just and good and before whom man is guilty yet beloved, he stressed all» — la balanza que Jonas hace sin armonizarla: Marción abolió la paradoja paulina de un Dios justo y bueno ante el que el hombre es culpable y a la vez amado; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«the more the paradox of a grace given inscrutably, unsolicited, with no antecedents to prompt and to prepare it, an irreducible mystery of divine goodness as such.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: subrayó tanto más la paradoja de una gracia dada inescrutablemente, no solicitada y sin antecedentes que la impulsen o la preparen, misterio irreductible de la bondad divina como tal

«The canon which Marcion laid down for the Church was understandably meager. That the Old Testament as a whole went by the board goes without saying. Of our present New Testament, only the Gospel according to Luke and the ten Pauline Letters were accepted, though even the latter with» — el canon que Jonas describe: comprensiblemente magro, sin el Antiguo Testamento entero, y de nuestro Nuevo Testamento solo el Evangelio según Lucas y las diez cartas paulinas; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«The system of the Poimandres is centered around the divine figure of Primal Man; his sinking into nature is the dramatic climax of the revelation and is matched by» — el eje del Poimandres según Jonas: la figura divina del Hombre Primordial, cuyo hundimiento en la naturaleza es el clímax dramático de la revelación; el tramo se corta antes del folio impreso, en el cambio de plana

«the ascent of the soul, the description of which concludes the revelation.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: a ese clímax le corresponde el ascenso del alma, cuya descripción cierra la revelación

«From out of the Light a holy Word [logos] came over the nature, and unmixed fire leapt out of the humid nature upward to the height; it was light and keen, and active at the same time; and the air, being light, followed the fiery breath, rising up as far as the fire from earth and water, so that it seemed suspended from it; but earth and water remained in their place, intermingled, so that the earth was not discernible apart from the water; and they were kept in audible motion through the breath of the Word which was borne over them.» — la cosmogonía del Poimandres en la versión de Jonas: de la Luz vino sobre la naturaleza una Palabra santa, el fuego sin mezcla saltó de la naturaleza húmeda hacia lo alto, el aire siguió al soplo ígneo, y tierra y agua quedaron mezcladas y en movimiento por el soplo de la Palabra

«That light is I, Nous, thy God, who was before the humid nature that appeared out of the Darkness. And the luminous Word that issued from Nous is the Son of God. ... By this understand: that which in thee sees and hears is the Word of the Lord, but the Nous [thy nous?] is God the Father: they are not separate from each other, for Life is the union of these.» — la revelación de Poimandres que Jonas cita: esa luz soy yo, Nous, tu Dios, anterior a la naturaleza húmeda que apareció de la Tiniebla, y la Palabra luminosa salida del Nous es el Hijo de Dios; lo que en ti ve y oye es la Palabra del Señor y el Nous es Dios Padre, y no están separados, porque la Vida es la unión de ambos

«Having said this, he gazed long at me intently, so that I trembled at his aspect; then when he looked up, I behold in my nous2 the Light consisting in innumerable Powers and be come a boundless Cosmos, and the fire contained by a mighty power and under its firm control keeping its place.» — la visión que sigue: al mirar hacia arriba el vidente percibe en su nous la Luz hecha de innumerables Potencias y vuelta un Cosmos sin límites, con el fuego contenido por un poder poderoso y bajo su firme control

«Wherefrom then," I ask, "have the elements of nature arisen?" To which he replies: "From the Will4 of God, who having received into herself the Word and beheld the beautiful [archetypal] Cosmos, imitated it, fashioning herself into a cosmos [or: ordering herself] according to her own ele ments and her progeny, i.e., the souls.» — la respuesta sobre el origen de los elementos: de la Voluntad de Dios, que habiendo recibido en sí la Palabra y contemplado el Cosmos arquetípico bello, lo imitó y se ordenó a sí misma como cosmos según sus propios elementos y su progenie, las almas

«boule, a word of feminine gender.» — la nota gramatical con que Jonas señala el género de esa Voluntad: boule, palabra de género femenino

«Forthwith the Word of God leapt out of the downwardborne elements upward into the pure [part of the] physical creation [the demiurgical sphere] and became united with the Nous-Demiurge, for he was of the same substance. And thus the lower elements of Nature were left without reason,5 so that they were now mere Matter.» — el retiro de la Palabra que Jonas traduce: la Palabra de Dios saltó de los elementos que iban hacia abajo hasta la parte pura de la creación física y se unió al Nous-Demiurgo, por ser de la misma sustancia, y así los elementos inferiores quedaron sin razón y fueron mera Materia; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de downward-borne y devuelve downwardborne, forma que el impreso no lleva

«without logos," since the Logos (Word) had departed from them: logos meaning "word" and "reason," the argument is not fully apparent in the English rendering.» — la advertencia de traducción que Jonas hace en nota: logos significa a la vez palabra y razón, de modo que el argumento no queda del todo visible en la versión inglesa

«And together with the Word the Nous-Demiurge, encompassing the circles and whirling them with thunderous speed, set his creations circling in endless revolution, for it begins where it ends. And this rotation of the spheres according to the will of the Nous [-Demiurge] produced out of the lower elements irrational animals, for those elements had not retained the Word.» — la rotación que sigue: el Nous-Demiurgo, ciñendo los círculos y haciéndolos girar con velocidad atronadora, puso sus creaciones en revolución sin fin, que empieza donde acaba, y esa rotación produjo de los elementos inferiores los animales irracionales, porque esos elementos no habían retenido la Palabra

«Now the Nous, Father of all, being Life and Light, brought forth Man like to himself, of whom he became enamored as his own child, for he was very beautiful, since he bore the Father's image; for indeed even God became enamored of his own form, and he delivered over to him all his works.» — la generación del Hombre: el Nous, Padre de todo, Vida y Luz, engendró un Hombre semejante a sí del que se enamoró como de su propio hijo, porque llevaba la imagen del Padre, y le entregó todas sus obras

«And Man, beholding the creation which the Demiurge had fashioned in the fire [the celestial spheres], wished himself to create as well, and was permitted by the Father. When he had entered the demiurgical sphere where he was to have full authority, he beheld his brother's works, and they [the seven Governors] became enamored of him, and each gave him a share in his own realm.6 Having come to know their essence and having received a share of their nature, he then wished to break through the circumference of the circles and to overcome [?]7 the power of him who rules over the fire.» — el descenso que Jonas traduce: el Hombre, viendo la creación que el Demiurgo había hecho en el fuego, quiso crear también y el Padre se lo permitió; entrado en la esfera demiúrgica, los siete Gobernadores se enamoraron de él y cada uno le dio parte en su propio reino, y él quiso entonces romper la circunferencia de los círculos

«And he [Man] who had full power over the world of things mortal» — el clímax del mito del Poimandres: el Hombre tenía pleno poder sobre el mundo de lo mortal; el tramo se corta ante las notas al pie, el folio impreso y el encabezado corrido

«and over the irrational animals bent down through the Harmony8 and having broken through the vault showed to lower Nature the beautiful form of God. When she beheld him who had in himself inexhaustible beauty and all the forces of the Governors combined with the form of God, she smiled in love; for she had seen the reflection of this most beautiful form of Man in the water and its shadow upon the earth. He too, seeing his likeness present in her, reflected in the water, loved it and desired to dwell in it. At once with the wish it became reality, and he came to inhabit the form devoid of reason. And Nature, having received into herself the beloved, embraced him wholly, and they mingled: for they were inflamed with love.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: y sobre los animales irracionales, se inclinó por la Armonía, rompió la bóveda y mostró a la Naturaleza inferior la forma bella de Dios; ella sonrió de amor al ver el reflejo de esa forma en el agua, y él, viendo su semejanza reflejada en ella, la amó y quiso morar en ella

«And this is why alone of all the animals on earth man is twofold, mortal through the body, immortal through the essential Man. For though he is immortal and has power over all things, he suffers the lot of mortality, being subject to the Heimarmene; though he was above the Harmony, he has become a slave within the Harmony; though he was androgynous, having issued from the androgynous Father, and unsleeping from the unsleeping one, he is conquered by love and sleep.» — la consecuencia que el texto saca y Jonas traduce: por eso el hombre es el único de los animales de la tierra que es doble, mortal por el cuerpo e inmortal por el Hombre esencial, y aunque estaba sobre la Armonía se ha vuelto esclavo dentro de ella y, andrógino y sin sueño por su origen, queda vencido por el amor y el sueño

«Since the Man, now intermingled with Nature, "had in himself the nature of the harmony of the Seven," Nature brought forth seven androgynous men, corresponding to the natures of the seven Governors.» — el resumen que Jonas hace de la antropogonía: como el Hombre, ya mezclado con la Naturaleza, tenía en sí la naturaleza de la armonía de los Siete, la Naturaleza dio a luz siete hombres andróginos correspondientes a las naturalezas de los siete Gobernadores

«As to the contribution of Man as a part of the begetting mixture, he turned "from Life and Light into soul and mind (nous), into soul from Life and into mind from Light» — el aporte del Hombre a esa mezcla según el texto: se volvió de Vida y Luz en alma y mente, en alma desde la Vida y en mente desde la Luz

«The new world-era was initiated by the separation of all the androgynous creatures, animals and men alike, into male and female.» — el corte de era que Jonas registra: la nueva era del mundo se inició con la separación de todas las criaturas andróginas, animales y hombres, en macho y hembra

«And here occurs the only instance in which the author shows his familiarity with the Greek Old Testament in something like a direct quotation: on the model of Gen. 1:22, 28, God admonishes the new bisexual creation, "Be fruitful and multiply," then continues in a very different vein: "And [man] endowed with mind shall recognize that he is immortal and that the cause of death is love» — el único caso en que, según Jonas, el autor delata su familiaridad con el Antiguo Testamento griego en algo parecido a una cita directa: sobre el modelo del Génesis, Dios exhorta a la creación bisexual a crecer y multiplicarse y sigue en otro registro, que el hombre dotado de mente reconozca que es inmortal y que la causa de la muerte es el amor

«The first cause of the individual body is the hateful darkness, from which came the humid nature, from which was constituted the body of the sensible world, from which death draws nourishment. Thus the lovers of the body actually are in death and deserve death.» — la cadena causal que Jonas resume: la primera causa del cuerpo individual es la tiniebla odiosa, de la que vino la naturaleza húmeda, de la que se constituyó el cuerpo del mundo sensible, del que la muerte se alimenta, de modo que los amantes del cuerpo están de hecho en la muerte y merecen la muerte

«On the other hand, he who knows himself knows that the Father of all things consists of Light and Life, therefore likewise the Primal Man issued from him, and by this he knows himself to be of Light and Life, and will through this knowledge return to the Life.» — y su reverso: quien se conoce sabe que el Padre de todas las cosas consiste en Luz y Vida, que de él salió el Hombre Primordial, y por ahí se sabe de Luz y Vida y volverá por ese conocimiento a la Vida

«The knowing ones, filled with love for the Father, before they deliver the body to its own death abhor the senses, whose effects they know; and the Poimandres-Nous assists them in this by acting as a warder at the gates and barring entrance to the evil influences of the body. The unknowing ones are left a prey to all the evil passions, whose insatiability is their torment, always augmenting the flame that consumes them.» — el reparto final que Jonas resume: los que conocen aborrecen los sentidos y el Poimandres-Nous les ayuda haciendo de guardián en las puertas, mientras los que no conocen quedan presa de las pasiones malas, cuya insaciabilidad es su tormento

«And thereafter, man thrusts upward through the Harmony, and to the first zone he surrenders the power to grow and to decrease, and to the second the machinations of evil cunning, now rendered powerless, and to the third the deceit of concupiscence, now rendered powerless, and to the fourth the arrogance of dominion, drained of [or: now impotent to achieve] its ambition, and to the fifth the impious audacity and the rashness of impulsive deed, and to the sixth the evil appetites of wealth, now rendered powerless, and to the seventh zone the lying that ensnares.» — el ascenso por las siete zonas que Jonas traduce: el hombre entrega a la primera el poder de crecer y menguar, a la segunda las maquinaciones de la astucia malvada, a la tercera el engaño de la concupiscencia, a la cuarta la arrogancia del dominio, a la quinta la audacia impía y la temeridad del acto impulsivo, a la sexta los apetitos malos de riqueza y a la séptima la mentira que enreda

«And then denuded of the effects of the Harmony, he enters the nature of the Ogdoas [i.e., the eighth sphere, that of the fixed stars], now in possession of his own power, and with those already there exalts the Father; and those present rejoice with him at his presence, and having become like his companions he hears also certain powers above the eighth sphere exalting God with a sweet voice. And then in procession they rise up towards the Father and give themselves up to the Powers, and having become Powers themselves, enter the Godhead. This is the good end of those who have attained gnosis: to become God.» — el remate del ascenso: desnudo ya de los efectos de la Armonía entra en la Ogdóada, la octava esfera de las estrellas fijas, en posesión de su propio poder, y en procesión suben hacia el Padre y se entregan a las Potencias, y hechos ellos mismos Potencias entran en la Divinidad, buen fin de los que han alcanzado la gnosis, volverse Dios

«The composition of the treatise is clear. Its greatest part (1-26) is a report, in the first person, of a visionary experience and of the teachings conveyed in the course of it. The concluding paragraphs (27-32), omitted in our rendering, describe the subsequent missionary activity of the recipient among his fellow men.» — la anatomía del tratado que Jonas declara: la mayor parte es un informe en primera persona de una experiencia visionaria y de las enseñanzas recibidas en ella, y los párrafos finales, que omite en su versión, describen la actividad misionera posterior del receptor

«But the divine Nous, being androgynous, existing as Life and Light, brought forth by a word another Nous, the» — el paso siguiente en el Poimandres: el Nous divino, andrógino y existente como Vida y Luz, engendró por una palabra otro Nous; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«Demiurge, who as god over the fire and the breath fashioned seven Governors, who encompass with their circles the sensible world, and their government is called Heimarmene [Destiny].» — el remate en la plana siguiente: ese segundo Nous es el Demiurgo, que como dios sobre el fuego y el soplo formó siete Gobernadores cuyos círculos ciñen el mundo sensible, y a cuyo gobierno se llama Heimarmene

«81 stick to the astrological and dynamic meaning of the term. The most recent interpreters take harmonia here in the concrete sense it had in the language of the carpenter: "joint," "fitting together"; thus Nock, proposes the translation "composite framework," Festugiere translates "armature des spheres." Both these excellent scholars, though tentative as to the most suitable translation, are certain that the word throughout our treatise denotes a particular material structure and not, as I understand it, the general essence of a power system, viz., the law of the interrelated motions of the macrocosmos represented by the seven planets (the latter, however, considered mainly in their "psychological" aspect, as the subsequent account of the soul's ascent makes clear). Of the reasons I have against the newer interpretation, I indicate only two: that supplied by the phrase "[Man] having in himself the nature of the harmony of the Seven" (16), which makes sense only in connection with the abstract meaning first given to "harmony" by the Pythagoreans; and its additional support by the close correlation in which our text repeatedly (15; 19) puts "harmony" to "heimarmene" (destiny). In brief, harmonia stands for a totality of forces (the Governors) denoted by its unifying characteristic (the form of their collective government), and not just for a partitioning wall or any more complex entity of that kind, like a scaffolding. Incidentally, the spheric system was fashioned out of fire, which hardly goes well with a framework.» — el desacuerdo de traducción que Jonas argumenta en nota contra Nock y Festugière, sin ocultar que son estudiosos excelentes: ellos toman harmonia en el sentido concreto de armazón o ensambladura, y él sostiene el sentido astrológico y dinámico, la ley de los movimientos correlacionados del macrocosmos representada por los siete planetas; el escaneo pega el número de nota al arranque del renglón

«Man is the third in the triad of successive divine creations or emanations: Word (Logos), Mind-Artificer (Nous-Demiurgos), Man (Anthropos). He can regard the Demiurge as his brother, but has the special analogy to the Logos that they both enter into close connection with the lower Nature which in due course is dissolved again.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna al Hombre en el Poimandres: tercero en la tríada de creaciones o emanaciones divinas —Logos, Nous-Demiurgo, Anthropos—, hermano del Demiurgo y análogo del Logos en que ambos entran en conexión estrecha con la Naturaleza inferior

«whereas Man was begotten by the first God after the establishment of the cosmic system, though outside it, and with no apparent purpose except for God's enjoying his own perfection in a perfect image of himself untainted by the admixture of the lower world.» — el origen que Jonas describe: el Hombre fue engendrado por el primer Dios después de establecido el sistema cósmico, aunque fuera de él, y sin propósito aparente salvo el de que Dios gozara su propia perfección en una imagen perfecta de sí

«In the traits of being created "in God's image" and only after the end of the cosmic creation, this version of the origin of the god Man shows a closer proximity to the biblical account than the version more generally current in Gnosticism according to which Man precedes creation and himself has a cosmogonic role.» — la comparación que Jonas hace: ser creado a imagen de Dios y solo después de terminada la creación cósmica acerca esta versión al relato bíblico más que la versión gnóstica corriente, donde el Hombre precede a la creación y tiene él mismo un papel cosmogónico

«Rabbinical speculations about Adam based on the duplication of the report of his creation in» — el eslabón que Jonas propone: las especulaciones rabínicas sobre Adán apoyadas en la duplicación del relato de su creación; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«en. 1 and 2, which were referred to a celestial and a terrestrial Adam respectively, supply a link between biblical and gnostic doctrines concerning the First Man.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: Génesis 1 y 2 referidos a un Adán celeste y otro terrestre dan un eslabón entre las doctrinas bíblicas y las gnósticas sobre el Primer Hombre; el escaneo se come la G de Gen

«Certain Zoroastrian teachings, either through the medium of those Jewish speculations or directly, may also have contributed to the conception of this supremely important figure of gnostic theology.» — y el segundo aporte que propone con reserva: ciertas enseñanzas zoroástricas, por vía de esas especulaciones judías o directamente, pudieron contribuir a la concepción de esa figura

«The departure from the biblical model (if this really was the starting point of the development, which is much debated among modern scholars) is conspicuous in the following features: God does not "make" Man, but as an androgynous generative principle begets him and brings him forth, so that he is really an emanation of His own substance; he is not formed of clay, but is Life and Light purely; the "likeness" is one not of symbolic similitude but of a full sameness of form, so that in him God contemplates and loves His own adequate representation; he is extra-mundane, while even the Demiurge has his seat within the cosmic system, albeit in its highest and outermost sphere, the eighths; his dimensions are commensurate with those of the physical creation, as his later union with the whole of Nature shows; the mastery given to him is not as in Genesis over the terrestrial fauna merely, but over the astral macrocosmos as well.» — los rasgos en que Jonas cifra el apartamiento del modelo bíblico, declarando a la vez que el punto de partida se discute mucho entre los estudiosos modernos: Dios no hace al Hombre sino que lo engendra como principio generativo andrógino, de modo que es emanación de su propia sustancia; no está formado de barro sino que es puramente Vida y Luz; la semejanza no es similitud simbólica sino identidad plena de forma; es extramundano, mientras el Demiurgo tiene su asiento dentro del sistema cósmico; y el señorío que se le da no es sobre la fauna terrestre sino también sobre el macrocosmos astral

«The exercise of this power, however, was hardly the original purpose of his production by the Father: it accrued to him with the granting of his wish "himself to create as well.» — la reserva que Jonas añade: ejercer ese poder no fue el propósito original de su producción por el Padre, y le sobrevino al concedérsele el deseo de crear también él

«This motivation of divine descent and eventual involvement in the lower world is more often, and more logically, connected with the demiurgical principle itself and is to account for the very existence of the world.» — la observación de método que Jonas hace: esa motivación del descenso divino y de la implicación en el mundo inferior suele conectarse, con más lógica, con el principio demiúrgico mismo, para dar cuenta de la existencia del mundo

«These inconsistencies suggest that we have here an adapted form of the Anthropos myth, with some traces of an original cosmogonic function of the figure faintly preserved.» — la hipótesis que Jonas propone: esas inconsistencias sugieren una forma adaptada del mito del Anthropos, con trazas tenues de una función cosmogónica original de la figura

«The tribute rendered him by the seven Governors' each giving him a share in his own realm appears to be in the nature of a positive accretion to his own being: he absorbs and henceforth has in himself the nature of the Harmony, i.e., the powers of the seven Governors in their respective spheres; and this, at least in the eyes of the lower Nature, seems to add to the attraction of the divine form when he shows himself to her.» — la lectura inicial que Jonas propone del tributo de los siete Gobernadores: parece una acreción positiva a su ser, porque absorbe la naturaleza de la Armonía y eso, al menos a ojos de la Naturaleza inferior, parece añadir atractivo a la forma divina

«Yet it must not be forgotten that the Governors and their spheres were fashioned by the Demiurge out of fire, which, though the purest, is still one of the physical elements originating from the primal Darkness. Thus we may already at this point suspect that the gifts of the planetary powers might not have been wholly desirable to a being of pure divinity, and might even have their fatal aspects.» — la sospecha que Jonas opone: los Gobernadores y sus esferas los formó el Demiurgo con fuego, que aun siendo el más puro sigue siendo uno de los elementos físicos originados en la Tiniebla primordial, de modo que los dones planetarios pudieron no ser del todo deseables para un ser de pura divinidad

«The immediate context contains nothing to bear out such a suspicion, and would rather tend to dispel it, were it not for the subsequent» — el grado de apoyo que Jonas concede a su sospecha: el contexto inmediato nada trae que la sostenga y más bien la disiparía; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie larga que el escaneo mete en el cuerpo

«description of the ascent of the soul and for independent accounts, inside and outside of Hermetic literature, of its original descent through the spheres to its earthly abode.» — el remate tras la nota: salvo por la descripción posterior del ascenso del alma y por relatos independientes, dentro y fuera de la literatura hermética, de su descenso original por las esferas hasta su morada terrestre

«Here is indeed one of the instances, characteristic of the composite nature of Hermetic religion, in which it oscillates between the pre-gnostic and gnostic meaning of the same mythological theme.» — el rasgo que Jonas atribuye a la religión hermética: su naturaleza compuesta la hace oscilar entre el sentido pregnóstico y el gnóstico de un mismo tema mitológico

«The conception belongs to the astrological range of ideas: each of the planetary powers makes its contribution to the equipment of the soul prior to its embodiment.» — la concepción que Jonas sitúa en el ámbito astrológico: cada potencia planetaria hace su aporte al equipo del alma antes de su encarnación

«In an affirmative cosmology these are useful gifts which fit man for his earthly existence. And by reason of having these psychical components in himself man is sympathetically connected with their astral sources, i.e., with the cosmos, in whose "harmony" he thus participates. Through this sympathy he is also subject to the influences of the stars and thus to the heimarmene—the basic premise of astrology—but as long as the cosmos is considered good there is nothing deleterious in this conception; indeed, it is the expression of cosmic piety.» — el sentido que esos dones tienen en una cosmología afirmativa según Jonas: son útiles, conectan simpáticamente al hombre con sus fuentes astrales y lo someten a la heimarmene, y mientras el cosmos se tenga por bueno eso no es dañino sino expresión de piedad cósmica

«To this complex of ideas Gnosticism gave a new turn by conceiving the planetary constituents of the soul as corruptions of its original nature contracted in its descent through the cosmic spheres.» — el giro que Jonas atribuye al gnosticismo: concebir los constituyentes planetarios del alma como corrupciones de su naturaleza original contraídas en el descenso por las esferas cósmicas

«While we slide and hasten downwards to the human bodies, there attach themselves to us from the cosmic spheres the causes by which we become ever worse. (Adv. nat. II. 16)» — la enseñanza hermética que Jonas toma de Arnobio: mientras nos deslizamos y bajamos de prisa hacia los cuerpos humanos, se nos adhieren desde las esferas cósmicas las causas por las que nos volvemos cada vez peores

«As the souls descend, they draw with them the torpor of Saturn, the wrathfulness of Mars, the concupiscence of Venus, the greed for gain of Mercury, the lust for power of Jupiter; which things effect a confusion in the souls, so that they can no longer make use of their own power and their proper faculties. (Servius In Aen. VI. 714)» — el paralelo inverso que Jonas cita de Servio: al descender, las almas arrastran el sopor de Saturno, la iracundia de Marte, la concupiscencia de Venus, la codicia de Mercurio y el ansia de poder de Júpiter, cosas que las confunden hasta que ya no pueden usar sus propias facultades

«The expressions make it clear that what attaches itself to the soul on its downward journey has the character of substantial though immaterial entities, and these are frequently described as "envelopments" or "garments."» — la lectura que Jonas hace de esas expresiones: lo que se adhiere al alma en su viaje de bajada tiene carácter de entidades sustanciales aunque inmateriales, descritas a menudo como envolturas o vestiduras

«Accordingly the resultant terrestrial "soul" is comparable to an onion with so many layers, on the model of the cosmos itself, only in inverse order: what is outermost there is innermost here, and after the process is completed with incarnation, what is innermost in the spherical scheme of the cosmos, the earth, is as body the outer garment of man.» — la imagen con que Jonas resume el resultado: el alma terrestre es comparable a una cebolla de tantas capas, según el modelo del cosmos pero en orden inverso, de modo que lo que allá es lo más externo aquí es lo más interno y la tierra acaba siendo, como cuerpo, la vestidura exterior del hombre

«That this body is a fatality to the soul had long ago been preached by the Orphics, whose teachings were revived in the era of Gnosticism. But now the psychical envelopments too are considered impairments and fetters of the transmundane spirit.» — la novedad que Jonas fecha: que el cuerpo sea fatalidad para el alma ya lo predicaban los órficos, cuyas enseñanzas reviven en la era del gnosticismo, pero ahora también las envolturas psíquicas se tienen por menoscabos y grilletes del espíritu transmundano

«Looking down from that highest summit and perpetual light, and having with secret desire contemplated the appetence of the body and its "life," so called on earth, the soul by the very weight of this its earthly thought gradually sinks down into the nether world. . . . In each sphere [which it passes] it is clothed with an etherial envelopment, so that by these it is in stages reconciled to the company of this earthen garment. And thus it comes through as many deaths as it passes spheres to what here on earth is called "life." (Macrobius In somn. Scip. II. 11)» — el pasaje de Macrobio que Jonas cita: mirando desde aquella cumbre altísima y luz perpetua, y contemplando con deseo secreto la apetencia del cuerpo, el alma se hunde por el peso mismo de ese pensamiento terreno y en cada esfera se reviste de una envoltura etérea

«Now, what are these foreign accretions? In their sum they are the empirical character of man, comprising all the faculties and propensities by which man relates himself to the world of nature and society; that is, they constitute what would normally be called his "psyche."» — la respuesta que Jonas da a su propia pregunta: esas acreciones ajenas son en suma el carácter empírico del hombre, todas las facultades y propensiones con que se relaciona con el mundo de la naturaleza y de la sociedad, es decir lo que normalmente se llamaría su psique

«It is the transcendent acosmic principle in man, normally hidden and undiscovered in his earthly preoccupations, or only negatively betraying itself in a feeling of alienness, of not completely belonging, and becoming positive here only through the gnosis' giving it in the beholding of the divine light an acosmic content of its own and thereby restoring it to its original condition, now obscured.» — y qué queda debajo: el principio acósmico trascendente en el hombre, oculto en sus ocupaciones terrenas o delatándose solo en negativo como sentimiento de ajenidad, que se vuelve positivo por la gnosis al recibir un contenido acósmico propio en la contemplación de la luz divina

«The Hermetic writings avoid the term "pneuma" in the spiritual meaning,12 replacing it by "nous"; but elsewhere the name "psyche" is also used, with appropriate qualifications, for both parts, and often, as in the above quotations, we read simply of the "soul" descending and undergoing the deteriorations described.» — el uso terminológico que Jonas registra: los escritos herméticos evitan pneuma en sentido espiritual y lo reemplazan por nous, mientras en otras partes psyche sirve, con calificativos, para las dos partes

«Those around Basilides are in the habit of calling the passions "appendages," which they say are in essence certain spirits appended to the rational soul in consequence of an original upheaval and confusion. {Strom. II. 20. 112)» — el pasaje de Clemente de Alejandría que Jonas cita: los del círculo de Basílides suelen llamar apéndices a las pasiones, que dicen ser espíritus añadidos al alma racional a consecuencia de una conmoción y confusión originales

«In Basilides' school these "appendages" in their entirety were considered as themselves constituting a soul, as the title of a lost book by his son Isidorus shows, On the Accreted Soul, which treated of ""the force of the appendages» — el paso siguiente que Jonas registra: en la escuela de Basílides esos apéndices en conjunto se tuvieron por un alma, como muestra el título de un libro perdido de su hijo Isidoro, Sobre el alma acrecentada

«Already Plato uses the following telling simile for the present condition of the soul in relation to its true nature: "Our description of the soul is true of her present appearance; but we have seen her afflicted by countless evils, like the sea-god Glaucus, whose original form can hardly be discerned, because parts of his body have been broken off or crushed and altogether marred by the waves, and the clinging overgrowth of weed and rock and shell has made him more like some monster than his natural self. But we must rather fix our eyes on her love of wisdom [philosophia] and note how she seeks to apprehend and hold converse with the <iivine, immortal, and everlasting world to which she is akin, and what she would become if her affections were entirely set on following the impulse that would lift her out of the sea in which she is now sunken, and disencumber her of all that wild profusion of rock and shell whose earthy substance has encrusted her, because she seeks what men call happiness by making earth her food. Then one might see her true nature» — el símil platónico que Jonas cita entero de la República: el alma en su apariencia presente es como el dios marino Glauco, cuya forma original apenas se discierne porque las olas le han roto partes del cuerpo y la maleza, las rocas y las conchas adheridas lo han vuelto más monstruo que sí mismo

«It is remarkable how in this rather incidental simile Plato toys with several of the images which later were to become so deadly serious with the Gnostics: the symbolism of the sea and the foreign "accretions" to the soul. As regards the latter, Plato uses the same expression (symphyein—translated by Cornford with "overgrowth") as Isidorus has in the title of his book.» — la observación que Jonas hace sobre ese símil: es notable cómo en una comparación tan incidental Platón juega con varias imágenes que después se volverían mortalmente serias entre los gnósticos, el mar y las acreciones ajenas al alma, y usa la misma expresión que Isidoro en el título de su libro

«Thus in the Mandaean story of creation contained in the third book of the Right Ginza we read that first from the Great Mana issued the Life: "and this addressed a request to itself; and at its request there came forth the fast-grounded Uthra whom the Life called the Second Life. . . . That Second Life then created Uthras, established sh'kinas. . . . Three Uthras came forth who addressed a request to the Second Life; they asked permission to create sh'kinas for themselves. The [Second] Life granted it. . . . Then they said to it, 'Give us of thy splendor and of thy light, and we will go forth and descend beneath the streams of water. We will call forth unto thee sh'kinas, create unto thee a world, and the world be ours and thine.' This pleased [the Second Life], and it said, 'I will grant it to them'; but the Great [Mana] it did not please, and the [First] Life did not approve of» — el paralelo mandeo que Jonas cita en nota: tres Uthras piden a la Segunda Vida permiso para crearse sh'kinas y un mundo, ella lo concede y ni la Gran Mana ni la Primera Vida lo aprueban; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«and what they intend, they who say, We will create a world'"; and later on " 'Thou hast seen, Manda d'Hayye, what the Uthras are doing and what they plan about this and that. Thou hast seen that they have forsaken the House of Life and turned their faces to the place of Darkness. . . . Who will bring order among them, who will deliver them from failure and error . . . that they brought upon themselves? Who will make them hear the call of the Great [Life] ?' " In the sequence of this very ill-composed treatise an individual demiurgical figure becomes the executor of the cosmogonic plan of the Uthras—Ptahil-Uthra, who from his father (one of the Uthras, here called B'haq Ziva, elsewhere Abathur) receives the mandate, " 'Go, descend to the place without sh'kinas and without worlds. Create and make thyself a world like the sons of Blessedness whom thou hast seen' [here we have the motif of imitating an ideal world, widespread in gnostic speculation and also occurring in the Poimandres—possibly but not necessarily a distorted reminiscence of the Platonic Demiurge]. Ptahil-Uthra went forth and descended beneath the sh'kinas to the place where there is no world. He stepped into the filthy slime, he stepped into the turbid water . . . and the living fire in him was changed» — la continuación de esa nota en la plana siguiente: Manda d'Hayye recibe el encargo de subir sobre los Uthras y ver qué traman, y después Ptahil-Uthra recibe el mandato de bajar y hacerse un mundo semejante al que ha visto, y al pisar el limo sucio y el agua turbia el fuego vivo en él quedó alterado

«see what the Man either in collaboration or in competition with the Demiurge has still left for him to do. Nor does the subsequent narrative provide an answer to this question: rather than a creative urge, his main motive in penetrating the demiurgical system seems to be curiosity.» — el hueco que Jonas señala en el Poimandres: cuesta ver qué le queda al Hombre por hacer con el Demiurgo o contra él, y su motivo principal para penetrar el sistema demiúrgico parece más bien la curiosidad; el tramo empieza en la plana siguiente al comienzo de la frase

«Man has two souls: the one is from the First Mind and also shares in the power of the Demiurge, the other has been put in from the revolution of the heavens, and into this the God-seeing soul enters. Since this is so, the soul that has come down into us from the spheres (lit. "worlds") follows along with the revolutions of the spheres; but the one present in us as mind from the Mind is superior to the motion that works becoming, and it is through it that the liberation from the heimarmene and the ascent to the Intelligible Gods comes about. (Iamblichus De myst. VIII. 6)» — la doctrina hermética de las dos almas que Jonas cita de Jámblico: una viene de la Primera Mente y participa del poder del Demiurgo, la otra fue puesta desde la revolución de los cielos; la venida de las esferas sigue sus revoluciones, y la presente en nosotros como mente desde la Mente es superior al movimiento que obra el devenir, y por ella se da la liberación de la heimarmene

«There are hostile powers, stars and signs, a body from the Evil One without resurrection, a soul from the Seven. (Ephraem, Hymn. 53)» — la fórmula del gnóstico sirio Bardesanes que Jonas cita por Efrén: hay potencias hostiles, estrellas y signos, un cuerpo del Maligno sin resurrección y un alma de los Siete

«We could multiply testimonies for the doctrine of the planetary soul (e.g., from the Mandaean literature and the Pistis Sophia), but our selection has made the essentials of the conception clear enough.» — la acotación con que Jonas cierra la serie: podrían multiplicarse los testimonios de la doctrina del alma planetaria, y su selección basta para dejar clara la concepción

«The Hermetic quotation from Iamblichus shows with singular distinctness what stands behind this mythological fantasy: not just a rejection of the physical universe in the light of pessimism, but the assertion of an entirely new idea of human freedom, very different from the moral conception of it which the Greek philosophers had developed.» — lo que Jonas dice ver tras esa fantasía mitológica: no solo un rechazo del universo físico por pesimismo, sino la afirmación de una idea enteramente nueva de libertad humana, muy distinta de la concepción moral que habían desarrollado los filósofos griegos

«However profoundly man is determined by nature, of which he is part and parcel—and plumbing his own inwardness he discovers in layer after layer this dependence—there still remains an innermost center which is not of nature's realm and by which he is above all its promptings and necessities.» — cómo la formula: por hondamente que la naturaleza determine al hombre, queda un centro íntimo que no es del reino de la naturaleza y por el que está sobre todos sus impulsos y necesidades

«Astrology is true of natural man, i.e., of every man as member of the cosmic system, but not of the spiritual man within the natural.» — la consecuencia que Jonas saca: la astrología es verdadera del hombre natural, es decir de todo hombre en cuanto miembro del sistema cósmico, pero no del hombre espiritual dentro del natural

«This supremacy is extended to the whole person of the Gnostic, in whom the "spirit" has become dominant: "Hermes asserts that those who know God not only are safe from the incursions of the demons but are not even under the power of fate" (Lactantius Drv. inst. II. 15. 6; cf. Arnobius Adv. nat. II. 62—"not subject to the laws of fate» — la extensión que Jonas registra en nota: esa supremacía se extiende a la persona entera del gnóstico, y Hermes afirma que quienes conocen a Dios no solo están a salvo de las incursiones de los demonios sino que ni siquiera están bajo el poder del hado

«is real, after it the predictions of the astrologers are no longer true» — la fórmula cristiano-gnóstica que Jonas anota en nota al pie: antes del bautismo el hado es real y después de él las predicciones de los astrólogos ya no valen; el arranque de la frase, antes del bautismo el hado, queda del otro lado del encabezado corrido y del folio impreso que el escaneo mete a media plana

«Here our narrative is wonderfully clear and impressive: the revealing of his divine form from on high to terrestrial Nature is at the same time its mirroring in the lower elements, and by his own beauty thus appearing to him from below he is drawn downward.» — la lectura que Jonas hace del hundimiento del Hombre: mostrar su forma divina desde lo alto a la Naturaleza terrestre es a la vez espejarla en los elementos inferiores, y su propia belleza, apareciéndosele desde abajo, lo atrae hacia abajo

«This use of the Narcissus motif is, at least in this explicitness, an original feature of the Poimandres and recurs only in indistinct indications elsewhere in the literature of the era.» — el grado de originalidad que Jonas le concede: al menos con esa explicitud, el uso del motivo de Narciso es un rasgo original del Poimandres y solo reaparece en indicaciones borrosas en la literatura de la época

«The Narcissus motif, however, gives merely a particular turn to a mythological idea of much wider currency in gnostic thought, whose original meaning had nothing to do with the Greek legend: the idea that either the cosmogonic process or the sinking of the Soul, or generally the downward movement of a divine principle, was initiated by a reflection of the upper Light in the Darkness below.» — y su matriz: el motivo de Narciso solo da un giro particular a una idea mitológica de curso mucho más amplio, sin nada que ver en su origen con la leyenda griega, la de que el proceso cosmogónico o el hundimiento del Alma fueron iniciados por un reflejo de la Luz de arriba en la Tiniebla de abajo

«If we analyze the Poimandres version carefully, we see that it adroitly combines three different ideas: that of the Darkness* becoming enamored of the Light and getting possession of a part of it; that of the Light's becoming enamored of the Darkness and voluntarily sinking into it; that of a radiation, reflection, or image of the Light projected into the Darkness below and there held fast.» — las tres ideas que Jonas dice combinadas con destreza en el Poimandres: que la Tiniebla se enamore de la Luz y se apodere de una parte, que la Luz se enamore de la Tiniebla y se hunda en ella voluntariamente, y que una radiación, reflejo o imagen de la Luz sea proyectada abajo y retenida ahí

«The first ascribes the initiative toward the eventual intermingling to the nether forces, and this version is most completely expressed in the Manichaean system, with which we shall deal separately.» — el reparto que Jonas hace de esas tres: la primera atribuye la iniciativa a las fuerzas de abajo y se expresa del modo más completo en el sistema maniqueo

«The third version is to us strangest of all, as it implies the mythic idea of the substantiality of an image, reflection, or shadow as representing a real part of the original entity from which it has become detached.» — la tercera versión que Jonas llama la más extraña para nosotros: implica la idea mítica de la sustancialidad de una imagen, reflejo o sombra como parte real de la entidad original de la que se ha desprendido

«We have to accept this symbolism as convincing to those who used it for a crucial phase in the divine drama.» — y la actitud que declara ante ella: hay que aceptar ese simbolismo como convincente para quienes lo usaron en una fase crucial del drama divino

«The general idea common to these doctrines is as follows. By its nature the Light shines into the Darkness below. This partial illumination of the Darkness either is comparable to the action of a simple ray, i.e., spreading brightness as such, or, if it issued from an individual divine figure such as the Sophia or Man, is in the nature of a form projected into the dark medium and appearing there as an image or reflection of the divine.» — la idea común que Jonas extrae de esas doctrinas: la Luz brilla por naturaleza en la Tiniebla de abajo, y esa iluminación parcial es o bien un simple rayo o bien, si salió de una figura divina como la Sofía o el Hombre, una forma proyectada en el medio oscuro que aparece ahí como imagen o reflejo de lo divino

«In both cases, though no real descent or fall of the divine original has taken place, something of itself has become immersed in the lower world, and just as the Darkness treats it as a precious spoil, so the unfalien deity has become involved in the further destiny of this effluence.» — y su consecuencia: aunque no haya habido descenso ni caída real del original divino, algo de él ha quedado sumergido en el mundo inferior, y la deidad no caída queda implicada en el destino de esa efusión

«The Darkness is seized with greed for the brightness that has appeared in its midst or on the surface of the primordial waters and, 15 See above, page 63. We give here the rest of the passage. "God, always concerned to turn everything to the best, joined her to Matter, of which he saw her so enamored, distributing in it a multitude of forms. Hence came about the composite creatures—the heaven, the elements [etc.: all of these are to be understood as receptacles of the "Soul"]. But unwilling to leave the Soul in her degradation with Matter, God endowed her with an intelligence and the faculty of perceiving, precious gifts which were intended to recall to her her high origin in the spiritual world, . . . to restore to her the knowledge of herself, to indicate to her that she was a stranger down here. . . . Since the Soul received this instruction through perception and intelligence, since she recovered the knowledge of herself, she desires the spiritual world, as a man transported to a foreign land sighs for his distant hearth. She is convinced that in order to return to her original condition she must disengage herself from the worldly bonds, from sensual desires, from all material things" (Chwolson, Die Ssabier, II, p. 493). Although the later part of the passage seems to refer to the human soul, and indeed does so, since it is in man that the fallen world-soul comes to be endowed with intelligence and perception, the earlier part unequivocally speaks of a universal Soul whose fall is the cause of the origination of the world. trying to mingle with it thoroughly and permanently to retain it, drags it downward, engulfs it, and breaks it up into innumerable parts. From then on the higher powers are concerned in recovering these raped particles of Light. On the other hand, it is with the help of these elements that the lower forces are able to create this world. Throughout this creation is dispersed their original prey in the form of the "sparks," i.e., the individual souls.» — la escena que Jonas describe: la Tiniebla se llena de codicia por el brillo aparecido en su seno o en la superficie de las aguas primordiales, lo arrastra, lo engulle y lo rompe en partes innumerables, dispersas por la creación como chispas, es decir como almas individuales

«In a slightly more sophisticated version of the idea it is with the help of the projected image of the divine form that the lower forces make the world or man, i.e., as an imitation of the divine original; but since in this way the divine form also becomes embodied in the matter of Darkness and the "image" is conceived as a substantial part of the deity itself, the result is the same as in the cruder case of the swallowing and splitting up.» — la variante que Jonas llama algo más sofisticada: las fuerzas inferiores hacen el mundo o al hombre con ayuda de la imagen proyectada de la forma divina, como imitación del original, pero como esa imagen se concibe como parte sustancial de la deidad el resultado es el mismo que en el caso más crudo

«In any case, this whole complex of imagery develops the divine tragedy without either a guilt from above or an invasion from below of the divine realm itself.» — el saldo que Jonas destaca: ese complejo de imágenes desarrolla la tragedia divina sin culpa desde arriba y sin invasión del reino divino desde abajo

«That the mere and inevitable radiation of the Light and its reflection in the form of images creates new hypostases of its own being is still in Plotinus a metaphysical principle of the first order, affecting his general ontological scheme.» — el alcance que Jonas le concede: que la sola e inevitable radiación de la Luz y su reflejo en imágenes creen nuevas hipóstasis de su propio ser sigue siendo en Plotino un principio metafísico de primer orden

«As regards particularly the relation of the higher and lower soul, he explains, in the same context where he refers to Plato's simile of the sea-god (above, n. 13), that the turning downward of the Soul was nothing but illumining that which is beneath her, through which illumination there originated an eidolon, a reflection, and this is the lower soul subject to the passions; but the original Soul never really descended» — la doctrina de Plotino que Jonas resume: el volverse hacia abajo del Alma no fue sino iluminar lo que está debajo de ella, iluminación de la que se originó un eidolon, y ese es el alma inferior sujeta a las pasiones, mientras el Alma original nunca descendió realmente

«Cf. the Mandaean passage "Abathur (one of the Uthras plotting the creation of a world) goes into that world [of darkness]. . . . He sees his face in the black water, and his likeness and son is formed unto him out of the black water." This son is Ptahil-Uthra, the actual demiurge of this world (G 173). This example from an area so far removed from the intellectual environment in which Plotinus met his Gnostics shows how persistently the act of mirroring is conceived in gnostic literature as the production of an alter ego, and at the same time how closely this is connected with cosmogony.» — el paralelo mandeo que Jonas anota: Abathur ve su rostro en el agua negra y de ahí se le forma su semejanza y su hijo, Ptahil-Uthra, el demiurgo, ejemplo que muestra con cuánta persistencia el acto de espejarse se concibe en la literatura gnóstica como producción de un alter ego y cuán ligado está a la cosmogonía

«The main difference, and indeed a crucial one, between the Gnostics and Plotinus on this point is that the former deplore the "descent" by image-reflection as the cause of divine tragedy and passion, while Plotinus affirms it as the necessary and positive self-expression of the efficacy of the first source.» — la diferencia que Jonas declara crucial y no armoniza: los gnósticos deploran ese descenso por reflejo como causa de tragedia y pasión divinas, y Plotino lo afirma como autoexpresión necesaria y positiva de la eficacia de la fuente primera

«But the vertical structure of this scale of unfolding, that is, the downward direction of all metaphysical generation which therefore cannot be but deterioration, is common to both.» — y lo que ambos comparten: la estructura vertical de esa escala de despliegue, la dirección descendente de toda generación metafísica, que por eso no puede ser sino deterioro

«The whole tragedy of the Pistis Sophia, all her wanderings, distress, and repentance in the world of darkness, followed from the one initial fact that she mistook the light she saw below for the "Light of Lights" for which she yearned, and went after it into the depths.» — el uso de ese esquema como explicación del error divino: la tragedia entera de la Pistis Sophia se sigue de un solo hecho inicial, haber tomado la luz que veía abajo por la Luz de las Luces que anhelaba

«We now see that the Narcissus motif in the love-error of the Anthropos in the Poimandres is a subtle variation and combination of several of the enumerated themes. He is not as guilty as that primordial Soul which succumbs to a desire for the pleasures of the body, for it is the beauty of his own divine form, itself the perfect likeness of the highest God, that draws him downward. He is more guilty than the simply deceived Pistis Sophia, for he wished to act independently and could not mistake the reflection down below for the light of the Father from whom he had purposely departed. Yet he is half excused by his error, in that he was ignorant of the true 16 Cf. the Mandaean passage "Abathur (one of the Uthras plotting the creation of a world) goes into that world [of darkness]. . . . He sees his face in the black water, and his likeness and son is formed unto him out of the black water." This son is Ptahil-Uthra, the actual demiurge of this world (G 173). This example from an area so far removed from the intellectual environment in which Plotinus met his Gnostics shows how persistently the act of mirroring is conceived in gnostic literature as the production of an alter ego, and at the same time how closely this is connected with cosmogony. nature of the lower elements, clothed as they were in his own reflection.» — el balance de culpas que Jonas hace del Anthropos del Poimandres: es menos culpable que el Alma primordial que sucumbe al deseo de los placeres del cuerpo, porque lo que lo atrae es la belleza de su propia forma divina; más culpable que la Pistis Sophia simplemente engañada, porque quiso obrar por su cuenta; y a medias excusado por su error, porque ignoraba la verdadera naturaleza de los elementos inferiores

«Thus the projection of his form upon earth and water has lost the character of a substantial event in itself, and in the hands of this Hellenistic author has become a means of motivating rather than constituting the submersion of a divine emanation in the lower world.» — y la consecuencia literaria que señala: en manos de este autor helenístico la proyección de la forma sobre tierra y agua ha perdido el carácter de acontecimiento sustancial y se ha vuelto un medio de motivar, más que de constituir, la sumersión de una emanación divina

«The celestial journey of the returning soul is indeed one of the most constant common features in otherwise widely divergent systems, and its significance for the gnostic mind is enhanced by the fact that it represents a belief not only essential in gnostic theory and expectation, and expressive of the conception of man's relation to the world, but of immediate practical importance to the gnostic believer, since the meaning of gnosis is to prepare for this final event, and all its ethical, ritual, and technical instruction is meant to secure its successful completion.» — la importancia que Jonas asigna al viaje celeste del alma que retorna: uno de los rasgos comunes más constantes en sistemas por lo demás muy divergentes, y de importancia práctica inmediata, porque el sentido de la gnosis es preparar ese suceso final

«Historically there is an even more far-reaching aspect to the ascent doctrines than their literal meaning. In a later stage of "gnostic" development (though no longer passing under the name of Gnosticism) the external topology of the ascent through the spheres, with the successive divesting of the soul of its worldly envelopments and the regaining of its original acosmic nature, could be "internalized" and find its analogue in a psychological technique of inner transformations by which the self, while still in the body, might attain the Absolute as an immanent, if temporary, condition: an ascending scale of mental states replaces the stations of the mythical itinerary: the dynamics of progressive spiritual self-transformation, the spatial thrust through the heavenly spheres.» — el alcance histórico que Jonas anticipa: en una fase posterior la topología externa del ascenso pudo interiorizarse y hallar su análogo en una técnica psicológica de transformaciones internas, con una escala ascendente de estados mentales en lugar de las estaciones del itinerario mítico

«history that the radical ontological difference of man and nature has been discovered and the powerfully moving experience of it given expression in teachings strange and suggestive. This rift between man and nature was never to close again, and protesting his hidden but essential otherness became in many variations an abiding theme in the quest for truth concerning man.» — la tesis histórica que Jonas sostiene: es la primera vez en la historia que se descubre la diferencia ontológica radical entre hombre y naturaleza y se expresa la experiencia conmovedora de esa diferencia, brecha que ya no volvió a cerrarse y cuya protesta se volvió tema constante en la busca de la verdad sobre el hombre

«The Soul, they say, and a certain Wisdom [sophia—Plotinus is not sure whether she is different from or the same as the "Soul"] turned downward . . . and with her descended the other souls: these, as it were "members" of the Wisdom, put on bodies. . . . But then again they say that she on whose account they descended did in another sense not descend herself and somehow did not really turn downward, but only illumined the Darkness, and from this an "image" {eidolon) originated in Matter. Then they feign a further "image of the image" forming somewhere down here through Matter or Materiality . . . and let thus be generated him whom they call Demiurge and make» — la doctrina gnóstica que Jonas cita del propio Plotino, sorprendentemente semejante a la suya: el Alma y cierta Sabiduría se volvieron hacia abajo y con ella descendieron las otras almas, pero en otro sentido ella no descendió y solo iluminó la Tiniebla, y de ahí se originó en la Materia una imagen, y de una imagen de la imagen se genera el Demiurgo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana

«him secede from his Mother, and from him they go on to derive the world down to the last of the "images"» — el remate en la plana siguiente: hacen que el Demiurgo se separe de su Madre y de él derivan el mundo hasta la última de las imágenes

«With this transposition of a mythological scheme into the inwardness of the person, with the translation of its objective stages into subjective phases of self-performable experience whose culmination has the form of ecstasis, gnostic myth has passed into mysticism (Neoplatonic and monastic), and in this new medium it lives on long after the disappearance of the original mythological beliefs.» — el punto de llegada que Jonas fija: con la traslación del esquema mitológico a la interioridad de la persona y de sus etapas objetivas a fases subjetivas de experiencia realizable, culminando en éxtasis, el mito gnóstico ha pasado a la mística neoplatónica y monástica, y en ese medio nuevo sigue vivo mucho después de desaparecidas las creencias originales

«In the Poimandres the ascent is described as a series of progressive subtractions which leaves the "naked" true self, an instance of Primal Man as he was before his cosmic fall, free to enter the divine realm and to become one again with God.» — el ascenso del Poimandres según Jonas: una serie de sustracciones progresivas que deja libre el sí mismo verdadero y desnudo, una instancia del Hombre Primordial anterior a su caída cósmica

«We have encountered before an alternative version of the ascent, where not the stripping of the soul but its passage as such is the point of the journey. This version implies that what begins the ascent is already the pure pneuma disengaged from its earthly encumbrances, and furthermore that the rulers of the spheres are hostile powers trying to bar its passage with the aim of detaining it in the world.» — la versión alternativa que Jonas contrapone: ahí lo que importa no es el despojo del alma sino el paso mismo, de modo que lo que empieza el ascenso es ya el pneuma puro y los señores de las esferas son potencias hostiles que tratan de cerrarle el paso

«Wherever we hear of the doffing of garments, the slipping of knots, the loosing of bonds in the course of the upward journey, we have analogies to the Poimandres passage. The sum of these knots, etc., is called "psyche": thus it is the soul that is put off by the pneuma (e.g., Iren. I. 7. 1; 21. 5). In this way the ascent is not only topological but also a qualitative process, that of putting off the worldly nature.» — la equivalencia que Jonas establece: la suma de nudos y ataduras que se sueltan en el viaje se llama psique, de modo que es el alma lo que el pneuma se quita, y el ascenso resulta no solo topológico sino cualitativo

«It is noteworthy that in certain cults this ultimate process was anticipated by ritual enactments which in the way of sacraments were to effect the transformation provisionally or symbolically already in this life and guarantee its definitive consummation in the next.» — el dato que Jonas llama notable: en ciertos cultos ese proceso último se anticipaba en actos rituales que, a modo de sacramentos, operaban la transformación de manera provisional o simbólica ya en esta vida

«Thus the mysteries of Mithras had for their initiates the ceremonial of passing through seven gates arranged on ascending steps representing the seven planets (the so-called \limax heptapylos, Origen Contra Celsum VI. 22); in those of Isis we find a successive putting on and off of seven (or twelve) garments or animal disguises.» — los ejemplos que da: los misterios de Mitra con la ceremonia de pasar siete puertas dispuestas en gradas ascendentes que representan los siete planetas, y los de Isis con el ponerse y quitarse sucesivo de siete o doce vestiduras o disfraces animales

«The result achieved by the whole protracted and sometimes harrowing ritual was called rebirth (palingenesia): the initiate himself was supposed to have been reborn as the god. The terminology of "rebirth," "reformation" (metamorphosis), "transfiguration" was» — el resultado que Jonas describe: el ritual prolongado y a veces angustioso se llamaba renacimiento y el iniciado se suponía renacido como el dios, y de ahí la terminología de renacimiento, reformación y transfiguración; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«coined in the context of these rituals as part of the language of the mystery cults.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: esa terminología se acuñó en el contexto de esos rituales, como parte de la lengua de los cultos mistéricos

«The meanings and applications that could be given to these metaphors were wide enough to make them fit into various theological systems, their prima-facie appeal being "religious" in general rather than dogmatically specific. But though by neither origin nor validity bound to the gnostic frame of reference, they were eminently suited to gnostic purposes.» — la acotación que Jonas hace: esas metáforas eran bastante amplias para encajar en sistemas teológicos diversos, y sin estar atadas por origen ni por validez al marco gnóstico, se prestaban de modo eminente a fines gnósticos

«Misleadingly so called since it is a literary product, not an actual cult docu» — la corrección de nombre que Jonas hace en nota: llamarla liturgia induce a error, porque es un producto literario y no un documento de culto

«The more specifically gnostic conception of the journey as a gradually subtractive ascent through the spheres had a long mystical and literary afterlife. A thousand years after the Poimandres, Omar Khayyam sings» — la pervivencia que Jonas rastrea mil años después del Poimandres, en Omar Khayyam; el tramo se corta ante los folios impresos

«Up from earth's center through the seventh gate I rose, and on the throne of Saturn sate, And many a knot unravel'd by the road; But not the master-knot of human fate.» — los versos tras los folios: subí desde el centro de la tierra por la séptima puerta y me senté en el trono de Saturno, y desaté muchos nudos por el camino, pero no el nudo maestro del destino humano

«The other version of the ascent, less spiritualized, has a more sinister aspect. It is with anxiety and dread that the soul anticipates its future encounter with the terrible Archons of this world bent on preventing its escape.» — el aspecto que Jonas atribuye a la otra versión, menos espiritualizada: el alma anticipa con ansiedad y pavor su encuentro futuro con los arcontes terribles de este mundo, empeñados en impedirle escapar

«The secret names of the Archons have to be known, for this is an indispensable means of overcoming them—the pagan author Celsus who writes about these beliefs ridicules those who "have wretchedly learned by heart the names of the doorkeepers» — el escarnio de Celso que Jonas recoge: se burla de quienes miserablemente se han aprendido de memoria los nombres de los porteros

«While this part of the "gnosis" is crude magic, the formulas by which the Archons are to be addressed reveal significant aspects of the gnostic theology.» — el reparto que Jonas hace: esa parte de la gnosis es magia cruda, y las fórmulas con que se ha de interpelar a los arcontes revelan aspectos significativos de la teología gnóstica

«The Lord revealed to me what the soul must say when ascending into heaven, and how she must answer each of the upper powers: "I have come to know myself, and I have collected myself from everywhere, and I have not sown children to the Archon but have uprooted his roots and have collected the dispersed members, and I know thee who thou art: for I am of those from above." And thus she is released. (Ephiph. Haer. 26. 13)» — la fórmula del Evangelio de Felipe que Jonas cita por Epifanio: he llegado a conocerme, me he recogido de todas partes, no he sembrado hijos para el Arconte sino que he arrancado sus raíces y he recogido los miembros dispersos, y sé quién eres, porque soy de los de arriba

«Origen in his precious account of the Ophites renders their complete list of the answers to be given "at the eternally chained gates of the Archons," of which we translate the following two. To Ialdabaoth, "first and seventh": ... I, being a word of the unmixed Nous, a perfect work to Son and Father, bearing a symbol imprinted with the character of Life—I open the world-gate which thou hast locked with thine aeon, and pass by thy power free again. May grace be with me, yea, Father, be it with me. To Sabaoth: Archon of the fifth power, ruler Sabaoth, advocate of the law of thy creation, now undone by grace that is more powerful than thy fivefold power, behold the symbol impregnable to thine art18 and let me pass by. (Origen Contra Celsum VI. 31)» — las dos respuestas ofitas que Jonas traduce de Orígenes: a Ialdabaoth, que abre la puerta del mundo cerrada con su eón y pasa libre por su poder, y a Sabaoth, cuya ley queda deshecha por una gracia más poderosa que su quíntuple poder

«It is obvious that these formulas have the force of passwords. What then is the interest of the Archons in opposing the exodus of the soul from the world? The gnostic answer is thus recounted by Epiphanius:» — la lectura que Jonas hace de esas fórmulas: tienen fuerza de contraseñas, y de ahí su pregunta por el interés de los arcontes en oponerse al éxodo del alma

«They say that the soul is the food of the Archons and Powers without which they cannot live, because she is of the dew from above and gives them strength. When she has become imbued with knowledge ... she ascends to heaven and gives a defence before each power and thus mounts beyond them to the upper Mother and Father of the All whence she came down into this world. (Epiph. Haer. 40. 2)» — la respuesta gnóstica que Jonas cita de Epifanio: el alma es el alimento de los arcontes y potencias, sin el cual no pueden vivir, porque es del rocío de arriba y les da fuerza

«In the Poimandres we hear nothing about the Governors' being evil, though to be subject to their government, called Destiny, is clearly regarded as a misfortune of Man and a violation of his original sovereignty.» — la reserva que Jonas hace sobre el Poimandres: ahí nada se dice de que los Gobernadores sean malos, aunque estar sujeto a su gobierno, llamado Destino, se tiene claramente por desgracia del Hombre y violación de su soberanía original

«The first is that the field of vision is to begin with made up of light alone, and that only "after a while" does there appear in one part of it a darkness which is borne downward: which leaves only the conclusion that this darkness is not an original principle coeval with the light but has somehow originated out of it.» — el primer rasgo que Jonas subraya de la visión inicial: el campo se compone al principio solo de luz, y solo al cabo de un rato aparece en una parte una tiniebla que va hacia abajo, lo que deja como única conclusión que esa tiniebla no es un principio original coetáneo de la luz sino que de algún modo se originó de ella

«The other feature is the cryptic remark that a mournful or lamenting cry rises up from the agitated darkness.» — el segundo rasgo que llama críptico: que de la tiniebla agitada suba un grito lastimero

«As the first separate hypostasis of the supreme Nous, the Word issues from the divine Light and "comes over" the humid nature: from what happens later, this "coming over" has to be understood as an intimate union with the humid nature, in which the Word is kept until again disengaged by the work of the Demiurge.» — la función que Jonas asigna al Verbo: primera hipóstasis separada del Nous supremo, sale de la Luz divina y viene sobre la naturaleza húmeda, unión íntima en la que queda hasta que la obra del Demiurgo lo desprende

«the effect of the Word's presence in the dark nature is the latter's separating into lighter and heavier elements (incompletely with regard to earth and water, which are separated only later, in the demiurgical phase): this differentiating action upon chaotic matter is the chief cosmogonic function of the Logos (Word), but to maintain this differentiation pending its final consolidation by the work of the Artificer (Demiurge), the Logos has to stay within the nature thus parted.» — el efecto de esa presencia según Jonas: la separación de la naturaleza oscura en elementos más ligeros y más pesados, función cosmogónica principal del Logos, que ha de permanecer dentro de la naturaleza así partida para mantener la diferenciación hasta que la consolide el Artífice

«The Logos is here clearly in the Greek sense the principle of order, but at the same time a divine entity and as such substantially involved in what he affects.» — la doble condición que Jonas le reconoce: el Logos es aquí, en sentido griego, el principio de orden, y a la vez una entidad divina sustancialmente implicada en aquello sobre lo que obra

«According to this explanation, the beginning of the second vision presents not a new phase of the cosmogonic process but a recapitulation of the result of the first on a higher level of understanding; and this, if a correct hypothesis, is of decisive importance» — la hipótesis que Jonas propone y declara como tal: el comienzo de la segunda visión no presenta una fase nueva del proceso cosmogónico sino una recapitulación del resultado de la primera en un nivel más alto de comprensión

«The so-called Mithras Liturgy17 gives a circumstantial description of such an experience, preceded by instructions on how to prepare for and induce the visionary state. (The theological system in this case is cosmic-pantheistic, not dualistic, the aim immortality by union with the cosmic principle, not liberation from the cosmic yoke.» — la descripción que Jonas atribuye a la llamada Liturgia de Mitra y la reserva que le pone: relata pormenorizadamente una experiencia visionaria con instrucciones para prepararla e inducirla, pero su sistema teológico es cósmico-panteísta y no dualista, y su meta la inmortalidad por unión con el principio cósmico

«In this case the gnosis has two tasks: on the one hand to confer a magical quality upon the soul by which it becomes impregnable and possibly even invisible to the watchful Archons (sacraments performed in this life may secure this end);» — la primera de las dos tareas que ahí Jonas asigna a la gnosis: dar al alma una cualidad mágica que la vuelva inexpugnable y quizá invisible a los arcontes vigilantes, fin que los sacramentos de esta vida pueden asegurar; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«on the other hand by way of instruction to put man in possession of the names and the potent formulas by which the passage can be forced, and this "knowledge" is one meaning of the term "gnosis."» — la segunda, en la plana siguiente: poner al hombre por instrucción en posesión de los nombres y las fórmulas potentes con que se fuerza el paso, y ese conocimiento es uno de los sentidos del término gnosis

«To the question he asks, Wherefrom have they arisen? we expect the answer, From the humid nature by the separating action of the Word; and the humid nature, if the question is pushed farther, came from the odious darkness by the latter's changing into it; and then the remaining question would be, Whence came that, if it was not there from the beginning? which according to the first vision it was not: and this would be precisely the question of questions which all non-Iranian gnostic dualism must finally face and whose answer forms the main content of the ingenious speculations of the Valentinian type.» — la cadena de preguntas que Jonas encadena hasta el fondo: de dónde salieron los elementos, de la naturaleza húmeda por la acción separadora del Verbo; y esta, de la tiniebla odiosa al mudarse en ella; y entonces, de dónde vino esa tiniebla si no estaba desde el principio, que es la pregunta de las preguntas que todo dualismo gnóstico no iranio ha de encarar

«Their common principle is that a break or darkening within the divinity must somehow account for the existing division of reality.» — el principio común que Jonas asigna a esas especulaciones: una ruptura u oscurecimiento dentro de la divinidad ha de dar cuenta de la división existente de la realidad

«Now, it is my tentative contention, seeing that all other explanations leave us even worse off, that the Boulé (Will) of God, introduced in this paragraph and dropped as suddenly, never to be mentioned again, is an alternative to the Stygian Darkness of the first vision, and as such an isolated rudiment of the Syrian type of speculation which has somehow found its way into this account.» — la hipótesis que Jonas declara tentativa: la Boulé de Dios, introducida en ese párrafo y abandonada de golpe para no volver a mencionarse, es una alternativa a la Tiniebla estigia de la primera visión y un rudimento aislado del tipo sirio de especulación colado en el relato

«The main support of my argument is the role of the Logos in both instances. As the humid nature, after the Logos has "come over her," separates into the elements, so the female Will of God, having "received" into herself the Logos, organizes herself "according to her own elements.» — el apoyo que aduce: el papel del Logos en los dos casos, porque así como la naturaleza húmeda se separa en elementos después de que el Logos viene sobre ella, la Voluntad femenina de Dios, habiendo recibido en sí al Logos, se organiza según sus propios elementos

«The additional feature in the latter case is that the Boulé orders herself "in imitation" of the archetypal order perceived by her through the Logos; that is, the Boulé is more of an independent agent than is the humid nature of the first vision.» — la diferencia que Jonas registra: la Boulé se ordena en imitación del orden arquetípico percibido por medio del Logos, de modo que es más agente independiente que la naturaleza húmeda de la primera visión

«Both traits give her a noticeable kinship with the Sophia figure of the Syrian gnosis. In other words, we would have in the Boulé a version of that problematical divine personage, capable of every degradation, which we first met in the Ennoia of Simon Magus.» — el parentesco que de ahí saca: la Boulé sería una versión de aquel personaje divino problemático, capaz de toda degradación, que se encontró primero en la Ennoia de Simón Mago

«A crucial point in the proposed analogy of the Boulé to the "humid nature" is the meaning of the expression: she "received" the Logos. Fortunately this same expression recurs in the union of Nature with Man, where it not only carries a perfectly evident sexual meaning but also is elaborated into the description of how in this union Nature absorbs in his entirety him whom she thus "receives" (14). If this is what happened also to the Logos "received" by the Boulé, then he like the Anthropos after him is in need of a liberation from this immersion.» — el punto que Jonas declara crucial en su analogía: el sentido de recibir, que en la unión de la Naturaleza con el Hombre lleva sentido sexual evidente y describe una absorción entera, de modo que el Logos recibido por la Boulé necesitaría, como el Anthropos después de él, liberarse de esa inmersión

«Now, this result of the Demiurge's work agrees perfectly with a doctrine most prominently represented in Manichaeism but also found elsewhere in Gnosticism, that the cosmic organization was undertaken with the purpose of extricating a divine principle fallen into the hold of the lower realm in the pre-cosmic stage.» — la doctrina con que Jonas hace concordar ese resultado: la organización cósmica se emprendió con el fin de sacar un principio divino caído en poder del reino inferior en la fase precósmica, doctrina destacadísima en el maniqueísmo

«I cannot help feeling that all this puts the female "Will of God" into an interchangeable position with the "humid nature": it is into the former that the Logos had been "received" in the meaning of that term vouchsafed for our treatise; it is from the latter that he leaps upward to his true kin with the construction of the universe—which construction then was in the nature of a primordial "salvation."» — la conclusión que Jonas declara como impresión: todo eso pone a la Voluntad femenina de Dios en posición intercambiable con la naturaleza húmeda, y la construcción del universo resulta entonces una salvación primordial

«The author of the Poimandres has permitted no more than traces of this doctrine to enter his composition. The liberation of 20 The equation of the Boulé with the Sophia (via Isis) was first proposed by Reitzenstein (Poimandres, p. 45 £.), though with a "monistic" interpretation and therefore with conclusions different from ours. Festugiere's arguments against it {La Revelation d'Hermes Trismegiste, IV, pp. 42 ff.) have not convinced me, especially since his alternative—the derivation from Pythagorean speculations on the issue of the (dark and female) dyad from the male-female monad—is not necessarily alternative but, in the give-and-take of syncretism, perfectly compatible with the Sophia hypothesis. I do agree with Festugiere that there is no need to bring in Isis. the Logos through the creation of the Demiurge is, on the terms of the Poimandres itself, perfectly explainable as a consequence of the fact that with the definite and stabilizing cosmic organization his presence in the lower Nature is no longer required for the purpose of keeping the elements apart, so that he might be said to be released from a task rather than from bonds.» — la reserva que Jonas se impone: el autor del Poimandres solo dejó entrar trazas de esa doctrina, y en los términos del propio tratado la liberación del Logos se explica bien como quedar relevado de una tarea más que suelto de unas ataduras

«There still remains the fact that his communion with the Boulé terminologically parallels that of Man with Nature and that even an "offspring" of this union is mentioned: the "souls" as a product of the Boulé—a striking resemblance to what the Valentinians told of their Sophia» — lo que aun así queda en pie: la comunión del Logos con la Boulé es terminológicamente paralela a la del Hombre con la Naturaleza, y hasta se menciona una descendencia de esa unión, las almas como producto de la Boulé, parecido llamativo con lo que los valentinianos contaban de su Sofía

«we observe of course the objection that some of the latter's attributes, such as frightfulness, hatefulness, and its resemblance to a serpent, fit only an original, anti-divine Darkness of the Iranian type and not a divine Sophia however obscured and estranged from its source.» — la objeción que Jonas se plantea a sí mismo: algunos atributos de aquella Tiniebla —lo espantoso, lo odioso, la semejanza con una serpiente— solo convienen a una Tiniebla antidivina original del tipo iranio y no a una Sofía divina por oscurecida y extrañada que esté

«But it is equally noteworthy that this Darkness appears after the Light and must have arisen out of it (contrary to the Iranian type), and further that it "laments": both traits point more in the direction of the Sophia speculation than in that of a primary dualism.» — y la réplica que se da: es igual de notable que esa Tiniebla aparezca después de la Luz y haya debido surgir de ella, contra el tipo iranio, y que se lamente, dos rasgos que apuntan más a la especulación sobre la Sofía que a un dualismo primario

«Valentinus and his school represent the culmination of what for want of a better name we have been calling in this study the Syrian-Egyptian type of gnostic speculation. The distinguishing principle of the type is the attempt to place the origin of darkness, and thereby of the dualistic rift of being, within the godhead itself, and thus to develop the divine tragedy, the necessity of salvation arising from it, and the dynamics of this salvation itself, as wholly a sequence of inner-divine events.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna a Valentín y su escuela: la culminación del tipo sirio-egipcio, cuyo principio distintivo es situar el origen de la tiniebla, y con ella la escisión dualista del ser, dentro de la divinidad misma

«Radically understood, this principle involves the task of deriving not only such spiritual facts as passion, ignorance, and evil but the very nature of matter in its contrariety to the spirit from the prime spiritual source: its very existence is to be accounted for in terms of the divine history itself. And this means, in mental terms; and in view of the nature of the end-product more particularly, in terms of divine error and failure.» — lo que ese principio exige entendido con radicalidad: derivar de la fuente espiritual primera no solo la pasión, la ignorancia y el mal, sino la naturaleza misma de la materia en su contrariedad al espíritu, y hacerlo en términos mentales y, dada la índole del producto final, de error y fracaso divinos

«In this way, matter would appear to be a function rather than a substance on its own, a state or "affection" of the absolute being, and the solidified external expression of that state: its stable externality is in truth nothing but the residual by-product of a deteriorating movement of inwardness, representing and as it were fixating the lowest reach of its defection from itself.» — la consecuencia ontológica que Jonas extrae: la materia resultaría función y no sustancia propia, un estado o afección del ser absoluto y la expresión externa solidificada de ese estado, subproducto residual de un movimiento de interioridad que se deteriora

«Now the religious significance, apart from the theoretical interest, of a successful discharge of this speculative task lies in this, that in such a system "knowledge," together with its privative, "ignorance," is raised to an ontological position of the first order: both are principles of objective and total existence, not merely of subjective and private experience. Their role is constitutive for reality as a whole.» — la significación religiosa que Jonas asigna al logro de esa tarea: en tal sistema conocimiento e ignorancia se elevan a posición ontológica de primer orden, principios de la existencia objetiva y total y no solo de la experiencia subjetiva

«Instead of being, as generally in gnostic thought, a result of divine immersion in the lower world, "ignorance" here is rather the first cause of there being such a lower world at all, its begetting principle as well as its abiding substance: however numerous the intermediate stages through which matter, this seeming ultimate, is connected with the one supreme source, in its essence it is shown» — el vuelco que Jonas describe: la ignorancia deja de ser resultado de la inmersión divina en el mundo inferior y pasa a ser la causa primera de que haya un mundo inferior, principio engendrador y sustancia permanente suya; el tramo se corta antes del folio impreso

«to be the obscured and self-estranged form of that to which it appears to be the opposite—just as ignorance, its underlying principle, is the obscured mode of its opposite, knowledge. For knowledge is the original condition of the Absolute, the primary fact, and ignorance riot simply the neutral absence of it in a subject unrelated to knowledge but a disturbance befalling a part of the Absolute, arising out of its own motivations and resulting in the negative condition still related to the original one of knowledge in that it represents the loss or perversion of it.» — el remate tras el folio: la materia se muestra como la forma oscurecida y extrañada de sí de aquello a lo que parece opuesta, como la ignorancia es el modo oscurecido de su opuesto, el conocimiento, y no la ausencia neutra de él sino una perturbación que sobreviene a una parte del Absoluto

«It is thus a derivative state, therefore revocable, and so is its external manifestation or hypostatized product: materiality.» — y su corolario: siendo estado derivado, es revocable, y también lo es su manifestación externa o producto hipostasiado, la materialidad

«But if this is the ontological function of "ignorance," then "knowledge" too assumes an ontological status far exceeding, any merely moral and psychological importance granted to it; and the redemptional claim made on its behalf in all gnostic religion receives here a metaphysical grounding in the doctrine of total existence which makes it convincingly the sole and sufficient vehicle of salvation, and this salvation itself in each soul a cosmic event.» — el reverso que Jonas saca: si esa es la función ontológica de la ignorancia, el conocimiento asume un estatuto ontológico que excede toda importancia moral o psicológica, y la pretensión redentora de la gnosis recibe fundamento metafísico que la hace vehículo único y suficiente de salvación, y hace de esa salvación un acontecimiento cósmico en cada alma

«For if not only the spiritual condition of the human person but also the very existence of the universe is constituted by the results of ignorance and as a substantialization of ignorance, then every individual illumination by "knowledge" helps to cancel out again the total system sustained by that principle; and, as such knowing finally transposes the individual self to the divine realm, it also plays its part in reintegrating the impaired godhead itself.» — el argumento de esa equivalencia: si la existencia misma del universo está constituida por los resultados de la ignorancia y como sustancialización suya, toda iluminación individual por el conocimiento ayuda a cancelar el sistema entero sostenido por ese principio y contribuye a reintegrar la divinidad menoscabada

«Thus this type of solution of the theoretical problem of first beginnings and of the causes of dualism would if successful establish the absolute position of gnosis in the soteriological scheme: from being a qualifying condition for salvation, still requiring the co-operation of sacraments and of divine grace, from being a means among means, it becomes the adequate form of salvation itself.» — el resultado que Jonas atribuye a ese tipo de solución: de condición cualificante para la salvación, que aún requería sacramentos y gracia, la gnosis pasa a ser la forma adecuada de la salvación misma

«That knowledge affects not only the knower but the known itself; that by every "private" act of knowledge the objective ground of being is moved and modified; that subject and object are the same in essence (though not on the same scale)—these are tenets of a mystical conception of "knowledge" which yet can have a rational basis in the proper metaphysical premises.» — los principios que Jonas identifica en esa concepción mística del conocimiento: que el conocimiento afecte no solo al que conoce sino a lo conocido, que todo acto privado de conocer mueva y modifique el fundamento objetivo del ser, y que sujeto y objeto sean lo mismo en esencia aunque no en escala

«One must not perform the mystery of the ineffable and invisible power through visible and corruptible things of creation, nor that of the unthinkable and immaterial beings through sensible and corporeal things. Perfect salvation is the cognition itself of the ineffable greatness: for since through "Ignorance" came about "Defect" and "Passion," 1 the whole system springing from the Ignorance is dissolved by knowledge. Therefore knowledge is salvation of the inner man; and it is not corporeal, for the body is corruptible; nor is it psychical, for even the soul is a product of the defect and is as a lodging to the spirit: spiritual therefore must also be [the form of] salvation. Through knowledge, then, is saved the inner, spiritual man; so that to us suffices the knowledge of universal being: this is the true salvation.» — la declaración valentiniana que Jonas cita de Ireneo, con la que rechazan todo ritual mistérico y todo sacramento: la salvación perfecta es el conocimiento mismo de la grandeza inefable, porque como por la Ignorancia vinieron el Defecto y la Pasión, el sistema entero surgido de la Ignorancia se disuelve por el conocimiento

«This is the grand "pneumatic equation" of Valentinian thought: the human-individual event of pneumatic knowledge is the inverse equivalent of the pre-cosmic universal event of divine ignorance, and in its redeeming effect of the same ontological order. The actualization of knowledge in the person is at the same time an act in the general ground of being.» — la fórmula con que Jonas nombra el núcleo de ese pensamiento: la ecuación pneumática, según la cual el acontecimiento humano e individual del conocimiento pneumático es el equivalente inverso del acontecimiento precósmico y universal de la ignorancia divina, y en su efecto redentor del mismo orden ontológico

«A divine hypostasis already in post-biblical Jewish speculation, the "Wisdom" (chokjnah) was there conceived as God's helper or agent in the creation of the world, similar to the alternative hypostasis of the "Word."» — el antecedente que Jonas señala para la Sofía: hipóstasis divina ya en la especulación judía posbíblica, donde la Sabiduría se concebía como auxiliar o agente de Dios en la creación del mundo, como la hipóstasis alternativa del Verbo

«How this figure, or at least its name, came to be combined in gnostic thought with the moon-, mother-, and love-goddess of Near Eastern 1 All three nouns of this clause refer to the cosmogonic myth. religion, to form that ambiguous figure encompassing the whole scale from the highest to the lowest, from the most spiritual to the utterly sensual (as expressed in the very combination "Sophia-Prunikos," "Wisdom the Whore"), we do not know and, lacking evidence of any intermediate stages, cannot even hypothetically reconstruct.» — la abstención que Jonas declara: no sabemos cómo esa figura, o al menos su nombre, se combinó con la diosa lunar, materna y del amor del Próximo Oriente para formar esa figura ambigua, y a falta de estadios intermedios no cabe ni reconstruirlo por hipótesis

«As early as Simon the figure is fully developed in its gnostic sense. But the psychological elaboration of her destiny is there still rudimentary, the causation of her fall more in the nature of a mishap brought upon her by her offspring than in the nature of an inner motivation. In other systems leading over to the Valentinian form the tale of the Sophia is made the subject of more and more extensive elaboration, with her own psychological share in it becoming increasingly prominent.» — la evolución que Jonas traza: en Simón la figura ya está desarrollada en sentido gnóstico, pero la elaboración psicológica de su destino es aún rudimentaria y su caída más un percance traído por su descendencia que una motivación interna

«The closest approximation to the Valentinian form is represented by the Barbeliotes described by Irenaeus (I. 29) and recently become more fully known through the Apocryphon of John. They, like the Ophites {ibid. 30), found it necessary, in view of the wide span of conditions to be represented by the female aspect of God, to differentiate this aspect into an upper and a lower Sophia, the latter being the fallen shape of the former and the bearer of all the divine distress and indignities following from the fall.» — la aproximación más cercana que Jonas identifica: los barbeloítas descritos por Ireneo y ahora mejor conocidos por el Apócrifo de Juan, que como los ofitas hallaron necesario diferenciar el aspecto femenino de Dios en una Sofía superior y otra inferior

«In both systems the differentiation is expressed by separate names: the original female aspect of God is called by the Barbeliotes "Barbelo" (possibly "Virgin") and "Ennoia," by the Ophites "Holy Spirit" (this to the Barbeliotes is one of the names of the fallen form); the name "Sophia" is by both reserved for her unfortunate emanation, also called "Prunikos" and "The Left." This doubling of the Sophia is most fully worked out in the Valentinian system.» — los nombres que Jonas registra: los barbeloítas llaman Barbelo, quizá virgen, y Ennoia al aspecto femenino original, los ofitas lo llaman Espíritu Santo, y ambos reservan Sofía para la emanación desdichada, llamada también Prúnicos y la Izquierda

«Our analytical remarks at the beginning of this chapter have indicated the twofold task which the Valentinian speculation took upon itself: on the one hand to show the self-motivation of divine degradation without the intervention or even passive participation of an external agency, and on the other hand to explain matter itself as a spiritual condition of the universal subject.» — la doble tarea que Jonas asigna a la especulación valentiniana: mostrar la automotivación de la degradación divina sin intervención ni participación pasiva de una agencia externa, y explicar la materia misma como condición espiritual del sujeto universal

«We do not claim that these two themes were the only theoretical concerns of the Valentinians (or even that to them the intellectual side in general, rather than the imaginative one, constituted the religious significance of their teaching); but the treatment of those particular themes is certainly the most original part of their thought, constituting that contribution to general gnostic doctrine which justifies our seeing in them the most complete representatives of a whole type.» — la reserva que Jonas impone a su propia lectura: no pretende que esos dos temas fueran las únicas preocupaciones teóricas de los valentinianos, ni que a ellos el lado intelectual y no el imaginativo constituyera la significación religiosa de su enseñanza

«Valentinus, the founder of the school, was born in Egypt and educated in Alexandria; he taught in Rome between about 135 and 160 AD.» — los datos que Jonas da del fundador: Valentín nació en Egipto, se educó en Alejandría y enseñó en Roma entre alrededor de 135 y 160

«He is the only one of the Gnostics who had a whole series of disciples known by name, of whom the most important ones were Ptolemaeus and Marcus. These were themselves heads of schools and teachers of their own versions of the Valentinian doctrine.» — el rasgo que Jonas le atribuye como único: es el único de los gnósticos con toda una serie de discípulos conocidos por su nombre, entre ellos Ptolomeo y Marcos, ellos mismos cabezas de escuela con versiones propias de la doctrina

«The speculative principle of Valentinianism actually invited independent development of the basic ideas by its adherents; and in fact we know the doctrine better in the several versions and elaborations of the second generation than in the authentic teaching of Valentinus himself, of which very little has been preserved in the accounts of the Fathers.» — la consecuencia de método que Jonas señala: el principio especulativo del valentinianismo invitaba al desarrollo independiente por sus adeptos, y conocemos mejor la doctrina en las versiones de la segunda generación que en la enseñanza auténtica del propio Valentín

«In the newly found Gospel of Truth we may possess in Coptic translation an original work of Valentinus himself.» — el grado de certeza con que Jonas atribuye el Evangelio de la Verdad: en el texto recién hallado podríamos poseer, en traducción copta, una obra original del propio Valentín

«How untrammeled and fertile the speculation of the school was, how great the wealth of its doctrinal differentiation, can be seen from the fact that of the development of the Pleroma alone we have in Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Epiphanius, and the Excerpts from Theodotus no fewer than seven versions (not counting that of Marcus), which in part diverge considerably and reveal great independence of individual thought.» — la medida de esa libertad especulativa que Jonas ofrece: solo del desarrollo del Pleroma hay en Ireneo, Hipólito, Epifanio y los Extractos de Teodoto no menos de siete versiones, sin contar la de Marcos, que en parte divergen considerablemente

«Every day every one of them invents something new, and none of them is considered perfect unless he is productive in this way» — la frase de Ireneo que Jonas aplica a los valentinianos: cada día cada uno de ellos inventa algo nuevo, y ninguno se tiene por perfecto si no es productivo de esa manera

«As regards the branches we mentioned, we hear of an Anatolian branch, mainly known to us through the Excerpts from Theodotus, besides the more fully documented Italic branch to which Ptolemaeus belonged, apparently the most prominent of the system builders.» — las ramas que Jonas distingue: una anatolia, conocida sobre todo por los Extractos de Teodoto, y la itálica, mejor documentada, a la que pertenecía Ptolomeo, al parecer el más prominente de los constructores de sistemas

«In the following abridged reconstruction we follow on the whole Irenaeus' general account (supplemented from that of Hippolytus) of "the Valentinians," meaning probably in the main Ptolemaeus, and shall only occasionally collate differing versions.» — la declaración de método de Jonas: en su reconstrucción abreviada sigue en conjunto el relato general de Ireneo, suplido con el de Hipólito, sobre los valentinianos, con lo que probablemente se refiera en lo principal a Ptolomeo

«A full interpretation of the often cryptic and always profoundly symbolical material cannot be attempted here, as it would require a volume to itself.» — la abstención que Jonas declara: no cabe intentar aquí una interpretación plena de ese material críptico y siempre hondamente simbólico, que pediría un volumen entero

«Indestructible Spirit greets the indestructible ones! To you I make mention of secrets nameless, ineffable, super-celestial, which cannot be comprehended either by the dominions or by the powers or the lower beings, nor by the entire mixture, but have been revealed to the Ennoia of the Immutable alone" (Epiph.» — la fórmula solemne con que Jonas dice que se introducen los misterios de los primeros comienzos: el Espíritu indestructible saluda a los indestructibles y les hace mención de secretos innombrables, inefables y supracelestes, revelados solo a la Ennoia del Inmutable

«With him was the Ennoia (Thought), also called Grace and Silence.7 And once this Abyss took thought to project out of himself the beginning of all things, and he sank this project like a seed into the womb of the Silence that was with him, and she conceived and brought forth the Mind (Nous: male), who is like and equal to his begetter and alone comprehends the greatness of the Father. He is also called Only-Begotten, Father, and Beginning of all beings. Together with him Truth (Aletheia: female) was produced, and this is the first Tetrad: Abyss and Silence, then Mind and Truth.» — la primera Tétrada que Jonas describe: con el Abismo estaba la Ennoia, llamada también Gracia y Silencio, y el Abismo hundió su proyecto como semilla en el seno del Silencio, que concibió y dio a luz al Nous, y con él se produjo la Verdad

«As to whether the Fore-Father or Abyss was originally alone or was matched from the outset with Silence there was great difference of opinion among the Valentinians (cf. Iren. I. 11. 5, Hippol. VI. 29. 3).» — el desacuerdo interno que Jonas consigna sin arbitrar: entre los valentinianos había gran diferencia de opinión sobre si el Prepadre o Abismo estaba originalmente solo o emparejado desde el principio con el Silencio

«The chief difference from the previous version is that here (as in Simon) the initiative to the creative process comes from the Ennoia and not from the Father.» — la diferencia que Jonas señala entre versiones: en la de Epifanio, como en Simón, la iniciativa del proceso creador viene de la Ennoia y no del Padre

«These Aeons, produced to the glory of the Father, wished to glorify the Father by their own creations, and produced further emanations. From Word and Life issued ten additional Aeons, from Man and Church twelve, so that out of Eight and Ten and Twelve is constituted the Fullness (Pleroma) of thirty Aeons in fifteen pairs.» — la aritmética del Pleroma que Jonas resume: del Verbo y la Vida salen diez Eones más y del Hombre y la Iglesia doce, de modo que ocho, diez y doce constituyen la Plenitud de treinta Eones en quince parejas

«We pass over the details of this generative process after the Ogdoad, and only observe that the names of the further twenty-two Aeons are all abstractions of the type of the first eight, that is, artificial constructions and not proper names from the mythological tradition. The last female Aeon in the chain of emanations is Sophia.» — la observación que Jonas hace sobre los nombres: los de los veintidós Eones restantes son todos abstracciones como los ocho primeros, construcciones artificiales y no nombres propios de la tradición mitológica, y el último Eón femenino de la cadena es Sofía

«The Pleroma is not a homogeneous assembly. The Only-Begotten Mind alone, having issued from him directly, can know the Fore-Father: to all the other Aeons he remains invisible and incomprehensible.» — la desigualdad interna que Jonas subraya: el Pleroma no es una asamblea homogénea, y solo el Nous Unigénito, salido de él directamente, puede conocer al Prepadre, que a los demás Eones les queda invisible e incomprensible

«Now he wished to communicate the Father's greatness also to the other Aeons, but the Silence restrained him by the will of the Father, who wanted to lead them all to pondering on their Fore-Father and to a desire to seek after Him.» — el freno que Jonas describe: el Nous quiso comunicar a los demás Eones la grandeza del Padre y el Silencio lo contuvo por voluntad del Padre, que quería llevarlos a todos a cavilar sobre su Prepadre y a desear buscarlo

«(This is the beginning of a crisis in the Pleroma, since its harmony rests on its natural order, and this on the observation of their inherent limits by its members—which members yet, being spiritual subjects, cannot forgo the aspiration to know more than their limits permit and thus to abolish the distance separating them from the Absolute.)» — la lectura que Jonas hace de esa situación: ahí empieza una crisis del Pleroma, cuya armonía descansa en su orden natural y este en que sus miembros observen sus límites inherentes, límites que unos sujetos espirituales no pueden dejar de querer rebasar

«The last and youngest (and therefore outermost) of the Aeons, the Sophia, leapt farthest forward and fell into a passion apart from the embrace of her consort. That passion had originated and spread from the vicinity of the Mind and Truth but now infected the Sophia and broke out in her so that she went out of her mind, pretendedly from love, actually from folly or presumption, since she had no such community with the Father as the Only-Begotten Mind.» — la caída de Sofía en la versión de Jonas: el último y más joven de los Eones saltó más lejos, cayó en una pasión fuera del abrazo de su consorte y se salió de sí, en apariencia por amor y de hecho por locura o presunción, al no tener con el Padre la comunidad que el Nous Unigénito tenía

«Oblivion did not come into existence close to the Father, although it came into existence because of Him» — la frase del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas alinea ahí: el Olvido no vino a la existencia cerca del Padre, aunque vino a la existencia a causa de Él

«The passion was a search for the Father, for she strove to comprehend his greatness. This, however, she failed to achieve, because what she attempted was impossible, and so she found herself in great agony; on account of the depth of the Abyss,10 into which in her desire she penetrated more and more, she would in the end have been swallowed up by its sweetness and dissolved in the general being, had she not come up against the power that consolidates the All and keeps it off the ineffable Greatness. This power is called Limit (horos): by him she was stopped, consolidated, brought back to herself, and convinced that the Father is incomprehensible. Thus she abandoned her previous intention and the passion engendered by it.» — el desenlace que Jonas narra: la pasión era una busca del Padre, imposible de lograr, y Sofía se habría disuelto en el ser general de no toparse con el poder que consolida el Todo y lo mantiene apartado de la Grandeza inefable, el Límite, que la detuvo, la consolidó, la devolvió a sí misma y la convenció de que el Padre es incomprensible

«This is the first restoration and (incipient) "salvation" in the spiritual history of total being, and it occurs entirely inside the Pleroma, though as we shall see it is the cause of a chain of events outside it. The crisis itself is again differently described in the different versions.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese episodio: es la primera restauración y salvación incipiente en la historia espiritual del ser total, y ocurre enteramente dentro del Pleroma aunque cause una cadena de acontecimientos fuera de él

«Very different is the folly of the Sophia in Hippol. VI. 30. 6, here summarized: Rushing up to the depth of the Father, she perceives that whereas all the begotten Aeons generate by copulation, the Father alone generates out of himself (being in this version without consort, see note 9); in this she wants to emulate him and also generate out of herself without spouse, so that she may not fall short of the Father's achievement. She failed to perceive that this is the power solely of the Unbegotten One, and so she managed only to bring forth a formless entity. In this effect—the existence of a formless entity—all versions agree, and it is the important fact for the progress of the narrative, whether the guilty cause of it is presumption to imitate the Absolute, i.e., plain hybris, as here, or desire to know Him completely, i.e. trespassing love, as in the more prevalent versions.» — la variante que Jonas resume de Hipólito y el punto en que todas coinciden: ahí Sofía quiere emular al Padre generando sin cónyuge y solo logra una entidad informe, y en ese efecto concuerdan todas las versiones, sea la causa culpable la presunción de imitar al Absoluto o el amor que traspasa los límites

«The formless entity to which in her striving for the impossible she gave birth is the objectivation of her own passion; and at the sight of it, and reflecting upon her fate, she is moved by varying emotions: grief, fear, bewilderment and shock, repentance.» — el efecto que alcanza fuera del Pleroma: la entidad informe que Sofía dio a luz es la objetivación de su propia pasión, y al verla y reflexionar sobre su suerte la conmueven emociones varias, pena, miedo, desconcierto, sobresalto y arrepentimiento

«These emotions too become embodied in the formlessness, and their complete series, developed in ever-new variations by the individual thinkers, plays an important ontological role in the system: "From here, from the ignorance, the grief, the fear and the shock, material substance took its first beginning" (Iren. I. 2. 3).» — el papel ontológico que Jonas asigna a esas emociones y la frase de Ireneo que lo dice: de ahí, de la ignorancia, la pena, el miedo y el sobresalto, tomó su primer comienzo la sustancia material

«It was this ignorance concerning the Father which produced Anguish and Terror. Anguish became dense like a fog, so that no one could see. Therefore Error became fortified [i.e., assumed subsistence]. It elaborated its own Matter in the Void" (GT 17. 9-16).» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas alinea: esa ignorancia acerca del Padre produjo Angustia y Terror, la Angustia se hizo densa como niebla de modo que nadie podía ver, y el Error se fortificó y elaboró su propia Materia en el Vacío

«But her Intention, once conceived and having become effective, cannot be just undone: together with the Passion caused by it, it is separated from her and, while she herself remains within the Pleroma, is by the Limit cast outside it. As the natural impulse of an Aeon, this detached complex of mental states is now a hypostatized spiritual substance, but a formless and shapeless one, being an "abortion" brought forth without concep» — la distinción que Jonas subraya: la Intención de Sofía, una vez concebida y hecha efectiva, no se puede deshacer, y mientras ella queda dentro del Pleroma esa Intención con su Pasión es separada de ella y arrojada fuera por el Límite

«pre-existent. His name is Fore-Beginning, Fore-Father, and Abyss. No thing can comprehend him. Through immeasurable eternities he remained in profoundest repose.» — el arranque del sistema en la versión de Jonas, en la plana en que sigue tras el corte: el Eón perfecto preexistente se llama Preprincipio, Prepadre y Abismo, ninguna cosa puede comprenderlo, y por eternidades inmensurables permaneció en el reposo más hondo

«The Only-Begotten, perceiving with what intention he had been produced, on his part projected with his consort the pair Word (m.) and Life (fem.), respectively father of all things coming after him, and beginning and form-mother of the whole Pleroma.» — la continuación de la genealogía: el Unigénito, percibiendo con qué intención había sido producido, proyectó con su consorte la pareja Verbo y Vida, padre de todo lo que viene después y madre-forma del Pleroma entero

«they were in the Father without knowing Him" (GT 22. 27» — la frase del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas cita para eso, con su referencia: fue una gran maravilla que estuvieran en el Padre sin conocerlo

«The Limit has thus a twofold function, a steadying and a separating: in the one he is called Cross, in the other, Limit. Both functions are exercised in two different places: between the Abyss and the rest of the Pleroma, in order to delimit the begotten Aeons from the unbeaten Father—it was in this capacity that he encountered the Sophia in her blind quest; and again, between the Pleroma as a whole and the outside, i.e., the expelled substance of passion, in order to secure the Pleroma against the re-entry of the disturbance from without.» — la doble función que Jonas asigna al Límite: consolidar y separar, llamándose Cruz en la una y Límite en la otra, y ejercerlas en dos lugares, entre el Abismo y el resto del Pleroma y entre el Pleroma y lo de fuera

«In the sequence of the drama, only his role at the outer boundaries is emphasized: "He divides the cosmos from the Pleroma" (Exc. Theod. 42. 1). His more spiritual functions, such as restoring the Pleroma to its harmony, subsequently pass over to the Christos, leaving the role of the Limit mainly a preserving one.» — el reparto que Jonas hace en la secuencia del drama: solo se subraya el papel del Límite en las fronteras exteriores, y sus funciones más espirituales pasan después al Cristo, dejándole a él sobre todo la de preservar

«The meaning of this peculiar figure, which makes its appearance only with the error of the Sophia, not having been originated with the Pleroma itself, is precisely this, that through the aberration of the Sophia a decisive change has occurred in the divine order, which makes such a function necessary: it possesses its integrity no longer simply and unquestionably but only in contrast to a negativity posited without.» — el sentido que Jonas atribuye a esa figura, aparecida solo con el error de Sofía y no originada con el Pleroma: por la aberración de Sofía ha ocurrido un cambio decisivo en el orden divino, que ya no posee su integridad simple e incuestionablemente sino solo en contraste con una negatividad puesta fuera

«Thus the Limit was not planned in the original constitution of the Fullness, i.e., of the free and adequate self-expression of the godhead, but was necessitated by the crisis as a principle of consolidation and protective separation. The appearance of the figure itself is therefore a symbol of the beginning dualism as it dialectically arises out of original Being itself.» — la conclusión que Jonas saca: el Límite no estaba planeado en la constitución original de la Plenitud sino que lo hizo necesario la crisis, y su aparición es por eso un símbolo del dualismo que empieza y que surge dialécticamente del Ser original mismo

«For these two tasks Valentinus himself seems to have assumed two Limits, who were later contracted into one person.» — la variante de atribución que Jonas anota: el propio Valentín parece haber supuesto dos Límites para esas dos tareas, contraídos después en una sola persona

«As ignorance and formlessness had appeared within the Pleroma, deep perturbation remained among the Aeons, who no 12For these two tasks Valentinus himself seems to have assumed two Limits, who were later contracted into one person. 1S "This, then, was not a humiliation for Him. . . . For they were a Nothing, namely that Anguish and that Oblivion and that formation of Falsehood" (GT 17. 21 f.). longer felt safe, fearing like happenings to themselves.» — el estado del Pleroma tras la crisis según Jonas: los Eones ya no se sentían seguros y temían que les pasara lo mismo

«They therefore unite in prayer to the Father and obtain from him the emanation of a new pair of Aeons, Christos and Holy Spirit, who have this twofold office: within the Pleroma to restore true serenity; and, as a condition thereof, to take care of the residual formlessness and impart form to it.» — el remedio que Jonas describe: unidos en oración al Padre obtienen la emanación de una pareja nueva de Eones, Cristo y Espíritu Santo, con el doble oficio de restaurar la serenidad dentro y de dar forma a la informidad residual

«Thus Christos (as the male part representing the pair) is the first and only Aeon who has a role both this side and the other side of the Limit, whereas the Aeon Jesus, emanated still later, is already destined for the external mission entirely.» — el lugar único que Jonas asigna al Cristo: es el primero y único Eón con papel a los dos lados del Límite, mientras que el Eón Jesús, emanado más tarde, está destinado por entero a la misión externa

«In this manner the development leads step by step outward under the necessity imposed by the failure which, once having occurred, now maintains reality and requires reparation.» — la lógica del desarrollo que Jonas formula: el fracaso, una vez ocurrido, mantiene ahora la realidad y exige reparación, y así el desarrollo lleva paso a paso hacia fuera

«First to insure against any of the Aeons' suffering a similar fate, Christos establishes a new harmony in the Pleroma by enlightening the Aeons about the unknowability of the Father, i.e., bringing them the gnosis ("for of what was the All in need if not of the Gnosis of the Father?"—GT 19. 15 f.), and reconciling them to their apportioned ranks, so that the awareness of spiritual unity embracing their differences no longer lets individual aspirations arise.» — lo primero que hace el Cristo según Jonas: establecer una armonía nueva iluminando a los Eones sobre la incognoscibilidad del Padre, es decir trayéndoles la gnosis, y reconciliándolos con los rangos que les tocan

«for of what was the All in need if not of the Gnosis of the Father?"—GT 19. 15 f.» — la frase del Evangelio de la Verdad con que Jonas lo apoya: de qué tenía necesidad el Todo sino de la Gnosis del Padre

«As the fruit of their new unity, they all together, each contributing the best of his essence, produce an additional (and unpaired) Aeon, Jesus, in whom the Fullness is as it were gathered together and the regained unity of the Aeons symbolized.» — el fruto de esa unidad recobrada: todos juntos, cada uno aportando lo mejor de su esencia, producen un Eón más y sin pareja, Jesús, en quien la Plenitud queda como recogida

«This "perfect fruit of the Pleroma," who contains all its elements, has later as Savior to carry in his person the Fullness out into the Void in which the residue of the past disturbance, meanwhile "formed" by Christos, still awaits salvation.» — la misión que Jonas le asigna: como Salvador ha de llevar en su persona la Plenitud al Vacío donde el residuo de la perturbación pasada, ya formado por el Cristo, sigue esperando salvación

«A simple undoing of what has been done is not feasible: even in error the thought of an Aeon constitutes reality and lives on in its effects.» — el principio que Jonas enuncia ahí: deshacer sin más lo hecho no es viable, porque aun en el error el pensamiento de un Eón constituye realidad y pervive en sus efectos

«Now, the Intention or Desire of the Sophia, hypostasized in its separation from her, is a new personal being: the lower Sophia or Achamoth.» — el nuevo ser que de ahí resulta: la Intención o Deseo de Sofía, hipostasiada al separarse de ella, es la Sofía inferior o Achamoth

«From the Hebrew chokmah, i.e., wisdom, the same as "Sophia," but in these speculations denoting her fallen form.» — la etimología que Jonas da en nota: Achamoth viene del hebreo chokmah, sabiduría, lo mismo que Sofía, pero en esas especulaciones designa su forma caída

«It is highly significant that the first action from the Pleroma outward is in the sign of the Cross, though the latter has here little of the familiar Christian meaning. To understand the situation graphically, it has to be remembered that the Cross at that time was thought of as T-shaped. In its Valentinian symbolization, then, the horizontal bar is the Limit between the upper and the lower world over which Christos stretches himself out to reach the lower Sophia, while the vertical bar divides between the right and the left areas of the lower world, i.e., pneumatics and psychics, or between the "right" and "left" power of the psychical, or between the psychical and material.» — la lectura gráfica que Jonas hace en nota de ese símbolo, advirtiendo que entonces la Cruz se pensaba en forma de T: la barra horizontal es el Límite entre el mundo de arriba y el de abajo, sobre el que el Cristo se tiende para alcanzar a la Sofía inferior, y la vertical divide las áreas derecha e izquierda del mundo inferior

«Valentinus himself offered a very different picture of the relation Christos-Sophia (from this stage on "Sophia" always means the lower one), and the Anatolian branch retained this form of the doctrine. According to it, "Christos did not issue from the Aeons in the Pleroma, but together with a shadow was brought forth according to the idea of the Better by the 'Mother' (Sophia) who had fallen outside the Pleroma. He, however, being male, cut off the shadow from himself and ascended to the Pleroma. The Mother, left behind with the shadow and emptied of the pneumatic element, brought forth another son: the Demiurge, who is also called All-Ruler of what is below" (Iren. I. 11. I). The Exc. Theod. confirm this version as valid for the Anatolian branch (23. 2.; 32. 2; 39).» — la versión distinta que Jonas atribuye al propio Valentín y que retuvo la rama anatolia: el Cristo no salió de los Eones del Pleroma sino que la Madre caída fuera lo produjo junto con una sombra, y él, siendo varón, cortó de sí la sombra y ascendió, mientras la Madre, vaciada del elemento pneumático, dio a luz otro hijo, el Demiurgo

«Having become conscious through the formation imparted by Christos, the deserted Sophia impetuously sets out to seek after the vanished light, but cannot reach it, for the Limit obstructs her forward rush. She cannot penetrate through him, because of her admixture of the original Passion, and forced to remain alone in the outer darkness she falls prey to every kind of suffering that exists.» — el estado en que queda la Sofía inferior: consciente ya, se lanza a buscar la luz desaparecida y el Límite le obstruye el paso por su mezcla de la Pasión original, y forzada a quedarse sola en la tiniebla exterior cae presa de toda suerte de sufrimiento

«In this she repeats on her own level the scale of emotions which her mother in the Pleroma underwent, the only difference being that these passions now pass over into the form of definitive states of being, and as such they can become the substance of the world.» — la diferencia que Jonas marca entre madre e hija: la Sofía inferior repite en su nivel la escala de emociones de su madre, con la sola diferencia de que ahora esas pasiones pasan a forma de estados definitivos del ser y pueden volverse la sustancia del mundo

«This substance, then, psychical as well as material, is nothing else than a self-estranged and sunken form of the Spirit solidified from acts into habitual conditions and from inner process to outer fact.» — la tesis ontológica que de ahí saca: esa sustancia, psíquica y material, no es otra cosa que una forma del Espíritu extrañada de sí y hundida, solidificada de actos en condiciones habituales y de proceso interno en hecho externo

«How central to the Valentinians this point of their speculation was is shown by the mere number of variants in which the scale of emotions was developed and assigned its respective counterparts in terms of "substance." 18 The very fact that the correlation of emotions and elements is not fixed in detail but varies considerably from author to author, and probably even within the thought of one and the same author, illustrates how the subject was again and again pondered on.» — el índice que Jonas ofrece de la centralidad de ese punto: el número mismo de variantes en que se desarrolló la escala de emociones y se le asignaron sus contrapartes en términos de sustancia, cuya correlación varía mucho de autor a autor

«The account we are mainly using offers at this point the following series of emotions: grief, because she could not get hold of the light; fear, lest besides the light also life might leave her; bewilderment, added to these; and all of them united in the basic quality of ignorance (itself counted as an "affection"). And still another state of mind ensued: the turning (conversion) toward the Giver of Life.» — la serie de emociones que Jonas registra en el relato que sigue: pena por no alcanzar la luz, miedo a que también la vida la dejara, desconcierto añadido a ambos, todos unidos en la cualidad básica de la ignorancia, contada ella misma como afección, y un estado más, el volverse hacia el Dador de la Vida

«The latter, here called a "turning back," elsewhere (in Hippolytus) also "supplication" and "prayer," is the origin of everything psychical in the world, which stands in rank between matter and spirit.» — el papel de esa afección positiva: el volverse atrás, llamado en otras partes súplica y oración, es el origen de todo lo psíquico en el mundo, que está en rango entre la materia y el espíritu

«Now she wept and grieved because she was left alone in the Darkness and the Void; now bethinking herself of the Light which had left her she became cheerful and laughed; now she again fell into fear, and otherwhiles she was bewildered and amazed" (Iren. I. 4. 2).» — el pasaje de Ireneo que Jonas cita: ora lloraba y se afligía por quedarse sola en la Tiniebla y el Vacío, ora recordaba la Luz que la había dejado y se alegraba y reía, ora volvía a caer en el miedo, y otras veces quedaba desconcertada y atónita

«After the Mother had thus passed through all the passions and, barely emerged, had turned around in supplication to the Vanished light of Christos, the Aeons took pity on her, and since Christos himself would not again leave the Pleroma they sent "the common fruit" of the Pleroma, Jesus, to be the consort of the outer Sophia (he being the only one of the Aeons produced without a spouse) and to cure her of the passions from which she suffered in her quest for Christos.» — la segunda intervención que Jonas narra: los Eones se apiadan y, como el Cristo no dejaría de nuevo el Pleroma, envían el fruto común, Jesús, para ser consorte de la Sofía exterior y curarla de las pasiones

«Those passions he separated from her, but he did not leave them to themselves as had been done with those of the upper Sophia; on the other hand he could not simply annihilate them, since they had already become "habitual and effective states," in» — la razón que Jonas da de que no bastara suprimir las pasiones: ya se habían vuelto estados habituales y efectivos; el tramo se corta ante el encabezado corrido

«their own way eternal, and peculiar to the Sophia. Therefore he only detached them from the Sophia, that is, externalized and solidified them into independent substances.» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: eran a su manera eternas y propias de la Sofía, de modo que el Salvador solo pudo desprenderlas de ella, externalizarlas y solidificarlas en sustancias independientes

«From incorporeal affection and accidence he turned the passions into matter, which was still noncorporeal; but then he imparted to them the capacity and natural tendency to enter into compounds and form bodies, so that two types of substance originated: the bad from the passions, the susceptible from the turning back.» — la operación que resulta según Jonas: de afección y accidente incorpóreos convirtió las pasiones en materia todavía no corpórea, y les dio la capacidad y la tendencia a entrar en compuestos, de modo que se originaron dos tipos de sustancia, la mala de las pasiones y la susceptible del volverse atrás; span() une aquí el guion de fin de renglón de non-corporeal y devuelve noncorporeal, forma que el impreso no lleva

«And the Achamoth, freed from her affections, joyfully "received" the sight of the lights around the Savior, i.e., of his escorting angels, and from this conception brought forth pneumatic fruit in their image. This is the origin of the pneumatic element in the lower world.» — el origen del elemento pneumático que Jonas registra: la Achamoth, libre ya de sus afecciones, recibió con gozo la vista de las luces en torno al Salvador, es decir de sus ángeles de escolta, y de esa concepción dio a luz fruto pneumático a imagen de ellos

«from shock (terror) and perplexity as the more inarticulate condition, the corporeal elements of the cosmos—namely earth according to the stiffening of terror; then water, according to the movement of fear; air, according to the flight21 of grief; the fire, however, is inherent in all of them as death and corruption, just as ignorance is hidden in the three passions» — la correlación que Jonas cita de Ireneo: del sobresalto y la perplejidad, como condición más inarticulada, los elementos corpóreos del cosmos —tierra según el agarrotamiento del terror, agua según el movimiento del miedo, aire según la huida de la pena—, mientras el fuego es inherente a todos ellos como muerte y corrupción, así como la ignorancia está oculta en las tres pasiones

«Christ, stretching out over the Cross,16 imparted from his own power a first fashioning to her, a shaping of substance only, not yet the "informing" of knowledge, after which he withdrew back into the Pleroma within the Limit, leaving her with the awakened awareness of her separation from the Pleroma and the aroused longing for it.» — la primera intervención que Jonas narra: Cristo, extendiéndose sobre la Cruz, le imparte una primera formación, de sola sustancia y no todavía el informar del conocimiento, y se retira dentro del Límite dejándola con la conciencia despierta de su separación del Pleroma y el anhelo de él

«This, then, became the composition and substance19 of Matter, of which this world consists; from the turning back, all the Soul of the world and of the Demiurge took its origin; from fear and grief, the rest had its beginning.» — el pasaje que Jonas cita para la derivación: esa fue la composición y sustancia de la Materia de que consta este mundo; del volverse atrás tomó origen el Alma del mundo y del Demiurgo, y del miedo y la pena empezó lo demás

«In numerical terms, which are about the only constant in this part of the speculation, we have five affections in all, four negative or» — la constante que Jonas identifica en esa parte de la especulación: los números, cinco afecciones en total; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el cambio de plana

«thoroughly dark ones ("passions" in the narrower sense), one positive or semi-bright.» — el remate en la plana siguiente: cuatro del todo oscuras, pasiones en sentido estricto, y una positiva o semiluminosa

«In sum, three essences originated from the experiences of the Sophia: from her passion, matter; from her turning back, soul; from her receiving the light of the Savior after her purification, the pneuma.» — el balance que Jonas hace de las experiencias de Sofía: de su pasión, la materia; de su volverse atrás, el alma; y de recibir la luz del Salvador tras la purificación, el pneuma

«This last essence, being the same as her own, she could not subject to any forming on her part. Thus she turned to the shaping of the psychical essence which had issued from her turning back.» — la razón que Jonas da del paso siguiente: por ser la misma que la suya, esa última esencia no podía someterla a ninguna forma, y se volvió por eso a modelar la esencia psíquica

«Out of the psychical substance, the lower Sophia shapes the father and king of all things psychical and material, for he created everything that comes after him, though without his knowledge guided by his mother. He is called "father" of the right-hand things, i.e., the psychical, "artificer" (demiurge) of the left-hand things, i.e., the material, and "king" of them all, i.e., of all things outside the Pleroma.» — el Demiurgo que de ahí sale: la Sofía inferior modela con la sustancia psíquica al padre y rey de todo lo psíquico y material, guiado sin saberlo por su madre, llamado padre de las cosas de la derecha, artífice de las de la izquierda y rey de todas

«Error elaborated its own Matter in the Void, without knowing Truth. It applied itself to the fashioning of a formation, trying to produce in beauty a substitute of Truth. . . . Not having any root, it remained immersed in a fog with regard to the Father while it was engaged in preparing Works and Oblivions and Terrors in order to attract, with their help, those of the Middle and to imprison them. (GT 17. 15-35)» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas alinea: el Error elaboró su propia Materia en el Vacío sin conocer la Verdad, se aplicó a fabricar una formación tratando de producir en belleza un sustituto de la Verdad, y preparó Obras y Olvidos y Terrores para atraer con ellos a los del Medio y aprisionarlos

«He creates seven heavens, which are at the same time angels, above which he resides. Therefore he is also called "Heptad," and the Mother above him, "Ogdoad." In this position he is "the Place of the Middle,"23 beneath the Sophia and above the material world» — la topografía que Jonas describe: el Demiurgo crea siete cielos que son a la vez ángeles y reside sobre ellos, de ahí que se lo llame Héptada y a la Madre Ogdóada, y ocupa el Lugar del Medio; el tramo se corta ante la nota al pie y el encabezado corrido

«which he has fashioned. In another respect the Mother, the Ogdoad, is in the middle, namely, above the Demiurge but beneath the Pleroma, outside of which she is kept "until the» — el remate tras el encabezado corrido: la Madre, la Ogdóada, está a su vez en medio, sobre el Demiurgo y bajo el Pleroma, fuera del cual queda retenida

«The ontological relation of Sophia and Demiurge is best expressed in the statement "the Sophia is called 'pneuma,' the Demiurge, 'soul'» — la fórmula en que Jonas cifra esa relación ontológica, tomada de Hipólito: a la Sofía se la llama pneuma y al Demiurgo, alma

«his ignorance first, which the Valentinians stress emphatically and which in the first place relates to things above him. These, including his mother, remain entirely unknown to him; but also concerning his own fashioning beneath himself he "is unthinking and foolish, and knows not what he does and effects» — el primer rasgo que Jonas registra del Demiurgo valentiniano: su ignorancia, subrayada con énfasis, que atañe en primer lugar a lo que está sobre él, pero también a su propio hacer, porque es irreflexivo y necio y no sabe lo que hace ni lo que produce

«The Demiurge, his nature given to action, believed that he manufactured these things by himself, unaware that the Achamoth worked through him. He made a heaven without knowing 'the heaven'; he formed a man without knowing about 'the man'; he made appear an earth without knowledge of 'the earth': throughout he was ignorant of the ideas of whatever he created and of the Mother herself and believed himself alone to be everything.» — el pasaje que Jonas cita en nota: el Demiurgo, de naturaleza dada a la acción, creía fabricar esas cosas por sí mismo sin saber que la Achamoth obraba por medio de él, hizo un cielo sin conocer el cielo, formó un hombre sin saber del hombre e hizo aparecer una tierra sin conocimiento de la tierra

«This, of course, consciously revises Plato's picture of the Demiurge, who does know the ideas.» — la observación que Jonas añade ahí: eso revisa conscientemente el retrato platónico del Demiurgo, que sí conoce las ideas

«On his ignorance then is based the second major trait which he shares with the general gnostic conception of the Demiurge: the conceit and presumption in which he believes himself to be alone and declares himself to be the unique and highest God.» — el segundo rasgo mayor que Jonas deriva de esa ignorancia: la presunción con que el Demiurgo se cree solo y se declara el Dios único y altísimo

«Thus in need of correction, he is finally enlightened by the Sophia and by her instruction brought to the knowledge and acknowledgment of what is above him; however, he keeps to himself the great mystery of the Father and the Aeons into which the Sophia has initiated him28 and divulges it to none of his prophets» — la corrección que Jonas narra: la Sofía lo ilumina y lo lleva al conocimiento de lo que está sobre él, pero él se guarda el gran misterio del Padre y de los Eones y no lo divulga a ninguno de sus profetas

«This doctrinal item which has its almost literal parallel in the older Boo\ of Baruch of Justin the Gnostic (Hippolyt. V. 26 f.) is quite possibly a foreign intruder in the body of Valentinian teaching. For as consistent as it is with the system o£ the Baruch (where the "Elohim" [= Demiurge] is pneuma), as inconsistent with the main Valentinian doctrine is it that the very principle and representative of everything "psychical," the Demiurge, could be the recipient of the higher gnosis:- on the human plane the Valentinians very definitely deny this possibility to the psychikos; and generally the only possible organ of "knowledge," the subject to be "formed" by it, is the pneuma.» — la sospecha de interpolación que Jonas declara en nota: ese punto doctrinal, con paralelo casi literal en el Libro de Baruch de Justino el gnóstico, es muy posiblemente un intruso ajeno al cuerpo de la enseñanza valentiniana, porque es inconsistente que el Demiurgo, principio y representante de todo lo psíquico, pueda recibir la gnosis superior

«To communicate the saving gnosis to the pneumatic elements in the creation, the Sophia must therefore resort to an agent of her own, the incarnation of the Aeons Jesus and Christos from the Pleroma in the person of the historical Jesus.» — el recurso al que la Sofía se ve obligada según Jonas: un agente propio, la encarnación de los Eones Jesús y Cristo en la persona del Jesús histórico

«His advent is in a paradoxical way prepared for by the prophets, who were those of the Demiurge but through whose mouth the Mother, unknown to him, frequently conveyed her messages, which therefore are embedded in those of the world-god.» — la paradoja que Jonas señala: el advenimiento lo preparan los profetas del Demiurgo, por cuya boca la Madre transmitía a menudo, sin saberlo él, sus propios mensajes

«The prophets are not always treated so tolerantly, and in one place they and the Law are rather rudely called "ignorant fools speaking for a foolish God» — el otro tono que Jonas registra sin armonizar: en un lugar los profetas y la Ley se llaman rudamente necios ignorantes que hablan por un Dios necio

«A more moderate and thoughtful attitude toward the Mosaic Law, on the other hand, comes to word in Ptolemy's Letter to Flora, written to allay the scruples of an educated Christian Lady. The writer is at pains to make it clear from the outset that the Law of Moses, though certainly not from the perfect Father, is neither from Satan; nor is the world: both are the work of a god of justice.» — la posición que Jonas atribuye a la Carta a Flora de Ptolomeo, escrita para calmar los escrúpulos de una dama cristiana instruida: la Ley de Moisés no viene del Padre perfecto pero tampoco de Satanás, ni tampoco el mundo, y ambos son obra de un dios de justicia

«Those who attribute creation and legislation to an evil god are as much in error as those who ascribe the Law to the supreme God: the former err because they do not know the god of justice, the latter, because they do not know the Father of All.» — el doble error que ahí se denuncia según Jonas: yerran quienes atribuyen creación y legislación a un dios malo, porque no conocen al dios de la justicia, y quienes atribuyen la Ley al Dios supremo, porque no conocen al Padre de Todo

«The latter contains three elements: ordinances from "God," from Moses, and from the elders. Those from "God" again are threefold: the pure legislation unmixed with evil, which the Savior came not to abolish but to make full, because it was still imperfect (e.g., the decalogue); the legislation tainted with badness and injustice, which the Savior abolished because it was alien to his nature and that of the Father (e.g., "an eye for an eye"); and the legislation symbolic of things pneumatic and other-worldly, which the Savior translated from the literal and sensible to the spiritual meaning (the ritual laws).» — la partición de la Ley que Jonas resume: el pentateuco contiene ordenanzas de Dios, de Moisés y de los ancianos, y las de Dios son a su vez tres, la legislación pura que el Salvador no vino a abolir sino a completar, la manchada de maldad e injusticia que abolió, y la simbólica que trasladó del sentido literal al espiritual

«The "God" who ordained this Law, being neither the perfect Father nor the devil, can only be the Demiurge, the maker of this universe, different in substance from either, holding median rank between them and therefore called the "middle principle." He is inferior to the ungenerated perfect God, superior to the adversary, neither good like the first nor evil and unjust like the second, but properly called "just" and the arbiter of his kind of justice (a kind inferior to that of the Father).» — la identificación que Jonas registra: ese Dios legislador, ni Padre perfecto ni diablo, solo puede ser el Demiurgo, de sustancia distinta a los dos, de rango mediano, llamado con propiedad justo y árbitro de su clase de justicia

«This is the most charitable view taken of the Creator in all the Sophia-gnosis, inside and outside the Valentinian school. The sinister Ialdabaoth of the Barbeliotes, for instance, comes much closer to merging with the figure of the adversary.» — el lugar que Jonas asigna a esa lectura: es la visión más caritativa del Creador en toda la gnosis de la Sofía, dentro y fuera de la escuela valentiniana, frente al Ialdabaoth siniestro de los barbeloítas, mucho más cercano a fundirse con el adversario

«Yet in the last analysis these are no more than variations of mood26 in the development of a basic theme, and by and large the traits we have met all along in connection with the gnostic "theology" of the world-god are those of the Valentinian demiurge too.» — la reserva con que Jonas relativiza esas diferencias: en último análisis no son más que variaciones de talante en el desarrollo de un tema básico

«As the Demiurge is a creature of the Mother from the psychical substance, so the Devil, also called "Cosmocrator," is a creature of the Demiurge from the "spiritual substance of wickedness," which in turn originated from the "grief" (elsewhere: from the "perplexity"): and here we have the rather puzzling teaching that Satan (with the demons), being the spirit (pneuma) of wickedness, knows about the things above, whereas the Demiurge, being only psychical, does not» — el rasgo que Jonas llama desconcertante: el Diablo, llamado también Cosmocrátor, es criatura del Demiurgo hecha de la sustancia espiritual de la maldad, y siendo pneuma de maldad conoce las cosas de arriba, mientras el Demiurgo, solo psíquico, no las conoce

«If the reader fails to see how a "spirit" of wickedness enjoying the genuine spirit's privilege of knowledge is compatible with the ontological position of pneuma in the system, and a higher gnosis without sanctification of the knower with the salvational conception of gnosis as such, he is in no worse a position than this writer.» — la abstención que Jonas declara con humor: si el lector no ve cómo un espíritu de maldad que goza del privilegio del conocimiento se concilia con la posición ontológica del pneuma en el sistema, no está peor situado que quien escribe

«When the Demiurge further wanted to imitate also the boundless, eternal, infinite and timeless nature of the upper Ogdoad (the original eight Aeons in the Pleroma), but could not express their immutable eternity, being as he was a fruit of defect, he embodied their eternity in times, epochs, and great numbers of years, under the delusion that by the quantity of times he could represent their infinity. Thus truth escaped him and he followed the lie. Therefore his work shall pass away when the times are fulfilled. (Iren. I. 17. 2)» — el pasaje de Ireneo que Jonas cita: queriendo imitar la naturaleza sin límites, eterna, infinita y sin tiempo de la Ogdóada superior y no pudiendo expresar su eternidad inmutable, el Demiurgo la encarnó en tiempos, épocas y grandes números de años, bajo la ilusión de representar la infinitud por la cantidad de tiempos

«This of course is a parody of the famous passage in the Timaeus (37 C fif.) where Plato describes the creation of time as "the moving image of eternity." The vast gulf that divides the spirit of this imitation from its original will be evident to anyone who takes the trouble to compare the two passages.» — la lectura que Jonas hace de ese pasaje: es una parodia del lugar famoso del Timeo donde Platón describe la creación del tiempo como imagen móvil de la eternidad, y el abismo que separa el espíritu de la imitación del de su original se le hará evidente a quien se tome el trabajo de comparar los dos pasajes

«The speculation about the beginnings, which provides the ontology upon which all the other parts of the Valentinian teaching are based, is the essential aspect of Valentinianism.» — la jerarquía que Jonas establece dentro del sistema: la especulación sobre los comienzos, que da la ontología en que se apoyan las demás partes, es el aspecto esencial del valentinianismo

«The Valentinian speculation itself, understood in its own spirit, recapitulates the journey of the fall, the odyssey of ignorance, in the form of knowledge, and thereby raises the existence which is the victim of the one and the agent of the other out of the depth whose origination it describes.» — la lectura que Jonas hace del gesto de esa especulación: entendida en su propio espíritu, recapitula el viaje de la caída, la odisea de la ignorancia, en forma de conocimiento, y con ello levanta de la hondura cuyo origen describe a la existencia que es víctima de la una y agente del otro

«Since Oblivion [the lower world] came into existence because they [the Aeons] did not know the Father, therefore if they attain to a knowledge of the Father, Oblivion becomes at that very instant non-existent. That, then, is the Gospel of Him whom they seek and which [Jesus] revealed to the Perfect" (GT 18. 7-14).» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad que Jonas cita, advirtiendo que su formulación elíptica va dirigida a iniciados: como el Olvido vino a la existencia porque no conocían al Padre, si alcanzan un conocimiento del Padre el Olvido se vuelve en ese mismo instante inexistente

«This fruit of hers had therefore to pass into and through the world to be "informed" in its course.» — la razón que Jonas da del paso del pneuma por el mundo: siendo de la misma esencia que Sofía, ese fruto suyo tuvo que atravesar el mundo para ser informado en el trayecto

«As part and in completion of his own creation he fashions the earthly man and breathes into him the psychical man. The pneumatic element, which the Mother brought forth from the sight of the angels, he did not perceive because it was of the Mother's essence, and so it could be secretly deposited in his creature.» — el papel involuntario del Demiurgo según Jonas: modela al hombre terrestre y le insufla el hombre psíquico, y no percibe el elemento pneumático, por ser de la esencia de la Madre, de modo que puede depositarse a escondidas en su criatura

«Thus through his unknowing agency the spiritual seed was implanted in the human soul and body, to be carried there as if in a womb until it had grown sufficiently to receive the Logos. The pneuma sojourns in the world in order to be pre-formed there for the final "information" through the gnosis.» — la consecuencia que Jonas saca: por esa agencia ignorante la semilla espiritual queda implantada en el alma y el cuerpo humanos, llevada ahí como en una matriz hasta crecer lo bastante para recibir el Logos

«This was the secret aim which the Mother had in mind with the demiurgical creation.» — el fin secreto que Jonas atribuye a la Madre en la creación demiúrgica

«The gnosis itself is finally brought down to a sufficiently readied mankind by Jesus unified with Christos, descending upon the human Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan and departing from him before his passion so that Death was deceived. The suffering of the mortal Jesus had no other significance than that of a stratagem.» — el modo en que la gnosis baja según Jonas: por Jesús unido al Cristo, que desciende sobre el Jesús humano en el bautismo del Jordán y lo deja antes de su pasión para que la Muerte quedara engañada, de modo que el sufrimiento del Jesús mortal no tuvo más significado que el de una estratagema

«Nor was there ever an "original sin" of man, a guilt of the human soul: there was, instead, the time-preceding guilt of an Aeon, a divine upheaval, whose reparation in its course required the creation of the world and that of man.» — la negación que Jonas asienta: nunca hubo pecado original del hombre ni culpa del alma humana, sino la culpa anterior al tiempo de un Eón, un trastorno divino cuya reparación exigió en su curso la creación del mundo y la del hombre

«Thus the world, unbeknown to its immediate author, is for the sake of salvation, not salvation for the sake of what happened within creation and to creation. And the real object of salvation is the godhead itself, its theme the divine integrity.» — la inversión que Jonas formula: el mundo, sin saberlo su autor inmediato, es para la salvación, y no la salvación para lo ocurrido en la creación y a la creación, y el objeto real de la salvación es la divinidad misma, su tema la integridad divina

«The spirits transformed by knowledge rest in the middle region of the Ogdoad, where their Mother the Sophia clothed with them awaits the consummation of the world.» — el lugar de espera que Jonas describe: los espíritus transformados por el conocimiento reposan en la región media de la Ogdóada, donde su Madre la Sofía, revestida de ellos, aguarda la consumación del mundo

«Her own final salvation takes place when all the pneumatic elements in the world have been "formed" by knowledge and perfected. Then the spirits, stripped of their souls, with their Mother enter the Pleroma, which becomes the bridal chamber in which takes place the marriage of Sophia with Jesus and that of the spirits with their bridegrooms, the angels around Jesus.» — la consumación que Jonas narra: cuando todos los elementos pneumáticos hayan sido formados por el conocimiento, los espíritus, despojados de sus almas, entran con su Madre en el Pleroma, que se vuelve la cámara nupcial de las bodas de Sofía con Jesús y de los espíritus con sus esposos, los ángeles en torno a Jesús

«With this, the Fullness is restored in its integrity, the original breach finally repaired, the pre-temporal loss retrieved; and matter and soul, the expression of the fall, with their organized system, the world, cease to exist.» — el desenlace: restaurada la Plenitud en su integridad, reparada la brecha original y recobrada la pérdida pretemporal, la materia y el alma, expresión de la caída, y con ellas su sistema organizado, el mundo, dejan de existir

«The Father . . . reveals that of Himself which was hidden (that of Himself which was hidden was His Son) so that, through the compassions of the Father, the Aeons may know Him and cease their strivings in search of the Father, reposing in Him, knowing that repose consists in this: having filled Deficiency, He abolished Shape. Its Shape is the Cosmos, to which he (the Son?) had been subjected, the Father to the cross. Oh! great, sublime teaching. He abases himself even unto death though clothed with immortal life" (GT 20:10-30). The sentiment of these lines cannot be undone by the later, more docetic statement "He came in a similitude of flesh, although nothing could obstruct its course, because it was incorruptible and uncoerceable" (31.4 ff.). About the theological meaning of Christ's suffering we hear only that it was due to the anger of "Error," and have the feeling that this does not quite exhaust the religious significance resounding in the quoted passage, whatever this significance may be (and certainly nothing remotely Pauline is hinted at). But even with this new evidence it remains true that in the total theology of the Valentinians the suffering of the Sophia, not that of Christ, is the central fact, doctrinally and emotionally. For the place in which there is envy and dissension, is Deficiency, but the place which is Unity, is Plenitude. Since Deficiency came into existence because they did not know the Father, so when they know the Father, Deficiency, at that same instant, disappears. As a person's ignorance, at the moment when he comes to know, disappears of its own accord; as darkness dissolves at the appearance of light; so also Deficiency is dissolved in the fact of Plenitude. Therefore, from that moment on, Shape is no longer apparent, but disappears in fusion with Unity—for now their works have become equal one to the other—at the moment when Unity perfected the spaces. (GT 24:11-25:10)» — el pasaje del Evangelio de la Verdad con que Jonas cierra el capítulo: el reposo consiste en que, llenada la Deficiencia, Él abolió la Forma, cuya Forma es el Cosmos; donde hay envidia y disensión hay Deficiencia y donde hay Unidad hay Plenitud, y como la Deficiencia vino a existir porque no conocían al Padre, al conocerlo desaparece en ese mismo instante

«The number of these emotions is standardized to either four or three, depending on whether or not "ignorance" is counted in with them.» — la variación numérica que Jonas registra: las emociones de las que se derivan los elementos se fijan en cuatro o en tres, según se cuente o no la ignorancia entre ellas

«Yet ignorance is never just one of them, but, as it preceded them in their genesis, it is also explicitly stated to persist as their common genus and principle rather than as a separate condition.» — la precisión que Jonas hace: la ignorancia nunca es solo una de ellas, sino que, como las precedió en su génesis, se declara expresamente que persiste como género y principio común suyo