Synopsis "Pistis Sophia"
The complete text of Pistis Sophia in the translation of G.R.S. Mead; (Revised Second Edition, 1921).Original text from the Askew Codex. The Askew codex was bought by the British Museum in 1795, having been previously acquired by a Dr. Askew from an unknown source. It is more commonly known by the name inscribed upon it's binding, "Piste Sophiea Cotice".Pistis Sophia (Greek: 'Πίστις Σοφία') is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 2nd and the 3rd centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha). In this text, the risen Jesus had spent eleven years speaking with his disciples, teaching them only the lower mysteries. After eleven years, he receives his true garment and is able to reveal the higher mysteries revered by this group. The prized mysteries relate to complex cosmologies and knowledge necessary for the soul to reach the highest divine realms GEORGE ROBERT STOW MEAD (1863-1933) was born at Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. He came from a military family-his father was a Colonel in the Royal Army Ordinance Corps-but he chose to follow an academic career instead. From King's School, Rochester, he went up to St. John's College, Cambridge, to study mathematics but changed to Classics, in which he graduated with a B.A. degree in 1884. In that same year, he joined the Theosophical Society and determined to devote his life to the cause of Theosophy.During his vacations, Mead worked as a volunteer at the London headquarters of the Theosophical Society, and on one of his visits, in May 1887, he first met H. P. Blavatsky. He was at once captivated, and two years later H.P.B. repaid his devotion by giving him her absolute trust and appointing him her private secretary. In addition to handling H.P.B.'s correspondence, Mead also edited most of her later published works and acted, without acknowledgment, as assistant editor of her magazine, Lucifer, for which he had written anonymously since the first volume.While working closely with the Theosophical Society, Mead also published many of his own works: The World Mystery (1895), Plotinus (1895), Orpheus (1896), and Pistis Sophia (1896). After over a century, his edition of Pistis Sophia remains one of the best translations and commentary available on this important Gnostic text.
