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It appears that Gnosticism attributed
falsehood, fallen or evil to the concept of a creator in at
least the Judeo-Christian and Hellenic paganism traditions.
Though sometimes the creator is from a fallen, ignorant or
lesser rather than evil perspective in some Gnosticism
traditions (see Valentinian). The Neoplatonic philosopher
Plotinus addressed within his works what he saw as un-Hellenic
and blasphemous to the demiurge of Plato. An example of
vilifying the Judeo-Christian creator would be to attribute the
term ?Kosmokrator? (found in the New Testament) to the Old
Testament creator as the fallen Gnostic demiurge (see Marcion
and the Cathars). Though this would be at one point also to
diverge from Philo and Plato as well as the New Testament. If
one sees the attribute of Creatorship as inherent in the concept
of ?God,? then the title ?The God of this Age? applied to Satan
becomes a powerful indicator that Satan is indeed the creator.
Other modern-day Cathars see a further indication of this in the
epithet ?Kosmokrator? Koine Greek, kosmokratoras, which
literally means cosmos-sovereign, or even cosmos-might, which is
applied to Satan in Ephesians 6:12, as a possible further
indication of the creatorship of Satan and his identity with the
Demiurge.
However, ?Kosmokrator??with cosmos ("kratia"), as in demokratik?s, or
"democratic" does not mean to create but to rule, direct or
influence. Koine Greek, which literally means
"world-ruler" and is applied to Satan in Ephesians 6:12, would,
by this Gnostic interpretation, lead to an indication of the
power of Satan and his identity with the Demiurge. This usage
would according to some vilify the logos
as it was used by Heraclitus, meaning the ruling or guiding
principle of the universe. This would also be a different
understanding of St Paul's passage which was referring to men of
power falling under the influence of evil as in the world-rulers
(since the word Kosmokrators in Ephesians is plural meaning many
rulers not one ruler) of the darkness of the age this then
meaning many evil rulers not just one.
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