Sophia, orSofia (Koinē Greek:σοφία,sophía—"wisdom") is a central idea inHellenistic philosophy andreligion,Platonism,Gnosticism andChristian theology. Originally carrying a meaning of "cleverness, skill", the later meaning of the term, close to the meaning ofphronesis ("wisdom, intelligence"), was significantly shaped by the termphilosophía ("love of wisdom") as used byPlato. Sophia is a member of theCharites.
In theOrthodox Church and theCatholic Church, the femininepersonification of divine wisdom asHoly Wisdom (Ἁγία Σοφία;Hagía Sophía) can refer either toJesus Christ theWord of God (as in the dedication of the church ofHagia Sophia inConstantinople) or to theHoly Spirit.
References tosophía inKoine Greek translations of theHebrew Bible are translated from theHebrew termChokmah.
TheAncient Greek wordsophía (σοφία) is theabstract noun ofσοφός (sophós), which variously translates to "clever, skillful, intelligent, wise". The nounσοφία as "skill in handicraft and art" isHomeric and inPindar is used to describe bothHephaestos andAthena.
BeforePlato, the term for "sound judgment, intelligence, practical wisdom" and so on—such qualities as are ascribed to theSeven Sages of Greece—wasphrónēsis (φρόνησις), fromphrēn (φρήν,lit. 'mind'), whilesophía referred to technical skill.[citation needed]
The termphilosophía (φιλοσοφία,lit. 'love of wisdom') was primarily used after the time ofPlato, following his teacherSocrates, though it has been said thatPythagoras was the first to call himself a philosopher.[citation needed] This understanding ofphilosophía permeates Plato's dialogues, especially theRepublic. In that work, the leaders of the proposedutopia are to bephilosopher kings: rulers who are lovers of wisdom. According to Plato inApology, Socrates himself was dubbed "the wisest [σοφώτατος,sophṓtatos] man of Greece" by thePythian Oracle. Socrates defends this verdict inApology to the effect that he, at least,knows that he knows nothing. Socraticskepticism is contrasted with the approach of thesophists, who are attacked inGorgias for relying merely oneloquence.Cicero inDe Oratore later criticized Plato for his separation of wisdom from eloquence.[1]Sophía is named as one of the fourcardinal virtues (in place ofphrónēsis) inPlato'sProtagoras.
Philo, aHellenized Jew writing inAlexandria, attempted to harmonize Platonic philosophy and Jewish scripture. Also influenced byStoic philosophical concepts, he used the Koine termlógos (λόγος) for the role and function of Wisdom, a concept later adapted by the author of theGospel of John in its opening verses and applied to Jesus as the Word (Logos) ofGod the Father.[2]
InGnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to thesoul, but also simultaneously one of theemanations of theMonad. Gnostics held that she was thesyzygy of Jesus (i.e. theBride of Christ) and was theHoly Spirit of theTrinity.
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Christian theology received the Old Testament personification of Divine Wisdom (SeptuagintSophia,VulgateSapientia). The connection of Divine Wisdom to the concept of the Logos resulted in the interpretation of "Holy Wisdom" (Hagia Sophia) as an aspect of Christ theLogos.[3][4]
The expressionἉγία Σοφία itself is not found in theNew Testament, even though passages in thePauline epistles equate Christ with the "wisdom of God" (θεοῦ σοφία).[5] The clearest form of the identification of Divine Wisdom with Christ comes in1 Corinthians 1:17–2:13. In1 Corinthians 2:7, Paul speaks of the Wisdom of God as amystery which was "ordained before the world unto our glory".
Following 1 Corinthians, theChurch Fathers named Christ as "Wisdom of God".[6] Therefore, when rebutting claims about Christ's ignorance,Gregory of Nazianzus insisted that, inasmuch as he was divine, Christ knew everything: "How can he be ignorant of anything that is, when he is Wisdom, the maker of the worlds, who brings all things to fulfillment and recreates all things, who is the end of all that has come into being?".[7]Irenaeus represents another, minor patristic tradition which identified the Spirit of God, and not Christ himself, as "Wisdom".[8] He could appeal to Paul's teaching about wisdom being one of the gifts of theHoly Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8). However, the majority applied to Christ the title/name of "Wisdom".
Constantine the Great set a pattern for Eastern Christians by dedicating a church to Christ as the personification of Divine Wisdom.[3] InConstantinople, underJustinian I, the Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") was rebuilt, consecrated in 538, and became a model for many other Byzantine churches. In the Latin Church, however, "the Word" orLogos came through more clearly than "the Wisdom" of God as a central,high title of Christ.
In the theology of theEastern Orthodox Church, Holy Wisdom is understood as the Divine Logos who becameincarnate as Jesus;[9] this belief being sometimes also expressed in some Eastern Orthodox icons.[10] In theDivine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, the exclamationSophia! or in EnglishWisdom! will be proclaimed by thedeacon orpriest at certain moments, especially before the reading of scripture, to draw the congregation's attention to sacred teaching.
There is a hagiographical tradition, dating to the late sixth century,[11] of a Saint Sophia and her three daughters,Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity. This has been taken as theveneration ofallegorical figures from an early time, and the group of saints has become popular in Russian Orthodox iconography as such (the names of the daughters rendered asВѣра, Надежда, Любовь). The veneration of the three saints named for the threetheological virtues probably arose in the 6th century.[12]
The Christological identification of Christ the Logos with Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) is strongly represented in the iconographic tradition of theRussian Orthodox Church. A type of icon of theTheotokos is "Wisdom hath builded Her house" (Премудрость созда Себе дом), a quote fromProverbs 9:1 ("Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars") interpreted as prefiguring the incarnation, with the Theotokos being the "house" chosen by the "hypostatic Wisdom" (i.e. "Wisdom" as a person of theTrinity).
InRussian Orthodox mysticism,Sophia became increasingly indistinguishable from the person of theTheotokos (rather than Christ), to the point of the implication of theTheotokos as a "fourth person of the Trinity".
Such interpretations became popular in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, forwarded by authors such asVladimir Solovyov,Pavel Florensky,Nikolai Berdyaev, andSergei Bulgakov. Bulgakov's theology, known as "Sophianism", presented Divine Wisdom as "consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity", operating as the aspect of consubstantiality (ousia orphysis,substantia ornatura) or "hypostaticity" of the Trinity of the three hypostases, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, "which safeguards the unity of the Holy Trinity".[13] It was the topic of a highly political controversy in the early 1930s and was condemned by the Russian Orthodox church as heretical in 1935.[9]
Within theProtestant tradition in England,Jane Leade, seventeenth-centuryChristian mystic,Universalist, and founder of thePhiladelphian Society, wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the Universe.[14]Leade was influenced by thetheosophical writings of sixteenth centuryGerman Christian mysticJakob Böhme, who also speaks of the Sophia in works such asThe Way to Christ.[15] Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number ofChristian mystics and religious leaders, includingGeorge Rapp,William Law, and theHarmony Society.[16]
The1993 Re-Imagining Conference inMinneapolis was an interfaith Protestant conference that garnered controversy regardingfeminist theology, LGBTQ+ affirmation and the invocation of Sophia. "Bless Sophia" was a chant used throughout Re-Imagining.[17]
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Sophia is not the principal goddess of wisdom in classical Greek tradition;[citation needed] Greek goddesses associated with wisdom areMetis andAthena (LatinMinerva). By theRoman Empire, it became common to depict thecardinal virtues and other abstract ideals as femaleallegories. Thus, in the Library of Celsus inEphesus, built in the 2nd century, there are four statues of female allegories, depicting wisdom (Sophia), knowledge (Episteme), intelligence (Ennoia) and valour/excellence (Arete). In the same period,Sophia assumes aspects of a goddess or angelic power inGnosticism.
InChristian iconography, Holy Wisdom, orHagia Sophia was depicted as a female allegory from the medieval period. In Western (Latin) tradition, she appears as a crowned virgin; inRussian Orthodox tradition, she has a more supernatural aspect of a crowned woman with wings in a glowing red colour.The virgin martyrsFaith, Hope, and Charity, with their mother Sophia are depicted as three small girls standing in front of their mother in widow's dress.
Allegory of Wisdom and Strength is a painting byPaolo Veronese, createdc. 1565 inVenice. It is a large-scale allegorical painting depicting Divine Wisdom personified on the left andHercules, representing Strength and earthly concerns, on the right.
Sophia figures prominently inTheosophy, an influential spiritual movement founded byHelena Blavatsky (1831-1891). Blavatsky wrote in her essayWhat is Theosophy? that it is an esoteric wisdom doctrine, and that the "Wisdom" referred to is "an emanation of the Divine principle" typified by "some goddesses — Metis, Neitha, Athena, the Gnostic Sophia..."[18]
A goddessSophia was also introduced intoAnthroposophy, a movement that grew out of Theosophy. The founder of Anthroposophy,Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), wrote prolifically about Sophia, as can be seen in compilations of his writing such asThe Goddess: From Natura to Divine Sophia (2001)[19] orIsis Mary Sophia (2003).[20]
Since the 1970s, Sophia has also been invoked as a goddess inDianic Wicca and related currents of feminist spirituality.[21]
The 1979 installation artworkThe Dinner Party features a place setting for Sophia.[22]
There is amonumental sculpture of Holy Wisdom depicted as a "goddess" inSofia, the capital of Bulgaria (the city itself is named afterSaint Sofia Church).[23] The sculpture was erected in 2000 to replace a statue ofLenin.
Following St. Paul's reference to 'Christ who is the wisdom of God and the power of God', all the rest of the Church Fathers identified Sophia-Wisdom with Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity
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