The Demiurge,[a] literally meaning "craftsman" or "artisan," is a concept in Platonic philosophy. The Demiurge is the benevolent creator of the universe who seeks to create a world as good as possible. Plato first described this concept in his dialogue Timaeus.
The term was later applied to the creator of the material world in Gnosticism. Unlike Plato's Demiurge, the Gnostic Demiurge is typically seen in a negative light. Marcion of Sinope, while not a Gnostic himself, held a dualistic belief in two gods: the harsh God of the Old Testament, whom he called the Demiurge, and the higher, loving Good God of the New Testament, of whom Jesus preached. Valentinus, an early Gnostic theologian, would use this term as well, from whom other Gnostic sects adopted the term.
To Valentinus, the Demiurge was the God of the Old Testament, but he diverges from Marcion in that he believed the Demiurge was part of a complex cosmology consisting of Aeons, a series of emanations from the Father, who is known as the Bythos (the depth), and together they form the Pleroma (the fullness). The Aeon Sophia (wisdom) tried to emulate the unknowable Bythos and create an offspring, resulting in the Demiurge, for which Sophia was cast from the Pleroma. The Demiurge, ignorant of the Aeons and the Pleroma, proceeded to create the material world, and believes himself to be the supreme deity.
To the Ophites and Sethians, building upon earlier Gnostic ideas, the Demiurge was seen as malevolent rather than simply ignorant as in Valentinus's system, and he was given the name Ialdabaoth. According to the Sethian text the Apocryphon of John, as part of a scheme by Sophia, when Ialdabaoth created man he unknowingly breathed into the man (i.e. Adam) the divine power he had gotten from his mother, and he does not realize it had left him. Jealous of Adam, who had greater understanding than did Ialdabaoth, he cast him into the lowest depths of the material world, and he tries to lead humanity astray with artificial spirits. However, guided by the Spirit of Life, humankind is able to attain Gnosis (knowledge) and achieve salvation and eternal life in the spirit realm.[1]
Design
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An imperfect god of Gnosticism who created the material world.
According to Gnostics of the Roman Empire, the Demiurge proclaims himself as God; when Adam and Eve gain "knowledge," he cast them out in anger. The Demiurge wishes for the souls of humans to be trapped in the material world forever.
Game Appearances
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After completing the EX Mission "The mother goddess' gravestone", the Protagonist can accept the EX Mission "False god in chains", where he and Metatron take an elevator to the bottom of Sector Grus. Located there is a room where the last of God's sealed power lies, and if the Protagonist has Enemy Search C, he can use it to make the power manifest itself, which has been reduced the form of the false god Demiurge. The Demiurge begins to attack everything indiscriminately, and once the party subdues it, Metatron begins to fuse with it to restore his true form. In the middle of the fusion, a disembodied female voice implores the Protagonist to turn off his Enemy Search to disrupt the fusion and make it possible for her to seal them away. If the Protagonist heeds the voice, the Demiurge's form is disrupted and he can do nothing as he is sealed away again. If the Protagonist ignores the voice and allows the fusion to continue, however, the Demiurge regains his status as the creator and says that it will not be long until he returns to his true form. If the Protagonist is law-aligned, the Demiurge offers to join his party, otherwise, he leaves.
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