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Demiurge

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

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1910 New Catholic Dictionary
• Demiurge
Webster Dictionary
• Demiurgic
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1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
• Demiurge
McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
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(Greek: demos, people; ergon, work)

Originally meaning any craftsman working for the public, was applied by Plato to the architect or maker of the material universe. In the sense of a world-maker, distinct from the Supreme God, Demiurge became a common term in the various systems of Gnosticism. According to Marcion, he was the personification of evil who caused the crucifixion of Christ. Valentinus regarded him as the offspring of a union of matter with lower wisdom, a distant emanation from the Supreme God; other Gnostics identified him with Jehovah, God of the Jews and the Old Testament from whose power, Christ of the New Testament, Son of the Good God, rescued us.