Petrement, Simone

Petrement, Simone. A Separate God The Origins and Teachings of Gnosticism. Translated by Carol Harrison. San Francisco Harper Row, 1984. 

The idea that the planets created the world, Simone Petrement writes in A Separate God (San Francisco HarperSanFrancisco, 1984), 65, does not seem to be deduced from astrology. But Petrement s argument is misleading. The issue here is not whether the planets created the world, since they do not do so in the Apjn, but whether they preceded humankind in the order of creation, and whether or not they exert an influence upon humankind. 

Who governs this group of celestial powers Simone Petrement notes that on one occasion, Paul assigns the group a leader, when he speaks in 2 Cor 4 4... 

See, for instance, Irenaeus s criticism of Simon Magus in Adv.Haer. 1.2. Petrement, Separate God, 63. 

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