Pleroma
Pleroma (Koinē Greek: πλήρωμα, literally "fullness") generally refers to the totality of divine powers. It is used in Christian theological contexts, as well as in Gnosticism. The term also appears in the Epistle to the Colossians,[1] which is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle.[2] The word is used 17 times in the New Testament.[3]
This article is about the Gnostic philosophical concept. For the plant genus, see Pleroma (plant). For a description of the sewing term "fullness", see Pleat. For the microblogging software platform named "Pleroma", see Fediverse.Neoplatonism[edit]
In a neoplatonic manifestation of the concept, John M. Dillon, in Pleroma and Noetic Cosmos: A Comparative Study, states that Gnosticism imported its concept of the ideal realm, or pleroma, from Plato's concept of the cosmos and Demiurge in Timaeus and of Philo's Noetic cosmos in contrast to the aesthetic cosmos. Dillon does this by contrasting the Noetic cosmos to passages from the Nag Hammadi, where the aeons are expressed as the thoughts of God. Dillon expresses the concept that pleroma is a Gnostic adaptation of Hellenic ideas, since before Philo there is no Jewish tradition that accepts that the material world or cosmos was based on an ideal world that exists as well.[7]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Lock, W. (1902). "Pleroma". In Hastings, James (ed.). A Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. IV. pp. 1–2.