What is the text (probably gnostic), where Jesus likens the first heaven or aeon to the sun, and this world is a candle

[Mkandersen1123]

I thought it was the Pistis Sophia but I can't find it anywhere.
He goes on to say the the second heaven or aeon is unimaginably more glorious than the first.

[Mkandersen1123]

I pretty sure in the same text Jesus was explaining why he would rather not be on earth. Why it's hard to be there.

[soberxp]

why not be on earth ?
(Rev)
21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

[DCHindley]

Yes, that is Pistis Sophia.

There is an English translation by G R S Mead (1921) at www.SacredTexts.com.

DCH

[MrMacSon]

[The Pistis Sophia] relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha). In this text, the risen Jesus had spent eleven years speaking with his disciples, teaching them only the lower mysteries. After eleven years, he receives his true garment and is able to reveal the higher mysteries revered by this group. The prized mysteries relate to complex cosmologies and knowledge necessary for the soul to reach the highest divine realms.

Much of the first two books of the manuscript are dedicated to outlining the myth of the fall and restoration of the figure known as Pistis Sophia, in particular giving detailed parallels between her prayers of repentance and particular Psalms and Odes of Solomon.

------------------
Jesus
Jesus serves as a teacher or instructor, teaching his disciples information about the divine world they will need to progress to a higher state of being, as well as knowledge of the cosmic realms, their inhabitants, and their functions. He teaches the disciples baptismal rites, and instructs them to give these rites to all who show themselves worthy. He is closely tied to the highest divine being. However, little significance is given to his earthly incarnation – the ritual bread and wine in the baptism is not associated with the Christian Eucharist, and the crucifixion and resurrection play little role. Here, he only gains his true garment and teaches the disciples the higher mysteries eleven years after his resurrection – downplaying versions of Christianity claiming his earlier teachings as ultimate truth.

Pistis Sophia
The story of Pistis Sophia’s fall and restoration (chapters 29-82) dominates much of Books 1 & 2. She dwells in the thirteenth aeon, is tricked into leaving her aeon and descending into Chaos, has her light-power stolen, and is not allowed to return to her place until Jesus ascends through the aeons. She recites many repentances and prayers, and is repeatedly persecuted by wicked archontic beings before being allowed to wait just outside of the thirteenth aeon for restoration.

It is noteworthy that she is not a divine being, as portrayed in other versions of the Gnostic myth such as the Apocryphon of John. She is a being of the material aeons, and her restoration is only as far as the thirteenth material aeon. The myth as a whole seems to have been adopted to address the beliefs of another Gnostic group, and to assert the superiority of this text’s system: humans who receive the mysteries of this group can surpass Pistis Sophia and reach the divine realms of light.

Parallels and Outside Influences
... The primary Old Testament references are the Psalms found in the myth of the Pistis Sophia, and the names of a few of the patriarchs who will achieve salvation. The Psalms are used wholly as allegorical vehicles for interpretation of the Pistis Sophia myth. While there are a few New Testament references scattered throughout, these stem primarily from the gospel of Matthew.[15] The text singles out Matthew, Philip, and Thomas as those charged to record Jesus’ words and deeds, suggesting the group had their own threefold gospel. Paul is mentioned only once ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistis_Sophia

[DCHindley]

I'll say this,

I always get a headache trying to keep straight all the gnostic themed manuscripts and fragments of gnostic texts out there, much less what matters they discuss or illustrate, and their relationships to one another.

For example, the work known today as Pistis Sophia may or may not be related to the "Books of Jeu," and fragments from this or that codex may or may not be related to it. The Aeon Sophia is referred to a lot but she is not the primary theme of the book.

This is how there can be a section in it that describes an ascent or descent through the heavens, while Sophia is an Aeon who would not be expected to ascend or descend through multiple heavens that surround the earth. But the Savior does descend to earth through heavens, and vice versa, to execute his secret mission to restore Sophia to her pure nature after her fall for succumbing to passions. They just don't do that in the Pleroma!

DCH

[Mkandersen1123]

Dchindly do you know what part? I looked through before the story of Sophia. I spent a whole afternoon and I couldn't find it.

[DCHindley]

Dchindly do you know what part? I looked through before the story of Sophia. I spent a whole afternoon and I couldn't find it.

I think it might be CHAPTER 84 "Of the glory of the four-and-twenty invisibles."

And Jesus answered and said unto Mary:

"What is there in this world which is like unto them, or rather what region is there in this world which is comparable to them? Now, therefore, to what am I to liken them, or rather what am I to say concerning them? For nothing existeth in this world to which I shall be able to liken them, and no form existeth in it which is able to be like them. Now, therefore, nothing existeth in this world which is of the quality of the heaven. [But] amēn, I say unto you: Every one of the invisibles is nine times greater than the heaven and the sphere above it and the twelve æons all together, as I have already said unto you at another time. And no light existeth in this world which is more excellent than the light of the sun.

Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: The four-and-twenty invisibles shine ten-thousand times more than the light of the sun which is in this world, as I have already|184. said unto you at another time. For the light of the sun in its shape in truth is not in this world, for its light pierceth through many veils and regions. But the light of the sun in its shape in truth, which is in the region of the Virgin of Light, shineth ten-thousand times more than the four-and-twenty invisibles and the great invisible forefather and also the great triple-powered god, as I have already said unto you at another time.

That doesn't say anything about a candle, though.

DCH

[andrewcriddle]

I thought it was the Pistis Sophia but I can't find it anywhere.
He goes on to say the the second heaven or aeon is unimaginably more glorious than the first.

I'm just wondering whether this is a vague memory of the sections seven heavens and through the seven heavens of The Gospel of Jesus: In Search of His Original Teachings

Andrew Criddle