The Peratae, who have already been discussed briefly, attached a great deal of importance to the figure of Moses, who saved his people from snakes by showing them the ὄφις τέλειος, the "perfect snake". [828] The perfect snake was identified with the rod of Moses (and Aaron), transformed into a snake in front of the Egyptian magi. This snake was also identified with the one that appeared to Eve, and called καθολικός ὄφις e σοφός λόγος. Lastly the snake was identified with Jesus. The Peratae acknowledged the existence of three entities: the Father, the Son and Matter. In the human microcosm the Father, that is, spirit, was represented by the brain, the Son by the spinal column, and Matter by semen, which generated life through the movement of the spinal column, after drawing inspiration from the brain830. In the heavenly macrocosm the Son, in the form of a snake, the mover of the firmament, was recognized, as we have said, in the Dragon constellation, and described as ὄφις τέλειος, between the Lyre and the Crown, near the ἀτελὴς ὄφις, "the imperfect snake", the one restrained by the Ophiouchos, to prevent it from reaching the Crown.
The portrayal of the god Tepiach holding the serpent-rod is similar to that of the Mithraic Aion, who holds the cosmic axis in one hand and makes it rotate [831]; also, the fact that the snake and mover of the cosmos is Jesus explains the dance of Jesus surrounded by a circle of Apostles, described in the Acts of John, a Gnostic apocryphon [832]. Jesus is near the cosmic pole and therefore dominates the axis round which everything turns; he does not move, but through him movement is propagated and messages are sent through the cosmos from the supreme, unknowable god.
[828] In Just., dial. 91 (332 Otto) Moses' brazen serpent was a prefiguration of the crucified Christ, who saved humanity, just as the snake saved the Hebrews. Cf. August., Serm. 37,2 (CC 41 , 448 Lambot). On the iconography ofa cross combined with a snake: Testa, II simbolismo dei Giudeo-Cristiani (n. 115), 278- 282. The portrayal of Christ as a snake is confirmed in the eucharistic ceremony of the Ophites, who placed a snake on the table; the snake consecrated the bread when it came into contact with it: Epiph., haer. XXXVII 5,6- 7 (ll, 57 Holl). The definition "perfect snake" probably came from Plato, who in Timaeus 29 A, speaks of the "perfect living creature" (ζώων τέλειον, which could be translated as "perfect animal"), which the Demiurge looks at during creation. Hippolytus identifies the Peratae with the Ophites, and Origen (Cels. VI 28; 98 Koet.) says that Euphrates was the father of the Ophite sect, while according to Hippolytus he was one of the fathers of the Peratae.
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[832] Acta Joh. 94 (CChr.SA 1, Turnhout 1983, 199 Junod, Kaestli); cf. B.E. Bowe, Dancing into the Divine: The Hymn of the Dance in the Acts of John, JECS 7, 1999, 83- 104. Ignatius, one of the Apostolic Fathers, described the birth of Jesus as a dance of all the constellations, together with the sun and the moon, around the Redeemer's star: 19n., Eph. 19,2 (88 Camelot).
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ibid., p. 181-182, my bold)
Note how Ex Theo 74
judaizes this Gnostic myth of Jesus as an astral star:
Secret Alias wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:09 am
I am not for the 'outer space' interpretation. This is the closest I've seen in early Patristic writings:
Therefore the Lord came down bringing the peace which is from heaven to those on earth, as the Apostle says, "Peace on the earth and glory in the heights." Therefore a strange and new star arose doing away with the old astral decree, shining with a new unearthly light, which revolved on a new path of salvation, as the Lord himself, men's guide, who came down to earth to transfer from Fate to his providence those who believed in Christ. [Ex Theo 74]