History of Sophia? Meaning? Biblical? Confused!!

BrinleysMommy

Can someone please educate me on the name Sophia? I've been googling like crazy and have found that Sophia was supposedly an archangel. The archangel of love. I've read that and something about how she at one point loved lucifer? I'm so confused and just want to know who she was in the bible and why she was always crying. I know the obvious things like the name means wisdom and that it's Greek I guess but who was Sophia in the biblical sense? Was she an archangel? Did she have relations with lucifer? I just became even more confused after I googled it and am wanting some serious information.

plunderb

Sophia/Sofia means "wisdom" in Greek.

As far as I know, Sophia is not a person or angel in the Bible. Where the Bible talks about sophia, it is talking about God's wisdom (and it's generally translated like any other Greek word).

BrinleysMommy

See that's why I'm so confused cuz I kept reading she was a archangel and in one that she was the archangel of love. I'm so curious and want to find out what's right and wrong.

plunderb

Where did you read that?

capulet

Okay, the stuff about Sophia being an archangel who loved Lucifer is just weird.  Maybe that comes from a gnostic source or something, but it's not orthodox Christianity or Judaism as far as I know.  Sophia as wisdom is a concept that's anthropomorphized in parts of the Bible (see esp. Proverbs 8) but is not a character per se.   Sophia as sort of a theologized abstraction was revered in early Christianity, which dedicated churches to Holy Wisdom - most famously Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

BrinleysMommy

capulet said:

Okay, the stuff about Sophia being an archangel who loved Lucifer is just weird.  Maybe that comes from a gnostic source or something, but it's not orthodox Christianity or Judaism as far as I know.  Sophia as wisdom is a concept that's anthropomorphized in parts of the Bible (see esp. Proverbs 8) but is not a character per se.   Sophia as sort of a theologized abstraction was revered in early Christianity, which dedicated churches to Holy Wisdom - most famously Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

yes that's what I thought too and I was not seeing it anywhere else. Let me see if I can relocate it!

BrinleysMommy

plunderb said:

Where did you read that?

Here.... https://www.eschatonic.org/InNomine/heaven/sophia.html and after everything else I've read I believe it's crap!!

plunderb

BrinleysMommy said:

Where did you read that?

Here.... https://www.eschatonic.org/InNomine/heaven/sophia.html and after everything else I've read I believe it's crap!!

It looks like that is the website of a game. One of the characters in the game is an angel named Sophia. But it's not talking about the Bible or any historical tradition.

theholmanherd

Not Biblical. I never read anything in the Bible about an archangel in love with Satan/Lucifer.

BrinleysMommy

So basically Sophia has nothing to do with anything biblical or anything about God?

Irishcurls

I mean, no. There are 8 posts saying as such. It means "wisdom."

BrinleysMommy

Irishcurls said:

I mean, no. There are 8 posts saying as such. It means "wisdom."

Yeah I got that part. I knew the meaning in which I clearly stated. I'm simply clarifying that no one knows of that name being mentioned in the bible in which I've read in several different places online.

plunderb

BrinleysMommy said:

I mean, no. There are 8 posts saying as such. It means "wisdom."

Yeah I got that part. I knew the meaning in which I clearly stated. I'm simply clarifying that no one knows of that name being mentioned in the bible in which I've read in several different places online.

Sophia is not the name of anyone in the Bible. The word "sophia" does appear in the Greek Bible, but it refers to God's wisdom, not a separate being (except to the extent that God's wisdom is personified).

If you doubt this, you can search the whole Bible here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/

Here are some links to all of the names mentioned in the Bible:

https://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/men.html

https://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/women.html

The one link you provided isn't even about the Bible. It's about a modern game. The author just made up some characters, one of whom is an angel named Sophia.

capulet

BrinleysMommy said:

So basically Sophia has nothing to do with anything biblical or anything about God?

I may be reading more into your question than you intend, but I wonder if you're really asking whether the name Sophia has any biblical/religious significance and would be a Christian name if you're looking for one.  Which, yes.  It's like Grace or Faith, which are abstract concepts that are discussed in the Bible - not as personal names, but as ideas - and are significant in Christianity.  The Greek words for all these things existed before the Old Testament was translated into Greek and are significant in other belief systems as well, but they have enough resonance within Christianity that many people use them for religious reasons.

ConversationFear

plunderb said:

Sophia/Sofia means "wisdom" in Greek.

As far as I know, Sophia is not a person or angel in the Bible. Where the Bible talks about sophia, it is talking about God's wisdom (and it's generally translated like any other Greek word).

This. I've studied theology for years and this is what most theology circles regard Sophia as. It is the name for God's wisdom - it is a feminine name. Some believe it is mention/proof of the feminine or matriarchal side of God.

bumpuser10194737

Definitely not Biblical. There are zero references to any female angels in the Bible and the only two whose names are mentioned are the archangels Michael and Gabriel.