pleroma
/pləˈrəʊmə
/noun [in singular]
1(In Gnosticism) the spiritual universe as the abode of God and of the totality of the divine powers and emanations.The gnostic pleroma he places before us is all-consuming not only because it may in some sense be needed (as the moralist's battlefield), but also, like all good prose, because it must patiently describe and endure....
- He could use a Hellenistic idea like the pleroma, but he was still an outsider.
- I ascribe to Rabbi Luria's ideas about the pleroma, the tikkum and our cumulative, individual roles in bringing redemption through the simple magic of human acts.
2(In Christian theology) the totality or fullness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ.Nonsense, says Paul, the “fulness”, the pleroma, resides in Christ “for in him all the fulness (pleroma) of God was pleased to dwell....
- It probably has a personal sense here as well, since the pleroma has the ability to decide on a course of action.
Derivatives
pleromatic
- Further, the pleromatic self was one with the environment.
- If the fullness of it all was not found in some mysterious pleromatic realm out there, but was really to be discovered in the Christ who lived in here, what would be the intellectual attraction of this competing religion?
Origin
Mid 18th century: from Greek plērōma 'that which fills', from plēroun 'make full', from plērēs 'full'.