Classic Gnostic texts state that the physical world was built by an ignorant, secondary deity known as the Demiurge.

According to the ancient Secret Book of John, the true supreme source is an impersonal entity called the Monad. A lower divine emanation named Sophia accidentally birthed Yaldabaoth, a flawed and egotistical godling. Ignorant of his true origin, Yaldabaoth created the material world as a corrupted copy of the divine realm. He trapped divine sparks of light within human bodies, establishing a system of cosmic control.