Demiurge

The Demiurge is an artisan-like figure described in Platonic, Neoplatonic and Gnostic thought as responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe; the term comes from the Greek demiourgos, meaning craftsman or artisan. The concept originates in the dialogue Timaeus by Plato, where the Demiurge is a benevolent shaper who forms the physical world by looking to eternal, unchanging Forms as its model, and the idea continues into Neoplatonism. Gnostic traditions give it starkly different characters: Sethian texts describe the Demiurge as an oppressive, ignorant ruler over the material world, while Valentinian texts describe a well meaning but limited figure whose rule reflects ignorance rather than malice. Across these traditions the Demiurge is not equated with a supreme transcendent God; both the Demiurge and the material used to shape the world are treated as products of something prior. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/