The Unreliability of Irenaeus’s Reference to Syneisaktism (Adversus Haereses 1,6,3)
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Abstract
In modern scholarly research there seems to be a consensus that Irenaeus’s Adversus Haereses 1,6,3 should be interpreted in connection with the ascetic practice of syneisaktism (“spiritual marriage”). Irenaeus writes that some Valentinians who “pretend at first to live in chastity with them as with sisters, have been proved in the course of time to be in the wrong, when the sister gives birth to a child of her brother”. At first sight this sentence indeed seems to describe a practice in which the living together in chastity is the central focus and a link with syneisaktism is therefore not far-fetched. In this article, however, I present another interpretation. By looking to the content of the text and its context, it will be possible to prove that the paragraph in question is a polemical reproach that does not find any firm ground in the range of thoughts really held by this particular Gnostic movement.
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2)
Cf. H. Achelis, Virgines subintroductae, 19; D. Brakke, Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism (Oxford Early Christian Studies) (Oxford 1995) 30; E. A. Clark, “John Chrysostom and theSubintroductae”, Church History 46 (1977) 171-185, 172; E.A. Clark, Jerome, Chrysostom and Friends. Essays and Translations (Studies in Women and Religion, 2) (New York, NY-Toronto 1979) 158; G. W. Clarke, The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage. Letters 1-27 (Ancient Christian Writers, 43) (New York, NY-Ramsey, NJ 1984) 174 n. 6; H.-G. Gaffron, Studien zum koptischen Philippusevangelium unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sakramente (Bonn, 1969), 212-213 and 301 n. 56; R. Kugelman, “1 Cor 7:36-38”, in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 10 (1948) 63-71, 66; B. Leyerle, Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lives. John Chrysostom’s Attack on Spiritual Marriage (Berkeley, CA-Los Angeles, CA-London 2001) 81; K. Wengst, Didache (Apostellehre). Barnabasbrief. Zweiter Klemensbrief. Schrift an Diognet (Schriften des Urchristentums, 2) (Darmstadt 1984) 98.
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Cf. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistula 4 3,1; Athanasius of Alexandria, Epistula 2 ad virgines 21 and 25; Gregory of Nazianzus, Carmen 1,2,4; Gregory of Nazianzus, Epigrammata 16; John Chrysostom, Adversus eos qui apud se habent subintroductas virgines 1; John Chrysostom,Quod regulares feminae viris cohabitare non debeant 3.
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John Chrysostom,Quod regulares feminae viris cohabitare non debeant 2.
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Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus Haereses 1,6,1-4; 1,7,1 and 1,7,5.
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Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus Haereses 1,1. Gilles Quispel criticises this theory. Although he is convinced that “intercourse is a spiritual experience [. . .] for pneumatics”, i.e. for the Valentinians, he postulates that the only motivation behind it one can derive from the surviving Valentinian texts, is “to become one and whole” (G. Quispel, “The Original Doctrine of Valentinus the Gnostic”, Vigiliae Christianae 50 (1996) 327-352, 335).
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22)
Cf. Y. Janssens, “L’Évangile selon Philippe”, Le Muséon 81 (1968) 79-133, 107-108; E. Segelberg, “The Coptic-Gnostic Gospel According to Philip and Its Sacramental System”, Numen 7 (1960) 189-200, 198.
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P. Létourneau, “Éthique et nature humaine dans la gnose valentinienne”, Église et théologie 24 (1993) 413-441, 435-436.
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Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 31,9-32. It is important to note that Epiphanius used Irenaeus’s writing when talking about the Valentinians, not when talking about the Ptolemaeans (Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 33).
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The Unreliability of Irenaeus’s Reference to Syneisaktism (Adversus Haereses 1,6,3)
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Liesbeth Van der Sypt in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In modern scholarly research there seems to be a consensus that Irenaeus’s Adversus Haereses 1,6,3 should be interpreted in connection with the ascetic practice of syneisaktism (“spiritual marriage”). Irenaeus writes that some Valentinians who “pretend at first to live in chastity with them as with sisters, have been proved in the course of time to be in the wrong, when the sister gives birth to a child of her brother”. At first sight this sentence indeed seems to describe a practice in which the living together in chastity is the central focus and a link with syneisaktism is therefore not far-fetched. In this article, however, I present another interpretation. By looking to the content of the text and its context, it will be possible to prove that the paragraph in question is a polemical reproach that does not find any firm ground in the range of thoughts really held by this particular Gnostic movement.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 160 | 26 | 1 |
| Full Text Views | 91 | 0 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 22 | 2 | 0 |
