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Before Valentinus: The Gnostics of Irenaeus
Series: - Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 106
Author:
This book offers the first detailed commentary on the Gnostic treatises reported by Irenaeus in
Adversus Haereses 1.29–30. It is argued that these texts represent the earliest tangible layer of the Gnostic literary tradition and served as sources for the Apocryphon of John and other later works. They also formed the starting point for Valentinus and his followers, who sought to reconcile the ideas of the Gnostics with apostolic Christianity. The book also shows that Irenaeus and later heresiologists referred to “the Gnostics” as a specific group among the great mass of heretics.
Einar Thomassen, PhD (St Andrews 1983) was Professor of Religion at the University of Bergen until his retirement in 2021. He has published extensively on Valentinianism, including
The Spiritual Seed (Brill, 2006), as well as on more general topics in the study of religion.
Preface
1 The “Gnostics” of the Heresiologists
The Pre-history of Valentinianism According to Irenaeus
The Valentinians’ “Gnostic” Predecessors
Irenaeus’ “Gnostics” and the Later Heresiological Tradition
2 The Gnostic Treatise of Iren. Haer. 1.30
The Protology
The Separation of Sophia Prounikos
Sophia’s Body
Sophia’s Son and His Offspring
The Boast, the Rebuke, and the Creation of the Human
The Creation of the Woman and the Eating from the Tree
The Expulsion from the Garden
Adam, Eve, and Their Family after Their Expulsion
The Flood, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets
The Birth of Jesus and the Sending of Christ
The Failure of the Disciples to Understand Who Jesus Was
The Redemption of the Sprinkling of Light
3 The Gnostic Treatise of Haer. 1.29
The Father and Barbelo
The Birth of Christ, the Light
The Generation of Autogenes and His Four Attendant Luminaries
The Generation of Adamas
Sophia Gives Birth to the Archon
The Archon Creates the Heavens and Makes an Arrogant Boast
4 Trajectories in the Early History of Gnostic Ideas
Relative Chronologies
Gnostics and Sethians
Origins
5 Valentinus, Valentinianism and the Gnostics
Sophia and Christ
The Primordial Anthropos
Valentinian Innovations
Bibliography
Index
Scholars in the fields of Gnosticism, the Nag Hammadi Library, and patristic heresiology, as well as early Christianity in general.