Valentinus

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Valentinus , fl. c.135–c.160, founder of the Valentinians, the most celebrated of the Gnostic sects (see Gnosticism ) of the 2d cent. The little that is known of his life is found in the works of early Christian theologians who refuted him, such as St. Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. Probably born in Egypt, Valentinus received his education in Alexandria and after c.135 taught in Rome, where he attracted brilliant converts. Valentinus viewed ultimate reality as a procession of aeons, 33 in all, issuing in pairs from the primal aeons, abyss and silence. From these came mind and truth, in turn engendering word (logos) and life. The thirtieth aeon, Sophia, by her inordinate desire to penetrate the abyss, caused great disorder within the pleroma (divine realm). Her passion was banished to a formless existence outside the pleroma. It is for the restoration of order and the salvation of the progeny issuing from the expelled passion that the last three aeons are produced—Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus the Savior, who is the "common fruit" of the pleroma. Ruler of the outcast world is the proud Demiurge, identified with the deity of the Old Testament, who created the forms of life by which man is ensnared. Jesus appears in the world to reveal the knowledge (gnosis) that will restore man to the divine order. Valentinus wrote letters, homilies, and psalms, of which fragments survive. The recently discovered Coptic manuscript "Gospel of Truth" may be by Valentinus.

Bibliography: See J. Doresse, The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics (tr. 1960); K. Grobel, The Gospel of Truth (1960); K. Rudolph, Gnosis (1982); B. Walker, Gnosticism (1986).

Valentinus (d. c.165), Gnostic theologian and founder of the Valentinian sect. Apparently a native of Egypt, he came to Rome c.136 and is said to have hoped to be elected Bishop, was passed over, seceded from the Church, and went to the E. Later he returned to Rome, where he died.

Several texts from Nag Hammadi derive from the Valentinian school (including the Evangelium Veritatis and the Gospel of Philip), but none can confidently be ascribed to Valentinus. His system is known only in the form developed and modified by his disciples. The spiritual world or ‘pleroma’ comprises 30 ‘aeons’ emanated by the Primal Ground of Being. The visible world owes its origin to the fall of Sophia, the last of these aeons; this fall is variously described, but results in the emergence of her off spring the Demiurge or creator, identified with the God of the OT. The Valentinian myth is intended to explain the human predicament by showing how a divine element has become imprisoned in this alien world. Redemption is effected by another aeon, Christ, who unites with the man Jesus (either at his conception or at his baptism) to bring mankind the saving knowledge (‘gnosis’) of its origin and destiny. This gnosis, however, is given only to the ‘spiritual’ or ‘pneumatics’, i.e. the Valentinians, who through it are destined to return to the pleroma; other Christians can attain by faith and good works to a form of salvation, but only in the lower realm below the pleroma; the rest of mankind are doomed to eternal perdition.

Valentinus (2nd cent. CE). Gnostic theologian. According to his orthodox opponents (Irenaeus, Tertullian, et al.) he lived at Rome, c.136–c.165, and only left the Catholic Church after failing to be elected bishop. His sect, the Valentinians, was the largest of the gnostic bodies. He produced a variety of writings, including the earliest commentary on the gospel of John and perhaps the Gospel of Truth.