The Spiritual Seed -- The Church of the 'Valentinians'

Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-90-04-14802-4
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 60, 550 Seiten, Format (B × H): 167 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 1139 g

Reihe: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies

This book is a comprehensive study of “Valentinianism,” the most important Gnostic Christian movement in Antiquity. It is the first attempt to make full use of the Valentinian documents from Nag Hammadi as well as the reports of the Church Fathers.
The book discusses the difference between the Eastern and the Western branches of Valentinianism, and argues that individual sources must always be understood in the context of the historical development of Valentinian doctrines. It also analyses the ideas about the incarnation, protological theories, and initiation practice, as well as the dynamic relationship between these building-blocks of Valentinian doctrine. A final chapter studies anew the doctrine of Valentinus himself and outlines the history of the movement.
The book’s usefulness lies in its attempt to bring together for the first time all the sources so as to construct a coherent picture of Valentinian Christianity.

This volume is also available as paperback.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thomassen, Einar

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Eklektizismus, Esoterik, Anthroposophie, Theosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PART I VALENTINIANISM EAST AND WEST
1 The Valentinians of Irenaeus
2 “Valentinus” in Iren. Haer. I 11:1
3 The doctrine of Theodotus
4 The two “schools”
5 The soteriology of The Tripartite Tractate
6 The soteriology of Irenaeus’ system
7 The soteriology of Exc. 43:2–65
8 The soteriology of Iren. Haer. I 7:2
9 The soteriology of Hipp. Haer. VI 29–36
10 Provisional conclusions
11 Eastern soteriologies: The Treatise on the Resurrection
12 Eastern soteriologies: The Interpretation of Knowledge
13 Eastern soteriologies: The Gospel of Philip
14 The soteriology of Heracleon
15 The position of Ptolemy

PART II THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF VALENTINIANISM
16 Salvation in history and ritual
17 Salvation in history and protological myth
18 Protology, salvation history, and ritual
19 Conclusion to Part II

PART III VALENTINIAN PROTOLOGY
20 The pleromatology
21 The myth of separation and restoration
22 Chronology of the protologies
23 The meaning and origins of Valentinian protology
24 The transformation of eschatology to protology

PART IV VALENTINIAN INITIATION
25 The sources
26 Initiation: Synopsis of the acts
y of the initiation ritual
28 The historical position of Valentinian initiation
29 A ritual for the dying

PART V VALENTINUS AND THE “VALENTINIANS”
30 Valentinus: biography and sources
31 Valentinus: a study of the fragments
32 Valentinians: fragments of the history of Valentinianism

Über Autor(innen)

Einar Thomassen obtained his Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews in 1982, and has been Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Bergen since 1993. His publications include Le Traité Tripartite (1989) and numerous articles and books about Gnosticism and ancient religions generally.