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"Geoffrey S. Smith's innovative new book offers a major contribution: a complete anthology of sources attributed to the second-century Egyptian teacher Valentinus and his Christian followers, who revered him as a spiritual master, poet, and visionary--before later generations of church leaders denounced him as a dangerous heretic.
Valentinian Christianity invites readers to decide for themselves!" --Elaine Pagels, Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion, Princeton University
"Finally, a convenient, expertly edited text-and-translation volume of primary sources for the Valentinians. What the Loeb series did for classical texts, Smith has now done for this important strand of early Christianity. An ideal tool both for desk reference and for teaching." --Matthew V. Novenson, Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Christian Origins, University of Edinburgh
List of contents
Contents
Introduction: Valentinus and the Valentinian Tradition
Greek Texts
I. Fragments of Valentinus
II. Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora
III. Fragments of Heracleon
IV. Excerpts of Theodotus
V. Anonymous Commentary on the Prologue of John
VI. Anonymous Letter
VII. Anonymous Commentary on Valentinus’s “Summer Harvest”
Coptic Texts
VIII. Gospel of Truth
IX. Treatise on the Resurrection
X. Tripartite Tractate
XI. Gospel of Philip
XII. Valentinian Exposition
Inscription
XIII. Flavia Sophe
Bibliographies
Indices
About the author
Geoffrey S. Smith is Assistant Professor of Biblical Greek and Christian Origins and Fellow of the Nease Endowment in the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of
Guilt By Association: Heresy Catalogues in Early Christianity.
Summary
Valentinus, an Egyptian Christian who traveled to Rome to teach his unique brand of theology, and his followers, the Valentinians, formed one of the largest and most influential sects of Christianity in the second and third centuries. But by the fourth century, their writings had all but disappeared suddenly and mysteriously from the historical record, as the newly consolidated imperial Christian Church condemned as heretical all forms of what has come to be known as Gnosticism. Only in 1945 were their extensive original works finally rediscovered, and the resurrected “Gnostic Gospels” soon rooted themselves in both the scholarly and popular imagination.
Valentinian Christianity: Texts and Translations brings together for the first time all the extant texts composed by Valentinus and his followers. With accessible introductions and fresh translations based on new transcriptions of the original Greek and Coptic manuscripts on facing pages, Geoffrey S. Smith provides an illuminating, balanced overview of Valentinian Christianity and its formative place in Christian history.
