Life
Valentinus was an influential second-century Christian teacher active in Alexandria and Rome. Later heresiologists (Irenaeus and others) attacked Valentinian systems that describe a Pleroma of aeons, a fall of Wisdom (Sophia) and a Redeemer who brings gnosis. Almost none of his own prose survives intact; the Gospel of Truth and other Nag Hammadi texts are often linked to his school. Modern study reconstructs Valentinianism from hostile reports plus those codices, and distinguishes ancient Gnostic diversity from later occult appropriations.
The system
- Gnosis as saving knowledge of origin and return.
- Emanation: Pleroma, Sophia’s fall, and cosmic drama.
- Christ / Redeemer as revealer within a Gnostic myth frame.
Key works
- Fragments preserved by heresiologists
- Texts often linked to his school: Gospel of Truth (Nag Hammadi)
Where to start
- Wikipedia / Britannica overviews of Valentinus and Valentinianism
- Nag Hammadi Library translations (Gospel of Truth)
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