Beyond Gnosticism: Myth, Lifestyle, and Society in the School of Valentinus

Ismo Dunderberg

Published by Columbia University Press 2008

Beyond Gnosticism

Myth, Lifestyle, and Society in the School of Valentinus

Ismo Dunderberg

https://doi.org/10.7312/dund14172

Overview
Contents

About this book

Valentinus was a popular, influential, and controversial early Christian teacher. His school flourished in the second and third centuries C.E. Yet because his followers ascribed the creation of the visible world not to a supreme God but to an inferior and ignorant Creator-God, they were from early on accused of heresy, and rumors were spread of their immorality and sorcery.

Beyond Gnosticism suggests that scholars approach Valentinians as an early Christian group rather than as a representative of ancient "Gnosticism"-a term notoriously difficult to define. The study shows that Valentinian myths of origin are filled with references to lifestyle (such as the control of emotions), the Christian community, and society, providing students with ethical instruction and new insights into their position in the world. While scholars have mapped the religio-historical and philosophical backgrounds of Valentinian myth, they have yet to address the significance of these mythmaking practices or emphasize the practical consequences of Valentinians' theological views. In this groundbreaking study, Ismo Dunderberg provides a comprehensive portrait of a group hounded by other Christians after Christianity gained a privileged position in the Roman Empire.

Valentinians displayed a keen interest in mythmaking and the interpretation of myths, spinning complex tales about the origin of humans and the world. As this book argues, however, Valentinian Christians did not teach "myth for myth's sake." Rather, myth and practice were closely intertwined. After a brief introduction to the members of the school of Valentinus and the texts they left behind, Dunderberg focuses on Valentinus's interpretation of the biblical creation myth, in which the theologian affirmed humankind's original immortality as a present, not lost quality and placed a special emphasis on the "frank speech" afforded to Adam by the supreme God. Much like ancient philosophers, Valentinus believed that the divine Spirit sustained the entire cosmic chain and saw evil as originating from conspicuous "matter."

Dunderberg then turns to other instances of Valentinian mythmaking dominated by ethical concerns. For example, the analysis and therapy of emotions occupy a prominent place in different versions of the myth of Wisdom's fall, proving that Valentinians, like other educated early Christians, saw Christ as the healer of emotions. Dunderberg also discusses the Tripartite Tractate, the most extensive account to date of Valentinian theology, and shows how Valentinians used cosmic myth to symbolize the persecution of the church in the Roman Empire and to create a separate Christian identity in opposition to the Greeks and the Jews.

Author / Editor information

Ismo Dunderberg is professor of New Testament at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Helsinki. An expert in the Gospel of John, second-century early Christianity, and the Nag Hammadi Library, his most recent book is The Beloved Disciple in Conflict? Revisiting the Gospels of John and Thomas (Oxford University Press, 2006). He is also leader of the research project "Gnosticism and the Formation of Christianity," funded by the Academy of Finland.

Reviews

ground-breaking

Benjamin H. Dunning:
A timely and original study that ought to reorient the study of Valentinian Christianity in important ways.

[Dunderberg's] approach results in original insights that are persuasive and illuminating.

Marvin Meyer:
Beyond Gnosticism is a lively, fascinating study of Valentinian thought and everyday social and political life.

Birger A. Pearson:
This book is a valuable contribution to the study of Valentinian Christianity.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The School of Valentinus After Gnosticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	14
Part I. Myth, Lifestyle, and the World in the Fragments of Valentinus
2. Immortality as a Way of Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
3. Adam’s Frank Speech Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
4. Cosmic Sympathy and the Origin of Evil Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
Part II. Valentinian Cosmogony, Lifestyle, and Other Christians
5. Myth and Lifestyle for Beginners Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
6. Myth and the Therapy of Emotions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
7. The Creator-God and the Cosmos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
8. Walk Like a Valentinian Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
9. Two Classes of Christians in Practice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
Part III. Myth, Society, and Non-Christians
10. Myth, Power, and the Oppressed Church Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
11. Myth and Ethnic Boundaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
12. Valentinian Secretiveness Reconsidered Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Appendix: Remarks on the Sources of Irenaeus’s and Hippolytus’s Accounts of Valentinian Th eology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Index of Modern Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Index of Ancient Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Index of Subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 336
Illustrations
- Other: 0 halftones, 0 color illus., 0 line drawings, 2 tables

eBook

Published: April 16, 2008
ISBN: 9780231512596