Authority as a Challenge

A Study of the Valentinian Gnostic School

Abstract

The early Christian world was diverse. Various groups of Christians held opposite views on crucial theological and social elements while claiming to be the true followers of Jesus Christ. In this diversity, two streams of Christianity were particularly popular: proto-orthodox Christians and Valentinian Gnostics. These groups were included in the sharp polemical discussions and battles, as they tried to gain a monopoly in the early Christian world. In the end, proto-orthodoxy won thus marginalizing Valentinian Gnostics. In that process, Church authors, such as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr reclaimed the history of Christianity by defining themselves as the guardians of orthodoxy. Furthermore, they put the label of “heresy” on Valentinians claiming that they are not real Christians, but a subversive group that had corrupted the original message of Jesus and his disciples. In this paper, I have tried to demonstrate that one of the crucial reasons for the triumph of the Great Church was related to the concepts of authority and organization. To show that, I have analysed what kind of attitude Valentinian Gnostics had toward authority and organization. As sources reflect, Valentinian Gnosticism was an anti-structural movement that emphasized an individual approach to the divine through esoteric knowledge. Furthermore, their belief in the threefold division of humanity affected their attitude toward bishops and apostolic succession. Consequently, they rejected the authority of bishops and presbyters and put the emphasis on the small philosophical circle of students that would gather around influential teachers. Eventually, such a spiritual and religious perspective made it impossible to create a network of connected communities whose sense of universal identity would transgress local and regional borders. In the end, Valentinian Gnosticism was a conglomerate of independent communities scattered across the Mediterranean. In other words, Valentinian’s theological beliefs that modelled their attitude toward authority and social structure were a crucial factor in their marginalization within the early Christian world.