Irenaeus and the Gnostic Valentinus: Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Church of Rome around the Middle of the Second Century

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Abstract

The re-examination of the first eight chapters of Book 1 of Adversus Haereses by Irenaeus of Lyon (so-called 'Grand Notice') has allowed reasserting the importance of this source, not only to reconstruct the history of early Valentinianism and Gnosticism as a whole, but also to get to know better a crucial phase of the doctrinal evolution which accompanied the exegetic-theological debate in the Church of Rome in the mid 2nd century, debate which was to result in the distinction between orthodoxy and heresy. Analysing the praefationes of Books 1 and 2 of Adversus Haereses, it seems that the phases of realization of the work are two and the conception of the 'Grand Notice' and the retrieval of the sources (mainly from Ptolemy and disciples) can be anticipated from the traditional dating, i.e. 180, to the Roman period of Irenaeus (160-165 ca.). The chronological distance between Valentinus’ stay in Rome and that of Irenaeus is shorter and Irenaeus knows the doctrine of Valentinus and that of the continuers in detail, as well as being well aware of the theological differences among them. The research was based on philological reconstruction, ever made so far, of the Greek text of the 'Grande Notice' on the basis of the quotation handed down by Epiphanius, using synoptically the Latin transposition of Tertullian (Adversus Valentinianos) and considering that the Latin 'text' of Adversus Haereses is not a version written by Irenaeus himself, but a translation dating back to the 4th - 5th century, not always faithful to the original text.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-119
Number of pages25
JournalZEITSCHRIFT FÜR ANTIKES CHRISTENTUM
Volume18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Cristianesimo Antico
  • Early Christianism
  • Gnosticism
  • Gnosticismo
  • Late Antiquity
  • Patristic Studies
  • Patristica
  • Tardo Antico

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