Sulle tracce di Ugo Bianchi: le 'tipologie' storico-religiose come strumento per lo studio delle fonti gnostiche valentiniane

One of the main legacies Ugo Bianchi left to scholars of history of religions concerns the research method and tools. The persistent methodological reminder to the necessary historical and philological anchorage is a topical subject; moreover, some research tools defined by Bianchi are still extraordinarily effective for the analysis and correct interpretation of sources. An example is the referenceto the typologies of ‘dualism’, ‘concave evil’ and ‘convex evil’ in the study of some II century sources belonging to the Gnostic Valentinian school. Recognizing the inner dualism – and not the more common ‘monism’ – of Valentinianism gives the opportunity to explain and deeply understand the conception of divine in this religious context. It helps in distinguishing a definite shape of Gnosticism, against its expression sweetened by the connection with the Great Church, as mostly still meant. Therefore, far from imposing pre-establishedpatterns to sources, correct heuristic tools allow scholars to see, recognize and study features of religious reflection which would otherwise escape them.