Before Valentinus : : the Gnostics of Irenaeus / / Einar Thomassen.

• Superior document: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies ; Volume 106
• VerfasserIn: Thomassen, Einar,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Koninklijke Brill NV,, [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; Volume 106.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (ix, 202 pages).

"This book offers the first detailed commentary on the Gnostic treatises reported by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses 1.29-30. It is argued that these texts represent the earliest tangible layer of the Gnostic literary tradition and served as sources for the Apocryphon of John and other later works. They also formed the starting point for Valentinus and his followers, who sought to reconcile the ideas of the Gnostics with apostolic Christianity. The book also shows that Irenaeus and later heresiologists referred to "the Gnostics" as a specific group among the great mass of heretics"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

The "Gnostics" of the heresiologists -- The Gnostic Treatise Of Iren. Haer. 1.30 -- The Gnostic Treatise Of Haer. 1.29 -- Trajectories in the early history of gnostic ideas -- Valentinus, Valentinianism and the Gnostics.