Those Sneaky Valentinians.
Published in the volume, Colloque international, “L’Évangile selon Thomas et les textes de Nag Hammadi,” Québec, 29-31 mai, 2003, ed. by Louis Painchaud and Paul-Hubert Poirier (Québec/Louvain, Les Presses de l’Université Laval/Peeters) (2007), p. 231-250.
Italian Versus Eastern Valentinianism?
Published in Vigiliae Christianae 62 (2008) 79-89
Three ancient texts seem to attest to a division between eastern and western Valentinians. Closer analysis of these... more Three ancient texts seem to attest to a division between eastern and western Valentinians. Closer analysis of these three texts suggests that such a conclusion would be too hasty. The first text, the title to one of Clement of Alexandria’s works, is either unreliable or so specific that it calls into doubt the division. Hippolytus’s testimony, the second text, is so laden with problems that it reliably attests to merely the existence of the Eastern Teaching, and possibly to its distinctive doctrinal position concerning the body of Jesus. The third text, by Tertullian, is vague and seems not to refer to an eastern–western division. In sum, the three texts have so many problems that any future efforts to develop a taxonomy of Valentinianism should not begin with this alleged geographical division.
Formation of the Early Christian Theology of Arithmetic: Number Symbolism in the Late Second and Early Third Century
Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2006
Numbers were widely used in antiquity to symbolize reality and to structure theological and philosophical systems.... more
Numbers were widely used in antiquity to symbolize reality and to structure theological and philosophical systems. Early Christian authors embraced this practice, but not without controversy. In the late second century there emerged distinct Christian movements that used Pythagorean number symbolism to structure their ideas about the godhead. Notable were the various Valentinian schools (including Marcus “Magus” and Colarbasus), Monoïmus, and later followers of Simon “Magus.” Contemporary orthodox authors, such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, opposed them, particularly for undermining the Trinitarian doctrine received in the churches. But Irenaeus and Clement do not approach the matter identically. Irenaeus criticizes the Valentinians directly, and without squaring everything in his critique with his own number symbolism. Clement criticizes such groups indirectly, and uses his own well-developed number symbolism to illustrate the proper way to approach the subject.
The Christian debates have striking parallels in roughly contemporary non-Christian texts. Marsanes, Plutarch, and Theodore of Asine show that non-Christians too debated these matters. All of these figures—Christian and non-Christian—illustrate the tensions that existed between those who used number symbolism to shape theological and philosophical traditions and those who used their traditions to shape their number symbolism. The orthodox theology of arithmetic formed not a single position but rather a defense against arbitrary number symbolism that justified departures from the received tradition.
I argue for several important ancillary points. Pythagoreanism was reinvented during the late Roman Republic, and the number symbolism that emerged in the following centuries had a traceable history. The distinction between hen and monad, the popular formulation of the quadrivium, and numerology and the use of psephy (gematria) all have their genesis in this period. Older traditions of number symbolism, such as the distinction between male and female numbers and the importance of the tetraktys, all received new life. I outline the historical development of each of these trends and classify and describe the major types of Greek numerological prognostication. Furthermore, I argue for a new sequence to Irenaeus’s Against Heresies, and I challenge scholars’ dependence upon the dichotomies eastern versus western, and monadic versus dyadic Valentinianism.
Il sistema battesimale valentiniano
in G. Sfameni Gasparro (a cura di) Studi storico-religiosi, Univ. degli Studi di Messina, Giordano ed., Cosenza 1998, pp. 131-148
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