What did Valentinus believe?
Valentinus, (flourished 2nd century ad), Egyptian religious philosopher, founder of Roman and Alexandrian schools of Gnosticism, a system of religious dualism (belief in rival deities of good and evil) with a doctrine of salvation by gnōsis, or esoteric knowledge.
Who is Jesus according to gnosticism?
Jesus is identified by some Gnostics as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis to the earth, while others adamantly denied that the supreme being came in the flesh, claiming Jesus to be merely a human who attained enlightenment through gnosis and taught his disciples to do the same.
Do Gnostics believe in baptism?
The Gnostics are baptized in the mysterious name which also descended upon Jesus at his baptism. The angels of the Gnostics have also had to be baptized in this name, in order to bring about redemption for themselves and the souls belonging to them.
Is the Gospel of Mary in the Nag Hammadi?
Early Christian writings discovered over the past century, however, go further. The gospel of Philip, one of the Nag Hammadi texts, describes Mary Magdalene as a “companion” of Jesus “whom the Savior loved more than all the other disciples and [whom] he kissed often on the mouth.”
Is the teaching of Jesus ever considered as gnostic?
There are different texts in the opus of material that we call gnostic that are presentations of the teachings of Jesus or the person of Jesus. Some of those texts, such as the Gospel of Thomas, which is at least a semi-gnosticizing kind of production, presents Jesus simply as a teacher, a teacher of wisdom.
What do the Gnostic Gospels say about Jesus?
What do the Gnostic Gospels say about Jesus? But some of the gnostics who wrote these gospels contradict this: self-knowledge is knowledge of God; the self and the divine are identical. Second, the “living Jesus ” of these texts speaks of illusion and enlightenment, not of sin and repentance, like the Jesus of the New Testament.
How did the Gnostics view the crucifixion of Jesus?
The text takes Gnostic interpretations of the crucifixion to the extreme, picturing Jesus as laughing and warning against people who cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking they shall become pure.
What are the ‘Gnostic Gospels’?
– The Gospel of Thomas (second century CE) – The Gospel of Truth (second century CE) – The Gospel of Judas (second century CE) – The Gospel of Peter (second century CE) – The Gospel of Mary (second century CE) – The Gospel of Philip (second–third centuries CE) – The Gospel of the Egyptians (second–third centuries CE)