History in the Bible - 3.19 Gnowing Me, Gnowing You I: The Children of Seth

3.19 Gnowing Me, Gnowing You I: The Children of Seth

08/14/22 • 24 min

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Until the late 19th century, the Gnostic works were known only from their opponents, who regarded them as aberrant and vile Christians. Discoveries since then have uncovered a wealth of Gnostic literature. The Gnostics are now usually divided into two groups: Sethians and Valentinians. The Sethians are the older. Many scholars hold that their roots are in Second Temple Judaism, not Christianity.

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In this bonus episode, Gil Kidron of a Podcast of Biblical Proportions and I wade into biblical chronology.

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3.20 Gnowing Me, Gnowing You II: The Crusade of Valentinus

Unlike the Sethian Gnostics, the Valentinian Gnostics are clearly rooted in Christianity. They were founded by Valentinus, an Egyptian who may have stood for the bishopric of Rome. Valentinus founded a popular crusade that borrowed from the Sethians and the apostle Paul. The movement produced a copious literature: the apocalypse of Paul, the apocalypse of Peter, the apocalypse of Adam, the gospel of Mary, the gospel of Phillip, and the gospel of truth. All of these books were recovered only in the 20th century. The Valentinians formed a parallel church to the orthodox, one much more inviting to women. They attended orthodox services, but operated separate elite clubs. They were only suppressed in the fourth century, after the Roman state granted a monopoly to the orthodox.