Robert, you see. From Tertullian you take irrelevant false information about Valentinian and combine it with other false information about Marcion.
The only information worth attention is that Valentinian was a serious candidate for the bishop of Rome, who lost to another. From a righteous, talented and popular candidate, he suddenly became, after losing, a lunatic and a heretic. Marginalized and fought by victorious opponents.
Judith Lieu in Making a Heretic showed the process of growing hostility towards Marcion – all these accusations were gradually invented over a long time. It started with some theological dispute in the first writings of Justin Martyr. By adding more invented accusations, his opponents simply lied.
These stories repeat themselves regularly. Eustathius of Sebaste was brought down by Saint Basil the Great himself, who had previously been his student and friend. When they began to compete with each other for supremacy over Armenia Minor, they both suddenly saw the other as a heretic, a mortal threat to the true faith.
People are people
Valentinus appears to fall into the gnostic category according to modern understandings of the term, but I would categorize him more as Platonist. He explicitly rejected the idea of an evil creator. In fact, the creator entities were angels. These creator angels tried to create the world, and man within it, to correspond to the ideals (think Forms), but inevitably fell short of that goal. The source of evil is demons, but it unclear where demons came from. According to the Gospel of Truth, evil itself has no root, and consists of ignorance.
Valentinus lived approximately 100-165 CE, so he would have been a contemporary of Marcion. My quick look does not reveal any surviving record of interactions between the two. Irenaeus references a Vaentinian Gospel of Truth in about 180 CE. It is not certain that the texts found in Nag Hamamdi are that Gospel, but there is no evidence to conclude that they aren’t, either.
My primary source is David Litwa’s Found Christianities.
I’m glad you’ll take a look at Valentinus. I draw attention to the fact that he was a serious candidate for the bishop of Rome. He lost in the vote to another candidate. Note that the candidates were assessed by a large body of the faithful and not by bishops forming coteries or parties. It was played out in a popular election. Only Ireneus, who had never written a word of truth in his entire life, started black PR for propaganda purposes.
In Panarion, another compulsive liar lists 80 heresies because… that’s how many concubines Solomon had. This literature is of similar value as a report of actual events to the leaflets from the times of the Protestant Revolution. Both Catholic and Protestant ones. Relying on the content literally and trusting all these ghost writers is simply naivety.These were just tools in another game that biblical scholars are not interested in. Give me a man and there will be accusations. It’s a simple rule.
Bart once said that the orthodox heroes of one generation became heretics for the next generation. He did it on the example of 2nd century writers such as Origen, Tertullian, and Papias. And I agree with that. To elevate your own views, you must fight other views. Heretics developed the church.
Christianity in the 2nd century is extremely diverse and suffers from Kinderkrankheiten. Lack of organization, lack of strong leadership, lack of a common offer. After supposedly 70 years of activity, which, surprisingly, began with the innovative use of writing in management.
With an absolutely perfect black hole between 60 and 100 CE.
Even Paul’s letters completely disappeared from the radar, only to suddenly appear in a systematic collection.
Writing was abandoned in favor of charismatic oratorical performances. And miraculously, this project managed to survive until someone came up with the idea to start writing again.
And all this to prove that there was at least one authentic author in the NT who wrote the truth and only the truth. And that some ghost writer was genuinely moved by the destruction of the temple when it happened.
I thought my jokes were bad.
Robert, if someone pays 200,000 sesterces only for free access to the leaders and members of the Christian community in Rome, and on the other hand presents himself as a prayerful ascetic who wants nothing for himself, who is he really? Having his own theological views, he has been conducting negotiations with people with different views for several years. And vice versa. For 300 years, the Shepherd was as important as the books of the NT. The Letter to Laodiceans has been part of the Scripture for 1,000 years. Where are they now? Marcion’s theology recovered from the writings of his enemies is worth as much as the reconstruction of Osip Mandelstam’s poetry made on the basis of reports from the poet’s interrogations by the KGB.
Dear Robert, I am convinced that Marcion would sacrifice his theological beliefs to achieve his goal. And it would be easier for him than spending the 200,000 sesterces on a bribe. I am not interested in his theological views because they are irrelevant. He proselytized with simple stories and teachings adapted to the level of the general audience. He trained his missionaries so that they could reach wide masses. These Roman personal games are an age-old pattern of human competition. A transparent and clear carrot and stick situation. What you write about didn’t matter then. It became more important when both sides reached for their sticks. Marcion was already gone by then
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert