A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

103were men of culture and literary ability, and the sect maintaineditself a long time. Valentinus himself was a native of Egypt, andprobably educated at Alexandria, where he may have come underthe influence of Basilides. He taught his own system chiefly atRome c. 140-c. 160. The great work of Irenæus against the Gnostics,although having all Gnostics in view, especially deals withthe Valentinians in their various forms, because Irenæus was ofthe opinion that he who refutes their system refutes all (cf. Adv.Hær., IV, præf., 2). It is difficult to reconstruct with certaintythe esoteric system of Valentinus as distinguished from possiblylater developments of the school, as Irenæus, the principal authority,follows not only Valentinus, but Ptolomæus and others, [089]in describing the system. The following selection of sourcesgives fragments of the letters and other writings of Valentinushimself as preserved by Clement of Alexandria, passages fromIrenæus bringing out distinctive features of the system, and theimportant letter of Ptolemæus to Flora, one of the very few extantwritings of the Gnostics of an early date. It gives a good idea ofthe character of the exoteric teaching of the school.Additional source material: The principal authority for thesystem of the Valentinians is Irenæus, Adv. Hær., Lib. I(ANF), see also Hippolytus, Refut., VI, 24-32 (ANF); “TheHymn of the Soul,” from the Acts of Thomas, trans. byA. A. Bevan, Texts and Studies, III, Cambridge, 1897; TheFragments of Heracleon, trans. by A. E. Burke, Text andStudies, I, Cambridge, 1891; see also ANF, IX, index, p. 526,s. v., Heracleon. The Excerpta Theodoti contained in ANF,VIII, are really the Excerpta Prophetica, another collection,identified with the Excerpta Theodoti by mistake of the editorof the American edition, A. C. Coxe (on the Excerpta, seeZahn, History of the Canon of the New Testament).(a) Clement of Alexandria, Strom., IV, 13. (MSG, 8:1296.)