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Philo and the Valentinians Protology, Cosmogony, and Anthropology

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Philo and the Valentinians Protology, Cosmogony, and Anthropology University of Helsinki 2016 Philo and the Valentinians Protology, Cosmogony, and Anthropology Risto Auvinen Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki in the Main Building, Auditorium XII, on the 4th of February 2017 at 10 a.m. ISBN 978-951-51-2814-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-2815-7 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2016 ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to compare philosophical and exegetical traditions in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and in the Valentinian sources. Although Valentinus’ fragments contain some Philonic themes, the closest parallels with Philo come from “section C” (chapters 43.2-65) in the Excerpts from Theodotus by Clement of Alexandria, which parallels teachings of Ptolemy’s disciples attested in Irenaeus’ Valentinian account in Iren. Haer. 1.1-7. I will argue in this study that Valentinian theology in these sources cannot be properly understood without recourse to Philo’s inventions in the allegorical exegesis of the Book of Genesis. On the one hand, the Valentinians elaborated the allegories attested in Philo’s writings in the light of the myth of Sophia. On the other hand, the Valentinian theologians reformed the preceding Gnostic myth in the light of teachings that they found in Philo’s writings. The Valentinian protological model system developed on the grounds of a Platonizing interpretation of the prologue of the Gospel of John. The Valentinian teachers twisted the semantic and logical structure of the prologue of John’s gospel in a way which indicates that they also knew some of Philo’s protological innovations. In the Valentinian accounts, Wisdom has manifold associations, which are related to the dyadic and monadic aspects of the divine world. These associations are found in an initial stage in Philo’s texts. Philo and Valentinians were also dependent on the ancient theory of diakrisis according to which cosmic matter was divided into four cosmic elements. Taking into account all these protological and cosmological parallels, it is reasonable to suggest that the Valentinian teachers were working in the allegorical tradition in which many of Philo’s interpretations were adopted, rejected and reformed. In anthropology, Philo and Valentinian teachers were dependent on the Middle Platonic anthropological theories, which formed the philosophical background for the allegorical interpretations of Gen. 1:26-27 and Gen. 2:7. The closest parallels with Philo are found in the anthropological interpretations of Genesis, which form the basis for soteriology and ethics. The allegory of Israel and the allegory of Cain, Abel and Seth attested in the Valentinian sources were derived from Philo’s works. On the grounds of this study, it is reasonable to suggest that there was a historical relationship between Philo and the Valentinians. The relation was restricted, however, to one group of Valentinians whose teachings go back to the school of Ptolemy in Alexandria and Rome. This study shows that it is probable that some Valentinian teachers belonged to the circle of Alexandrian Christian Platonists who saw Philo’s works as valuable and preserved them after the revolt before they became the property of the Alexandrian Catechetical School, that is, at the end of the second century. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take the opportunity to thank my supervisor, Professor Ismo Dunderberg for his encouragement during the writing of my dissertation. I learned from him that positive and open discussion achieves more than harsh criticism. I would also like to thank Professor Antti Marjanen and my colleagues in Gnostic Studies Dr. Minna Heimola, Dr. Päivi Vähäkangas, Dr. Ulla Tervahauta, Dr. Outi Lehtipuu, Ivan Miroshnikov and Alin Suciu who were all members of the project "Gnosticism and the Formation of Christianity" in the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Helsinki. I began my research as a doctoral student in 2008. The dissertation has been written during 2014 - 2016. During that time, I was also working full time as a Lutheran parish priest. I would like to thank my wife Ursula for her patience, love and support that she gave me during the long periods of writing my thesis. I hope that all the holidays and weekends that I spent writing or reading ancient philosophy were not wasted! Finally, I want to thank Professor Gregory E. Sterling and Dr. Tuomas Rasimus for their valuable and important comments during the pre-examination of my work. Kohmansalo, October 2016 Risto Auvinen 4 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 7 1.1 The aim of this study............................................................................. 7 1.2 The Valentinian tradition and Sethian Gnosticism.............................. 9 1.3 Philo of Alexandria and the Valentinian tradition ............................. 14 1.4 Methodological Considerations .......................................................... 19 1.5 Outline of this study ............................................................................ 22 2 SOURCE CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS – THE VALENTINIAN PRIMARY SOURCE IN CLEMENT’S EXCERPTS OF THEODOTUS AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THIS STUDY ...................................................... 25 2.1 The Valentinian source in Exc. Theod. 43.2-65 ................................. 31 2.1.1 General remarks ............................................................................... 31 2.1.2 The relation between Exc. C and Iren. Haer. 1.1-7 .......................... 34 2.2 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 37 3 THE FOUNDATIONS OF ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION IN PHILO AND AMONG THE VALENTINIANS ................................................. 39 3.1 The Jewish revolt in Egypt and its implications for the Jewish and Christian traditions of Alexandria ............................................... 39 3.2 The founding of the School of Valentinus .......................................... 44 3.2.1 The school of Valentinus as a Christianized Middle Platonic cult .................................................................................................... 45 3.2.2 Valentinian tradition and rituals − Early Christian theurgy vs. religio mentis .............................................................................. 51 3.3 Allegorical Readers of Alexandria ...................................................... 54 3.3.1 Allegorical interpretation of Ex.13:2 in Philo’s Her. 117-119 and Iren. Haer. 1.3.4 ........................................................................ 63 3.3.2 A moderate allegorical teaching in Ptolemy’s Letter to Flora ......... 66 3.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................... 71 4 PROTOLOGY: THE CREATION OF THE INTELLIGIBLE COSMOS .......... 73 4.1 Philo of Alexandria, Valentinian teachers and the transcendental monotheism ............................................................... 73 4.2 The outline of the Valentinian myth .................................................. 80 4.3 The origin of Valentinian protology ................................................... 85 4.4 The Philonic interpretation of the prologue of the Gospel of John ..................................................................................................... 93 4.5 Philo’s interpretation of day one and traditions of cosmic creation in Opif. 29-35 ...................................................................... 100 4.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 105 5 THE CREATION OF MATTER AND THE WISDOM OF GOD .................... 107 5.1 The philosophical background of the creation of matter ................. 107 5.2 The creation of matter in the writings of Philo ................................. 111 5.3 The creation of matter in the Valentinian sources ............................116 5 5.4 Wisdom as mother and matter in Philo and Valentinian sources ............................................................................................... 121 5.5 The separation of matter ................................................................... 125 5.5.1 The creation as diakrisis in Iren. Haer. 1.5.1-2 and Exc. C ........... 128 5.5.2 The visibility of earth and the ancient theory of diakrisis ............ 132 5.6 The creation of the essence of light and cosmic intellects in Philo and Valentinian accounts ........................................................ 138 5.7 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 143 6 THE CREATION OF THE FIRST HUMAN BEING: THE ALLEGORICAL EXEGESIS OF GEN. 1:26-27 AND GEN. 2:7 .................. 145 6.1 The philosophical background to Valentinian anthropology ........... 145 6.2 The creation of the first human being and the three-fold structure of the human soul in Valentinian sources .........................151 6.3 The traditions of exegesis concerning the creation of Adam in Philo and Valentinian sources .......................................................... 161 6.3.1 The creation of earthly mind and the garments of skin ................ 164 6.3.2 The heavenly man and the allegory of the soul in Philo ................ 168 6.3.3 The heavenly man and the free speech of Adam in Valentinian sources ........................................................................ 170
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