Source edition
Tertullian. Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani opera, Pars III (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Volume 47). Kroymann, Emil, editor. Prague, Vienna, Leipzig: F. Tempsky, G. Freytag, 1906.
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a theological treatise in which the Christian writer Tertullian exposes and refutes the doctrines of the Valentinians, a prominent Gnostic sect, using biting satire and humor. The author begins by criticizing their secrecy, comparing it to pagan mysteries, and asserts the superiority of simple Christian truth over their false wisdom. He then systematically details their complex mythological system, describing the structure of the Pleroma (fullness), the generation of the Aeons, and the fall and rescue of the youngest Aeon, Sophia (wisdom). The narrative continues with the exile of Achamoth, from whose passions the material world is generated, and the subsequent creation of the universe and humanity by an ignorant Demiurge. In the latter part of the treatise, Tertullian explains the Valentinian classification of humanity into three natures and their respective eschatological destinies. Ultimately, by highlighting the contradictory and absurd variations among different branches of this sect, the work aims to demonstrate the chaotic and fictitious nature of their teachings.