Summary
Summary of A Valentinian Exposition
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A Christian school speaks for itself
A Valentinian Exposition presents the teaching of a Christian school shaped by Valentinus. Its author is unknown, and its surviving Coptic text was probably translated from Greek. The work brings together an account of divine life and prayers connected with Christian worship.
Its central concerns are the Father, the divine fullness called the Pleroma, the fall and healing of Wisdom, and Jesus as Savior. These subjects belong together: the text connects an account of where everything comes from with the hope of healing and union with Christ.
Key idea 2
An inside voice changes the picture
Start free to read
Key idea 3
Divine fullness begins with generosity
Start free to read
Key idea 4
Wisdom's longing creates a need for healing
Start free to read
Key idea 5
Prayer gives the teaching practical expression
Start free to read
Key idea 6
Myth and worship belong together
Start free to read
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love early Christian history, students of the Nag Hammadi books, and anyone curious about how second-century Christians told the story of God and the soul.
What this book is
A Valentinian Exposition is a short and damaged Christian text from the school of Valentinus, a teacher who worked in the second century. It survives in Coptic, the language of Christian Egypt, in a papyrus book found near Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. Scholars think the Coptic was translated from Greek, and they place the original in the second century or a little later, though they cannot be certain. No author is known.
The text sets out, in teaching form, how one Christian school pictured the Father, the divine fullness around him called the Pleroma, the fall and healing of Wisdom, and the work of Jesus as Savior. It also carries short prayers for anointing, baptism and the shared meal. You will hear how it is arranged and what it says, beginning with where it came from.
In this summary
- 1A fragmentary book from the Egyptian sandsFree
- 2The Father and the fullness of the aeons
- 3Sophia, her passion, and the healing of the whole
- 4Prayers for anointing, baptism and the shared meal
Key point 1 of 4
A fragmentary book from the Egyptian sands
The text sits in Nag Hammadi Codex Eleven, a papyrus book bound in leather and buried in a jar with other books. The Nag Hammadi library holds about fifty texts in Coptic, many of them translated from Greek. The Valentinian Exposition is the second item in that codex, and it has gaps where the papyrus has crumbled. Scholars must guess at some of the missing words.
It belongs to the Valentinian tradition. Valentinus was a Christian teacher who, according to early Christian writers, taught in Rome in the second century. His students formed several schools, and they read the Gospels and the letters of Paul in their own way. Their opponents among the church writers described them harshly, so much of what we knew of them came from critics until the Nag Hammadi books came to light.
This matters for how you read the text. It is a voice from inside the school, not a report by outsiders. Scholars still debate exactly how it relates to the main Valentinian systems described by others, and they do not agree on a precise date. What they do agree on is that it is a real witness to how these Christians taught.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Check yourself
What do the aeons form together?
Right. “Instead the Father brings forth a family of divine beings called aeons, and together they form the Pleroma, a Greek word that means fullness.”Not quite. “Instead the Father brings forth a family of divine beings called aeons, and together they form the Pleroma, a Greek word that means fullness.”
What brings disorder into Sophia’s story?
Right. “Her reach goes beyond her place, and this brings disorder, called her passion.”Not quite. “Her reach goes beyond her place, and this brings disorder, called her passion.”
What do the added prayers reveal about these Christians?
Right. “They baptized, anointed and shared a meal, as other Christians did, and they gave those acts their own meaning.”Not quite. “They baptized, anointed and shared a meal, as other Christians did, and they gave those acts their own meaning.”
Questions about A Valentinian Exposition
What is A Valentinian Exposition about?
It is a short teaching text from the Valentinian school of early Christianity. It describes the Father, the divine fullness called the Pleroma, the fall and healing of Wisdom, and the work of Jesus as Savior, with added prayers.
Where was A Valentinian Exposition found?
It was found in 1945 near Nag Hammadi in Egypt, as part of Codex Eleven in a collection of Coptic papyrus books. It is thought to be a Coptic translation of an earlier Greek text.
What does Pleroma mean in Valentinian teaching?
Pleroma is a Greek word for fullness. In Valentinian thought it names the divine world around the Father, made up of the aeons, the divine beings who share his life and his knowledge.
Who is Sophia in this text?
Sophia means Wisdom. She is one of the aeons in Valentinian teaching, whose longing to know the Father leads to disorder, and whose later healing is a central part of the story.
Is A Valentinian Exposition hard to read?
No. The text is short and tells one clear story, from the generous Father to the fall and healing of Wisdom. It is arranged in teaching form, and the closing prayers for anointing, baptism and the shared meal are brief pieces.
