Valentinianism and the Internal Crisis of Christianity in the Second Century
When one speaks of the great heresies of the early Christian centuries, one often imagines marginal groups, enclosed in obscure circles and removed from the ordinary life of the communities. The case of Valentinianism breaks this pattern. Between the second and third centuries, the system developed by Valentinus — one of the most sophisticated Gnostic masters — infiltrated the very heart of the Church, attracted cultivated elites, produced literature of the highest calibre, and almost became, in certain places, a viable internal alternative to nascent Christianity.
