A Valentinian Interpretation of Baptism and Eucharist and Its Critique of Orthodox Sacramental Theology and Practice*
The question of how different gnostic Christians interpreted and practiced sacraments so long limited to the sparse references in the anti-gnostic writers is being reexamined in the light of recently available gnostic documents. Yet one source long available the fragments of Heracleon that Ori...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[1972]
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 1972, Volume: 65, Issue: 2, Pages: 153-169 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The question of how different gnostic Christians interpreted and practiced sacraments so long limited to the sparse references in the anti-gnostic writers is being reexamined in the light of recently available gnostic documents. Yet one source long available the fragments of Heracleon that Origen cites in his own Commentary on John yields evidence that Heracleon not only interprets the sacraments in terms of Valentinian theology, but also criticized, from this theological standpoint, the sacramental theology and practice of the great church. Heracleon's sacramental theology, however, has escaped the notice of those researchers that have limited their investigation to the quoted fragments themselves. Analysis of Origen's commentary as a whole reveals that other statements of Heracleon's doctrine frequently appear apart from the direct quotations. Such statements, recognizable by their concurrence of terminology and doctrine with the quoted fragments, Origen introduces as the opinion of the heterodox, 3 or those who introduce the doctrine of natures, or in the voice of the imaginary interlocutor. As Heracleon is his principal protagonist, these often set forth his views. Extending our methodology to include investigation of Origen's arguments which are characteristically structured, in the John commentary, to refute Heracleon's allegations we discover in the extant debate evidence for a Valentinian theology of baptism and the eucharist. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000002455 |