Valentinianism a form of Christian gnosticism of Alexandrian origin, founded by Valentinus in the second century and propagated by Theodotus in Eastern, and Heracleon in Western, Christianity. To every gnostic, pagan or Christian, knowledge leads to salvation from the perishable, material world. Valentinianism therefore prompted famous refutations by Tertullian (Adversus Valentinianos) and Irenaeus (Adversus haereses). The latter accused the Valentinians of maintaining ‘creatio ex nihilo.’ Valentinus is believed to have authored the Peri trion phuseon, the Evangelium veritatis, and the Treatise on the Resurrection. Since only a few fragments of these remain, his Neoplatonic cosmogony is accessible mainly through his opponents and critics (Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria) and in the Nag Hammadi codices. To explain the origins of creation and of evil, Valentinus separated God (primal Father) from the Creator (Demiurge) and attributed the crucial role in the processes of emanation and redemption to Sophia.
See also CREATION EX NIHILO, GNOSTICIS. J.-L.S.