Valentinus’ Legacy and Polyphony of Voices

One merit of this book is that it offers close and perceptive readings of texts which are still mysterious to many students of the early church. Another is that the readings are free of theological bias or any desire to force the texts into a predetermined narrative. The third merit, which is the result of the other two, is that the authors whom we know as Valentinians are revealed as creative interpreters of the apostolic tradition, working as much in synergy with as in opposition to the authors whom we call orthodox. This study richly illustrates the harmony as well as the diversity of early Christian thought. - Mark Edwards, Univeristy of Oxford, UK A diverse group of early Christian texts has traditionally been labelled as Valentinian , a usage inspired by Irenaeus and other early heresiologists. Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski argues persuasively that these texts were written by and for people who regarded themselves not as Valentinians but simply as Christians. The book makes a significant contribution to the ongoing scholarly effort to get beyond the binary opposition of orthodoxy and heresy and to highlight connections between early Christian texts on either side of the imposed boundary. At point after point, the author shows how these supposedly deviant texts give their own distinctive expression to common Christian themes. - Francis Watson, University of Durham, UK.