Beyond Gnosticism: Myth, Lifestyle, and Society in the School of Valentinus

Ismo O. Dunderberg

April, 2008
Cloth, 336 pages, 0 halftones, 0 color illus., 0 line drawings, 2 tables
ISBN: 978-0-231-14172-7
$50.00 / £29.50

"Ismo Dunderberg's superb study is one of the freshest winds in recent years in scholarship on Valentinian and related traditions. Dunderberg demonstrates in chapter after chapter how Valentinian myth was not at all merely about abstruse theological speculation but rather was closely interwoven with a fabric of discourse and practice not untypical for philosophical schools of the period, including concern with day-to-day social realities, political relationships, and expectations for moral progress. Not intended as a comprehensive survey of Valentinianism, the book nevertheless guides us on a lively discussion that visits virtually all of our major sources for this tradition, and no stop is without highly original and provocative insights. If we are to make real progress in understanding what Valentinian myth meant for the actual lives of men and women who created and reflected on these traditions, it will require just the sort of work that this groundbreaking, fertile analysis exemplifies." — Michael A. Williams, professor of comparative religion and Near Eastern languages and civilization, University of Washington

Related Subjects

• Christianity

About the Author

Ismo Dunderberg is professor of New Testament at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Helsinki. An expert in the Gospel of John, second-century early Christianity, and the Nag Hammadi Library, his most recent book is The Beloved Disciple in Conflict? Revisiting the Gospels of John and Thomas (Oxford University Press, 2006). He is also leader of the research project "Gnosticism and the Formation of Christianity," funded by the Academy of Finland.

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