Repent! (Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg?)
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:38 pm
Albrecht Dieterich, Abraxas: Studien z. Religionsgeschichte d. späteren Altertums (1891), p.134:
A. "Why, O ye men of old, have ye delivered yourselves unto Death, having power to change immortality? Repent, ye that accompany Ignorance; be ye free from the dark light; take ye hold of Immortality, having left off Corruption."
B. “Ye are immortal from the Beginning and Children of Eternal Life, and ye would have Death distributed to yourselves, that ye may spend it and consume it, and Death may die in you and for you. For when ye have redeemed the world, and have not redeemed yourselves, ye shall have dominion over Creation and Corruption.”
Since presumably both the Hermetica, CH 1 (c.15 AD?) and Valentinus (c.135 AD) are originating in Alexandria, we cannot assume a 60-year gap in transmission. But if the material was recycled over 100 years later, that suggests any Gospels (or similar literature) may have had a greater time-span from their sources than is generally assumed.
The direct influence of Valentin shows especially some parts of Poimandres. Also sentences like this: {A} Τί ἑαυτούς, ὦ ἄνδρες γηγενεῖς, εἰς θάνατον ἐκδεδώκατε, ἔχοντες ἐξουσίαν τῆς ἀθανασίας μεταλαβεῖν; μετανοήσαντες οἱ συνοδεύσαντες τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ• ἀπαλλάγητε τοῦ σκότεινοῦ φωτός• μεταλάβετε τῆς ἀθανασίας, καταλείψαντες τὴν φθοράν (c. CH 1.27,28) are reminiscent of Valentinian homilies, such as a fragment which Clem. Alex. 4.13.89.2-4 has received: {B} ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἀθάνατοί ἐστε καὶ τέκνα ζωῆς ἐστε αἰωνίας καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἠθέλετε μερίσασθαι εἰς ἑαυτούς, ἵνα δαπανήσητε αὐτὸν καὶ ἀναλώσητε, καὶ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ θάνατος ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ δι' ὑμῶν. ὅταν γὰρ τὸν μὲν κόσμον λύητε, ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ κατα λύησθε, κυριεύετε τῆς κτίσεως καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς ἁπάσης.
A. "Why, O ye men of old, have ye delivered yourselves unto Death, having power to change immortality? Repent, ye that accompany Ignorance; be ye free from the dark light; take ye hold of Immortality, having left off Corruption."
B. “Ye are immortal from the Beginning and Children of Eternal Life, and ye would have Death distributed to yourselves, that ye may spend it and consume it, and Death may die in you and for you. For when ye have redeemed the world, and have not redeemed yourselves, ye shall have dominion over Creation and Corruption.”
Since presumably both the Hermetica, CH 1 (c.15 AD?) and Valentinus (c.135 AD) are originating in Alexandria, we cannot assume a 60-year gap in transmission. But if the material was recycled over 100 years later, that suggests any Gospels (or similar literature) may have had a greater time-span from their sources than is generally assumed.