A Valentinian Exposition and Related Fragments

A Valentinian Exposition and Related Fragments

[An exposition of the Valentinian teaching, with liturgical fragments; preserved with damage.]

I will speak of the mystery, of the One who is before all, the Father, the Root, the Depth, beyond comprehension, in whom is the Silence. From him came forth Mind and Truth, and from these the rest of the pairs, the fullness of the aeons, each in its rank, that the glory of the Father might be made known. [Text missing]

And the last of the aeons, Wisdom, in her desire to comprehend the incomprehensible Father, fell into deficiency and suffering; and from her passion the lower things came to be. But she was restored by the Limit, and the Saviour was sent forth from the whole fullness to gather what had fallen, and to bring it back to its rest. [Line damaged]

[A fragment on the anointing]

By the anointing the holy ones are sealed; the oil is a sign of the mercy that comes from the Father, and those who receive it are joined to the imperishable.

[A fragment on baptism and the eucharist]

In the washing we put off the old, and in the bread and the cup we are joined to the body and to the life that is from above; these are the images of the things that are perfect. [Text missing]

[Fragment breaks here]