Greek Discipline
The Greek or Hellenistic school of Gnostic belief tended to be more conceptual and philosophical and less rigidly ascetic than the Syrian. Two individual leaders gained power and notoriety within the Hellenistic Gnostic sects: Basilides and Valentinus. Some scholars say Basilides was born in Antioch but went to Alexandria where he founded his sect in circa
Basilidians
The main source for what is known about the Gnostic patriarch Basilides, his teaching, and his followers are the polemics of the orthodox early church fathers, since only fragments of his own work have survived. The Basilidians thrived in Egypt. Some members of the cult lived along the Nile delta, according to writings of Epiphanius. Basilidians observed Jesus' feast day, celebrating it annually on the day of his baptism. They observed a five-year silence, did not partake of food offered to false gods and idols, and wore amulets featuring the word “Abrasax” or the number “365.”
Basilidians inscribed the word “Abrasax” on their talismans, amulets, and gems. Hebrew meanings for the first three letters in the acronym — Ab (Father), Ben (Son) and Ruah (Spirit, in the Hebrew feminine gender) — spell out the Trinity. Another source notes that the Basilidians believed in 365 heavens. The sum of the numeric value of “Abrasax” is 365.
The Valentinians
Valentinus, the founder of the most popular of the Gnostic groups, had many followers in his lifetime. He borrowed many of his ideas from the Apostle Paul, Plato, and Greek scientific thought. Initially, he subscribed to the orthodox Christian doctrine, but later veered from it and incorporated his own views, for which he was later excommunicated. Valentinians believed in the one unknowable God who, through the process of emanation, created pairs of gender-opposite beings known as Aeons. Sophia was one. Valentinians espoused the idea that humans live under subjugation of the material, or hylic, world and must free themselves from the pull of nature so that the inner, divine self can ascend to the spiritual world. Christ and the Holy Spirit came to earth with the mission of human redemption. However, Christ did not have a body, and therefore did not suffer or die on the cross, according to Valentinus. The mysterious “Bridal Chamber” was a rite belonging to the Valentinians.
What did Heracleon see in the Gospel of John that resonated with his Valentinian ideas?
Heracleon read his own meanings into the Fourth Gospel, subtracting from it any actual historical events. In that gospel, he saw much Valentinian symbolism in references to spiritual light, darkness, and mysteries, particularly of numbers.
Branches of Valentinianism spread throughout Egypt, Syria, Italy, and southern Gaul (today's France). Two followers of Valentinus became the focus of polemical writings against Gnosticism by the patristic fathers: Ptolemy (who wrote the Gnostic text known as Letter to Flora) and Heracleon, a powerful Gnostic thinker and writer. Historians and Biblical scholars note that Heracleon's ideas aligned more closely with orthodox thinking than did Ptolemy's. The African patristic father Tertullian wrote against Ptolemy, and the orthodox leader Origen bridled against Heracleon. Both Origen and Heracleon wrote commentaries on the Gospel of John. Another prominent follower of Valentinus was Marcos, an Egyptian patriarch, though little is known about him.
