Brief Notices

BRIEF NOTICES La gnoae Valentinienne et le temoignage de Saint !renee. By FRAN~OIS­ M.-M. SAGNARD, 0. P. Paris: J. Vrin, 1947. Pp. 668. The study of Gnosticism presents several interesting features. These sects, Christian or pagan or a mixture of both sets of ideas, form an important chapter in the history of religion, of philosophy, and of ideas. They have been quite influential in their times and have exercized a greater influence on later ages than is generally recognized. In particular, they have put forth one notion which has come to the fore again and again and which also plays a definite role in certain contemporary ideas on human nature. This is the conception of man as tripartite, as consisting of matter or body, soul or principle of life, and spirit or an element which pertains to an order different from that of sensible reality. Adumbrated in Plato's myth of the chariot (in Phaedrua) and also by Aristotle's notion of" Noua coming from without," the theory of the three constituents has perhaps never been worked out so consistently and given so much fundamental importance as in the systems of Gnosticism. Although the Gnostic doctrines soon ceased to be effective or to win followers, they lived on in a, so to speak, subterraneous manner to reemerge during the Renaissance and at all times when the so-called Pythagorean mysteries or others of a similar nature attracted attention. It would seem feasible to divide all theories on human nature into three groups: monistic, dualistic, and trialistic. Even within orthodoxy one notices occasionally traces of the trialistic, if not doctrine, at least, expression. One need only recall the use of the term mens in St. Augustine and many of his medieval followers (e. g. St. Bernard ) . It was also a problem not devoid of interest, -whether or not such traditions were alive in the " dialectics " of Hegel and still are alive in certain contemporary philosophies, as in that of L. Klages who conceives of " spirit " as the " antagonist of the soul." A study, therefore, which widens and deepens our knowledge of Gnostic doctrines has more than a merely historical relevance. Sagnard's voluminous treatise deserves recommendation not only because of the interest of the topic but also because of the scholarly manner in which the author deals with his subject matter. What we know of Gnosticism we owe mostly to reports in the writings of the Christian Fathers directed against these heretical systems. Among these writings the Adveraua Haereses by St. Irenaeus holds a prominent place. Text, literary tradition, reliability of this work are carefully analyzed by the learned Dominican. Equal care is given to the presentation of Gnostic ideas in the Letter to Flora by the Gnostic Ptolomee, to the fragments of Heracleon, the notes by Theodote, 886 BRIEF NOTICES 887 and the reports by Hippolyte. The Gnostic system is discussed in all its details. One is thus appraised of the utterly fantastic ideas which make up a large part of this doctrine, which however, appears as much more intelligible than it did on the basis of previous treatises on the subject. Although the author is concerned mainly with the ideas peculiar to Valentinian and his school-a long chapter deals with the teachings of Marcus the Mage and his "arithmology "--one learns many things about the general spirit of Gnosticism. It is impossible to summarize the Gnostic ideas which the author presents in a clear manner, but for which he needs many· pages, because of the many involved and difficult views which characterize these doctrines. Thus, it must suffice that this work be pointed out as one which no student. either of the early battles of the Church for the preservation of orthodoxy or of the history of religion and philosophy will peruse without great profit. Particularly, the analysis of Valentinian Gnosis in regard to the Oriental, Greek, and Christian elements it contains is highly interesting, as is the proof of the reliability of the sources used by St. Irenaeus and his presentation of his antagonists. Many misunderstandings occurring in older works are corrected, and the understanding of the Gnostic systems is rendered easier by diagrams and...