Giuliano Chiapparini: The Theodotus of Clement of Alexandria was not a valentinian? Analysis of Excerpts from Theodotus 1-3.

My paper concerns the first three chapters of the so-called Excerpts from Theodotus of Clement of Alexandria. According to the traditional opinion Exc.Theod. 1-3 presents mainly some aspects of the Gnostic Valentinian doctrine with brief observations by Clement. Instead, in my opinion, the text clearly alternating two distinct 'heterodox' sources, before the conclusion by Clement himself. Indeed, Exc.Theod. 1.1-3 contains a literal quotation from a text of Theodotus, while Exc.Theod. 2.1 summarizes briefly the thought of the 'eastern' Valentinians. The two doctrines are briefly repeated (Exc.Theod. 2,2), before Clement explains his opinion (Exc.Theod.3,1-2). In Exc.Theod. 1-3, therefore, the exegesis of Luke 23.46 proves that the thought of Theodotus must be distinguished from that of the Valentinians.According to Theodotus, the redemption comes from the Saviour: he introduces a "spiritual seed" that perfects the psychic and material part of the human being. According to the 'eastern' Valentinians, however, the 'spiritual seed' is present from the beginning only in some human beings and the Saviour comes to perfect it: the psychic and material parts are excluded from salvation. Finally, according to Clement the Saviour acts only on the soul and does it also through the Spirit, but it does not belong to human beings.Therefore, the common opinion that Theodotus was one of the most important teachers of 'eastern Valentinianism', is probably to be reconsidered.

Robert Williams: Excerpts from Theodotus: Social Significance of Apostolic Identity and Boundaries

In the late second century, Clement of Alexandria recorded texts from Theodotus and other eastern Valentinians, accompanied by his critical responses, in Excerpts from Theodotus. Scholars have explored Clement’s work to analyze his reservations toward perceived rivals and to gain perspective on eastern Valentinian thought. This study furthers preceding research by determining the social construction of the Valentinian groups. Excerpts imply identity markers for these groups and boundaries constructed vis-à-vis rival groups, thereby distinguishing the Valentinians. Claiming authority on apostolic succession from Paul, they based their teaching on the “apostles,” Paul and John. Ritual practices, informed by Pauline understanding of salvation, enriched their experience with God. Einar Thomassen’s The Spiritual Seed: The Church of the ‘Valentinians’ (2006) has proposed three “dimensions” in Valentinian Christianity: salvation history, ritual, and protology. The Excerpts evinces symbiosis between the first two. The Valentinians thus saw themselves as undergoing “spiritual renewal,” experiencing a more profound unity with God, Johannine and Pauline, than those groups from whom they differentiated themselves. Indeed, contra Robert Pierce Casey, in The Excerpta ex Theodoto of Clement of Alexandria (1934), who attributes the demise of Valentinianism to its “complicated three-part approach to unity with God,” the present study suggests that the movement flourished because of its clarity and detailed approach to that unity. This analysis, then, provides a clearer picture of the appeal of eastern Valentinian groups associated with Theodotus, their apostolic identity and their boundaries with respect to contemporaries.

Christian Teachers in Second-Century Rome

Christian intellectuals such as Valentinus, Justin, and Marcion have received a good deal of attention when it comes to their role in the development of early Christianity. In recent years, a new appreciation for the different strands of belief they represent has come to be widely shared by a generation of scholars seeking to think beyond the boundaries of traditional theological and historical categories. The workshop we propose, dedicated to Christian teachers and their students in second-century Rome, situates itself in this open field of inquiry. We strive to understand these individuals not simply as placeholders in the history of doctrine but rather as teachers pursuing their livelihood in the marvelously complicated fabric of urban Rome: seeking spaces in which to live and teach, attracting students, cultivating patrons, interacting with texts, and engaging in polemics with other teachers. These teachers and their students participated simultaneously in other social, commercial, and ethnic networks, and these networks will have played important roles when it came to establishing and maintaining social contacts and connections. Christian “schools” also shared many features with other groups of philosophers, litterateurs, sophists, and physicians, and a great deal can be learned by careful comparison with such groups.      With this framework in mind, participants will offer papers on important second-century Christian teachers that worked in Rome:  Justin Martyr (Fernando Rivas Rebaque), Valentinus (Christoph Markschies), the question of Valentinian “schools” (Einar Thomassen), Tatian (Miguel Herrero de Jauregui), Theodotus and his followers (H. Gregory Snyder), and Hippolytus (Marek Raczkiewicz).  Other papers deal with comparative issues or broader themes: the artistic representation of teachers in Roman art (Robin Jensen), the social context for Marcion, making connections to Jewish groups (Judith Lieu), and an overview of Christian “schools” (Angelo de Berardino). Contributors to the workshop have latitude to pursue questions of particular interest to themselves in whatever ways they see fit, but the overarching goal of the workshop is a richer and more nuanced understanding of what it meant to be a Christian teacher in second-century Rome.