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The "Gospel of Truth" is attributed to the followers of Valentinius (or Valentinus) not 'Valentinos'
VALENTINOS
heretic or real christian?
It was 140 A.D. and all the Mediterranean was turning its head towards those men called Christines.
A full century before Jesus of Nazareth, the man they called the 'Messiah' and the 'Anointed One' had been crucified by a confused mob of Jews. By foot and sail, Jesus' first and closest disciples, His Inner Circle, had set on to surrounding lands to heal the sick, help the poor but most important of all, to give the 'baptism in spirit'. Seventy more were added to their numbers and so, Christines were soon to be found in almost every country.
Rome, the empire capital, was chosen as the center for the new 'Great Church'. However as time passed, one by one all the original devotees either died or were martyred. With communications slow, and newly baptised Christines spread throughout many languages and many countries, problems began to arise.
Questions of the true nature of Jesus as Lord troubled many. What was the real understanding of the resurrection and how does it relate to our physical body? Who is capable in this time to give the 'baptism in spirit'? Some older disciples had views that seemed in conflict. A letter took months to reach its destination much less, return with the proper answer. Both 'pagans' and Jews constantly criticized these Chris-tines and their 'new-God'.
Many Christines, having held a long disagreement on some basic issue, broke away from the main body, and went to live by themselves. The 'Great Church' laboured to set forth a doctrine that would encompass all situations.
Their strength was great but they met with much opposition. Their doctrines many said, was not in accordance with the original teachings of Jesus and His apostles but had changed to suit the difficult times. Those in opposition to the 'Great Church' were labelled heretics. These were to be avoided if not punished.
One of those men was Valentinos. He lived in Egypt at the time of Hadrian was renown as the most outstanding leader of a group of Gnostics. The word Gnostic comes from gnosis meaning Knowledge. The Gnostics themselves, as the weight of time and distance increased, were scattered into various groups and countries not always in agreement with one another. The origin of Gnsoticism appears to be in the homeland of Jesus but by 140 A.D., it had spread throughout the central and eastern Mediterranean.
Valentinos went to Rome and was met first with cautious respect and then, at last, with out-right hatred. He was driven out of Rome by the 'Great Church' and went to live in Cyprus. But while in Rome he composed what is now called the Gospel of Truth.
This Gospel of Truth is one of about 50 gospels and letters discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945/6. This untouched scriptural treasure is called, 'The Library of Nag Hammadi' since it seemingly served as the spiritual library for a 4th century descent Gnostic community.
In full the Gospel of Truth is about 20 pages long - the following is a simple extract from it:
"What we must do
Then is to think of what
That Name is. It is
The one authentic Name, a Name
Indeed from the Father
For it is the Lord's Name.
He did not borrow the Name like others
In the way they, are all made up
For this is the Lord's Name."