"THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION": A GNOSTIC

READING OF 1 CORINTHIANS 15
ELAINE H. PAGELS
BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10027

AUL proclaims the "resurrectionof the dead" in 1 Corinthians 15 as the

climax of the anti-gnosticpolemic he sustains throughoutthe Corinthian
letters-so W. Schmithalsclaims in his recent study, Gnosticism in Corinth.l
In the same letter Paul warnsof the coming judgment;he takes his stand on the
kerygmaof "Christcrucified" (1 Cor 2:2); he insists on the practicalpriority
of love over wisdom and gnosis-in all these ways he demonstrateshis "genuinely Christianattitude"2over against his gnostic opponents. But since "the
denial of the resurrection is for gnosticism a fundamental dogma,"3 Paul
epitomizes his anti-gnosticpolemic in his teaching on resurrectionin the final
chapter.
Such an evaluation of Paul's resurrection-theologyfollows R. Bultmann's
exegeticalanalysisof the Paulinelettersand his interpretationof Paul'stheological
intention.4 Bultmann,in turn, can claim the support of Christianwriters since
the second century, when Irenaeusand Tertullian regardedPaul's resurrectiontheology as a basic source for their own anti-gnostic (and especiallyanti-Valentinian) polemics.5
If this view of Paul-and

this reading of 1 Corinthians 156-is

accurate,

the Pauline exegesis of second-centurygnostics is nothing less than astonishing.

Not only do gnostic exegetes fail to grasp the whole point of Paul's writings,
but they even claim his letters as a primarysourceof their own gnostic theology.
Insteadof repudiatingPaul as their most obstinateopponent, the Naassenesand
1 Gnosticismin
2

Ibid., 301.

Ibid., 157-58.

Corinth (Nashville: Abingdon, 1971) 156-285.

'Theology of the New Testament(London: SCM, 1965) 169-306.

'Irenaeus,Adversushaereses(ed. W. W. Harvey;Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity,
1857 [hereaftercited as AH]) 3.13, 1-3; 3.15, 9; Tertullian, De carne Christi (ed. E.
Evans;London:SPCK 1956 [hereaftercited as DC]) 4.35-36; 5.13-18; 6.8-12; 16.1-33.
'Indeed, any reading of 1 Corinthians 15 as Paul's proclamationof actual bodily
resurrectionwould prove antitheticalto the gnostic position. See H. von Soden, "Sakrament und Ethik bei Paulus,"Urchristentumund Geschichte(Tiibingen: Mohr, 1951-56)
1.259, n.28: J. Hering, The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (London:
Epworth, 1967) 173; J. C. Hurd, The Origin of 1 Corinthians (New York: Seabury,
1965) 199-200.
276

PAGELS: "THE MYSTERYOF THE RESURRECTION"

277

Valentiniansrevere him as the one of the apostles who, above all others, was
himself a gnostic initiate.7 Far from remaining silent or expressing embarrassment over 1 Corinthians15, Naassene and Valentinian exegetes cite this passage frequently;Irenaeussays it is the Valentinianswho insist on introducing
texts from 1 Corinthians15 to supporttheir own position againstthe "orthodox;"
the Gospel of Philip demonstratessuch an exegesis.8
On what basis do Valentinianexegetes and theologians make such astonishing claims? To answer this question, one must investigate and compare the
extant fragmentsof Valentinianexegesis of 1 Corinthians15. Such fragments
are availablein Origen's anti-Valentiniancommentaryon 1 Corinthians,in the
worksof Irenaeus,Tertullian,Clement,and Hippolytus,and in numerousgnostic
documents;many more are becoming available from the Nag Hammadi texts
(as, e.g., in the treatiseDe resurrectione).9
Preliminaryinvestigationinto such sourcesdemonstratesthe untenabilityof
Schmithals'claim that the gnostics "denythe resurrection." Schmithals,following Bultmann,alleges that "whatis expressedin (their) spiritualizedterminology
is nothing other than the generalphilosophic doctrine of the immortalityof the
soul."10 Yet each of these points is contradictedin second-centurysources. The
Valentiniantheologian Heracleon,for example, specificallyrejects this common
philosophic doctrine on the basis of Matt 10:28. He goes on to cite 1 Cor
15:53-54 to show that "the soul is not immortal,but has the potentiality for
salvation. It is the 'corruptiblethat must put on incorruption,'and the 'mortal
that must put on immortality'when 'death is swallowed up in victory.'l"
Heracleon himself affirms a theology of "resurrectionon the third day;"12
many other referencesin the sourcesindicatethat here he is speaking for Valentinian traditionas a whole. Origen himself says that on the question of whether
Christwas raised from the dead "everyheresy agrees!"l3 Far from denying the
resurrection,the Valentinians consider it to be one of their fundamentaldoctrines.
Puech and Quispel, recognizing this in their analysis of De resurrectione,
have pointed out an importantaspect of Valentinianresurrection-theology:that
the "resurrection"is realized in the present experience of the elect.14 Their
analysis is convincing and textually sound: Valentinus himself addresses the
7Hippolytus,Refutatioomniumhaeresium(eds. L. Dunkeret al.; Gottingen:Dieterich,
1859 [hereaftercited as Ref]) 5.7,14-15; AH 3.2,1-3.3,1.
'AH 5.9,1; Gos Phil 104:26-105:3.
'De resurrectione(eds. M. Malinine et al.; Zurich: Rascher,1956 [hereaftercited as
DR]); Engl. tr. The Epistle to Reginos (ed. M. Peel; Philadelphia:Westminster,1969).
10W. Schmithals,Gnosticism,157-58.
" Origen, Commentariumin Johannem (GCS 4; ed. E. Preuschen;Leipzig: Hinrichs,
1903 [hereaftercited as CJ]) 13.60.
12CJ 10.37.

in Cramer's
Catenaon I Corinthians,"
13C.Jenkins,"TheOrigen-Citations
JTS 10
(1909) 45.
"DR 10-11. So also H. von Soden, "Sakramentund Ethik,"259, n. 28.

278

JOURNALOF BIBLICALLITERATURE

elect as those who are "from the beginning immortal,children of eternal life,
in whom and throughwhom death may die,"15as the authorof De resurrectione
instructsthe elect that he "alreadyhas" the resurrection.l6 Yet their analysis
omits considerationof evidence that the Valentinians also anticipate a future
resurrection.17 M. Peel, noting evidence of "unrealizedeschatology"in De
resurrectione,concludes that in such passages the author attempts to come to
terms with the "biological inevitability of death."18 He infers this from the
author'saccount of the "law of nature"which accounts for the "death"of the
"body"and its "members." Comparisonwith other passages (e.g., that cited
above from Heracleon) suggests an alternativethat proves more consistentwith
Valentinian exegetical theory and practice. These terms are to be interpreted
not literally (as of biological death) but symbolically,l9in reference to the
"deadmembers"of the "bodyof Christ"- i.e., the psychics (see below, p. 283).
To discover more fully the implications of their resurrection-theology,let us
turn to analyze extant passagesof Valentinian exegesis of 1 Corinthians15.
The Valentinians, like other Christians,recognize that Paul reveals in 1
Corinthians15 the climax of his teachingthroughoutthe epistle-the "mystery"
of "the resurrectionof the dead." Yet these exegetes claim that most Christians
make the mistake of reading this passage- and, in fact, all of "the scriptures"
- only literally. The Valentiniansemphaticallydeny what they call the "literal"
interpretationof this passage,above all the claim of ecclesiasticalChristianslike
Tertullian,Irenaeus,and Origen that accordingto 1 Corinthians15 we shall be
raised "in this flesh" (in hac carne).20 As Origen says, "the heretics deny the
resurrectionas the church believes it;" they consider belief in actual bodily
Stromata(GCS2; ed.O. Stahlin;Berlin:Akademie,1906
"Clementof Alexandria,
citedas Strom])4.89, 1-3.
[hereafter
"DR 49.15-16,22-23,25-26;see Introduction,
10-11;M. Peel,Epistle,139-43.
7Cf. DR 44.17-21;48.21-22;47.17-19;47.33-48.3;49.16-21,26-30.
"M. Peel, Epistle, 143; cf. 143-55.

19DR44.17-21describesthe topos wherethe "law of nature"prevailsas "death."

ex Theodoto(ed. R. P. Casey;London:Chriswithsuchpassages
as Excerpta
Comparison
citedas Exc]) 22.2; 58.1; Gos Phil 114.63,15;and CJ 13.60
tophers,1934 [hereafter
how the Valentinians
understand
this term. Exc 58.1 describesthe demidemonstrates
into it are led "intodeathand
thosegenerated
urge'sreignoverthe cosmosas "death";
in this
are those "deadened
into the cosmos"(Exc 80.1). "Thedead,"consequently,
the "medianplace"(the cosmic
existence"(Exc22.2). GosPhil 114.63,15-16describes
(as
topos) as "death."In suchpassagesthen the term"death"is usedmetaphorically
asPuechandQuispelnote,citingthe Paulineuse of the term;DR xiii-xiv). Heracleon
whenhe explainsthatthe psychicis "deadin
sumessucha metaphorical
interpretation
of sins"throughwhichhe canbe "raised
sins"untilhe obtainsthe "lifegivingforgiveness
fromthe dead"(CJ 13.60). Origencomplainsthat "the hereticswant to allegorize"
and"applyit to humanbeings."Bothhe andIrenaeus
Paul'steachingon the resurrection
of thesetermsin the contextof resurrection
interpretation
argueagainsta metaphorical
theology:see AH 5.13,3-5. For a fullerdiscussionof Valentinianexegesisof Pauline
see my forthcoming
book,The GnosticPaul (Philadelphia:
Fortress,1975).
literature,
citedas DRC])
De resurrectione
carnis(London:SPCK,1960 [hereafter
20Tertullian,
AH
cf.
5.2-11.
19.2-7;

PAGELS: "THE MYSTERYOF THE RESURRECTION"

279

resurrectionto be the "faith of fools."21 Instead they insist that this passage
- symbolically.
must be interpreted- as they interpretall "scripture"
in
to
Valentinian
the
first
of 1 Corinthians 15
section
According
exegesis,
intends
Paul
to
the
(vss. 1-11),
distinguish
psychic preachingwhich he shares
with the other apostlesfrom his own pneumaticteaching.22In the second section
(15:11-57) he disclosesthe pneumatic,i.e., "spiritual"or symbolic,interpretation
of the "mysteryof the resurrection."23Paul first reminds his audience in 15:1
of "thegospel which I preached,which you received,in which you stand,through
which you are saved." He tells them that "at first" he transmittedwhat he too
had "received"from the tradition of the apostles, i.e., the kerygma, viz., that
"Christdied for our sins according to the scriptures,that he was buried, and
that he was raisedon the third day,"and then appearedto Peter, to the twelve,
and to "manyothers,"includingJamesand "all the apostles"(15:5-7).
The Valentinianspoint out that throughouthis epistle Paul consistentlyhas
proclaimedthis kerygmathat he has preachedin common with the other apostles.
They go on to point out, however,that he describesthis message as part of the
traditionthat he has received "fromthe Lord" (11:23), i.e., they explain, from
the demiurge, as being essentially "foolishness"(1:21). He has shown in 1
Corinthians1 and 2 that this kerygmarepresentsan accommodationof the message of Christ to "the foolishnessof the cosmos"- i.e., in Valentinian terms, to
psychics.24 For Paul has explained in 1:18 that to the psychics,to "those who
are perishing,"the logos of the cross- the symbolic interpretationof the cross
as signifying stauros and horos in the pleroma26--"is foolishness." For these
psychicsremainunder the power of "the Lord,"the demiurge,who has sworn to
"destroythe wisdom of the wise, and set aside the understandingof those who
understand"(1:19).26 The psychics are those whom Paul calls in 1:22 "the
Jews" who "seek signs;" for, as the Valentinian theologian Heracleon explains,
psychics cannot comprehendthe message of Christ, on a rational or symbolic
level, as logos or wisdom. He explains from John 4:48 that unless they "see
signs and wonders, (they) do not believe."27 It is only the pneumatics,described
in 1:22 as "the Greeks,"who seek wisdom."28 ThereforePaul explains in 1:21
that "since the (psychic) cosmos . .. did not know God through the wisdom
(sophia) of God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the kerygma to
1JTS10 (1909) 46-47.
DRC19.2-7;cf. AH 5.9,1-5.13,5;CJ13.19.
Tertullian,
' Cf.Exc23.2-4.
24C.Jenkins,"TheOrigenCitations,"
JTS9 (1908) 236-37;Ref 6.35,1-2. Irenaeus

conteststhe Valentinianclaim that Paul taught an esoteric"gnosis";see AH 3.13-14.

26

Cf.AH 1.3,5.

28Origen objectsto the Valentinianpracticeof referringthis term (ho kyrios) to the

demiurge;see JTS9 (1908) 236-37.

CJ 13.60.
8Cf. Scherer,Le commentaired'Origenesur Rom. 3.5-5.7 (Cairo: Institut francais
J.
d'archeologieorientale, 1957), 168-69. For a discussion,see E. Pagels, The Johannine
Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis (SBLMS 17; Nashville: Abingdon, 1973) 68, 86-95.

280

JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

save those who believe." Yet Paul has acknowledgedin Rom 1:14 his responsibility to preachto both "Jews"and "Greeks,"to the "foolish,"as well as to "the
wise." Therefore Paul says in 1:23 that he has preached Christ in the form
accessible to the mass of psychics, through the kerygmaof "Christcrucified."
He adds that although the psychics ("the Jews") consider it "foolish,"those
psychics who believe experience through it the power (dynamis) of God, and
the pneumaticswho understandit symbolicallyperceivein it the wisdom (sophia)
of God (1:24).
For the sake of the psychics, then, who otherwise would remain incapable
of knowing God, Paul says in 2:1 that he preachedon the level of their understanding: "when I came to you, brothers,I did not come proclaimingto you in
a sublime logos or wisdom the mysteryof God." On the contrary,he says that
he deliberatelysuppressedwhat he knew of divine wisdom: "I decided not to
know anythingamong you but JesusChristcrucified"(2:2). Besidespreaching
this psychic kerygma,Paul expressedthe correspondinglypsychic emotional attitudes: "Icameto be with you in weakness,and in fearand trembling." Origen's
Valentinian opponents point out that although Paul discriminatesin 2:4 between his "logos"and his "kerygma,"he says that he has refrainedfrom speaking
"in persuasivewords (logois) of wisdom (sophias)," but confined his expression instead to "demonstrationsof the spirit and of power (dynameos),"so that
the psychics'faith might "not be in wisdom (en sophia) but in the power of
God" (2:5).29

It is this kerygma,then, that Paul describesin 1 Cor 15:1-6 as that which he

himself received from apostolictradition,and as that which he preachedto them
"firstof all:" it is this which he saysthey "received,"by which they "aresaved."
Yet Paul goes on to explain in 15:8-10 that besidesthis apostolictraditionof
the psychic kerygma,he also received a revelation: "Lastof all he was revealed
to me, as a kind of abortion" (hosperei to ektrbmati). The Valentinians interpretthis passageas a symbolicdescriptionof the pneumaticrevelation. They
say that in 15:8 Paul revealshow the savior appearedto Sophia, "whenshe was
outside the pleroma [i.e., to the pneumaticwho is still in an "unformed"state]
as 'a kind of abortion.'"30 Everyonewho is of the pneumatic elect undergoes
the same experience. Basilides says that the entire elect remainedfor a time in
"formlessness,like an abortion;"31Theodotus explains that "as long as we were
childrenonly of the female,as of a shamefulsyzygy,we were incomplete,infants,
mindless,weak, unformed,brought forth like abortions."32
From this situation the elect are redeemedthroughgrace (charis), that aion
of the pleromawho is acknowledgedin the Valentinianliturgy of "redemption"
29JTS9 (1908) 238-39. Irenaeusargues against the Valentinianview in AH 3.13,
1-3; 14.1.
8oAH 1.8,2.
3 Ref 7.4.
9Exc 68.1-3.

PAGELS: "THE MYSTERYOF THE RESURRECTION"

281

as one who is "before all things, and transcendsall gnosis and logos."33 Paul
himself acknowledgesthis when he calls himself "the least of the apostles,"even
"unworthyto be called an apostle,"yet adds in 15:10, "throughthe charis of
God I am what I am, and his charis in me was not empty" (since charis is an
aion of the pleroma,that is, the "fullness"34). The Valentinians consider that
as this formless "abortion"is spiritually "born"through grace, Paul continues
to use the metaphorof birth. He describesin 15:10 how he was "delivered,"
as one "born"through the "labor"of "the charisof God that was with me" (an
exegesis Origen rejects).35 The Valentiniansinfer from this passage that Paul
has received "the mysteryof God" by revelation from the divine pleroma,while
the other apostlesreceivedonly what was transmittedthrough the demiurge.36
The Valentinian theologian Theodotus explains, therefore,that Paul, having
received both the psychic kerygmaand the pneumatic revelation,now preaches
"in each of two ways:"first he preachesthe kerygmato those capable of receiving only the "foolishnessof the kerygma"(2:1-5); secondly,as he explains in
1 Cor 2:6, he speaksthe "wisdomof God in a mystery-the hidden wisdom of
God" among the "initiates,"the "perfect,"the teleioi.37
How does he discriminatebetween the "foolish,"to whom he preaches the
psychic kerygma,and those he calls "the wise?" Paul has explained in 1 Cor
2:14 that it is the psychic (psychikos) who "cannotreceive the things of the
spirit of God, for they are foolishnessto him; nor can he understandthem, for
they are pneumaticallydiscerned." On the other hand, the Valentiniansalso cite
that he says in 2:15, "the pneumatic (ho pneumatikos) discerns all things."38
The psychicsare those he calls "weak,powerless,ungenerated"by contrastwith
the pneumatic elect, who are "wise, powerful, well born" (1:26-28).39
In spite of this, Paul never dismissespsychic Christianswith contempt. On
the contrary,he expends all his energy for their salvation and urges other
pneumaticsto do the same. Throughoutthe whole epistle, in fact, while Paul,
himself pneumatic,40praises the pneumatics'authority in matters of judgment
(6:1-6), their freedomin ethicalmatters (6:12-8:3) and their gnosis in spiritual
matters (1 Cor 8:1-6), he simultaneouslyurges them to give up their rightful
claims to spiritual superiorityfor the sake of the whole community-of which
the majorityis psychic. He urges them in chs. 4-9 to follow his own example,
for althoughhe himself claims authority,freedom (9:1-2), and gnosis (8:1-6),
he has refrained from asserting any of these, in order to avoid offending the
3AH 1.13,2. Heracleonalso attributespneumaticelectionto charis;see CJ 10.33.
34AH 1.13,2-3.
35AH 1.8,2; 5.12,4-5; Exc 67-68; JTS 10 (1909) 44.
3AH 3.13,1.
37AH 3.2,1; Exc 23.2-4.

8AH 1.8,3.

89 Cf.

Exc 68.1-3; Ev Ver 27.34-35.

40On Paul as a
pneumatic,see CJ 2.20; AH 3.13.1-2.

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JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

psychics. He gives them up voluntarily,out of love, so that the psychics may

receive the gospel through his preaching (9:18). Although himself "free,"he
has "madehimself a slave" (9:19). He has become in effect a psychic to the
psychics;in the words of his metaphor,"a Jew to the Jews, in order to gain the
Jews; to those under law [the demiurge'slaw] I became as one under law, that
I might gain those under law (9:20)....
To the weak I became weak, that I
the
all
I
have
become things to all, that by all means I might
weak;
might gain
save some" (9:22). He even says in 4:9-13 that he has become "a spectacle
to the cosmos and to angels and to men"- i.e., to the whole psychic order.
While his fellow-pneumaticsare "wise,strong,and glorious"in Christ,Paul and
his companionshave even become "the refuse of the cosmos, the offscouringof
all things (i.e., of the pleroma) even until now."41
Do the Valentinians interpret the pneumatic's responsibility toward the
psychics,then, as the condescendingcharityof the "rich,strong, and wellborn"
toward the "poor and weak" (3:8; 1:26)? In that case, Irenaeus'charge of
arrogance42would be well founded. On the contrary,the Valentinians point
out Paul'sown reason for his self-sacrifice:"I do all things for the sake of the
gospel, that I may become a partakerof it" (9:23). What Paul teachesthe elect
throughout1 Corinthiansis that their relationto the psychicsis essentialfor their
own redemption:43it is the key to their understandingof what their election
means. As Paul has explained in 1:27, God has chosen "the foolish things of
the cosmos"to shame the wise: the "weakthings of the cosmos"44to shame the
powerful; and those that "arenot" to bring to nothing "those that are." Why
has God chosen in this way to humiliate the pneumatic elect? Paul explains
in 1:29: so that none of them may "boast"before God. The pneumaticsare
elected only "fromhim ... in Christ Jesus,who was generatedto us from God
as wisdom, righteousness,sanctification,and redemption." Paul adds with some
irony that "whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord" (1:31) -i.e., in the
demiurge: for only those who achieve salvation from works through the demiurge'slaw (and not from "grace")may "boast"of their own achievement. The
pneumaticredemptionthrough grace alone excludes any such boasting.
Thereforethe "calling"of "the many,"the psychics,revealsto "the few" who
are "chosen"the meaning of their election. As Valentiniantheologiansemphasize, the elect receive grace and gnosis not for their own sake, but for the sake
of reachingand restoringthe psychicsto salvation.45 The elect are sent into this
41

For ta panta as a designationof the pleroma,see F. Sagnard,La gnose valentinienne

(Paris:Vrin,1947) 297-98;index,651.

' AH 1.6,1-4.
'3Comparethe apolytrosis prayer of AH 1.13,3, where the celebrant addressedthe
to i OXw r7is e;7/s apXros
. . o6 8e Tr6OSrov
x
recipient with the words: pzeraao0val

IeLye'Oovs ev

lZVev eofl

5'

9f!Las eyKcLraoar^oaa

[&8el

I/aS

v Karaao-ro-at].

the "flesh"that is generatedin the cosmos.

characterizes
"Exc 67.1-68: "weakness"
4'CJ 10.33; 13.10. Kal rois /feraXaifpavoovras rov &vwoev Tr0xoprjyovzL.vovIrXovoaws
avrols. CJ 13.31:
ets r7Tv ETrpwvalwtvcov
Kal avrovs EKPXIouai
wOiv rA&IrIKeXoprtyq'7jLva
&'a yap roov rvevflaLos rpoo&,yera
cj

r
u
/vXf

orwTrpt...;

see also Exc 35.1-2.

283

PAGELS: "THE MYSTERYOF THE RESURRECTION"

world--together with the savior--to join themselves to the psychics, and

therebyto restore both the psychics and themselvesto union with the Father.46
This relationship,indeed, is as intimate and as essential for the elect as for the
called; apart from their union with the psychics,the elect cannot enter into the
presenceof God.47 Accordingto the Valentinians,this is what Paul means when
he says that he preaches the gospel to psychics so that he, a member of the
pneumaticelect, may becomea partakerin redemption (9:23).
But while the pneumaticswho recognizetheir election are spiritually"alive,"
the psychicswho remainin ignoranceof God are said to be spiritually"dead."48
Therefore, in 1 Cor 15:12-57 Paul initiates his hearers into the pneumatic
meaning of Christ's"death"and "resurrection."What does the apostle mean
when he speaks of Christ'sresurrection? At this point in his exegesis, Origen
insists that Paul refers to the "resurrectionof the one who became flesh," of
"Jesus." He complains that the Valentinians entirely disregardthe conception
of bodily resurrection:he says that "the heterodox want to allegorize this" and
apply it to "the resurrectionof human beings!"49 Yet who are "the dead"who
are to be "raised"? Valentiniantheologiansanswerthat since the elect are already
"living,"these can only be the psychics,who must be raised from "the deadness"
of this "presentexistence"50to share in the pneumatic "life" of the elect. In
these terms they read 1 Cor 15:12-14:
How can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not raised; if Christ is not raised, our kerygma is empty, and
your faith is empty.

According to Valentinianexegesis, those who deny the resurrectionof "the

dead"are denying that the psychics can be raised to pneumatic life. Thereby
they deny the whole meaning of the savior'sdescent into the somatic form of
Jesus, and into the psychic form of Christ,from which he was "raised"to prefigure the resurrectionof "the soul"- i.e., of the psychic- to pneumatic
"life."51 Paul argues that unless the "dead,"the psychics, can be "raised,"his
whole activity in preaching the kerygma to them is useless, and the faith his
' Cf. AH

76 8 r7rev,aLarKbv

1.6,1:

0opzowOi, avu7rat8eOeev

abrv

ev r'

K
&re7re,0Oal,

0Srws evOade rc

&vxtK'

avrvyevY

dvaarpoqp.

47Exc35.4; for a discussion,see E. Pagels, "ConflictingViews of ValentinianEschatology," HTR (forthcoming).

'* Exc 22.1-4: veipol 8& iAuegscKal veKpwo^TvresTJ
ol jLT fjerTa/jca6v'res

r'Ts ov Tcra'ews

ovaTa6eL'

ravrT,

P7vTres81 olt

ppeves

ra6Trfs.

,9JTS 10 (1909) 44-45; AH 2.31,2.

60Exc 22.1; cf. also Exc 58.1: the reign of the demiurge has become the reign of
"death"; Exc 80.1-2: those generated into the cosmos are "generated into death"; DR
44.17-21, the "place" where the savior manifests himself is dominated by the "law of
nature" and is called "death." Compare CJ 13.60, where Heracleon explains that the
"law of sin and death" (cf. Rom 8:2) prevails in the cosmos.
61Exc 61.1-6; CJ 13.60.
Heracleon, like Theodotus, introduces the doctrine of
resurrection into the account of the psychic's deliverance from "death."

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JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

preachinghas arousedin them is futile. In that case the psychicswho received

the message are still "dead"in their sins (15:17), as Heracleon explains that
sin is the sickness that kills "the soul."52 Then the psychics who are "asleep,"
held under the power of the "spirit of sleep" (the demiurge), virtually "have
perished"(15:18).
Paul goes on to say that "if we"- i.e., we pneumatics- alone have hope in
Christ, then "we are the most miserable of mankind" (15:19), for the elect
alone could recognize the hopelessnessof the psychics' condition, as those who
are "by nature"mortal both in body and in soul. Yet the apostle proclaims
in 15:20 that "now Christ is raised from the dead, the firstfruitsof those who
sleep." The Valentinians identify the elect together with the savior, as the
"firstfruits"throughwhom later the psychicsare to be "raisedand saved."53 As
the savior himself has descended into the hylic and the psychic topos (these
representedrespectivelyas the "first"and the "second"days of the soteriological
process), he, as the psychic Christ,was "raisedon the third day" (15:4), which
is the pneumaticday, by the Fatherof truth. His resurrectionprefiguresthat of
the psychics. They have alreadybeen "raised"from the hylic to the psychiclevel,
through the preaching of the kerygma. Now they anticipate that at the end
of the present age (the end of the cosmos) they too are to be "raised"on the
"thirdday,"which for them is the eschatologicalday of "the resurrectionof the
ecclesia."54 For accordingto 15:22, those generatedin "Adam"-into psychic
creation through the demiurge-"all die," being generated "into the cosmos
and to death,"as Theodotussays;but "thosewhom Christ regenerates"are made
"alive to God."55 The pneumaticlife is given "to each one in his own order"
(taxis), first to "Christ,the firstfruits,"i.e., to the savior, and the elect; and
secondly "to those who are of Christ in his presence" (15:23), i.e., to the
psychicswho receive his presencein the cosmos. For as Paul says, "then comes
the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God and have put down every
rule and authorityand power; for he must reign until he has put all his enemies
under his feet; and the last enemy that shall be destroyedis death" (15:24-26).
Theodotus explains from this passage that for the duration of the cosmos, the
psychic Christ rules at the right hand of the demiurge.56 But when "the end
comes,"Christ shall be raised beyond the cosmos and shall destroy the entire
cosmic system, the "rule and authorityand power" previously entrustedto the
demiurge, and deliver the whole "kingdom"to "the Father." For, Theodotus
continues,the rule of the demiurgehas become a "kingdomof death."57 When
the demiurge'sreign is destroyed and ended, then the psychic Christ will be
2 CJ 13.60.
"3Exc 58.1-4; AH 1.8,3.
"4CJ 10.37.
Exc 80.1-2.
6M
Exc 62.1.
67Exc 58.1.

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raised, will raise with him all the psychics who are saved, and will lead them
into reunionwith the pneumaticelect and with the Father.58
Paul next argues his case for the resurrectionfrom the practice of baptism
for the dead: "if the dead are not raised,why are some baptizedfor their sake?"
(15:29). The meaning of this passage-which has puzzled so many exegetes
- would seem obvious to the Valentinians. Accordingto their own sacramental
practice,the pneumaticelect receive baptismfor "the dead,"i.e., for the psychics.
The purposeof this proxy baptismis to ensure that the psychicswill receive the
power to transcendthe region of the demiurge and to enter into the pleroma.59
Since psychics cannot receive this sacramentthemselves (as long as they remain "dead"in ignoranceof the Father), the elect take on the responsibilityof
performingthis baptism for them. The passage cited above says that the elect
receive the "layingon of hands"for the "angelicredemption"in the name of the
psychics so that the psychics may receive the redemption effected through the
divine name. Paul is asking what purpose there could be in performing such
baptism for "the dead," unless the psychics can indeed be "raised from the
dead."
He continues in 15:30: if the psychics cannot be raised to pneumatic life,
why is he taking risks on himself to evangelize them? Why should he be continually "dying,"i.e., participatingin psychic existence, for their sake (15:31)?
Why should he enter into their conflicts and fight the "wild beasts"of the passions (15:32)?60 Paul warns the psychics to "become sober"and not to sin;
he saysthat those who deny the resurrectiononly show their "ignoranceof God"
(15:34). Those who ask how the dead are raised, and "with what body they
come" (15:35), show themselves to be "fools" (psychics)61 for asking such
literal-mindedquestions.
The apostle goes on to offer a pneumatic,i.e., symbolic, explanationof the
resurrection. "What is sown is not made alive until it dies,"since "whatis sown
differs from what is raised,"and "God gives to each of the seeds its own body
as he willed" (15:38). What is "sown,"and what are the "seeds"? The Valentinians explain that these are the two different types of seed produced by
Sophia: the pneumatic seed of the elect, and the psychic seed of the called.62
Paul discloses that the psychic seed, sown into the "corruption,dishonor, and
8Exc61-64.
59Cf.Exc 22.1-6; AH 1.21,4. This may account for Irenaeus'puzzling referenceto
the practiceof anointing those "at the point of death" with oil and water so that the
"inner man" (interior ipsorum homo) may pass beyond the principalitiesand powers,
leaving the body behind and the soul with the demiurge and being acknowledgedas a
son of the Fatherand of Sophia,and being releasedfrom "the bond, i.e., the soul." See
Epiphanius,Panarion, 34.2, 1-20; 34.12 (ed. K. Holl; Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1922); note
that the prayeralso is cited in I Apoc Jas 32.
6?The consistent Valentinianinterpretationof to thOrion;see Strom 2.114, 3-6; CJ
13.16; Exc85.1.
61Cf.Ref 6.34.1; JTS 10 (1909) 44-45.
6aExc 39-40; AH 1.4,5.

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weakness"of cosmic creation63is to be raisedin "incorruption,glory, and power"

(15:42-43).64 As he says (15:44), "sown a psychic body, it will be raised a
pneumatic body; if it is a psychic body, it is also a pneumatic body."65 The
Valentinianexplains from 15:45 that the "firstAdam,"the demiurge'screation,
was made a "living soul;" yet this may become, eschatologically,a "lifegiving
spirit."66 The "firstman" is "choic" (choikos) as "thosewho are choic"-i.e.,
a mortal creature,subject to destruction.67 Generated"fromdust,"they bear an
"earthlyimage;" but the "second man" is the "Lord from heaven," i.e., the
savior,who bearsthe "heavenlyimage." Theodotusoffers the following exegesis
of this passage:
Whomeverthe Mothergeneratesis led into deathand into the cosmos;but whomever
Christ regeneratesis transferredto life in the ogdoad ... ; they die to the cosmos,
but live to God. Death has been released by death, and corruptionby resurrection .. .; having borne the "choicimage,"then they bearthe "heavenlyimage."6

But this meansthat those "regeneratedinto life" have "putoff" their material
bodies, which bear the "choic image." The Valentiniansclaim that Paul states
this clearlyin 15:50, when he declaresthat "flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption." The Valentinians
considerthis decisive evidence against the church'sclaim of bodily resurrection
-resurrection "in this flesh,"as Tertullianclaims. Irenaeussays that "all the
heretics"always introducethis passageinto debates on the issue.69 They insist
that the proclamationof Christ'sbodily resurrectionwas preachedby the apostles
whose understandingwas-and remained- merely psychic, i.e., literalistic.70
Accordingto their exegesis, Paul offers the pneumaticdoctrine of the resurrection: he realizes that "what is corruptiblemust put on incorruption"and
"whatis mortal must put on immortality"when "deathis swallowed up in victory" (15:52-55). Heracleoncites this verse to prove that the psychic,although
in both body and soul (accordingto Matt 10:28) has
"mortal"and "corruptible"
the capacityfor receiving salvation,and thus for being transformedinto pneumatic life.71 The author of Gos Phil cites the same verse to refute the errorof
"thosewho wish to rise in the flesh."72
3 Exc 67.1; cf. note 44.
6CJ 13.60.
65Exc51.3-4. Theodotusagrees with Heracleon (CJ 13.60) that Matt 10:28 refers
to the soul (tauten ten psychen) and this psychicbody (kai touto to soma to psychikon)
which are liable to destruction. The psychic body must be "put to death" before the
pneumaticcan be manifested.
I Exc 50.3; AH 1.5,5.
67AH
1.8,3.
68Exc80.1-3.
69AH 5.9,1.
70AH 3.3,1; 5.3,1-5.13,5.

n CJ 13.60.
Gos Phil 104.26-105.3.

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Finally,in 15:57 Paul praises"God,"the Father,who gives the victory over

death- the reign of the demiurgeand his law- to those who, although"dead"
in this age, are to be delivered at its end into "eternallife." By revealing the
mysteryof the "resurrectionof the dead,"Paul intends to show the psychics that
their "laboris not in vain in the Lord,"since they can anticipatethe future "resurrection." He also intends to assurethe elect that their task of evangelizing the
psychics is not "in vain:" the "dead"for whose redemption they now labor are
to be resurrected.
This sketch of the Valentinianmethod of interpreting1 Corinthians15 may
demonstratehow these gnostic Christianscan read Paul as a gnostic and his
lettersas primarysourcesof gnostic theology. Valentinianexegetes resolve what
we have come to call the "Paulinesense of paradox"rather simply: they insist
that Paul's contradictorystatementsapply to different persons, to psychics and
pneumatics respectively. For example, when Paul speaks of the Christian as
one already"raisedwith Christ"in baptism,already"alivein Christ,"he is speaklike Christ's,has alreadyoccurred;
ing of the pneumatic,whose "resurrection,"
pneumaticslive the "new life" now. On the other hand, when Paul describes
the resurrectionas a future event, which is to occur at the end of the age, he is
speakingof the raising of psychicswho await the eschatologicaltransformation
as their futurehope.
In their view, the apparentcontradictionsin Paul's writings arise from his
awarenessof the differencesof spiritualinsight (gn6sis) among different members of the Christiancommunity. To the psychics who "cannotunderstandthe
things of the spirit,"73Paul preaches the kerygma of Christ crucified, of repentance and forgiveness of sins, urging them to persevere in faith and good
works. Recognizing that psychicscan read his letters only "literally,"he offers
on the literallevel moralcounselthat is valid and beneficialfor their needs. Yet
to the pneumatics,the "wise,"he addresseshis deepermeaning,a meaninghidden
in his writings in allegory,to be discernedonly by "the initiated."74 Paul reveals
to them in veiled language the "hiddenmystery of wisdom,"of Sophia, which
signifies their own election through grace.75 Yet even while he praises their
authority,freedom, and gnosis, Paul simultaneouslyurges them to forego all of
these, as he has, for the sake of bringing salvation to the psychics. The elect
and the calledare boundtogetherin this age so that the latter too may participate
in the resurrectionthat will restore"all"to the Father.
The Valentiniansfind in Paul's writings, then, a theological explanation of
their own situation in relationto the majorityof their Christiancontemporaries.
They also find spiritual counsel concerning their response to that situation, a
counsel which the sources indicate they conscientiouslytried to follow. They
confess the creed with the psychics,attempting,apparently,to follow Paul's advice to "allsay the same thing" (1 Cor 1:10). Again, claiming to emulate Paul,
73AH 3.3,1.
74AH 3.2,1.
76AH 3.4,3;3.16,6;3.16,8.

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they offer to teach "secret wisdom" among the "initiates" (teleioi).76 They
certainlyconsiderthe majorityto be psychics,77if we may judge from their concern with the kerygma,which comes to be adopted into the church'screed and
from their literalmindedreading of "scripture,"and especially from their insistence on the literal interpretationof Paul'sresurrection-theology.
Among these psychic Christians,I believe, the Valentinians would include
their opponents,Tertullian,Irenaeus,and Origen. I suggest that the traditional
view of Paul as the great anti-gnostic polemicist, and perhaps much Pauline
exegesis, both traditionaland contemporary,emerges from the efforts of these
eccesiasticalwriters to repudiate gnostic interpretationof Paul, with its long
tradition from Marcion through the Valentinians. In their answering exegesis
of Paul,these writershave attemptedto restorehim to what they consideredto be
his rightful place in that tradition which came to be called- from the second
centuryon-the "orthodox,catholic, and apostolic"faith.

76AH 3.3,1; 3.15,2.

77Cf. AH 1.8,3.