Valentinus

(Valentin, ? U160) Gnostic philosopher of Egyptian origin. He attempted to synthesize the various Gnostic systems into a religious complex incorporating Platonic, Pythagorean and Stoic elements. He founded the sect of the Valentinians and is the most relevant personality of the Gnosis. The Valentin Heresy consisted of having a deeper and more transcendent knowledge than the sectarians of the Catholic Church, says Krum Heller. Like Hippolytus and others, he claimed that Jesus was a Gnostic and that therefore Catholics could not interpret the scriptures. He spoke at length about transmutation and it seems that Kabbalah derived the concept of the Ten Sephirots from him. He was the first to use the decimal system.