Valentinianism was one of the major Gnostic Christian movements. Founded by Valentinus in the 2nd century AD, its influence spread widely, not just within Rome but also from Northwest Africa to Egypt through to Asia Minor and Syria in the East. [1] . Later in the movement's history it broke into an Eastern and a Western school.

Valentinians believed that God is incomprehensible and cannot be known directly. Therefore he defies accurate description. He is infinite, without beginning or end and is the ultimate origin of all things. He encompasses all things without being encompassed. Everything including the world lies within the deity and continues to be part of it.

Valentinianism is the name for the school of gnostic philosophy tracing back to Valentinus. It was one of the major gnostic movements, having widespread following throughout the Roman Empire and provoking voluminous writings by Christian heresiologists. Notable Valentinians included Heracleon, Ptolemy, Florinus, Marcus and Axionicus of Antioch.

Valentinus (flourished 2nd century ce) was an Egyptian religious philosopher and the founder of Roman and Alexandrian schools of gnosticism, a system of religious dualism (belief in rival deities of good and evil) with a doctrine of salvation by gnōsis, or esoteric knowledge.

Valentinus seems to have largely accepted the mythological framework of classic Gnosticism. A spiritual figure descended from God had been cast out of the divine realm, created the material world out of arrogance and ignorance, and trapped divine sparks within the world.

Like several Gnostic sects that started in the early or mid-2 nd century, its founder, Valentinus, was a native of Alexandria. But also like the founders of a number of Christian movements, he didn’t make his mark until he’d relocated to Rome.

Valentinus and his followers believed that God, the supreme Father is "uncontained, incomprehensible and cannot be seen or heard" (Against Heresies 1:2:5). Therefore he defies accurate description. He is infinite, without beginning or end and is the ultimate origin of all things.

In the Valentinian system there are three classes: the pneumatikoi (that is, the Valentinians themselves) represent the spiritual, or highest, class, to whom full gnôsis has been given; the lowest class, the hulikoi, are those whose material aspect dominates and who are thus doomed never to escape from the kenoma and who will be destroyed along ...

Valentinianism is ussually classified as a form of Gnosticism. The term 'Gnosticism' was coined in the nineteenth century to describe a variety of religious movements in the ancient world which have some common features. Some consider "radical dualism" to be a characteristic feature of all forms of Gnosticism (Jonas 1963).

By 140 CE Valentinus was a well-known Christian leader in Rome, and when he was not elected as the Bishop of Rome (a.k.a. Pope), he broke away from catholicism and formed his own Christian Gnostic movement. After his death, several of his most successful disciples established Valentinian churches around the Mediterranean.