ABSTRACT
Sethian Gnosticism is the earliest form of Gnosticism for which we possess a great deal of textual evidence, and appears to antedate and form a partial source for certain doctrines of the equally well-documented but better-known Christian Gnostic school of Valentinus and his followers. Sethian Gnostic thought had its roots in a form of Jewish speculation on the figure and function of Sophia, the divine Wisdom that the Jewish Scriptures sometimes personified as the instrument through whom God creates, nourishes, and enlightens the world. A principal feature of certain Sethian protological texts is an interpretation of Jewish scripture that appears to challenge a "standard" reading of Genesis. While all the Sethian treatises owe something of their content to Jewish tradition, the question of Christian influence is more complex, but probably stems from a perceived equivalence between both Seth and Christ as the authentic image of God.
