Gnostic Church: Equality of Members

**Gnostic Church: Equality of Members**

In early Christian Gnostic communities, particularly within Valentinian circles, the concept of equality among members was a central principle, both in practice and theology. This equality was not only spiritual but was also reflected in the communal roles, social customs, and teachings on justice, as preserved in several early sources.

Tertullian, a church writer hostile to Gnosticism, provides indirect testimony of this egalitarian practice in his *Against the Valentinians* (chapter 1). Though writing critically, Tertullian reveals the inclusive and participatory nature of the Valentinian gatherings:

> “Today one man is bishop, and tomorrow another; the person who is a deacon today, tomorrow is a reader; the one who is a priest is a layman tomorrow. For even on the laity they impose the functions of priesthood.”

This rotation of responsibilities ensured that no rigid, hierarchical structure emerged among Valentinians. The leadership roles and duties circulated, emphasizing that spiritual authority came from knowledge, character, and participation, not fixed offices or titles. Tertullian’s complaint further notes the participation of women:

> “Even women could take the role of bishop, much to his horror.”

This affirmation of gender equality in spiritual practice was radical in its time, standing in sharp contrast to the developing Catholic model, where leadership was restricted to male clergy.

The philosophical basis for this equality was also articulated in the teachings of Epiphanes, son of the Gnostic teacher Carpocrates. His work *On Righteousness*, preserved by Clement of Alexandria in *Stromateis* III 6.1–9.3, offers a cosmological and moral argument for equality as the foundation of divine justice. Epiphanes writes:

> “The righteousness of God is a kind of sharing along with equality. There is equality in the heaven which is stretched out in all directions and contains the entire earth in its circle. The night reveals all the stars equally. The light of the sun, which is the cause of the daytime and the father of light, God pours out from above upon the earth in equal measure to all who have power to see.”

Here, equality is presented as a fundamental, observable aspect of creation itself — from the distribution of light and night to the equal exposure of all to the sun’s rays. It is a vision of divine justice rooted in natural order, which stands opposed to human social structures that create inequality.

Epiphanes continues:

> “For all see alike, since there is no distinction between rich and poor, people and governor, stupid and clever, female and male, free men and slaves. Even the irrational animals are not accorded any different treatment; but in just the same way God pours out from above sunlight equally upon all the animals.”

This radical egalitarianism rejects divisions of class, status, gender, or even species. For Epiphanes, God’s justice is manifest in its universal impartiality. Nature itself embodies this equality — from the growing of plants to the nourishment of animals.

Further, he emphasizes:

> “The Sun causes food to grow for all living beings alike; the universal justice is given to all equally. In this respect there is no difference between the species of oxen and particular oxen, between the species of pigs and particular pigs, between the species of sheep and particular sheep, and so with all the rest. In them universality is manifest in justice.”

This equality extends to birth and to the senses:

> “And for birth there is no written law; otherwise it would have been transcribed. All beings beget and give birth alike, having received by justice an innate equality. The Creator and father of all with his own justice appointed this, just as he gave equally the eye to all to enable them to see.”

The critique sharpens as Epiphanes contrasts this divine justice with human laws and customs that create inequality:

> “The ideas of Mine and Thine crept in through the laws which cause the earth, money, and even marriage no longer to bring forth fruit of common use. For God made vines for all to use in common, since they do not refuse the sparrow or the thief; and similarly wheat and other fruits.”

The possession of property, including marriage, is treated as a corruption of the original divine order:

> “But outlawed sharing and the vestiges of equality generated the thief of domestic animals and fruits. For man God made all things to be common property.”

Thus, human law is seen not as a means to justice but as a violator of it:

> “The laws could not punish men who were ignorant of them; they taught man to transgress. For particularity of the laws cut up and destroyed the universal equality of the divine law.”

In sexual ethics too, Epiphanes argued against exclusivity:

> “He brought the female to be with the male in common and in the same way united all the animals. He thus showed righteousness to be a universal sharing along with equality.”

The desire to possess, to privatize, is a symptom of fallen social customs:

> “And by the words Your neighbor's wife he says something even more ludicrous, since he forces what should be common property to be treated as private possession.”

In conclusion, both Tertullian’s testimony and Epiphanes’ philosophy illustrate how early Gnostic Christians rejected rigid, hierarchical social and religious structures in favor of radical equality, grounded in the natural order and divine justice. The Valentinian communities exemplified this in their shared leadership and inclusivity, while thinkers like Epiphanes provided the theological and cosmological justification for such practices.

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Also known by the title "Concerning Justice", this text by Epiphanes, the son of the Gnostic teacher Carpocrates, is found in Clement of Alexandria, Stromaties, III 6,1-9,3.

On Righteousness

The rightousness of God is a kind of sharing along with equality. There is equality in the heaven which is stretched out in all directions and contains the entire earth in its circle. The night reveals all the stars equally. The light of the sun, which is the cause of the daytime and the father of light, God pours out from above upon the earth in equal measure to all who have power to see. For all see alike, since here is no distinction between rich and poor, people and governor, stupid and clever, female and male, free men and slaves. Even the irrational animals are not accorded any different treatment; but in just the same way God pours out from above sunlight equally upon all the animals. He establishes his justice to both good and bad by seeing that none is able to get more than his share and to deprive his neighbor, so that he has twice the light his neighbor has.

The Sun causes food to grow for all living beings alike; the universal justice is given to all equally. In this respect there is no difference between the species of oxen and particular oxen, between the species of pigs and particular pigs, between the species of sheep and particular sheep, and so with all the rest. In them universiality is manifest in justice. Furthermore all plants after their kind are sown equally in the earth. Common nourishment grows for all beasts which feed on the earth´s produce; to all it is alike. It is regulated by no law, but rather is harmoniously available to all through the gift of him who gave it and commanded it to grow.

And for birth there is no written law; otherwise it would have been transcribed. All beings beget and give birth alike, having received by justice an inate equality.The Creator and father of all with his own justice appointed this, just as he gave equally the eye to all to enable them to see. He did not make a distinction between female and male, rational and irrational, nor between anything else at all; rather he shared out sight equally and universially. It was given to all alike by a single command. As the laws could not punish men who were ignorant of them, they thaught man to transgress. For particularity of the laws cut up and destroyed the universal equality of the divine law...

The ideas of Mine and Thine crept in through the laws which cause the earth, money, and even marriage no longer to bring forth fruit of common use. For God made vines for all to use in common, since they do not refuse the sparrow or the thief; and similarly wheat and other fruits. But outlawed sharing and the vestiges of equality generated the thief of domestic animals and fruits. For man God made all things to be common property. He brought the female to be with the male in common and in the same way united all the animals. He thus showed rightousness to be a universal sharing along with equality. But those who have been born in this way have denied the sharing which is the corollary of their origin and say Let him who has taken one woman keep her, whereas all can share her, just as the other animals show us. With view to the permanence of the race, he has implanted in males a strong and ardent desire which neither law nor custom nor any other restraint is able to destroy. For it is God´s decree......

Consequently one must understand the saying You shall not desire as if the lawgiver was making a jest, to which he added the even more comic words Your neighbors goods. For he himself gave the desire to sustain the race orders that it is to be supposed, though he removes it from no other animals. And by the words Your neighbors wife he says something even more ludicrous, since he forces what should be common property to be treated as private posession.