Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 The Structure of the Present Study 2 Who Were the Valentinians? 3 The Myth in TriTrac and the Ethics in Storytelling 4 Previous Research on TriTrac and the Historical Setting of the Text 5 Early Christian Ethics and the Bad Reputation of Determinism 6 Notes on Translation and Transcription Part 1: Theoretical Framework for Ethics 1 The Ontological and Epistemological Foundations for Ethics 1 Knowledge in TriTrac and Ancient Epistemology 2 Phantasms, Likenesses, and Images: the Ontology of TriTrac and the Question of Logos 3 Remembering (and) the Nature of Virtue 4 The Individual and the Collective 5 Mixing and Blending, Truth and Falsehood 6 Conclusion: Ontology, Epistemology and Ethics2 Emotions, Demons, and Moral Ability 1 Emotions and Cognitive Theory in Ancient Thought 2 Emotions and the Creation Narrative 3 The Logos' First Movement and Ancient Cognitive Theory 4 Good Emotions 5 Negative Passions as "Mixed" Heavenly Powers and their Influence on Humans 6 Apatheia, Therapeia, and Eleutheria 7 Femaleness and the Sickness of Emotions 8 Conclusion3 Free Will and the Configuration of the Human Mind 1 Will and Ethics in Ancient Thought 2 Christian Free Will, the Configuration of God, and the Creation of the Cosmos 3 Free Will and Moral Accountability in TriTrac 4 TriTrac's Anthropology in Context: Origen's Christian Opponents Part 2: Ethics in Practice 4 Natural Human Categories and Moral Progress 1 The Three Classes of Humans in TriTrac 2 The Pedagogical Purpose of the Logos' Organization and the Composition of Humans 3 Three Categories of Humans According to TriTrac's Epistemology and Theory of Passions 4 Restricted Choice in Practice 5 Fixed, Fluid, or in Flux? The Advantages of a Fixed Anthropology 6 Conclusions5 School or Church? Teaching, Learning, and the Community Structure 1 On the Community Structure Behind TriTrac in Light of the Term "Church" 2 The Cosmos as a "School" in TriTrac and its Early Christian Context 3 The "School of Conduct" in the Pleroma and the Gaining of Form 4 The Cosmic School: an Imperfect Reflection of the Heavens 5 Silent and Oral Instruction: Formation, Baptism and Education 6 The Duty of the Pneumatic Moral Expert and the Formation of Psychic Christians 7 The Category of the 'School of Valentinus' in Early Christian Scholarship 8 Conclusions: the Dual Structure of the Community Behind TriTrac6 Honor and Attitudes Toward Social and Political Involvement 1 TriTrac and Early Christian Attitudes Toward Involvement in Society 2 Cosmogony as Political Commentary 3 The Pursuit of Honor 4 Psychic Humans and their Political Involvement 5 Conclusion: the Character of Psychic Christians and Attitudes Toward Social and Ecclesiastical Involvement Part 3: Conclusions and Implications 7 Summary: the Nature of Early Christian Determinism 1 TriTrac's Alexandrian Context Appendix: Implications and Suggestions for Further Studies Bibliography Ancient Authors and Texts Secondary Literature Index.