Wątek gnostycki w “Słowie i ciele” w świetle źródeł i współczesnych badań nad gnostycyzmem II wieku n.e.

Teodor Parnicki was aware of the complicated situation of the early Christianity. From the pages of his novel The Word and the Flesh we can recognize that the problem of theological differences and discrepancies inside the Christian community was not unfamiliar to him. Moreover, we can also state, that he possessed in-depth knowledge of both ancient sources and scholarly discussions of his time. The bulk of available sources and dominant trends in scholarship drew the main outlines of view in which Gnosticism is presented in his book. This view differs a lot, because of new sources and findings, from ideas which we are familiar with. However, there is one more thing that has to be stressed. Parnicki did not simply copy the passages he had found in sources or secondary literature. He chose elements he wanted and added his own ideas to create an entirely new picture. It did not happen without intentional omissions and misrepresentations of the ancient material. Regarding ancient writers Parnicki was dependent on, we should first mention Eusebius and his Church History. Parnicki also used Contra Celsus by Origen, Tertulian and some others. To sum it up, his knowledge of Gnostics came mostly from Christian authors. Having built his view of Gnosticism he was strongly influenced by theories by Adolph von Harnack, although he was deriving also from Richard August Reitzenstein. Among the main points which characterize a picture of Gnosticism in Parnicki’s The Word and the Flesh it is important to underline: 1. It is not Gnosticism of its founders but of their minor successors. Valentinus and Marcion are only mentioned as heroes of the past. 2. The whole attention is focused on particular persons (usually on leaders) and not on religious or philosophical movements those persons were participating in. 3. Gnosticism in considered as a phenomenon within Christianity. 4. Some oriental elements are present. 5. Gnosticism is almost completely tantamount to the system of Marcion. 6. Gnostic mythology, so important in most of the systems, also in Valentinianism, is absent in Parnicki’s book.