Gnostic and Catholic Appropriations of Platonism

Abstract The ancient Gnostic synthesis of Platonism with the Jewish scriptures is evaluated in contrast to that of emerging Catholic orthodoxy. Plotinus’ critique of Sethian Gnosticism provides the philosophical context for this analysis. A hurdle for both syntheses was the dissimilitude between the Biblical Yahweh and the Platonic first principle. Catholicism eventually resolved this tension by “telescoping” the Plotinian hypostases together into the Trinity, whereas Gnosticism solved it by denying that Yahweh was the true first principle. The Gnostic synthesis represents a more coherent adaptation of Platonism that leaves open the possibility of Plotinus’ vision of union with the One.