Although connected through common themes and ideas, thinkers collectively identified by scholars as “Gnostics” were an incredibly diverse group with very different understanding of the ultimate knowledge or “gnosis.” The most influential Christian Gnostic in the 2nd century was a theologian named Valentinus, who founded a school in the city of Rome itself. Active in a time when the Christian canon of scripture was emerging, Valentinus reworked earlier Gnostic myths to better align his formulation of the gnosis with scripture. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will situate Valentinus within the broader context of Gnosticism and proto-Orthodox Christianity and will examine his teachings to account for their appeal.