Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in Gaul, only in few places of his Adversus haereses gives us a glimpse at social activity of the Valentinians. In Adversus haereses III 15, 2 he portrays them, speaking to „communes et ecclesiasticos”. Using such a form, the Valentinians do not tend to distinguish non-gnostic members of the Church from their inner circle, as Irenaeus tries to present it, shifting very smooth­ly from communes to simpliciores. They underline rather the common share of all Christians in the Church, even if some of them still need some deeper exposition of the truth to fully participate in it.