Saturninus or Satornilus (Greek: Σατόρνινος active 100–120 AD) was an early Syrian Gnostic Christian from the 1st century Simonian school.
[8] Saturninus endorsed harsh asceticism, committing to vegetarianism and celibacy, and was accused of introducing the idea of encratism.
Unlike Simon and Menander, Saturninus was a dualist,[10] believing that God was opposed by an equal principle that would be Satan,[2] distinct from the demiurgic archons.
[2][6] Man would have been created by the angels after a shining vision that appeared before them from above, but as they were unable to make him capable of standing erect, God took pity on them and helped their creation, inspiring a spark on life on some men.
[5] His demonization of the God of Jews, also done by his gnostic partners, might have been a consequence of the anti-Jewish sentiment caused among Christians and Romans by the Bar Kokhba revolt.