DeConick A.D

267
THE PI OF POLITICS
This spiritual aspect is the true man, the intellectual organ of perception,
the only aspect of the human that will ascend to the perfect Father
(5.19.2). It is the distinct intellectual organ capable of discerning the truth
through insight, intuition, and imagination, the aspect of the human being
that can perceive what is bigger than us. It makes it possible for us to
become aware of what is beyond our day-to-day, mundane identities, to
perceive what is universal about our existence, what is God. Because of its
transcendent nature, it links humans to the supreme God. According to
the Apostolic Catholics, in the Gnostic scheme of things, the spirit is the
only innate aspect of the human that tunes us into revelation and religious
experience (Tertullian, Against the Valentinians 4.4).
This innate spiritual link with the transcendent God is what the Gnostic
Christians thought made them superior to YHWH. After they were initiated
into the mysteries, they believed they had supremacy over the biblical
God (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 2.26.3; Hippolytus, Refutation
1.pref.2–3). In fact, Irenaeus notes that they take Jesus’ aphorism “Seek
and you shall find” as an invitation to discover that they themselves are
superior to the biblical Creator God. They think that they are greater and
better than YHWH, calling themselves “spiritual” and the Creator “soulish.”
Because they are spiritual, they think that they fly above the soulish
YHWH to the divine world (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 2.30.2). They
think that they have surpassed YHWH and that they are exalted above
him (4.19.1). Their spiritual connection with the supreme God, they say,
provides them with an immensity of knowledge, exceeding that of others,
particularly of those Christians who continue to serve YHWH (1.13.6).
The fallout from this radical perspective of the human being is immense.
Gnostics perceive themselves to have an exclusive on knowledge.
They alone possess the greatness of the knowledge of the ineffable power,
which they attain through an initiation that includes ascension to the
height of existence. Because of their substantive superiority over YHWH,
Gnostics have nothing to fear from YHWH. His slavish laws are rubbish,
and his imperial powers are useless when pitted against the strength and
natural supremacy of the human spirit. This leads them to conclude that
humans are not bound by the laws of YHWH. Humans are not his servants
but are free to act without fear of YHWH’s retribution (1.6.3, 1.13.6,
1.25.4–5).