DeConick A.D

275
THE PI OF POLITICS
rience. Its accomplishment is perceived by Gnostics to be the achievement
of perfection, literally raising them above everyone else (Irenaeus,
Against the Heresies 1.8.1; Tertullian, Against the Valentinians 2.1). They
are convinced that their discovery of knowledge is the discovery of unadulterated
truth that leaves them wiser than the elders of the Apostolic
Catholic church and even the apostles themselves (Irenaeus, Against the
Heresies 3.1.1, 3.2.2, 3.12.7).
This stratification structured their world into two levels. They were
the knowledge holders, the spiritual people, whereas everybody else was
ignorant and soulish. The Apostolic Catholics were tagged as people of
faith and works rather than people of knowledge (2.26.3).
Irenaeus, on the other hand, discounts revelatory knowledge in favor
of publicly shared knowledge learned from old, reliable sources, such as
scriptures, officially sanctioned teachers, and long-standing religious tradition.
He considers the mystical quest for God to be the greatest of impieties
(2.28.2). He considers people who highly value revelatory knowledge
to be insane, foolish, and thunderstruck for their arrogance (2.26.3).
Mystical knowledge is a pretense—and it is dangerous. Because it has
no external controls, no prescribed restraints, the devil is free to inspire,
which he does. In the judgment of Irenaeus, mystical knowledge such
as Gnostics prescribe is evil knowledge from the devil, making Gnostics
apostates and blasphemers against YHWH (4.pref.4).
The Apostolic Catholic leaders value knowledge that they consider old
or traditional, including scriptures such as the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels,
and Paul’s letters and the doctrine that the bishops in their churches
have been teaching for decades. They consider the inspired writings of
Gnostics to be forged documents that contain a hodgepodge of sullied
information (2.14.2). These newfangled Gnostic writings are not real
scriptures and they do not contain real knowledge. True knowledge, in
their minds, is the long-standing doctrine of the apostles and the universal
church, known to its bishops, who represent the body of Christ (4.33.8).
Private or Public?
The second judgment that is being made has to do with the appearance
of religion, whether public (exoteric) or private (esoteric) religion is better
or worse. The Gnostic Christians place high value on private, esoteric