DeConick A.D

277
THE PI OF POLITICS
and this reflects a literal reading of the words. This is the reading that the
Apostolic Catholics understand to be the natural reading, to reflect the
author’s original intent, and this is worth more than the interpretations
of subsequent readers, which are secondary and concocted to reflect later
interests.
The right reading is also the harmonious reading, the one that perceives
the scripture as a whole. At the heart of this hermeneutic is the
assumption that the Prophets and the Gospels are congruent and have
a unified message that everyone can see. They proclaim one God who
created, through the Word, one being who made and governs the world.
So in the end, according to Irenaeus, the right interpretation agrees with
the Apostolic Catholic doctrines and the creedal rule of faith (Irenaeus,
Against the Heresies 2.27.1–2, 5.18.2).
Jew or Christian?
The relationship between Gnosticism and Judaism is highly contested.
Most of the discussions among scholars focus on dependence issues, on
whether Gnosticism originated from within Judaism, on whether reference
to Jewish scriptures is indicative of Jewish origins (see Smith 2004;
Lahe 2012). I prefer to move the discussion beyond this impasse to a
more complex question: specifically, what kind of religious movements
and postures toward Judaism develop when Gnostic spirituality engages
the Jewish scripture in multiple contexts?
In the confrontation between Apostolic Catholic and Gnostic Christian,
the value of Christianity’s connection to Judaism is undoubtedly on
the line. The Gnostic Christians do not place a high value on maintaining
this connection, but some Gnostics devalue this connection more than
others, and there are moves in Gnostic circles to devalue and transgress
Judaism in ways that we today would identify as anti-Jewish. To be sure,
YHWH is perceived to be a defective, rebellious, ignorant, arrogant God
at odds with the transcendent supreme God. In some cases, YHWH is
considered to be demonic. Irenaeus remarks that Gnostics are against
the laws of Moses and the rest of the Jewish scriptures because they
have judged it to be dissimilar and contrary to the Gospel. The prophets
were inspired by YHWH or his commanders, not by the supreme
God. The Lord Jesus came from another Father and preached a different