DeConick A.D

278
THE PI OF POLITICS
message from the one found in Jewish scriptures (Irenaeus, Against the
Heresies 4.34.5, 4.35.1).
That being said, even the Christian scriptures do not reflect the entirety
of truth, in the minds of the Gnostic Christians, because, these Gnostics
thought, at least some of the apostles who preached the Gospel were still
under the influence of Judaism. The Gnostics, who are privy to revealed
knowledge, think of themselves as more pure and more intelligent than
these apostles still under the influence of Judaism (3.12.12).
How do Gnostic circles characterize Christianity’s connection to Judaism?
They judge Catholics to be phony Christians who never gave up
Judaism, and thus Gnostics perceive them to still be Hebrews (Gospel of
Philip NHC II.3 51.29–32). The Catholics, they thought, maintain certain
questionable connections with Judaism, including their belief that
the Jewish God YHWH is the supreme God. They continue to worship
YHWH as his slaves, perpetually sacrificing Jesus to YHWH whenever
the Eucharist is performed in their churches, even though the Good God
would never demand bloody sacrifices.
The Apostolic Catholics did not see things from this angle. The Apostolic
Catholic leaders, while recognizing the subordination of Judaism
to Christianity in terms that we today would consider equally anti-Jewish
terms, place high value on maintaining a connection to Jewish scriptures
and the Jewish God. They maintained this connection by devaluing Judaism
as a slavish religion that needed to be replaced by something better.
They pictured the Jews as disobedient followers of YHWH. Irenaeus assumes
that the imposition of the law on the Jews was a course of servile discipline.
YHWH instituted the laws of Moses so that the Jews would learn
to fear God and serve him correctly (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 4.14.3).
But, according to Irenaeus, the Jews never got it quite right (4.15.1).
For instance, they never got sacrifice right. He considers the bloody animal
sacrifices of the “slavish” Jews to be substandard fare, whereas the
Eucharist sacrifices made by the freed church were pure. Although he
asserts that YHWH, whom both Jews and Christians serve, is one and
the same God, Irenaeus values differently the offerings that each of these
communities makes to YHWH. The Jewish sacrifice is viewed as servile,
whereas the Christian is viewed as liberating (4.18.4).
Irenaeus insists that the church single-mindedly offers her gift as a pure
sacrifice to God, as thanksgiving to the Creator. The offering is made