DeConick A.D

280
THE PI OF POLITICS
to convince us that Christians are not slaves to the biblical God, like the
Jews, but are really free. He says that the biblical God had laws in place for
the benefit of his people. YHWH restrained his people so that they might
obtain the gift of salvation through obedience to the Ten Commandments.
His restraints and laws should not now push us to rebel against
him as apostates. Despite the fact that YHWH has limited humans with
laws so that he has a basis for fair judgment and can honor the obedient
with immortality, he has always preserved freedom and the power of selfgovernment
(Irenaeus, Against the Heresies 4.16.5).
The most prized mode of human existence, what Irenaeus calls the
“glory of the human,” is to remain permanently and obediently in
YHWH’s service. He reasons that God created the human being and this
fact alone makes us his servants. Although it is true that God put into
effect certain laws, including the requirement to offer him sacrifices, this
does not mean that God wants or needs anything from us in the form of
offerings (4.14.1). To the contrary, he did this for the benefit of human
beings who were blind and needed to see what true sacrifice is. It was
necessary for us to make offerings to God so that, through our obedience,
we might receive life from YHWH (4.17.1–4).
Christians do this by participating in the Eucharist ceremony performed
in the Apostolic Catholic churches. It functions as a first-fruits
offering of thanksgiving that sanctifies creation (4.18.6). God does not
need our offerings, but he wants to teach humans that they must be grateful
for creation (4.17.5). The Lord Jesus gave instructions about how to
offer this sacrifice to God. It is a pure sacrifice, and the only one that is
acceptable to YHWH. Just as we bring gifts to our kings to show our
honor and affection, so too we bring our gifts and offer them to YHWH.
By showing our obedience and gratitude, we receive respect and salvation
from him (4.18.1).
Culture and Counterculture in Rome
To appreciate the countercultural program of the Gnostics, it is helpful to
recognize what the Romans valued. First and foremost, they prized longstanding
tradition, “the way of the elders.” The old ways of their ancestors
were the good ways. The ancestors had taught people virtue, fidelity, and
respectfulness as the foundation of Roman civilization (figure 9.2). These