

HoP 102 - Please Accept Our Apologies - the Greek Church Fathers
16 snips Nov 11, 2012
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Pumpkin Mockery Targets Gnostic Theology
- Irenaeus satirically renames Gnostic divinities 'Kolokunte' (pumpkin) to mock their theology.
- He uses humor to expose perceived absurdity and syncretism in Gnostic cosmologies.
Gnostic Cosmology Mirrors Middle Platonism
- Gnostics blended Gospel themes with Middle Platonic cosmology, positing an ignorant lower god as creator.
- This explained evil and led them to despise matter and claim elite spiritual redemption.
Philosophical Case For A Single Supreme God
- Irenaeus argues that inferior divinities acting against God imply those divinities are stronger than God.
- He warns that abandoning a single supreme God yields an indefinite multiplicity of mediating divinities.